Results 141-160 of 2,694 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: About how accommodation was procured during the pandemic? Does the Cathaoirleach mean, for example, for isolation and so on?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: During an emergency, the normal procurement rules do not apply. One does try to get the best value for money but does not have to go through the full formal process. That makes sense. If one is in the middle of a pandemic and lives are at stake, one obviously has to act at speed and get the best price one can. For the Cathaoirleach's information, the leasing and acquisition of property is...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I absolutely agree. The sums of money involved are very large. It is important that we are getting value for money. It is also important that we are stuck with what made sense during an emergency and rolling it forward for years. The Government made a clear decision at Cabinet recently to move away from emergency provision of accommodation and towards a more structured or planned approach.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Any kind of Government administration or procurement system like that should absolutely be fair to the participants. It should be transparent and so on. I accept that. I am not aware that companies went all the way through the process, only to receive an email to say no at the end. If the Cathaoirleach wants me to follow that up with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability,...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I would be happy to look into any specific issue the Cathaoirleach has.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I would like to know more of the details of that specific project before I comment on it. I accept that the system should be fair-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: -----and transparent and, in general, it should tell people the reasons for a project not proceeding.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - the Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 -the Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Regarding the State being taken advantage of by wealthy of conglomerates, most of our procurement goes to SMEs and Irish companies. That is the reality of procurement in Ireland. Where there are large amounts of money involved, there will always be some small number of participants that try to defraud the system. There is also the possibility of multiple bidders colluding so that they...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regulatory Bodies (25 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Given the importance of the electronic communications sector to both the economy and society, robust regulation of networks and services in a manner that enables investment, ensures operational resilience and trust and appropriate consumer protection requires a fit-for-purpose communications regulator. Both my officials and I meet regularly with ComReg to discuss a range of policy and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regulatory Bodies (25 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I am glad to hear that the Deputy has taken the time to meet ComReg. It has 156 employees at the moment and has sanction for 177. ComReg came to my Department looking for an additional 55 employees. It was looking for specific increases in grades and salaries and so on, and that is under consideration at the moment. However, it does have sanction to move to 177. The Deputy mentioned...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regulatory Bodies (25 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Communications networks are part of our critical infrastructure, of course. We can see that they are a target. The biggest target is the energy system, with communications probably second after that. We see the example of Vodafone Portugal being taken down for a number of days. This is the kind of thing we need to protect against. The function of ComReg will be to ensure that...

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (24 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I move amendment No. 5: In page 13, lines 13 to 21, to delete all words from and including "Subject" in line 13 down to and including line 21 and substitute the following: "Subject to subsection (2), the majority-shareholding Minister may, by order, confer on the Board such function of developing, maintaining and operating telecommunications infrastructure as the majority-shareholding...

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (24 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I move amendment No. 7: In page 17, line 15, after “notice” to insert “in writing”.

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (24 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I am not saying this is all covered already. What is outlined in amendment No. 4 is covered already. That amendment seeks that GNI complies with the terms of the climate Act. I am saying GNI is already covered by that. It absolutely is. GNI is not covered under what is referenced in amendment No. 6, which seeks the right to refuse connections and so on. What is outlined in that...

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (24 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: The amendments propose to amend the definition of the 2014 Act, which clarifies that the Act of 2014 means the Companies Act 2014, to include various climate policy terminology already provided for in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act of 2015; to add additional obligations into the functions of GNI to factor in national policies on decarbonisation such as the climate action...

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (24 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I move amendment No. 1: In page 6, lines 24 to 26, to delete all words from and including “insofar” in line 24 down to and including “purposes” in line 26 and substitute “insofar as the activity relates to telecommunications”. The purpose of this amendment is to insert a saver provision to maintain the existing ministerial consents that were...

Gas (Amendment) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (24 Jan 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I move amendment No. 2: In page 11, line 28, to delete “Maternity Protection Acts 1994 and 2022” and substitute “Maternity Protection Acts 1994 to 2022”. This amendment corrects a typographical error.