Results 1,381-1,400 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Scéimeanna Tuaithe (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Táim ag éisteacht leis na Teachtaí agus tuigim go bhfuil deacrachtaí faoi leith ag na hoileáin. I understand that this is mixed up with other funding under the LAGs. I am stating here that there will be a two-step process now. It is possible for eligible groups to apply for approval and to form an LAG before the CAP strategic plan it decided. After this strategic...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Passport Services (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The Passport Service is a unified service composed of three constituent offices located in Lower Mount Street in Dublin 2, in Balbriggan and on the South Mall in Cork. Passport applications from all citizens, whether at home or abroad, are distributed for processing across these three passport offices based on the type of application rather than on the place of residence of the applicant....

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Passport Services (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The Deputy made several points. He suggested there should be a better early warning system if there are errors with a passport application and the date is not going to be met. I will communicate this point to the Passport Office. Deputy McHugh also pointed out that "Passport Express" might be the wrong name if the other method is in fact the express method and that perhaps we should...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Passport Services (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: We are the Government for all citizens of Ireland and have to make sure the services we provide to the public are equitable and fair, no matter where one lives, in so far as possible.

Subsidies for Developers: Motion [Private Members] (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I believe Deputy Ó Broin said earlier that the majority of uncommenced apartments with full planning permission are in the buy to rent sector. I wanted to correct that, because there are twice as many apartments, around 19,000, in the build to sell sector with full planning permission that have not yet commenced. Only about half of that number are in the build to rent sector. The...

Just Transition: Statements (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Deputies for providing me with this opportunity to update them on the plans of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, in regard to a just transition. Ireland is committed to achieving a just transition while ensuring nobody is left behind as we move to a climate-neutral economy and society. The climate action plan 2021 places a just...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I signal my intention to introduce an amendment to section 1 on Report Stage. The definition of "contracting authority" in section 1 differs from the definition in the 2016 procurement regulations. It is possible this difference could lead to ambiguity and confusion in the application of the provisions of the Bill and the procurement regulations. There are two differing definitions of...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senator. I would also be happy to engage with her during that time.

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I again signal my intention to introduce an amendment to section 3 on Report Stage. Section 3(4) proposes to prevent contracting authorities from including a best price-quality ratio where the price is greater than 50% of the criteria. The Attorney General advises this provision seems inconsistent with the wording and purpose of the directive and that it could be considered to breach the...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: In broad terms, what we are trying to do with public procurement is get a good price. We want to get value for money for the State and for the taxpayer but at the same time, we want to get the highest quality product and we want to do our purchasing in a transparent way. Lastly, we have strategic procurement, which is a new thing and the issue here is our compliance with Government...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I want to indicate my intention to introduce an amendment on Report Stage. This is a consequence of the proposed amendment to section 3. If we amend section 3, we are likely to require an amendment to section 4 too. From a policy perspective, the requirement under section 4 of the Bill for the chief deciding officer, for example, a Secretary General or a CEO, to make a declaration on every...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I agree with what Senator Flynn said. We have to make sure our small businesses are winning contracts. The majority of our procurement spend goes to SMEs but we need to keep a watch on that. To make sure I am listening to people, every quarter I meet the representatives of the different small businesses and I meet as many small businesses I can. I encourage any small businesses that are...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Section 5 concerns the "Application of European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 and related matters". I intend to bring forward an amendment to section 5. As advised by the Attorney General, amendment is necessary to ensure the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 do not have greater scope and application under this Bill than they do under the European...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: There are times when the procurement rules can be short-circuited, compressed or skipped altogether and they tend to occur when there is an emergency. I mean one cannot hold a tender for something when, for example, something is on fire. We saw this during the pandemic. When one has to buy syringes or something one may not have three months to get the best price. The same applies during...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I agree with the Senator. Labour Court judgments can be used as grounds for exclusion because they are court judgments even if they are ignored.

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: On a point of order, I believe that amendments Nos. 1 and 2 conflict with each other as they seek to amend the same sentence. If one amendment is passed does that mean that the next one falls?

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The first problem I have with this is that if we, as the amendment indicates, directly substitute "comply" with "consider" we end up with a sentence stating the contracting authorities shall "consider with" any guidelines issued under subsection (1). There is an additional word, "with", in there, which makes sense when it is "comply with" but does not when it is "consider with". I do not...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I am sorry to interrupt. I am happy with "shall consider", but I will flag that we will change it on Report Stage because "consider with" does not make sense.

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I want to indicate my intention to table an amendment to this section of the Bill. Section 6 sets out provision for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in relation to the issue of guidelines on social considerations, which contracting authorities are obliged to follow. Notwithstanding the amendment tabled by Senator Higgins today, the prescriptive nature of these guidelines could...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Telecommunications Services (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I propose to take Questions Nos. 51 and 52 together. Mobile coverage obligations are set out in licences granted by the independent regulator, ComReg, to mobile operators. ComReg advises that the current minimum coverage obligations in those licences are being considerably exceeded by all operators. Capital investment by telecommunications operators over the last 5 years was in the order...