Results 2,681-2,700 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Amendment No. 945 relates to providing for landscape conservation areas. Landscape conservation areas, which were dealt with in section 204 of the Act of 2000, were not included in the Bill as it was a little-used provision and because its objectives may be achieved through the development plan process and through controls on the scope of exempted development. I am satisfied these...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: The two points are-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: My apologies.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputies for their questions. There are two answers as to why landscape conservation areas are being removed and why they are not included in the Bill. The first is they were little used in the past. The second is that it is expected it will be achieved in another way. This is looking at section, where there is an obligation to prepare a strategy for conservation. According to...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Deputy O'Callaghan. It is more than a high-level strategy. Section 48(2) states the strategy shall include objectives for conservation, protection, management and improvement. Section 48(2)(j) mentions the strategies for landscapes, views and prospects in a manner consistent with the strategy referred to previously, having due regard to any framework of any Minister or Government...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: In practice it was rarely, if ever, used. I am not sure I entirely understand the difference between designating an area as a landscape conservation area and putting into a conservation strategy designating a particular landscape as being worth protecting. I think that-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Architectural conservation areas have been used a lot.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: They have been very frequently used. They have been found to be-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Architectural conservation areas are, as all of us who have been involved in the preparation of county development plans know, a practical and useful tool that has been in use for the past quarter of a century. Landscape conservation areas have not succeeded in their objective. I do not see the benefit of legislating for something which, in practice, has not turned out to be useful or used.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: It is too much to say that we are giving up on landscapes.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Section 48 provides for the preparation of strategies for the conservation of landscapes and for detailing what those landscapes are.

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: From the Seanad (24 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Amendments Nos. 1 to 9 are technical amendments that relate to the Title and citation. The Long Title is changed to reflect the inclusion of the transfer of maritime area planning functions from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, certain arrangements relating to the making of the marine planning policy...

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: From the Seanad (24 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputies for their comments. The decision to transfer these functions was taken by the Government at a meeting on 20 December 2023 and this is the earliest opportunity to enact that decision. It was introduced in the Seanad in previous weeks and debated there. It is a transfer of functions from one Department to another, the same as the rest of this legislation, which is also a...

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: From the Seanad (24 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: These amendments create a new Chapter 1 to the new Part 4 within the Gas (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill. These provide for the transfer of Maritime Area Planning Act functions from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. They preserve work completed to date on the south coast DMAP. The...

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: From the Seanad (24 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: That is a very reasonable point. I am glad the committee met with the Department to discuss this. The Government is aware it is critical there are sufficient staffing resources to provide for this new function, the designation of specific DMAPs, and that An Bord Pleanála has sufficient staff to carry out its function. It needs a whole set of new staff who have the qualifications and...

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: From the Seanad (24 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: These amendments create a new Chapter 2 of the new Part 4 within the Gas (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill. These directly amend the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 to remedy issues related to the making of the south coast offshore renewable energy designated maritime area plan, DMAP, in the absence of a statutory marine planning policy statement and provide a mechanism allowing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Chairperson and members for inviting me to this meeting to discuss the current state of play in respect of the circular economy following on from the signing into law of the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act in 2022. In line with the evolution of EU and UN environmental policy, the waste action plan for a circular economy was published in September 2020. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Cathaoirleach for acknowledging the progress made on the circular economy and the contributions of my predecessor, who laid much of the groundwork for what I have done. I will start with the hot school meals. The hot school meals programme is a very good thing. It is widely acknowledged to be a positive thing that children can have hot meals at school, particularly in winter....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: The deposit return scheme is there to address a problem, namely, not enough of our bottles and cans are being recycled and are ending up in the environment. If the Deputy has ever taken part in a Tidy Towns group and walked along the roads, he will have seen that approximately half of the litter items the group picks up are bottles or cans. Some Tidy Towns groups are quite analytical in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I apologise; I am wasting Deputy O'Sullivan's time.