Results 161-180 of 2,744 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Proposed Legislation (20 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: The introduction of a Waste Management (Circular Economy) Bill is a commitment under the "Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy", published in September 2020. My Department is currently finalising the draft Heads of the Bill, after which I intend to seek Government approval to publish the General Scheme. On the issue of CCTV, it is the view of the Data Protection Commission (DPC) that,...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Policy (25 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: The Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy outlines the measures Ireland is taking under the Single Use Plastics Directive (EU 2019/904) and beyond to substantially reduce the amount of single use plastic items we use and to sustainably manage the waste arising from the remainder. The Directive will be transposed by the deadline of 3rd July 2021 and from that date single use plastic...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Illegal Dumping (25 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: Individual local authorities deal with cases of illegal disposal of waste in their areas and it is matter for them to take the appropriate enforcement actions. In this case, Dublin City Council (DCC) is responsible for enforcement of the Waste Management Act. The National Waste Enforcement Steering Committee (NWESC) has also provided assistance in bringing together different relevant NWESC...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Cybersecurity Policy (25 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I propose to take Questions Nos. 70, 71 and 72 together. I propose to take Questions Nos 70 to 72, inclusive, and 140 together: The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) which is located within my Department, acts as a central contact point in the event of a government or nation-wide cyber security incident affecting the State, including the provision of advisory notices to its core...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Cybersecurity Policy (25 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: An inter-Departmental Committee chaired by my Department oversees the implementation of the National Cyber Security Strategy 2019 - 2024. The Committee meets quarterly to review progress. Good progress is being made in delivering the 20 measures identified in the five-year strategy, with 6 measures completed by Q1 of this year. The majority of the other 14 measures are multi-year actions. ...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Regulatory Bodies (25 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: ComReg currently has a suite of enforcement and sanction powers available to it in regulating the telecommunications sector. Transposition of the European Electronic Communications Code, a new European regulatory framework will, inter alia,further ensure effective consumer protection and includes enforcement measures which should in turn further enhance competition and innovation. Against...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (25 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: The premises referred to in the Question is located in the BLUE area on the NBP High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website at www.broadband.gov.ie.From an initial check by my Department the indications are that this premises should have access to high speed broadband from commercial service providers with download speeds of up to 70 Mbps. The BLUE area represents...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Departmental Data (25 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: My Department implements a security-by-design and defence-in-depth approach to IT security. The Government’s services are still actively involved in managing and remediating the recent cyberattack on the HSE. Our technical staff continue to operate and monitor all relevant systems to the highest levels, and are closely engaged with experts in the OGCIO and the NCSC to ensure that we...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (25 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: The National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led Intervention will be delivered by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) under a contract to roll out a high speed and future proofed broadband network within the Intervention Area which covers 1.1 million people living and working in the over 546,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along with 695 schools. The deployment plan...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (25 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: Providing telecommunication services is a matter for the relevant service providers operating in a fully liberalised market regulated by the Commission for Communication Regulation (ComReg), as independent Regulator. As set out in the Programme for Government, ensuring access to high-quality internet connections for people across Ireland is essential to the development of all parts of our...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Illegal Dumping (25 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: The costs of the required remediation works at Whitestown, and the timeframe for completion, are not yet known and are a matter for the Local Authority in the first instance. The issue raised is the subject of proceedings before the High Court and as such it would not be appropriate for me to make any further statement on the matter at this point.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: National Broadband Plan (26 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: The Question refers to a premises located in the AMBER area on the National Broadband Plan (NBP) High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website www.broadband.gov.ie. The AMBER area represents the area to be served by the network to be deployed under the NBP State led intervention.I appreciate people's frustration when they are living so close to a fibre...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Cybersecurity Policy (26 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: For operational and security reasons, my Department has been advised by the NCSC not to disclose details which could in any way identify potential vulnerabilities in Departmental Cybersecurity arrangements.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Cybersecurity Policy (26 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: For operational and security reasons, my department has been advised by the NCSC not to disclose details which could in any way identify potential vulnerabilities in Departmental Cybersecurity arrangements, therefore, it is not considered appropriate to disclose particular arrangements in place in relation to IT security tools and services. My Department does not comment on operational...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Environmental Policy (27 May 2021)

Ossian Smyth: As set out in the recent consultation document on the proposed regulatory framework for the new Deposit and Return Scheme (DRS), my preferred option is to have variable deposits based on volume of the product. This will be provided for as a requirement for the compliance scheme operator in the final Regulations underpinning the scheme.

Judicial Council (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (1 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Deputies for an engaging discussion on the issue of insurance reform. It is clear we all agree on the need for ongoing work to improve both the affordability and availability of all types of insurance. That is the Government's policy intention and that is why we published the action plan for insurance reform in December to drive this agenda forward. While the Government appreciates...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cybersecurity Policy (1 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputy. The NCSC budget allocation for 2021 is €6.9 million, of which the provisional allocation for salaries is €1.8 million. The Government has trebled the capital and programme funding for the NCSC from €1.7 million in 2020 to €5.1 million in 2021. The funding and resourcing of the NCSC have increased substantially over the past five years. Staff...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cybersecurity Policy (1 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: The Deputy started by asking about the position of director. It is a new position. We sought a new director for the NCSC at the end of last year. We advertised a salary of €106,000 to €127,000 and we identified a candidate but that candidate decided a couple of months later not to proceed. We are going to recruit again. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, and I will suggest a new...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cybersecurity Policy (1 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: The role of the NCSC is to advise critical infrastructure providers on how to protect themselves. It carries out research and training and when an incident occurs, it provides the incident response, which is exactly what it did for the HSE. It does so under the auspices or framework of the NIS directive. That is the overarching, regulatory framework. We are producing new cybercrime...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Broadband Plan (1 Jun 2021)

Ossian Smyth: Since the pandemic, the national broadband programme and its importance have been underlined for everybody. When the programme was first introduced, there were debates on whether it represented value for money, but at this stage it is well understood by everybody that broadband is essential to the running of commerce and government, and even social networks. The original objective was to...