Results 21-40 of 65 for 5 million speaker:Ossian Smyth

Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (11 Oct 2022)

Ossian Smyth: ...at the start was why this Bill is so similar to another Bill we introduced recently and why we cannot just reuse that Bill. The reason is that this Bill grants a payment of €1.2 billion across more than 2 million families. The Attorney General's view is that no Minister should have the power, through executive order, to issue such payments to the public without the consent of the...

Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Second Stage (11 Oct 2022)

Ossian Smyth: .... I will open the debate by setting the context for the action to be taken on foot of this Bill, which will establish an electricity costs emergency benefit scheme II, under which a total of €550 will be paid to domestic electricity accounts in three payments between November this year and March next year. The House will be familiar with these issues, particularly in light of...

Communications Regulation Bill 2022: Second Stage (5 Oct 2022)

Ossian Smyth: ...changed since 2002 will not be a controversial contention. This proposition is arguably more accurate for the electronic communications sector than for any other. In 2002, there were fewer than 3 million mobile subscriptions in the State but, by 2021, that number had ballooned by over 4 million, bringing the total number of mobile subscriptions to over 7.3 million. What mobile phones...

Seanad: Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (29 Sep 2022)

Ossian Smyth: ...into the annual report on Ireland's participation in the IMF and World Bank, which is laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas each year in accordance with section 10 of the Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) Act 1999. Section 5 relates to IMF trust funds. Specifically, it concerns an existing trust fund called the catastrophe containment and relief trust, CCRT, which allows the IMF...

Measures to Assist with Household Bills: Motion [Private Members] (14 Sep 2022)

Ossian Smyth: ...further action will be needed. In April and May, 99% of domestic energy accounts were credited with the electricity costs emergency benefit payment. The total cost of the scheme was just under €377 million. This was of benefit to an extraordinary number of households and is in addition to increased funding for supports such as the fuel allowance and funding to reduce VAT on gas...

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

Ossian Smyth: ...assisted in this role by EirGrid, Ireland's electricity transmission system operator. On 7 June 2022, the CRU directed EirGrid to procure, using the most expeditious means available, approximately 450 MW of additional generation capacity from the winter of 2023-24 to the winter of 2025-26 to ensure a secure electricity supply for that period. This temporary generation capacity will be in...

EirGrid, Electricity and Turf (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (28 Jun 2022)

Ossian Smyth: ...'s electricity transmission system operator, TSO. On 7 June 2022, the CRU directed EirGrid, the transmission system operator, to procure, using the most expeditious means available, approximately 450 MW of additional generation capacity from the winter of 2023-24 up to the winter of 2025-26. This is to ensure a secure electricity supply. This temporary generation capacity will be in...

Seanad: Annual Transition Statement: Statements (22 Jun 2022)

Ossian Smyth: ...that are harming our land, seas and atmosphere. I am pleased to present this annual transition statement as provided for under section 14(1) of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015. This is the fifth annual transition statement, and it is being presented to both Houses in line with the requirements of the 2015 Act. The statement includes an overview of Ireland's...

Annual Transition Statement: Statements (15 Jun 2022)

Ossian Smyth: ...unprecedented changes in the climate system. I am pleased to present this annual transition statement as provided for under section 14(1) of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015. This is the fifth annual transition statement and it is being presented to both Houses in line with the requirements of the 2015 Act. The statement includes an overview of Ireland's climate...

Regulations for the Sale and Distribution of Turf: Motion [Private Members] (5 May 2022)

Ossian Smyth: ...including but not limited to the fuel allowance, to address the impact on consumers of energy costs. These measures include budget 2022, which increased the weekly rate of the fuel allowance by €5 to €33 per week, so that €914 was paid to eligible householders over the course of the winter. An additional lump sum payment of €125 was paid in mid-March 2022 to...

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: ...people's behaviour away from single usage, not just of plastic items, but of anything that is used once. If someone used a mug made out of crockery and then threw it away, it would not make sense. Some 200 million paper cups are ending up in landfill or incineration. That is crazy and is similar to when we used to use a large number of plastic bags. We reduced that usage by more than...

Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Prohibition of Winter Disconnections) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (28 Apr 2022)

Ossian Smyth: ...framework. The responses it sets out include a further €100 fuel allowance payment, bringing the total fuel allowance payment for 2021-22 to a total of €1,139. It also includes a new targeted €20 million scheme for the installation of photovoltaic panels for households that have a high reliance on electricity for medical reasons; a reduction in VAT from 13.5% to 9%...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Broadband Infrastructure (7 Apr 2022)

Ossian Smyth: .... ComReg advises that the current minimum coverage obligations in those licences are being considerably exceeded by all operators.Capital investment by telecommunications operators over the last 5 years was in the order of €3.3 billion for both fixed and mobile services. This has significantly enhanced the availability of services, both voice and data, throughout Ireland, including...

Carbon Budget: Motion (6 Apr 2022)

Ossian Smyth: ...;il Éireann shall approve the carbon budgets, copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 24th February, 2022, pursuant to Section 6B(7) of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Acts 2015 to 2021 regarding the approval of the carbon budget. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for inviting me to discuss the proposed carbon budget programme, which, following a lengthy...

Seanad: Carbon Budgets: Motion (5 Apr 2022)

Ossian Smyth: ...programme in October 2021. The programme submitted by the council establishes a pathway to achieving our legally binding climate objectives. That means it will deliver on our commitment to a 51% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and it will set us on the way to net zero by 2050. Last December, I caused a copy of this proposed carbon budget programme to be laid before both Houses of...

Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (24 Mar 2022)

Ossian Smyth: ...Bank which is laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas each year, in accordance with section 10 of the Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) Act 1999. Moving on to the trust funds element of the Bill, section 5 provides for the payment of grant contributions by the Minister for Finance to the IMF's Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust, CCRT, up to an aggregate total of €50...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Recycling Policy (22 Mar 2022)

Ossian Smyth: ...a product is. I can see the advantages. The challenge for me is that such a scheme, as far as I am aware, is not commercially operating anywhere. I am bringing in a scheme which will operate for 5 million people in one go. I need to bring in something I know will work. I know the industry has carried out a pilot scheme in one area, which is a good first step. There were 200 people...

Carbon Tax: Motion [Private Members] (22 Feb 2022)

Ossian Smyth: ...: — the annual rate of consumer price inflation, as measured by the European Union's (EU) harmonised index of consumer prices, has picked up sharply in recent months, reaching a multi-decade high of 5.7 per cent in December before moderating somewhat to 5 per cent in January; — the recent increase in inflation is partly a result of temporary factors related to the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Environmental Schemes (22 Feb 2022)

Ossian Smyth: ...retrofit. The programme for Government and climate action plan set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the residential sector from 7 megatons of carbon dioxide in 2018 to between 3.5 megatons and 4.5 megatons in 2030. A comprehensive retrofit programme will be a key measure to support the achievement of this target. We will need to retrofit the equivalent of 500,000 homes to...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications (Revised) (8 Feb 2022)

Ossian Smyth: ...the 2022 Estimates for the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. I am accompanied by officials from the Department. The total provision for the Department in 2022 is €858 million, comprising €700 million of capital, excluding capital carryover of €58 million, and €168 million for current spending. This represents a 19% increase over...