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

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I am very glad to be here to introduce this Bill. It is an important part of the Government's response to increasing concerns with regard to security of electricity supply, with particular regard to the identified generation capacity gap over the coming winters. It is in this regard that we produced the Bill. I am glad to be opening the debate today and to be able to set the context for...

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I will respond to some of the interesting, insightful and valuable comments of Senators, for which I thank them. Senator Murphy referred to Shannonbridge and Lanesborough and stressed the importance of taking local communities into account. One aspect of those locations is that they have very valuable grid connections, which could be used for renewable energy connections, storage or other...

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Yes, it is the demand-side strategy. We have smart meters being rolled out around the country and that is part of demand-side strategy but I will see if there is a specific document on that. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is working with my Department and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications on a biomethane strategy at the moment and the green...

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The Bill proposes to send the PSO levy directly into the utility accounts of the people and on to the bill as a credit of the electricity customers so they can use it for the whatever they want. It will not be the case that the Government will take the PSO levy money and use it as a loan. There will be a low-cost loan scheme for renewable energy, including solar panels and so on, later this...

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The PSO levy will come from the State and go on to the electricity bills of customers as a credit and they can use the money for whatever they want.

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I understand that the loans are backed by the European Investment Bank and by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, which is the State bank. The loans will be provided, presumably, through credit institutions, will be set at a low rate, of approximately 3% I believe, and these loans will be available to people who would not normally be able to get credit.

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Yes, and the purpose of the loan is to cover the portion of the retrofit that they cannot afford or get a grant for. If a person has a retrofit job that costs €20,000 and receives a grant of €10,000, the other €10,000 can be borrowed at a low rate.

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: It is not proposed to specify in this legislation what the companies can use the increased borrowing limits for. A borrowing limit increase for Bord na Móna will underpin the company's brown-to-green transition. The company has ceased its peat harvesting activities and is accelerating the deployment of renewable energy, particularly in these former peat harvesting regions. Just...

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Where is the Senator talking about?

Seanad: EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Jul 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Senator Burke raised an interesting idea. When infrastructure is built, there is an assessment of its negative effect on the environment but there is not often an assessment of the benefits. We have seen surprising benefits to the environment from many infrastructure projects. There is a bird sanctuary in Booterstown in my constituency which was the result of a railway built across the bay...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2022)

Ossian Smyth: During the Second Stage debate, I mentioned that I intended 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 and that I intended to address that issue by...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2022)

Ossian Smyth: There are two substantial amendments here. The first is to change the EPA Act. This is to allow for the licensing of emergency generators and to allow this to work in terms of planning permission. Currently, under the EPA legislation, a licence can only be granted where planning permission exists. In this case, the EPA Act will be changed to allow for a licence to be granted where...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The use of renewable energy, demand management and community energy supplies are all part of the circular economy and are directly relevant. As Senator Boylan said, we are in an emergency. It is important to keep the lights on and to have security of supply to deal with an energy crisis. I did not mean any disrespect by the way it was introduced. We brought it in as soon as we could. I...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I note the Senator's comments.

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I will start with Senator Ruane. I absolutely appreciate the intention behind her amendment No. 36 to exempt people with disabilities from the provisions of the Bill.In fact, the Bill provides that regulations will be put in place to work out the details of Bill. I am happy to consider those aspects at that stage. Before we make regulations to put a levy on any particular item, it must go...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The Senator was asking why we should put a limit on the amount, or maybe lower and upper bounds. The reason I am doing that is so that the Minister is not given too much power. I do not want a situation in which the Minister could put a levy of €100 on a cup of coffee, which would make no sense. What we are creating is an executive power for the Minister to, following public...

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The Senator can propose an increase in the levy on Report Stage, which I will consider then, but it cannot be an infinite levy with no upper bounds.

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I want to come back to Senator Dooley's point about littering because I did not respond to it earlier.

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Senator Ruane can come in if she wants.

Seanad: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I am not accepting Senator Ward's amendment. He is welcome to introduce a modified amendment on Report Stage and I will consider it then. On Senator Dooley's question about introducing a strategy on litter, I will consider that. All of this is relevant to the visible existence of litter. People are concerned about it. They relate to it. The Senator is correct that in the autumn all this...