Results 1-20 of 61 for going forward speaker:John Cummins

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Apr 2024)

John Cummins: .... I have not had the pleasure of speaking with him yet. There are probably a few disappointed Members of the House because I think he will challenge them for the title of best dressed Senator going forward. This is my third time calling for a debate on national aviation policy. An engagement with the Minister has still not been ordered. We need a debate on aviation policy. There...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Development Contributions (5 Mar 2024)

John Cummins: I thank the Acting Chairman. We look forward to good coverage of today's Seanad Commencement matters in the local newspapers. I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who is attending the EU housing ministers' summit in Brussels. I am calling for an extension of the waiver that has existed for the past ten months regarding...

Seanad: Family Carers: Motion [Private Members] (31 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to be in the House to listen to all of the contributions. All of those who took the time to speak on this very important motion did so in good faith on behalf of the near 500,000 carers we have in the country. The Government wants to continue to expand the supports we have in place for carers. It is very important for families that we ensure...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Proposed Changes to River Shannon, Grand and Royal Canals and River Barrow Navigation By-laws: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: ...which is absolutely to be welcomed. Mr. Gleeson and Mr. Galway will recall that the last time I questioned them at the committee I said it would be helpful if a suggested fee structure were put forward, and that is welcome. As regards the submission from the Grand Canal Dock community, the fee structure that has been proposed is definitely helpful. I know that Mr. Rowe said there was...

Seanad: Local Government (Mayor of Limerick) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2023: Second Stage (24 Jan 2024)

John Cummins: ...Minister of State to the House to start our debate on what is a fundamental change in local government, namely, this Bill. The people of Limerick were brave in the decision they made in 2019 in going along with the proposal put to the people in a plebiscite. As the Minister of State knows, at the time the people of Waterford and Cork were also given the opportunity to vote and the...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage (7 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I will not require the full ten minutes. This is very straightforward legislation. As the Minister of State said in his concluding comments, it is essentially about establishing the new constituencies for elections to Dáil Éireann and for the European Parliament elections which will take place in June of next year. We have a...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: ...that drove on with such projects - in the case of the Waterford county board, it cut its cloth to its measure and delivered phase 1 of the Walsh Park redevelopment - not to be penalised for going ahead with projects. Thankfully, that is the position the Government took up. The allocation of €3.3 million means the county board will be able to proceed with phase 2. That is right...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Right to Purchase) Bill: Discussion (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: ...late. I was in the Seanad Chamber with the Minister, Deputy McGrath, and there were some interactions on the Finance Bill in the context of landlords. I missed some of the meeting so I want to go back over some of the comments in the opening statements of both IPAV and the IPOA, such as that this will prompt some landlords to sell in advance of the legislation, that the Bill would...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Third Level Education (9 Nov 2023)

John Cummins: ...2 which will see a 12,000 sq. m engineering computing and general teaching building built on the Cork Road campus. When I submitted this Commencement matter, I did not know that the Minister was going to formally write to me yesterday evening and issue a statement this morning confirming the approval of the purchase of the 20.3 acre former Waterford Crystal site. This Commencement...

Seanad: Housing For All: Statements (7 Nov 2023)

John Cummins: ...both Housing for All and Rebuilding Ireland. If we look at where we came from in 2013, fewer than 5,000 homes were being built in this country. Last year, 30,000 homes were delivered. We are going to exceed that number again this year. More than 470 first-time buyers are purchasing their first home every week. If that continues to the end of the year, over 25,000 first-time buyers...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2021: Second Stage (7 Nov 2023)

John Cummins: ...an interest in politics and society to take that interest, explore it in greater depth, and form their own opinions. This is what any subject in school should be about. Obviously, the programme for Government commits to research being undertaken in this space and for the views formed by evidence from other countries to be factored into that. Also in the programme for Government was the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Cost Rental Tenant In Situ Scheme: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (21 Sep 2023)

John Cummins: ...procedures in each local authority are a little different. We have an integrated homeless hub in Waterford. This issue affects people who have never interacted with the local authority, let alone gone next nor near a homeless hub. It is a desktop exercise. We have information on the people's income, we have their notice to quit and we have the information that the landlord is willing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Infrastructure Provision and Residential Developments: Discussion (13 Jun 2023)

John Cummins: I will keep going on that point, if I may. In the past, local authorities would have taken a longer view. They would have said, in reference to a land bank that is zoned, that over the course of the next 15 to 20 years, 1,000 houses would built on it, for example. Over the course of ten years or two life cycles of a development plan, houses would be built and the levies on same would pay...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Infrastructure Provision and Residential Developments: Discussion (13 Jun 2023)

John Cummins: ...charges automatically applied even though the infrastructure was already there. If we are trying to encourage brownfield development, it seems crazy to penalise a developer who wants to bring forward such an innovative project. We got a resolution on this particular case and the waiving of development fees has obviously parked the matter. However, it is an issue that will arise again at...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Infrastructure Provision and Residential Developments: Discussion (13 Jun 2023)

John Cummins: ...being recouped by the Department for it. Could that be frontloaded? Is there an engagement at Department level? The way I see it, there is a cash flow issue for the smaller developer who is bringing forward a development. They might have had €150,000 or €200,000 that they could use as cash flow to bring forward another 20 or 30 units, but now they cannot because they are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Land Value Sharing and Urban Development Zones Bill 2022: Discussion (4 May 2023)

John Cummins: ...to master plan for that area, I would be looking at putting in elements like pocket parks. However, if, in the view of the local authority, my parcel of land is suddenly to be a parkland, it is going be inconsistent if I am looking to develop something residential on that land. We could be faced with a situation where the owner of a parcel of land who will not co-operate and engage with...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Grant Payments (25 Apr 2023)

John Cummins: ...Data published last week indicate that there has been a 45% reduction in burglaries nationally and, thankfully, my own county of Waterford is in line with the national reduction figure. Great praise must go to An Garda Síochána via Operation Thor as the force has put a concerted effort into targeting criminals who prey on the most vulnerable in our society. However, the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Staff (15 Feb 2023)

John Cummins: ...is interviewed again after 12 months, which is another bugbear of mine that I will not pursue now. In that best-case scenario, everything works out and the teacher has a permanent contract, going forward. However, let us consider a worst-case scenario. A teacher leaves a permanent position in Waterford and takes a 12-month contract in Cork. After 12 months, the teacher re-interviews...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Housing Schemes (25 Jan 2023)

John Cummins: I echo those comments in welcoming my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, who is a former Member of this House. I look forward to working with him in my role as spokesman and also as a member of the joint Oireachtas committee. We will have a lot of legislation in the House in the months ahead, not least in the area of planning, and I know the Minister of State will be a...