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About Ossian Smyth TD

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Ossian is the Green Party TD for Dún Laoghaire. He was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with responsibility for Public Procurement and eGovernment, in 2020 and was given responsibility for Communications, Circular Economy, and Cyber Security at the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, in May 2021.


Ossian served as a County Councillor on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council from 2014 to 2020. He served as Cathaoirleach of that Council between 2018 and 2019.During his time on the Council, he introduced a new levy on vacant shops; new insulation and ventilation rules for future planning developments; banned the use of chemical weedkiller; and introduced an electric vehicle policy for council vehicles.


Prior to his election as TD he worked as a Technical Project Manager in Saint Vincent’s Hospital.

 

Ossian was born in Dún Laoghaire and lives there with his family.  He used to write software and dreamt of solving local problems. As an elected representative, he has worked hard to make our community a better place to live .  Ossian needs your vote and support in order to continue that work on behalf of our communities

My work as Minister:

  • I introduced Ireland's Deposit Return Scheme. Ireland was lagging behind other countries by not having a money-back scheme for bottles and cans and I am delighted to have delivered on this. Thanks to your efforts, Monkstown Tidy Districts has reported a 70% drop in can and bottle litter since the scheme was launched and the annual Coastwatch autumn survey has found “a massive reduction” in plastic bottles, aluminium cans and steel tins washing up on Irish shorelines.

  • Politicians have long talked about broadband and I am delivering on the National Broadband Plan to bring fibre internet to every community in Ireland by 2026. There are now teams working across the country, connecting 15,000 homes and businesses a month. 

  • In October 2024, I brought an Emergency Bill to the Dáil which allows for electricity credits to be paid to support households and families with the cost of living, following the announcement in Budget 2025 that all domestic electricity customers will get €250 off their electricity bills. This will help over 2 million households pay their electricity bills this winter.

  • In July 2024, I visited the UN in New York to meet over 100 countries to raise money for medical and food supplies for Palestinian refugees. We channelled these funds through UNRWA, the main organisation in Gaza which will spend over €2 billion this year.

  • Disposable vapes are littered across our streets and beaches and are incredibly difficult to recycle. I called for a ban on disposable vapes in 2023 and am currently working on legislation to make this happen.

  • In June I launched a €2m fund to install over 350 public water fountains in public spaces and buildings, including to parks and town centres across Dún Laoghaire. 

  • I have used my experience in IT and public procurement to reduce public sector costs and waste. I recently launched a scheme for the state to buy remanufactured laptops: which saves plastic waste and cuts costs to taxpayers by around 30%. 

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