Results 9,961-9,980 of 15,312 for speaker:Eoin Ó Broin

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: I again stress that these amendments were carefully considered by the largest representative organisation for local government councillors in the State, an organisation whose members include councillors from all of our parties. Given that this legislation will have such a profound impact on the role of our local authorities, which may be for the better or for the worse depending on one's...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am more than happy to withdraw No. 58 on the grounds of what the Minister has said, although I obviously reserve the right to reintroduce it. With regard to No. 57, will the Minister outline the type of directions with regard to the LDA, public land and taxpayers' money he believes should not be in the public domain? I am open to being convinced but I cannot see why such directions would...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: Níl.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: Vótáil.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: May I ask a very quick question? On Thursday, should we convene in the first instance in the committee room to allow that vote to proceed rather than starting remotely and having to be called down?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: Perhaps the Chairman could let us know by email.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (27 May 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: 207. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of new school accommodation for a secondary school (details supplied); and the timeframe in which it will be delivered. [29003/21]

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 May 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am coming back in because the Minister did not answer my question. I am trying to understand why the Minister thinks it is a good idea for the scarce resource of public land to be used to build and sell homes that will be priced between €350,000 and €450,000. I accept that there is a shift in this Bill from the original Fine Gael proposition, which was that, on average, 60%...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 May 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: Before I speak to that last list of amendments in this grouping, the Minister said something important and in his response I would like him to confirm this. He said that in no instance the LDA would be involved in the delivery of unaffordable, open market price homes. Does he mean that there will not be a single home on any LDA site that would be sold at the full open market value? For...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 May 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 3: In page 8, line 11, after “of” to insert “social, affordable cost rental and affordable purchase”.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 May 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 4: In page 8, line 12, to delete “and in particular affordable and social housing”.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 May 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 5: In page 8, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: “(b) to provide land for the provision of Traveller specific accommodation,”. As every member of the committee knows, the failure of local and central government to meet the housing needs of the Traveller community is one of our greatest national disgraces. It is not just that members of...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 May 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: I thank the Minister for that response. We worked very well together on this issue when the Minister was in opposition, along with our former committee colleague, Senator Pat Casey. At some point, we must grasp the nettle of tackling the real obstacles to the delivery of Traveller-specific accommodation. It is significant that the report by the expert group on Traveller accommodation was...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 May 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: Yes. I thank the Minister for that commitment. On that basis, I am happy to withdraw the amendment. If the Government does not table some alternative wording on Report Stage, it will be my intention and, I am sure, that of other Opposition Deputies to re-table these amendments. The issue is very important to us. I agree with the Minister that, if we can do this on a unanimous basis, it...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 May 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: Yes. I am speaking also in support of the intent of Deputy Boyd Barrett's amendments. Amendment No. 80 attempts to provide that all of the homes on land that the LDA is developing should be affordable housing. I cannot see any justification for allowing the very scarce resource of public land to be used for unaffordable housing. If the Minister wants to make a case as to the reason that...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 May 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 6: In page 8, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: “(b) to provide land for the provision of accommodation for those in the asylum application process”. It is possibly a similar discussion to the one we have just had. The appalling accommodation regime that has been in place for people seeking asylum in our State is well documented....

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 May 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: What is important about this amendment and marks it as different from the previous one is that it about the provision of land. There will be a response from within the relevant Department, assisted by the Housing Agency, in terms of the mechanism or agency that will deliver the accommodation stream we are talking about. I am not arguing that local authorities or the LDA should be providing...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 May 2021)

Eoin Ó Broin: Yes, but I reserve the right to reintroduce it, or another version of it, on Report Stage, if required.