Results 1,501-1,520 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Infrastructure (6 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The Question refers 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 appreciate people's frustration when they are living so close to a fibre network...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Amendments Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, all relate to the treatment of interpersonal grievances under the legislation. I accept they were made in a constructive spirit and in an attempt to improve the legislation, and I accept the Senators' good intentions. As was discussed previously, the purpose of both the Protected Disclosures Act and the whistleblowing directive is to protect people who...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The 2014 Act is silent on anonymous reporting. Accordingly, it allows recipients to exercise sound judgment in deciding how or whether to respond. The whistleblowing directive sets out the position as regards anonymous reporting more explicitly. Article 6(3) provides that persons who report anonymously are entitled to the same protections that apply to reporting persons who do identify...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senator. Amendment No. 7 removes the 50-employee threshold for employers performing a public contract with a value of more than €3 million. This would mean any employers in this category would be obliged to establish formal internal reporting channels and procedures. I am not accepting this amendment. As discussed on Committee Stage, the impact of such an amendment...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senators. I will start with amendments Nos. 9 to 12, inclusive. Each of these amendments widens the qualifiers for ministerial disclosure to such an extent as to significantly dilute the requirement to report in the first instance to either the employer or the prescribed person before reporting to the Minister. This is not in line with the policy intent. The operation of the...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I am not accepting this amendment because I do not see the necessity for it. There is already a provision in section 10C(7)(d) for a reporting person to request and obtain further feedback on the actions taken or envisaged to be taken in response to his or her report. It is inevitable that if a report involves a matter of such complexity that follow-up is protracted, the feedback would...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Section 6A(1)(c), as inserted by section 9 of the Bill, provides that persons designated to receive and follow up shall be impartial. The statutory guidance we will issue in the wake of the Bill’s enactment can and will provide further elaboration on what constitutes impartiality in this context. I do not see the need for this additional provision and it could be unworkable in very...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I agree that an information campaign is crucial. The joint committee's pre-legislative scrutiny report recommended this and it was discussed on Committee Stage. We fully agree that it is very important that people understand their new rights, that we must effect a cultural shift in the treatment of people who are whistleblowers and that they are not denigrated as informers. My officials...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: These amendments are all related, and in many cases address technical drafting issues. They have the cumulative effect of providing the Minister with the power to impose a levy not only on single-use disposable cups but also on certain re-usable alternatives to those cups that are supplied to the consumer below a certain price point, which will be set by the Minister in secondary...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: It is.

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: It is on my list.

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Senator Higgins spoke to amendment No. 43. I recognise and agree with this amendment but will not be accepting it as the power to provide exemptions in regulations is already provided in the Bill, and I consider those regulations to be the appropriate vehicle to consider and address all the detailed impact of any levy. In that regard, as I previously indicated, the draft regulations to...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senator. Amendments Nos. 21 to 26, inclusive, provide for additional, more specific purposes for which the circular economy fund may be used. I do not think these amendments are necessary and I believe the section as drafted is appropriate for the purposes for which it is intended. I believe that all the items specified in the amendments are addressed in the legislation. I...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Likely that.

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I will not be accepting these amendments. Amendment No. 11 relates to activities that are inherently international and require international solutions, and I do not believe it is appropriate to provide for mandatory targets in this section in the Bill. In respect of amendment No. 12, the text in the Bill in regard to public procurement is sufficient. With regard to adding requirements for...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I would not usually come back in. The first thing to say is that the regulation of aviation and shipping is very important from the point of view of equity. People will not want to comply with climate action requirements if they think that shipping and aviation are getting a free ride. Traditionally and for a long time the fuels used for aviation and shipping have been virtually free of...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Senators for their contributions. I agree with the objective of amendment No. 64 and, in general terms, the way in which it attempts to address the problem of new consumer goods being disposed of by either merchants or Internet vendors. Reference was made to the French law, which is given careful consideration. It is important when writing legislation to look at other jurisdictions...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I do not accept amendments Nos. 60 to 62, inclusive. On amendment No. 62, the development of a national food waste prevention roadmap is included as a commitment in Ireland’s waste action plan for a circular economy and the Government’s 2021 climate action plan. While the national food waste prevention roadmap will include information on food losses, the principal focus of the...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The big problem we are trying to address in this part of the Bill is the problem of illegal dumping and littering and the fact it has become nearly impossible in recent years for local authorities to prosecute people for carrying out those crimes. We all suffer as a result. As we move around the countryside or walk on the streets, we see litter, sofas dumped in fields and so on. It has...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (7 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The Government’s overall policy on mineral exploration and mining is under review at the moment and is currently the subject of an ongoing process of engagement with stakeholders and this will all be examined in detail. The policy statement on mineral exploration and mining is being finalised. That follows a public consultation. This policy statement proposes that the legislative...