Results 961-980 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Energy Costs and Windfall Taxes: Motion [Private Members] (15 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I sincerely thank the Social Democrats for bringing this motion forward. It is very welcome to see a constructive set of proposals around a very serious problem that is facing us all. I am happy to see that. It is a form of constructive opposition. When I look at the motion I see that the Government agrees with most of what is in it. I will first address some specific questions that were...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Schools Building Projects (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The Minister for Education has asked me to answer this question on her behalf. This provides me with the opportunity to clarify the position in relation to the Department of Education's plans for upgrading school buildings, including St. Fergal's College, Rathdowney, County Laois. The Deputy may be aware that St. Fergal's College is a multidenominational, co-educational, post-primary school...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Schools Building Projects (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I hear the Deputy loud and clear. He wants St. Fergal's College, Rathdowney, to be provided with a PE hall in the interests of equity and he wants me to take that message back to the Minister, Deputy Foley. I will do that. The current situation is that the existing additional schools accommodation scheme does not include provision for PE halls and yet the national development plan is a...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Fishing Industry (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputy for raising this Topical Issue. I have been asked to point out that the matter, although important in the area of fisheries, is not the responsibility of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is lead on the International Labour Organization, ILO, and the Department of Transport would be central on the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Fishing Industry (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: No.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Fishing Industry (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputy. He made a clear distinction between the plight of fishermen who are working on Irish-registered ships and those who are working on foreign-registered ships within Irish waters. While progress has been made on those on Irish-registered ships, and the Deputy has acknowledged that, we have not yet implemented the Work in Fishing Convention but it is the intention of the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Schools Building Projects (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Is it Deputy Stanley's matter?

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Schools Building Projects (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I am.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tax Collection (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Senator Ward for raising this matter which, of course, I consider a priority. Ireland's national waste policy, a Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy 2020, sets out Ireland's commitment to tackle the environmental degradation caused by single-use plastics and packaging and includes our ambition to lead EU efforts in dealing with disposable cups through the introduction of a...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Tax Collection (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I assure Senator Ward that the consultation is a genuine exercise. The point of it is that we receive submissions from people who have first-hand, domain expertise because all they do all day is sell coffee or make paper cups or whatever. It would not be right for me to design these things from a desktop point of view. I wait for what comes in and I am surprised by what comes in and then I...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Waterways Issues (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Senator O'Loughlin for affording me the opportunity to speak about the blueway. The rural regeneration and development fund was established under the National Development Plan 2018-2027 to provide investment for ambitious projects in towns and villages with populations of fewer than 10,000 people and outlying areas. It will deliver on the national strategic objective of strengthened...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Waterways Issues (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I agree with everything the Senator has said. A 46 km free facility which people can use to have a day out with their friends and family at no cost is a huge thing to deliver. It will be very significant and to have 46 km of this is amazing. My experience of being on the Mayo greenway is that I saw so many people employed along the way, whether in hotels, cafés or restaurants, with...

Seanad: Oil Emergency Contingency and Transfer of Renewable Transport Fuels Functions Bill 2023: Committee Stage (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: Amendments Nos.1, 21 to 29 and 31 to 34, inclusive, relate to the transfer of renewable transport fuel functions from the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to the Minister for Transport, as set out in Part 3 and, inter alia, under section 18, the power of the Minister for Transport to make regulations concerning the functions under Part 5A of the Act, which is the...

Seanad: Oil Emergency Contingency and Transfer of Renewable Transport Fuels Functions Bill 2023: Committee Stage (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: The overarching goal we are trying to achieve in transferring functions is to ensure all the responsibility to reduce emissions does not remain with a single Minister. Climate change and emissions reduction are not considered to be solely the responsibility of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. That is why we are transferring functions and saying to all Ministers...

Seanad: Oil Emergency Contingency and Transfer of Renewable Transport Fuels Functions Bill 2023: Committee Stage (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I have just consulted my departmental staff. They would be happy to brief the Senator on that.

Seanad: Oil Emergency Contingency and Transfer of Renewable Transport Fuels Functions Bill 2023: Committee Stage (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I am going to speak to amendments Nos. 2, 3, 6 and 18 together. I examined these proposals carefully to understand their implications because I appreciate what the Senators are trying to achieve, but I do not propose to accept them. The Bill provides that the Minister for Transport, in making the regulations under sections 44D, 44G(1B) and 44GA, shall consult the Minister for the...

Seanad: Oil Emergency Contingency and Transfer of Renewable Transport Fuels Functions Bill 2023: Committee Stage (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I note the Senator's consideration of the potential for biodiversity and other public health impacts within the context of debate on renewable transport fuels, and I believe these considerations have already been provided for in the drafting of the Bill. In sections 44G(1B) and 44GA, it provides that the Minister for Transport “may have regard to such other matters as he or she...

Seanad: Oil Emergency Contingency and Transfer of Renewable Transport Fuels Functions Bill 2023: Committee Stage (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: These are technical amendments to section 11 to resolve a formatting issue in the labelling of subsections within the section. They are minor drafting corrections within the Bill to ensure clarity. They have been remedied with the assistance of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, for which I am grateful.

Seanad: Oil Emergency Contingency and Transfer of Renewable Transport Fuels Functions Bill 2023: Committee Stage (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senator for her amendment. I appreciate what she is seeking to achieve, but I do not propose to accept the amendment. This is an oil emergency Bill, and section 21 amends the National Oil Reserves Agency Act 2007 in the context of planning for and responding to an oil emergency. Although there is merit in requiring oil companies to disclose greenhouse gas emissions as well as...

Seanad: Communications Regulation and Digital Hub Development Agency (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Feb 2023)

Ossian Smyth: On Second Stage, Senator Horkan mentioned that he is unhappy with the term “high-risk vendor”. The criteria comes from the EU toolbox, which uses the phrase “high-risk supplier”, and that is the origin of our terminology. During the passage of the Bill through the Dáil and Seanad, some Deputies and Senators requested that the term “high-risk...