Results 1,581-1,600 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Energy Policy (24 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The first question is the nature of the legal agreement between Ireland and the UK on the supply of gas. I will have to consult the Civil Service to give Deputy Stanton an exact answer on that. I do not, however, think it is a gentlemen’s agreement between the two countries. The next question was about the form of liquid back-up for the gas supply plans. I believe it is gas oil and...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Energy Policy (24 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputy for asking this important question. Ireland imports approximately three quarters of its natural gas from the UK, with the remainder coming from the Corrib field. The UK has a diverse supply of gas, including indigenous UK gas, Norwegian gas, liquefied natural gas and via interconnectors with Belgium and the Netherlands. The UK and, by extension, Ireland are not heavily...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputy. The Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill has passed Committee Stage in the Dáil and is going to Fourth Stage on 1 June. It will introduce the power for local authorities to gather evidence of people who are carrying out illegal dumping. It will allow the use of drones, body-cams, CCTV and so on to gather that...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (24 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led Intervention will be delivered by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) under a contract signed on 19 November 2019 to roll out a high speed and future proofed broadband network within the Intervention Area.  My Department has no direct role in relation to the matter referred to and any queries regarding same are a matter for NBI.  I have...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (24 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: In April this year, my Department agreed an Updated Interim Remedial Plan (UIRP) with NBI, which recalibrated the targets for 2022 to take account of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and other delays to the Programme. The UIRP has a revised target of 102,000 premises to be passed by the end of January 2023 (Contract Year 3). I am advised by NBI that as of 13 May 2022 over 56,600 premises...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (24 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: NBI has advised that, as of 31 December 2021, over 285,500 premises within the Intervention Area were surveyed or had surveys underway, which equates to almost 51% of the total Intervention Area of almost 560,000 premises. I am advised by NBI that, as of 13 May 2022, almost 327,000 premises have now been surveyed or have surveys underway which equates to over 58% of the total Intervention...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Strategies (24 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The Digital Connectivity Strategy sets out the digital targets to be delivered by the telecommunications sector by 2030 and the initiatives needed to deliver these targets. A draft of this strategy was published as part of a public consultation launched on 23rd February. Comments and observations were invited from all interested parties on the draft strategy. The public consultation closed on...

National Parks and Wildlife Service Strategic Plan: Statements (Resumed) (19 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Deputy Connolly and all the other Deputies for their contributions on the review and strategic action plan for the National Parks and Wildlife Service. This is a €55 million plan that fulfils an important commitment in the programme for Government and it will be a very positive result for Irish nature. I want to turn to some of the contributions. Deputy Whitmore’s...

Just Transition: Statements (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Deputies for providing me with this opportunity to update them on the plans of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, in regard to a just transition. Ireland is committed to achieving a just transition while ensuring nobody is left behind as we move to a climate-neutral economy and society. The climate action plan 2021 places a just...

Subsidies for Developers: Motion [Private Members] (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I believe Deputy Ó Broin said earlier that the majority of uncommenced apartments with full planning permission are in the buy to rent sector. I wanted to correct that, because there are twice as many apartments, around 19,000, in the build to sell sector with full planning permission that have not yet commenced. Only about half of that number are in the build to rent sector. The...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I signal my intention to introduce an amendment to section 1 on Report Stage. The definition of "contracting authority" in section 1 differs from the definition in the 2016 procurement regulations. It is possible this difference could lead to ambiguity and confusion in the application of the provisions of the Bill and the procurement regulations. There are two differing definitions of...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Senator. I would also be happy to engage with her during that time.

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I again signal my intention to introduce an amendment to section 3 on Report Stage. Section 3(4) proposes to prevent contracting authorities from including a best price-quality ratio where the price is greater than 50% of the criteria. The Attorney General advises this provision seems inconsistent with the wording and purpose of the directive and that it could be considered to breach the...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: In broad terms, what we are trying to do with public procurement is get a good price. We want to get value for money for the State and for the taxpayer but at the same time, we want to get the highest quality product and we want to do our purchasing in a transparent way. Lastly, we have strategic procurement, which is a new thing and the issue here is our compliance with Government...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I want to indicate my intention to introduce an amendment on Report Stage. This is a consequence of the proposed amendment to section 3. If we amend section 3, we are likely to require an amendment to section 4 too. From a policy perspective, the requirement under section 4 of the Bill for the chief deciding officer, for example, a Secretary General or a CEO, to make a declaration on every...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I agree with what Senator Flynn said. We have to make sure our small businesses are winning contracts. The majority of our procurement spend goes to SMEs but we need to keep a watch on that. To make sure I am listening to people, every quarter I meet the representatives of the different small businesses and I meet as many small businesses I can. I encourage any small businesses that are...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Section 5 concerns the "Application of European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 and related matters". I intend to bring forward an amendment to section 5. As advised by the Attorney General, amendment is necessary to ensure the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 do not have greater scope and application under this Bill than they do under the European...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: There are times when the procurement rules can be short-circuited, compressed or skipped altogether and they tend to occur when there is an emergency. I mean one cannot hold a tender for something when, for example, something is on fire. We saw this during the pandemic. When one has to buy syringes or something one may not have three months to get the best price. The same applies during...

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I agree with the Senator. Labour Court judgments can be used as grounds for exclusion because they are court judgments even if they are ignored.

Seanad: Quality in Public Procurement (Contract Preparation and Award Criteria) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (18 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: On a point of order, I believe that amendments Nos. 1 and 2 conflict with each other as they seek to amend the same sentence. If one amendment is passed does that mean that the next one falls?