Results 21-40 of 1,018,502 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Holly Cairns OR speaker:Ossian Smyth) in 'Committee meetings'

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: The circularity gap report that is coming out this summer will cover it. There is also the durability of products, the information given to consumers which in the future will show durability ratings for products listed on a very simple scale of a,b,c,d,e,f,g, showing how long it is expected that a product will last and what its lifetime is so that consumers can make informed decisions. For...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: One of the reasons construction and demolition waste goes to landfill in Ireland is because it is exempt from landfill levies. The landfill levy is €85 a tonne and most of the material going into landfill now is exempt. The reason it was exempt until now was that it was not possible to get an EPA determination in a reasonable period of time to be able to use it on another site. That...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Deputy Bruton said he did not have a long time to read the document and that he could not see targets within it. In fact, three targets occur to me. There is a target for textiles, where 20% textiles bought by the public sector should be from recycled fibres. There is a target that 10% of food bought by the public sector should be organic. In addition, the public sector should favour...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: The person who actually buys the goods is responsible. In other words, the contracting authority or procurement person in that particular public sector body is responsible for following the rules. Among the reasons such persons do not follow the rules are that they do not know how to do so, it is just not easy or they are used to doing it the old way. That is why the Office of Government...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: The data we are collecting is improving all the time. For example, every time a product is purchased from a framework, we get the data back on it. We are requiring more data from people bidding for contracts at the time they bid for them. We are collecting a lot more data. The OGP does have a lot more information now and I am focusing on that. I am happy to go into more details on what I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Two rounds of consultations took place for the deposit return scheme. There were thousands of submissions, including from disability groups and individuals with disabilities. The Re-turn organisation also consulted the National Disability Authority directly to see how best to structure the scheme. In the regulations, as the Deputy said, at her request I included a rule that the retailers...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Through the National Disability Authority, as I understand it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: There are two things in the regulations I issued, one of which is a statutory instrument that determines the rules under which the scheme has to operate. That includes a rule that the machines should be accessible. The Re-turn Ireland organisation itself also has rules for its retailers. It made up its own list of rules for how retailers have to operate, which is not statutory or is not a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I do not think accessibility is a binary thing, so for-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: It is not that the machine is either accessible or not accessible. There are many people with disabilities who are using the scheme successfully. One of the things I have done has been to speak to people in wheelchairs directly and to people who are blind who have used the scheme. I have taken their suggestions on board, for example, that staff should have better training and be able to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I can certainly look at the Deputy's suggestions around there being no sound from the machine or that it does not have Braille markings on the outside. I can look at this. From talking to people who are blind, however, it is a challenge to use a supermarket in general.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: People go around the supermarket and cannot tell one product from another. How do they read the prices that are on the products in front of them?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: The reverse vending machine is-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: The reverse vending machine is actually a piece of equipment in a supermarket that people can use more easily than selecting a product or determining the price of a product.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: It is something that is being used in practice, but if we can make it better and if it is felt that the machines should be making an audio noise to let people know what is going on or they should have a Braille indicator on the outside, that would be one thing. The blind people I spoke to cannot read Braille. It is not a universal thing among people who are blind. Everybody's disability is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: A consultative forum for disability has been set up.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I am not aware of whether it has. I would have to ask Re-turn. I speak to Re-turn weekly. I can ask it on behalf of the Deputy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: It is a measure of availability or uptime, of whether the machine can be used. The error message is sometimes misleading, in that it can say that the machine is broken when it is actually just full or needs paper to print receipts. The Deputy is asking how we can go from 86% to 95%, which is the normal amount. First, the retailers are on a learning curve about how frequently they have to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: This will help. On 1 June, it will be illegal to display a product on the shelf or to offer a product for sale that does not have the logo on it. Currently, we are in a period when businesses can keep selling off their old stock. On 1 June, though, every drink we buy, from 150 ml in size to 3 l, has to be returnable. That will make it a much simpler-to-understand scheme and create less of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action: Circular Economy: Discussion (30 Apr 2024)

Ossian Smyth: The machines in my local supermarket are in every language, including Irish. I have spoken to Re-turn and asked it to ensure that the machines are working in Irish as well as the other languages commonly used in Ireland.