Results 1,521-1,540 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (7 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 am advised by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) that, as of 24 June 2022,...

Seanad: National Lottery (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I am happy to speak about my view and the Department's view on what we need to do to progress the Bill. I would like to speak about it even though we do not have Government amendments. I would be happy to respond to any comments or questions from Senators.

Seanad: National Lottery (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I can answer questions Senators have during the session.

Seanad: National Lottery (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Senators Ward, Currie and Carrigy in particular for affording me the opportunity to again consider the national lottery, its contribution to good causes and how it might evolve and develop in the future. Since its inception in 1987, though good times and bad, the national lottery has continually provided a steady stream of funding for good causes in the areas of the arts and culture,...

Seanad: National Lottery (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Senator Carrigy referred to the loss of money by agents. It is a notional loss of income because people are gambling-----

Seanad: National Lottery (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: It is loss of income the Senator expects would return to the lottery, were the bookies banned from taking bets on that. I accept that is the problem the legislation is trying to solve. Senator Boyhan mentioned that a lot of work has been done and there is a lot more work to do.Much work has been done, not just by the Senators but also within my Department. Commissioning that independent...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Renewable Energy Generation (13 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Senator Kyne for his question. Ireland has one of the best offshore renewable energy resources in the world with a sea area of 490,000 sq. km, which is approximately seven times the size of our landmass. Because of Ireland's location at the Atlantic edge of the EU, we have more offshore energy potential than most other countries in Europe. The Climate Action Plan 2021 includes a...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Renewable Energy Generation (13 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: One of the main things is that our planning process at the moment is lengthy, as has been pointed out by the Senator. It needs to be compressed if we are going to meet our targets and if we are going to deal with the energy crisis that is happening across Europe. The EU has agreed under the REPowerEU proposals to compress the planning period down to a maximum of two years for major...

Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: From the Seanad (13 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I intend to amend the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 to allow the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, to consider applications for integrated pollution control and industrial emissions licences that are subject to the provisions of section 181 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. I addressed this issue by introducing amendment No. 33 on Committee Stage in the Seanad....

Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: From the Seanad (13 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputies. I have been in Monaghan on a number of occasions in the past year. I met Deputy Carthy's brother in Carrickmacross. I asked my Department to engage directly with Shabra Plastics some time ago. They have been engaging and that will continue. In general, our facilities infrastructure for recycling plastics in Ireland is not well developed. One of the consequences of...

Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: From the Seanad (13 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: It has been very hard to tackle those problems for local authorities because they have been prevented from gathering evidence by legal constraints due to privacy concerns and the general data protection regulation, GDPR. They have found it difficult to get the evidence that is required in order to bring a case against the people who are carrying out that crime, which affects us all. We have...

Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: From the Seanad (13 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I am happy to go into that. If there is a situation whereby there is a virgin plastic tax in a nearby jurisdiction, that creates an incentive to export goods from Ireland to be processed in that jurisdiction. There is a mismatch in that regard. It makes it harder if that country is no longer a member of the EU and is not subject to the same rules. We must decide if we are going to impose...

Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: From the Seanad (13 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: One of the other issues that affects price of plastic is the EU rules and the minimum amount of recycled plastic that has to be used. For example, if a company is making plastic bottles, it has to use a certain minimum percentage, and those percentages are going up. What that is doing is forcing up the price of recycled plastic to the point where recycled plastic, for example, the plastic...

Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: From the Seanad (13 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 just on single-use disposable cups, but also on certain reusable alternatives to those cups that are supplied to the consumer below a certain price point, which will be set out by the Minister in secondary...

Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: From the Seanad (13 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: This is a minor drafting amendment relating to the drafting of a poverty impact assessment under section 7. The amendment ensures that the Minister can procure the services of an expert group or body to carry out the assessment if that is required, and it does not have to be carried out by the Minister’s Department.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Recycling Policy (12 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Ireland’s infrastructure does not allow it to manage all of the waste material generated for recycling and there is a reliance on exports to manage the waste we produce. Irish recyclers are competing for waste materials, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, in an open market. There are recycling facilities for PET plastic in Ireland. While my Department does not have the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (12 Jul 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 almost 560,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along with some 679 schools. I am advised by...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (13 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I propose to take Questions Nos. 79 and 80 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 almost 560,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Policy (13 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The Circular Economy Bill provides the necessary legislative basis for the introduction of environmental levies and is scheduled to be enacted before the Summer recess. It will then provide the legislative power to introduce a waste recovery levy to activities identified in the Waste Management Act, 1996 (as amended). Details of the levy will be determined as the drafting of the...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Policy (13 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I propose to take Questions Nos. 89, 91 and 92 together. Based on the leviable tonnes to landfill in 2021, an addition of €5 per tonne on the current landfill levy would yield an increase of approximately €0.58m.   I would point out that the primary purpose of environmental levies is to effect behavioural change, not to increase revenue.