Results 8,341-8,360 of 25,880 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: We are increasing the number of social housing acquisitions to at least 1,500 in 2023. Many Deputies have raised the tenant in situ scheme with me and I assure them that I have corresponded with local authorities. I have issued them each with targets and I have requested that they provide regular progress updates to me.
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: They are directed to do that. The figure of 1,500 is the floor and we will do more. We are also adding 1,000 new social homes through targeted leasing initiatives in 2023 and 2024, which are specifically focused on our homeless community. This is another initiative that Sinn Féin is opposed to. We have also taken on board pragmatic and solution-driven proposals from colleagues in the...
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: We have expanded the help-to-buy scheme to €30,000 for first-time buyers and we have introduced emergency powers, as Members will know, to accelerate the delivery of housing, a measure which, unsurprisingly, Sinn Féin did not support at the time we brought it forward. I, like many Deputies across the House, have spoken to tenants over the past two weeks. They ask me what help...
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: This is the same incendiary language Sinn Féin Members used when the eviction ban during the pandemic came to an end. Instead, myself and my Government colleagues outline the supports available to them.
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: I speak to them about HAP, RAS, rent supplement and purchase for tenants in situ. I encourage them to speak to their local authorities about their situation. I inform them of the various schemes-----
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: -----the Government has in place to help people to buy their own home, all of which Sinn Féin opposed, including the first home and the help-to-buy schemes. It even opposed the vacancy grant. I inform them of cost rental, the new form of tenure in Ireland where tenants-----
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: -----are in place now paying rents that are not driven by the market or profits.
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: I tell them we are doing everything we can to ensure that no person ends up homeless.
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: If there was any doubt that the Deputies opposite are using the current challenges for their own political benefit-----
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: -----we only need to look at the misinformation they are spinning around the tenantin situ scheme, most notably, Deputy Ó Broin two weeks ago. They continue to cite Dublin City Council only purchasing seven homes under the scheme. They use that figure over and over, despite the council explaining clearly that it is examining a further 382 for purchase right now.
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: The Deputies know as well as that when purchasing a home, the buyer goes through conveyancing-----
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: -----but they will use the figure of seven and they know it is not true.
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: They know this-----
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: -----but they are either confused or happy to mislead, and I believe it is the latter. On the wider picture about supply - and the Deputies did not like this either - in 2022, 30,000 homes were completed, which was up 45.2% on the previous year.
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: In 2022, we exceeded the Housing for All target by 5,251.
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: In January of this year, figures indicate the construction of more than 2,100 residential homes. This is the highest number of commencement notices received in the month of January.
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: There were more than 25,000 first-time buyers and more than 1,200 approvals under the first home scheme.
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: What will Deputy Ó Broin do?
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: What will Deputy Ó Broin do? He will say we are spending €4 billion per year on delivering on social and affordable housing-----
- Eviction Ban: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2023)
Darragh O'Brien: That is much more than the €2.8 billion that Sinn Féin put forward in its cobbled together plan.