Results 2,401-2,420 of 4,706 for speaker:Dessie Ellis

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: The Minister should check that. Everybody knows there is.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: The Minister is missing something. If one comes off rental supplement and goes into HAP, one must reapply to get a transfer. It is a different system.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: One of the problems is the Minister of State might genuinely believe that this will not change anything and the use of the words "shall not" does not alter anything. She may believe the word "appropriate" is enough but this will come down to the interpretation of local authority managers and not hers. Managers will see this as a giving them a green light to say this is appropriate...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: The transfer list is the transfer list.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: Who is on the list?

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I have an amendment. I thought you were taking the people who had amendments first.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I am sorry about that. I do not know whether we are learning lessons. There are approximately 70,000 people on rent supplement and just under 30,000 on the RAS. We have seen what has happened with rent supplement in terms of the number of people now reporting as homeless and the number being put off the housing list and having to seek rent supplement. We learned today that rent supplement...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: The Acting Chairman, Deputy Bernard J. Durkan, stated that if amendment No. 16 was defeated, the other two amendments in the group would fall.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: Yes.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I have no difficulty in pressing amendment No. 17. I am only telling the Leas-Cheann Comhairle what the Acting Chairman said. I will press the amendment.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 17:In page 37, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following:"Replenishing and refurbishment of housing stock 23. All proceeds from the sale of local authority housing stock must be ring fenced by the Local Authority concerned for use in the replacement of said units or, in the case where demand is not present, for the maintenance of existing local authority housing...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: Let me clarify something before we proceed. If amendment No. 16 falls, according to the Acting Chairman, amendments Nos. 17 and 18 also fall. This is crucial.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: That is what I mean.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: The amendments are poles apart.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: On a point of order, I do not understand the logic. Amendments Nos. 16 and 17 are specifically about local authorities. They do not refer to voluntary housing bodies.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I see no reason for amendments Nos. 16 and 17 not to be accepted. I do not accept what the Minister of State has said, that this is already provided for in legislation. We all know that any income that comes in to a local authority is taken into account when it comes to local government funding. Often this money is put on the central books and we end up with less money for local government...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I will speak to amendment No. 17, which relates to section 23. I have always believed that if we sell local authority housing to tenants, the purchase money should be ring-fenced for housing. We should not deplete our housing stock. There should be a means of ring-fencing the money for that and for the maintenance of existing local authority housing stock. The money should be targeted on...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: The housing budget has been cut by more than €1 billion since 2008. Even in the past few years, there have been cutbacks. While a stimulus package was announced, the budget was reduced by €60 million this year. The Minister of State has announced measures that will ameliorate this to some extent. She is addressing a number of voids across the country and trying to sort them...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 15:In page 35, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: “Reallocation of repossessed dwellings 21.The local authority on successful repossession of a dwelling will as far as is practicable ensure that:(a) any refurbishment works required will be tendered for within 1 month of repossession date, (b) in the case where only minor refurbishment work is...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I support the idea of notifying the Child and Family Agency. I do not see any harm in it. We have all experienced cases in which people were excluded from certain areas, including parks. It is important that community projects, social workers and outreach workers be kept informed in this regard. There are existing rules for informing the relevant authorities. What is being proposed will...