Results 2,841-2,860 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Recent Cyberattack and its Impact on the Health System: Statements (18 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputy. I appreciate there is a complex arrangement of various groups. Regarding capacity, the capacity review of the NCSC was commissioned by the Minister, Deputy Ryan, in January. The reviewers analysed the strengths and weaknesses of the NCSC, the physical, hardware and personnel resources it needed, how it was doing and how it compared with similar organisations. I will be...

Recent Cyberattack and its Impact on the Health System: Statements (18 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: The Deputy asked about the information provided to staff to prevent these types of events from happening. There is a parallel with public health advice that it is not the Department of Health that prevents one from being infected but the information it provides to the public and the hygiene habits that, in this case, translate to security habits. It is the information and education about...

Recent Cyberattack and its Impact on the Health System: Statements (18 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: All the time, these software attacks are upgraded in response to the cybersecurity people putting in defences against them. It is an arms race. There is a continuing battle between the two. It is something that we just have to continue with. We cannot fight it alone. We have been attacked but the same and variants of this software have attacked sites successfully in the United States,...

Recent Cyberattack and its Impact on the Health System: Statements (18 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I want to deal with the question of who is in charge. Of course, somebody has to be in charge. This is a criminal investigation, it is a crime scene, and the Garda is in charge of the investigation. At the same time, the National Cyber Security Centre has a statutory role in incident response. It is a European directive so when there is a cybersecurity incident, they are the people who go...

Recent Cyberattack and its Impact on the Health System: Statements (18 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I agree with that, and I will recommend to my colleagues in government that there should be regular briefings for Opposition spokespersons because this is a common threat to all of us and we should respond to it with common purpose. It is not an issue on which to divide.

Recent Cyberattack and its Impact on the Health System: Statements (18 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I will answer this as the NCSC has come under my remit in the recent past. The first question was about the capacity review. My colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, ordered a capacity review at the start of the year. Following a competitive tender that was awarded to FireEye, which is one of the most reputed cybersecurity firms in the world. Since that...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Energy Policy (18 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senator for the question and am delighted to answer it. The ECT is a political declaration on international energy co-operation which was signed in 1994 and entered into force in 1998. Currently, there are 53 signatories and contracting parties to the treaty, including all EU member states, except Italy, the UK, Japan and many former Soviet states. The ECT provides a...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Energy Policy (18 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: Do I give two replies to the Senator or just one?

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Energy Policy (18 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: The position of the Department is to attempt reform rather than to withdraw. If we cannot get what we want out of reform, we will withdraw. We are clear there is a division between member states. Outside of the EU there is a division between the different parties that have signed up and have different ambitions from us. The treaty was formed at the end of the Cold War in a completely...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Driver Test (18 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senator for raising the issue of the backlog of driving tests in Tipperary, which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of Sate with responsibility for transport, Deputy Naughton. Under the Road Safety Act and as provided by the Oireachtas, the driver testing service is an operational matter for the Road Safety Authority, RSA. Specific details about locations and...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Driver Test (18 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: If the Senator has any specific proposals or recommendations he would like to submit to me I am happy to take them on board. In terms of driver theory testing, at the start of June we are starting a new online driver theory service. It should always have been like that but the need has been underlined by the pandemic. This will mean 3,000 people will be able to do their driver theory test...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Digital Hubs (12 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I absolutely agree that it has been a very successful project over the nearly the 20 years that it has been in existence. It brought something that was almost inconceivable, namely, the idea of very high-tech companies locating operations in the Liberties, on land formerly occupied by the Guinness company, in what was traditionally a major manufacturing area. It has served that role and the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Digital Hubs (12 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Deputy for raising this question. The decision in the late 1990s to establish the Digital Hub project in the Liberties was made in the light of the success of other digital enterprise clusters around the world. The initiative was an important element of Government policy to develop Dublin as a location for digital enterprise. The DHDA was established in 2003 as a statutory body to...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Bord na Móna (11 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: On behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Ryan, and the Government, I welcome the opportunity to set out the actions which are being taken by the Government in response to the announcement of the closure of the peat-fuelled power stations and the end of peat harvesting by Bord na Móna. The Government is committed to a just transition in the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Bord na Móna (11 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: It is valuable to hear directly the reality on the ground from people who are living in the midlands area where the work is going on. I am delighted to accept the Senator's invitation to visit Kildare and see for myself because there is no point in making rules in isolation of the reality. Second, the Senator mentioned the retrofit of private homes. There are two major schemes....

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Renewable Energy Generation (7 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: It is always a pleasure and an honour to be here in the Seanad. I thank the Senator for raising this important issue, which I am very happy to address on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, who cannot be here. Under the programme for Government and the Climate Action Plan 2019, Ireland has adopted a target of at least 70% renewable share in electricity...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Renewable Energy Generation (7 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senator. Yes, and we need all three elements. We need large-scale renewables connected to the grid. We need community renewables. We need people to have a sense of ownership and a sense that their community owns the local generation capacity. We also need a situation where people, when they are not at home, can sell their electricity back to the grid when they feel that it...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Driver Test (6 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: The Ceann Comhairle was very kind to defend me, but I really am fine. I thank all the Deputies for their contributions, and particularly the constructive suggestion from Deputy O'Donoghue that we bring our driver theory tests online, as they should be. I am very happy that it is starting this month, and that there will be approximately 3,000 tests per month for cars and that it is also...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Driver Test (6 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputies for raising these important questions. All Deputies in this House will have been contacted by constituents asking when this vital service will be brought back online. I am answering questions on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton. She sends her apologies. Driving tests for essential workers will continue to be the priority for...

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Apr 2021)

Ossian Smyth: If there is consensus now across the House to take climate action, it is worth asking why it did not happen before now. One of the most common arguments against it was not even an argument. It was a question that was put forward to the effect that we want to do this climate action but who will pay for it? That argument was really powerful even though it was misleading. It contained the...