Results 321-340 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: Again, if Deputy Naughten looks at section 6D he will see the Minister or the Government are not empowered to just go and change the targets as they see fit. It is really only within very specific circumstances that it can happen. The situation we are in now is that Deputies are examining this legislation and asking are those reasonable situations where they would want the target to be...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: On that last point, section 6D was comprehensively revised following pre-legislative scrutiny. That pre-legislative scrutiny stage was very useful. It certainly was not, as Deputy Naughten would say, a box-ticking exercise. It actually strengthened the legislation a lot. I am grateful to all the Deputies for their contributions in that regard. I would like to come back to Deputy...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I want to be clear on the Deputy's question. Did he ask if the CCAC had sought legal advice on this section?

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: The CCAC is an independent body. I am not aware of what legal advice it has sought. I do not want to speculate on what it could be. If I was in a newly constituted organisation, I would seek legal advice on the limits of my powers and so on. As the CCAC is an independent body, I suggest the Deputy contacts it directly, if that is an useful answer, to ask what concerns it might have. If...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I agree. I think they should be invited to come before the committee so that whatever questions are required can be asked about their concerns, the legal status etc. Would the Chair like me to address some of the amendments?

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I think amendment No. 183 is from Deputy O'Rourke.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: This amendment concerns section 10 of the Bill, which includes the constitution of the CCAC, namely, how to form the council and who will sit on it. In the legislation we are proposing-----

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: We are looking at amendment No. 183.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: The amendment is a revision of the way in which the members of the Climate Change Advisory Council would be selected. It proposes that the members of the CCAC be appointed by the President and that there be a process involving the Public Appointments Service and so on. My objection to this is that it would take too long. We have a Climate Change Advisory Council, we decided at the...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: There is provision within the Bill, not just for annual public consultation, but also for ongoing citizen engagement. Citizen engagement and citizens' assemblies are things which we have done well in Ireland in recent years. I expect that will continue in the same way. Also, everybody involved in the process recognises that we must bring people with us to make this a success. Citizen...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Deputy Carthy for coming to the committee and asking his question. He is right when he suggests that the job of cutting emissions and deciding where the emission cuts go is not just a matter of finding where the cheapest areas are or what is easiest or handiest. It must take into account all the wider impacts and that is why the Bill provides for that. If we look into that, we will...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I agree with almost all of what Deputies O'Rourke and Carthy have said. I share those objectives. I disagree that this amendment is the way to get there. What we need to do is contained in the Bill already, both in terms of making sure that the emission reductions do not have a negative effect on the environment, employment and food production, and they do not lead to displaced...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: It limits the independence of the Climate Change Advisory Council. It also limits its range of options in respect of how it can act. It is important that the Climate Change Advisory Council is fully independent and that it has a full range of options on what it can recommend. It is also important that the process of deciding these emission targets and carbon budgets is not overly...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (9 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I move amendment No. 195: In page 22, line 9, to delete "15 September" and substitute "30 October". This is a short, technical amendment. I propose to amend section 12(1)(a) to provide that the Climate Change Advisory Council presents its annual report by 30 October rather than 15 September each year. This is to ensure that reports are based on the final rather than the draft EPA...

Seanad: Public Service Pay Bill 2020: Second Stage (14 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Members for facilitating this Bill. This Bill is a key enabler for the new public service pay agreement, Building Momentum, and allows for a range of reforming pay matters, including implementation of aspects of Sláintecare. It continues the process of unwinding and repealing financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, legislation. As such, it builds on changes...

Seanad: Public Service Pay Bill 2020: Second Stage (14 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: This is not an exercise in theatre. I am here to listen to everything Senators have to say, to consider it properly and to discuss it with officials in the Department before we move to Committee Stage. The contributions were-----

Seanad: Public Service Pay Bill 2020: Second Stage (14 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: Thank you very much. I am not a person for speaking a long time. Many of the Senators' contributions were surprising and insightful. I definitely took something from them. I could not have predicted what they were going to say. I do not know if that is a failing on my part. It is great to see Senators Horkan and Ward again, who are former colleagues from Dún Laoghaire county council.

Seanad: Public Service Pay Bill 2020: Second Stage (14 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: Of course. Senator Horkan raised the issue of pensions for councillors, which I did not expect to hear about and which is not covered by this Bill, a point Senator Horkan made. He also raised the case of secretarial assistants, who fall between two stools as they work in the public sector but are not public sector employees. Their pay was not cut by FEMPI, but it was already incredibly low...

Seanad: Public Service Pay Bill 2020: Second Stage (14 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: Is the Senator saying we have not transposed it?

Seanad: Public Service Pay Bill 2020: Second Stage (14 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I will come back to the Senator on that. Senator Burke suggested ambassadors could be drawn from outside the public service. That is certainly an original suggestion and the names he provided were also interesting. Clearly, some countries have a hybrid model where either a civil service track is followed or someone is selected by government. I am not sure if that is under consideration...