Results 8,681-8,700 of 25,880 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Deputy Ó Broin should not push it.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I am trying to answer the question.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: It is very obvious to those who look in on the committee that the Deputy has taken the data from a private commercial company because it suits his narrative.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Government has exceeded its completion targets and its delivery within the first year. That might disappoint Deputy Ó Broin.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: That may disappoint him, but it is open to the Deputy and the committee to bring in the CSO and ask it specifically for its views. It issued a very strong statement in defence of its methodology and for the main Opposition party and others to call into question-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: That is a real stretch.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: We are very transparent in the numbers we publish. There is transparency in regard to our plan and our expenditure, unlike others. We put that forward very clearly. We exceeded our housing targets last year and we intend to exceed them again this year. I stand over the data from the CSO, which I fully trust. It has been the basis for tracking housing completions. If Deputy Ó Broin...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The rural water programme is a very important one. We are continuing to fund it. There are some legacy issues as well with poor infrastructure that was put in at a site level and we have a scheme to take those into charge and to rectify estates and wastewater treatment plants that are substandard. There are settlements that have grown which have wastewater infrastructure already in place....

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I appreciate Deputy O'Callaghan's opening comments. First, there is no question about the CSO data, which as we see it, tally very much with the returns we are getting around the country on housing completions. He raised a point about methodology. What is used in the future will be for the CSO to decide itself independently of me in terms of how it moves forward. I am not putting this in...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: No, I refer to the other set of data that was referred to earlier. We know what we are talking about. Our Department reviews any data that come in or that would be of interest to us. We base our performance on the targets we set ourselves. I have no doubt we will have further discussion on that in the coming weeks when we publish the social housing figures.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I have never questioned the output of the CSO. It would be dangerous if I did, in particular in this space. It would be like questioning data in regard to births or deaths. We must be careful in that space. It is a matter for the CSO itself if it is updating or changing methodologies. Deputy Ó Broin referred to the fact that the committee has invited in the CSO to answer questions....

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: What I said earlier to Deputy O'Callaghan is that a lay person can see the momentum in house building across the country. It is very obvious for all to see the momentum behind new house buildings and new house completions.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: In respect of the expenditure for last year, I will be submitting a capital expenditure management report for the end of quarter 4 to the Government in the coming weeks. The Deputy can expect that to be done in early March. The memorandum will show that the capital expenditure for programme A has increased by more than 30% in the year 2021 to 2022. We did flag that we would take the full...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I expect to bring the matter to Cabinet in early March. It will be above and beyond the 10% capital carryover, which we did flag. We are not unique in that space, as a Department. Yes, there will be a level of surrender. Even with that, we will deliver more housing output than we have done on the social housing side and, indeed, on the affordable side, for the first time in 15 years. We...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Deputy has to look at the base as well. Let us consider what the capital allowed in 2020. Going back a couple of years, there was a significant increase in capital expenditure right the way through. The Deputy could go back to 2015 if he wanted to but in more recent times, capital expenditure in 2020 was €2.197 billion, which increased in 2021 to €2.25 billion and...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The returns from the local authorities for social, affordable and cost-rental housing, which includes AHB delivery, are being collated right now. We will have them in the coming weeks and we will publish them all together very clearly. We have improved on affordable purchase overall. There are approximately 42 schemes, through the affordable housing fund with more than 3,000 affordable...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: We will have a fourth call for URDF across all 31 local authorities at the end of the summer or early autumn. As the Minister of State mentioned, this call specifically focuses on vacancy for residential. In the fourth call we will move back towards the regeneration-public realm piece and the local authorities have been informed.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I will answer the second question first. The acquisition target, originally under Housing for All, was set at 200 a year because we wanted to phase out acquisitions. We have permitted now, and we have approval, that any local authority purchase will be above and beyond that and, therefore, we are not restricting it to 200 units and they will not be taken out of their build figures.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: No. We have agreed, with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, to have flexibility in that space too. I hope that we will be able to purchase approximately 1,500 units this year, and that is what I am looking at across local authorities as well. There is no restriction on the purchase with tenantsin situ.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: We can do that through a couple of streams. This year, we are looking to make it more efficient and do it directly on the capital side but that will not take away from the social housing delivery because that money is in the base. In some instances, if an AHB purchases the property------