Results 81-100 of 2,867 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: There are crews working in every county in Ireland. The plan was devised in such a way that, rather than go from one county or province to the next, the whole county would be worked on at the same time. It is not a case that one county or community is being left out. Naturally, with a seven-year plan, there are people who will be passed in year 7 and they will not be as happy as the people...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Through the first two renewable electricity support scheme, RESS, auctions, my Department has provided pathways and supports for communities to participate in renewable energy projects through the application of a community projects category. Ten community projects were successful in the RESS 2 auction. Of these, eight signed implementation agreements to deliver under the RESS 2 terms and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I start by acknowledging that community energy is really important. It creates a sense of ownership and belonging and the mechanisms that might work in the commercial sector have not worked in the community. The mechanism of auction has not proved appropriate in the community sector. It is because of this that a new scheme is being launched. There was extensive engagement with communities...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I will ask the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to provide that information to the Deputy directly.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I do not imagine it is. I do not know if there is any legal impediment to releasing it. All the Deputy has asked for is the nature of the products - whether they are solar or wind, who the projects are, and what the status is of the eight projects proceeding. I will ask the Minister to provide the Deputy with more details on that. I do not have details of those particular eight projects,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Climate Change Policy (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: The statutory 2018 national adaptation framework, NAF, sets out Ireland's climate adaptation policy. Following my Department's review of the framework I approved the development of a new NAF, and the draft was completed in December 2023. It incorporates key sectoral and stakeholder input, including from the Climate Change Advisory Council. A statutory public consultation was undertaken...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cybersecurity Policy (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: It is not just a matter for the Garda. As our lives go online, criminals go online. We spend more of our time there so it is natural that more crime happens online. That is why the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau is a growing division of the Garda - as so many crimes are reported. During the pandemic, there was a huge increase in the amount of scam texts and calls with people trying to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Ireland's digital connectivity strategy, published by my Department, sets ambitious targets, which include providing a gigabit network to all households and businesses in Ireland by 2028 and access to 5G in all populated areas by 2030. Through the national broadband plan, all sectors will be provided with the connectivity needed to fully exploit digital opportunities, leading to more...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: As the Deputy said, this information is not available on the website at the moment. When I started in this position, at the launch of the national broadband plan, there was no information beyond two years. If it was beyond two years, it just stated some time between now and 2026. I asked the NBI to provide the exact date or at least to the nearest quarter when it would be provided to tell...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Broadband Plan (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I am willing to give the Deputy or any other Deputy information like that if they seek it in particular. About 240,000 homes have now been passed. About one third of the people passed have connected to the service. I expect that will keep rising until about 80% of people passed will connect. We will also reach the halfway mark for the project and will complete by the end of 2026. We will...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Recycling Policy (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Deputy O'Sullivan suggested that the local authorities should have the most accessible machines and that is a very good suggestion. I will go back to the local authorities on that. He asked about credit being applied to people's phones. Local authority civic amenity sites do not handle very small quantities of cash, such as 15 cent. They are really looking at what the solution is for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Recycling Policy (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: -----because if they try to sell to sell any stock that does not have the Re-turn logo from 1 June, they are liable to fines of up to €5,000.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cybersecurity Policy (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: There is close co-operation across many sections of Government regarding cyber risks and threats and the specific issue of cybercrime is under the remit of the Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána. The National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC, which is part of my Department, monitors, detects and responds to cyber security incidents in the State, and builds resilience in IT...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cybersecurity Policy (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I can confirm the NCSC is doing that in co-operation with An Garda Síochána because the gardaí are the people who see first-hand what the effect of these scams is. The scams are always changing because people are protecting themselves. It is an arms race. The criminals then change their methods. Then the NCSC and An Garda Síochána communicate to the public through...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: North-South Interconnector (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I am glad that the Deputy agrees with his colleague, Conor Murphy MLA, that there are great benefits to this project. I absolutely agree that there has to be good engagement with landowners. EirGrid manages the national electricity grid. It recently issued letters to about 400 landowners on the route of the planned North-South interconnector. The letters outline the infrastructure...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: North-South Interconnector (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: In Deputy O'Rourke's previous question about curtailment, he clearly showed an understanding of what the problems are when we have too much electricity in one part of the island and not enough in another and we cannot share it from one to the other. I am sure he understands what the benefits of the project are. Like any infrastructure project, whether building a road or a greenway, there is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Recycling Policy (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I propose to take Questions Nos. 55, 59 and 60 together. Since the deposit-return scheme, DRS, went live on 1 February, more than 100 million containers have been returned and €18 million has been refunded to consumers in deposits. Daily return rates are growing all the time, regularly exceeding 2 million containers. It reached 3 million on Sunday. A four-month transition...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Recycling Policy (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Deputy O'Sullivan asked me to name the local authorities. I know my own council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, is engaging with councils in other European countries to figure out how they manage it. I hope it will be one of the first. I do not have a list of the other four local authorities, but when I get it, I will send it to the Deputy. On the question about excess...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: As I understand it, EnergyCloud works by offering people who are on low incomes the chance to have a hot tank of water overnight, and that is done through energy that otherwise would have been thrown away and wasted. I understand this has been a successful experiment. I was asked about it before it started a couple of years ago and I understand that since it has been running it has been...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (14 May 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Yes.