Results 1,481-1,500 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Defence Forces (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senator for raising this matter. The Minister for Defence welcomed the publication of the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces in February of this year. The establishment of a commission on the Defence Forces was set out in the programme for Government and was a key priority for the Minister, Deputy Coveney. The members of the commission were drawn from a wide range...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Defence Forces (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The first question is whether the Minister for Defence will come back on this before the summer recess. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has said he will shortly revert to the Government and I cannot go beyond that. That is his guarantee. He has said he will respond to the report but he will also bring an action plan to the Government. That deals with the Senator's other question. The...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: International Students (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I am here on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee, and her Department. I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. The Minister is aware that this is an issue on which he is engaged. She, too, is keen to see a resolution to the matter as soon as possible. By way of background, the Senator will be aware that many immigration permissions include the condition...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: International Students (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: On the question of quantification, I believe 30,000 international students would be affected by this, so that is the number being looked at. There is a concern in the Department of Health that this could lead to calls from other groups for similar arrangements on the basis of fairness and, therefore, it would go beyond students and other people on international visas would request the same...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tax Code (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senator. Addressing vacancy and dereliction, and maximising the use of the existing housing stock, is a priority objective of the Government. Housing For All outlines a suite of measures aimed at addressing vacancy in a co-ordinated and robust manner, and specifically includes an action for the Department of Finance to collect data on vacancy with a view to introducing a vacant...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tax Code (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senator. The report will be published as soon as possible. She has a point that there are still a significant number of vacant properties in Dublin and that the Department is doing the groundwork for introducing a vacant property tax. With regard to dereliction, I am advised that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage continues to liaise with local authorities...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Areas of Conservation (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Senator Dolan for raising this matter. I will answer on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, to whom the NPWS reports. Special areas of conservation, SACs, are prime wildlife conservation areas in the country that are considered to be important on a European level as well as an Irish level. The legal basis on which SACs are selected and designated is the EU habitats...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Areas of Conservation (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Geological Survey Ireland has stated that the problem at Lough Funshinagh is caused by rainfall and poor drainage, and that the recent problems were caused by increases in rainfall. I understand that there are strong feelings locally and I am aware the Senator attended a meeting with other representatives to which a large number of people turned out. I know as a politician that this is...

Seanad: European Directive on Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation: Motion (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: On behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, I thank the Cathaoirleach for facilitating this motion. Senators will be aware the prior approval of the Oireachtas is required, under Article 29.4.7° of the Constitution, if Ireland wishes to take part in an EU measure whose legal base falls under Part 3, Title V of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, TFEU. The...

Seanad: European Directive on Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation: Motion (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senators. I listened carefully to their comments. I thank them very much considering what we are doing. We are trying to prevent people abusing the law to intimidate or bully individuals who engage in public participation. If we have a public consultation or a forum open to the public they should not be threatened with defamation actions, the power of expensive lawyers or...

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I am very glad to be here to introduce this Bill. It is an important part of the Government's response to increasing concerns with regard to security of electricity supply, with particular regard to the identified generation capacity gap over the coming winters. It is in this regard that we produced the Bill. I am glad to be opening the debate today and to be able to set the context for...

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I will respond to some of the interesting, insightful and valuable comments of Senators, for which I thank them. Senator Murphy referred to Shannonbridge and Lanesborough and stressed the importance of taking local communities into account. One aspect of those locations is that they have very valuable grid connections, which could be used for renewable energy connections, storage or other...

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Yes, it is the demand-side strategy. We have smart meters being rolled out around the country and that is part of demand-side strategy but I will see if there is a specific document on that. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is working with my Department and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications on a biomethane strategy at the moment and the green...

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The Bill proposes to send the PSO levy directly into the utility accounts of the people and on to the bill as a credit of the electricity customers so they can use it for the whatever they want. It will not be the case that the Government will take the PSO levy money and use it as a loan. There will be a low-cost loan scheme for renewable energy, including solar panels and so on, later this...

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The PSO levy will come from the State and go on to the electricity bills of customers as a credit and they can use the money for whatever they want.

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I understand that the loans are backed by the European Investment Bank and by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, which is the State bank. The loans will be provided, presumably, through credit institutions, will be set at a low rate, of approximately 3% I believe, and these loans will be available to people who would not normally be able to get credit.

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Yes, and the purpose of the loan is to cover the portion of the retrofit that they cannot afford or get a grant for. If a person has a retrofit job that costs €20,000 and receives a grant of €10,000, the other €10,000 can be borrowed at a low rate.

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: It is not proposed to specify in this legislation what the companies can use the increased borrowing limits for. A borrowing limit increase for Bord na Móna will underpin the company's brown-to-green transition. The company has ceased its peat harvesting activities and is accelerating the deployment of renewable energy, particularly in these former peat harvesting regions. Just...

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Where is the Senator talking about?

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Senator Burke raised an interesting idea. When infrastructure is built, there is an assessment of its negative effect on the environment but there is not often an assessment of the benefits. We have seen surprising benefits to the environment from many infrastructure projects. There is a bird sanctuary in Booterstown in my constituency which was the result of a railway built across the bay...