Results 1,641-1,660 of 2,990 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: To answer Deputy Bruton's question, those powers are in section 14. I urge him to look through those at his leisure and then come back to me.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I was asked by Deputy Devlin about the engagement I have had with industry and would like to reply to that question. My Department has ongoing engagement with IBEC and with Food Drink Ireland on this and a range other matters. I recently met representatives of Retail Ireland and the chief executives of Chadwicks, Maxol and Musgraves to discuss this. One of the largest disposable cup...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: If there is a material that is just used in certain single-use items, then we can ban it in that way. The Deputy is right to say that the Bill does not allow us to ban steel from all product types, for example. If it is believed that steel should not be in a single-use item, it can be done in that way.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Yes. What the Bill is specifically doing relates to the principles of material wastage. The Bill relates to circularity and the efficiency of the use of resources, rather than being about toxicity itself.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: My understanding is that section 14 allows for that to be done for single-use items, as the Deputy stated. If the product made from a combination of materials is a single-use item, I have the power to ban its use.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: There has been engagement with the waste industry through the Irish Waste Management Association, IWMA, and the waste action group. That is the format. There has also been engagement on the levies for incineration and disposal. I can get more details for the Deputy on that.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I will send the Deputy a note. If he emails me the details of his query, I will send him a note and distribute it to the rest of the committee.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: Amendment No. 44 specifies that "the Minister shall set annual food waste reduction targets, sector by sector". We have a 50% target by 2030 and the amendment seeks to break that down into annual and sectoral targets. That would be a detailed breakdown. By way of comparison, the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act sets five-year targets as well as sectoral targets but they are...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I move amendment No. 52: In page 22, line 30, after “monitored” to insert “, or are capable of being monitored,”. Amendments Nos. 52 and 62 are technical drafting amendments to the proposed definition of CCTV in the Waste Management Act 1996 and the Litter Pollution Act 1997. The amendments were tabled on the advice of the Office of the Attorney General and...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: That is exactly what it is. It is a proposal that we will put into primary legislation the right of local authorities to use CCTV to obtain evidence to convict people, whether they are dumping, under the Waste Management Act, which is sometimes commercial, or littering. We worked with the Attorney General to ensure we were providing enough safeguards such that the person's right to privacy...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: It includes dumping as well. The Waste Management Act relates to fly-tipping and so on, while littering is covered by the Litter Pollution Act. What other crimes is the Deputy thinking of?

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: It is not a general introduction of surveillance.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: It is highly limited.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The reason for the amendment relates to the fact the original wording of the Bill states that the CCTV cameras “are monitored” by the local authority, which could be interpreted as meaning somebody had to be monitoring them 24 hours a day. On the advice of the Attorney General, we have changed the wording such that it refers to the CCTV being "capable" of being monitored.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: There will be an option to review the period earlier if required but, on examining the issue, we decided a five-year period was optimal. As I explained in response to Deputy Farrell, it is a limited power to erect CCTV. To create a scheme, a local authority cannot just install a CCTV system but will have to go through a prescribed number of steps outlined in the Bill. For example, it will...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I move amendment No. 53: In page 25, to delete line 22 and substitute the following: “(iv) an offence under section 34(10A), or (v) an offence under section 39(9), in so far as the offence consists of a contravention of a provision of regulations made under section 39(4) prohibiting, other than in accordance with those regulations, the recovery or disposal in a specified manner of...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I move amendment No. 54: In page 25, line 34, to delete “or” where it secondly occurs.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I move amendment No. 55: In page 25, to delete line 35 and substitute the following: “(II) a contravention of section 34(1)(a), (III) an offence under section 34(10A), or (IV) an offence under section 39(9), in so far as the offence consists of a contravention of a provision of regulations made under section 39(4) prohibiting, other than in accordance with those regulations, the...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: The use of the cameras would be overt rather than covert. They have to be displayed. The Bill allows for the use of drones, body cameras and so on for serious offences under the Waste Management Act like dumping and fly-tipping but not for littering. It is proportionate. They would not be flying drones over people who are dropping rubbish on the street. Every attempt is to be...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (3 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: I will consider what the Deputy has said.