Results 1,021-1,040 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (19 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: With regard to the criteria for premises to pre-order broadband, NBI manages the build plan and launch details for all premises within the Intervention Area. NBI has advised that this plan includes forecast dates for each "Ribbon of premises", typically between 400 to 800 premises within a given Deployment Area, including any delayed or deferred premises encountered during the construction...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Policy (19 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I propose to take Questions Nos. 128 and 137 together.I propose to take Questions Nos. 128 and 137 together. The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy (WAPCE) launched in September 2020 sets out the steps that will be taken in Ireland to reduce waste from packaging and single-use plastic items over the 5-year term of the plan. These steps include: -  Ireland transposed the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Waste Management (19 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy, published in September 2020, contains some 200 measures.  To date significant progress has been made on a number of measures, including:- The publication of a first Whole of Government Circular Economy Strategy; - The expansion of the national standardised list of materials acceptable in the mixed dry recyclable bin to include all soft...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Policy (19 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy details the measures that will be adopted to achieve optimum results in the area of packaging and plastics. The over-riding objective is to ensure that all packaging placed on the Irish market is reusable or recyclable in an economically viable way by 2030. Measures already actioned include:- The introduction of eco modulated fees which will result...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Reviews (19 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: My Department administers a very diverse, complex and technical brief across critical and strategic sectors of the Irish economy.Studies, reviews and research are currently being undertaken by my Department which contribute to project delivery and informed, robust and evidence-based policy making. Details of these are set out in the table below. Details of live studies, reviews...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Bodies (19 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I propose to take Questions Nos. 170 and 171 together. The Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce is co-managed by my Department and the Department of Rural and Community Development (DRCD). Membership is drawn from a range of Departments and bodies including the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; the Department of Transport; Transport Infrastructure Ireland; the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (19 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Telecommunications service providers are privately owned companies, operating in a liberalised market, regulated by the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), which operates independently of my Department. I understand that Starlink Internet Service Limited registered with ComReg in 2020. I welcome the addition of new service providers to the Irish market, which will...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (19 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led Intervention will be delivered by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) under a contract to roll out a high speed and future proofed broadband network within the Intervention Area which covers 1.1 million people living and working in the over 554,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along some 679 schools. Despite the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (19 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led Intervention will be delivered by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) under a contract to roll out a high speed and future proofed broadband network within the Intervention Area which covers 1.1 million people living and working in the over 554,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along with some 679 schools. National...

Seanad: Broadband Roll-out: Statements (26 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: As ever, it is my honour and pleasure to address the Seanad on what is, I am sure, an important matter of interest to everybody in Ireland. I reaffirm to the House that the national broadband plan remains a top priority for the Government. I am sure the Seanad strongly supports the overarching objective of the programme to deliver a high-speed broadband fibre network to over 554,000...

Seanad: Broadband Roll-out: Statements (26 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senators for all of their contributions. I listened carefully to them and they are all valuable. The national broadband plan is not like other national broadband plans around Europe that I have come across. I have spoken to other ministries who are trying to do something similar to what we are doing and our plan is different in two basic ways. The first is that we are trying...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Infrastructure (25 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I propose to take Questions Nos. 170 and 171 together. The National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led Intervention will be delivered by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) under a contract to roll out a high speed and future proofed broadband network within the Intervention Area which covers 1.1 million people living and working in the over 554,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Cybersecurity Policy (25 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The National Cyber Security Strategy 2019-2024 is a whole-of-Government strategy to. The Strategy defines the role of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – situated in my Department – as being to support Government Departments and other public bodies to improve the resilience and security of their IT systems, to better protect services that people rely upon and their data....

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Infrastructure (25 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I propose to take Questions Nos. 186 and 187 together. The Questions refer to a premises located in the AMBER area on the National Broadband Plan (NBP) High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website www.broadband.gov.ie. The AMBER area represents the area to be served by the network to be deployed under the NBP State led intervention.  I am advised by...

Seanad: Local Government (Surveillance Powers in Relation to Certain Offences) Bill 2022: Second Stage (26 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Chair and Senators. I am back again. I thank Senator Malcolm Byrne for bringing this legislation to the House. It is clearly well received by everybody. The Government will not oppose it. My staff tell me it is very well drafted and that it is fiendishly complex to do so because they have been working on the same problem. We have had advertising and awareness-raising...

National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputy. Within the contract, there is provision for early termination on both sides, and there are details around that. At this stage, we have no reason to expect that NBI will do anything other than continue to deliver the contract in full within the seven years for the maximum amount of money that was agreed. The figure of €2.1 billion is a maximum payment rather than...

National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The Deputy will have received a detailed email showing all the progress so far just before Christmas, as did every Deputy and Senator. We will continue to update them on progress as we go along. The figure of 54,000 relates to homes that can order or pre-order. Homes that can order will get their fibre connected within ten days and those that can pre-order will get it within 90 days. That...

National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The 2022 targets are under negotiation at the moment, although they are not targets exactly. The specific milestones and deliveries are set in the contract at the start so they are all there already. What we are negotiating now is what the projected actual delivery will be, given the delays experienced last year.

National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I recognise there is huge and growing demand for fibre broadband across Ireland, much more than there was two years ago due to the pandemic. Everybody would like it tomorrow. It is a seven-year contract to connect 540,000 homes. We are two years in so there are five years left. A proportion of those homes are due to be connected in years 6 and 7, that is, 2025 and 2026. I can understand...

National Broadband Plan: Statements (27 Jan 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I understand there were multiple bidders in the process whereby the contract was awarded during the previous Administration. Finally, there was only one bidder because the other bidders dropped out and the contract was awarded to NBI. The terms of that contract stated NBI had to provide €100 million of investment as part of its investment in the project and a total of €175...