Results 11,321-11,340 of 15,312 for speaker:Eoin Ó Broin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland: Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (12 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: I would like to thank the officials from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and the Housing Agency for the substantial volume of material we got yesterday. I appreciate it takes a significant amount of work. This is not a criticism of the officials, whom I know are overburdened with work, but I want to express frustration that we get the information very late. It...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland: Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (12 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am sorry to cut across the Minister. I had raised this with John O'Connor and he pointed me to what effectively represents the additional households over a year in the last two reports. The figure is about 14,000 households. It is an approximation from a table that was in the last two housing needs assessments but that table is not in this report.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland: Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (12 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: No, it is a figure in the report. I will share it with the officials so we know what happened here.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland: Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (12 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: There has been nodding from the secretariat to indicate that we have not received correspondence on the report and it would be appreciated if we could get that soon. The Minister did not respond to the question about long-term homeless families who have been without a home for two, three and four years.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland: Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (12 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: I will make two other quick points. I used the word "sluggish" specifically about local authority new builds. I am not suggesting that turnkey or AHB new builds are in any way inferior, but there are concerns. Many of us expected that, at the beginning of social housing output, local authorities would be behind the curve because of capacity issues and all the rest of it. It was expected...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland: Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (12 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: There is.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Constitutional Amendments (11 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: We have given the Minister our wording.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Constitutional Amendments (11 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: The Minister wants to change it. He has to-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Constitutional Amendments (11 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: We just want the Minister’s amendments. Has a referendum Bill ever taken this long to produce? The Minister is breaking a record.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Constitutional Amendments (11 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: That is the Minister’s responsibly and the Attorney General’s. That is disingenuous.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Constitutional Amendments (11 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: I do not have an Attorney General in my back pocket.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Constitutional Amendments (11 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: Did any referendum Bill take two and half years?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Constitutional Amendments (11 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: As a co-sponsor of the Bill and a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government I want to believe the Minister but I simply do not. The reason is that we have been given three separate deadlines by the Minister's Department for when that text will be available. The latest was in the communication the Minister just mentioned in which we were told we would have...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (11 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: I welcome that we are beginning to move in the direction of genuine affordability, in rental and purchase. I will, however, make some observations. I believe it is a mistake to think about the pricing of these units as a reduction or a discount from market rent because they are not being delivered by market operators. They are being led by the local authorities. Clonburris, for example,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (11 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: It is important to acknowledge, however, that affordable cost rental across Europe looks at 40-year plus loans and not the 25 to 30-year loans the EIB is providing for St. Michael's. For the Enniskerry Road project, I understand there is an innovative type of financing that allows it to be financed via the Housing Agency up to 40 years. If a similar arrangement was provided for St....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (11 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: Nor would I ask the Minister to do that.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Local Authority Rates (11 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: As I am sure the Minister of State will be aware, the vast majority of the funding for the white-water rafting facility in Dublin City Council will come from central government-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Local Authority Rates (11 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: -----and his party colleagues, as well as my party colleagues, supported the scheme. I do not know much about the background to the matter, however, and will leave it where it is. One of the difficulties with the revaluation process, although it is unique because of the nature of Irish Water, is that if there is too long a gap between revaluations, there can be significant anomalies....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (11 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: 39. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the status of the delivery of affordable homes to rent and buy in the Poolbeg strategic development zone, SDZ, the Clonburris SDZ and St. Michael's Estate, Inchicore, Dublin 8; the details of the financing of the schemes; and if the financing by his Department of the schemes will deliver affordable homes to purchase at less...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (11 Dec 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: Affordable housing projects will begin at important sites such as Poolbeg, St. Michael's Estate and other locations in the State. One of the concerns many of us have is what the price of the rental or purchase units will be. The Minister is on record as stating he believes that €310,000 for purchase and €1,200 for rental is affordable but there are many ways to reduce the...