Results 1,701-1,720 of 4,706 for speaker:Dessie Ellis

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: There was a meeting the other day and all the councillors and officials agreed. The Minister of State mentioned the voids that have been returned. There is no funding to return more voids in Dublin City Council. I have spoken to the officials. We might have got so many returned but those would have been in a natural progression anyway had they been dealt with and the housing budget not...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: I am glad to hear the Minister of State will provide more funding for the homeless. It is taking a long time and the situation is getting worse. There is chaos at present. The amount of people being reported as homeless is crazy at this stage. The amendment is straightforward. It identifies a problem and the Minister of State should accept it. The local authorities should not be...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: It is unfortunate that the Minister of State does not see the problems we see in terms of local authority sites, housing bodies and publicly-owned sites. There is a huge problem in terms of funding. 11 o’clock Dublin City Council has not been given its budget to deal with homelessness and there is a major crisis.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Issues (8 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: 228. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he is aware of the difficulties in getting a connection to the Electricity Supply Board power grid by those behind the Clare Lane, Dublin, development and other social housing initiatives; the delays this is causing in delivering this housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27843/15]

Central Bank (Variable Rate Mortgages) Bill 2015: Second Stage [Private Members] (7 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: Last month, my colleague, Deputy Pearse Doherty, introduced a Bill to deal with this very issue. It is timely that we are again debating these matters just as another deadline has passed without any satisfactory move to change interest rates. The banks agreed to review their rates and products by the beginning of July, but that did not happen. Our Bill, like the one we are debating this...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 2:In page 6, line 29, after "land" where it secondly occurs to insert "not owned by a local authority or publicly owned housing body".The purpose of the amendment is that local authority sites and publicly owned sites should not be the subject of a vacant levy. Although all efforts should be made to use such lands for social housing, this is not possible due to the lack...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: In my first contribution, I focused on the amendment without dealing with the broader issues. I want to say a couple of things about NAMA. It has been a disaster and will prove to be one of the scandals of the country in the future. There are a lot of questions to be answered. When it was set up we could not get answers to from it about anything that was going on, no matter what...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: I do not see the point of the amendment because NAMA will not be in existence for much longer. This would create extra cost. We are adding an extra cost on in terms of NAMA and the properties that are there, in particular when it comes to the levies. As such, I do not see the purpose of the amendment and will oppose it.

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: I remind Deputy Catherine Byrne about her history in the council. When she and her Fine Gael colleagues voted to privatise the waste charges in Dublin City Council, they promised senior citizens would be protected. It did not last very long.

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: I have not paid them and I will not. The Minister of State Deputy Ó Ríordáin, also voted for bin charges and where are we now? Where are the senior citizens the Government said it would protect?

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: Yes.

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: The campaign will continue in my area and throughout the country and the numbers on the streets will increase. This is what the Government fears. We have political policing as a result of the campaign.

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: No. The Deputy must be living in the past.

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: Young children have been pulled out of their homes in the mornings. People's homes were raided in places such as Tallaght and there was not a word from any of the Members.

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: I must point out the consequences of the Bill and the fact there are issues beyond what is in the Bill that will affect people's lives.

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: It is my job to point out the problems. There will be more people out on the streets. The Government has called people spongers. People are not spongers. They want to pay their own way, but in a fair way, namely, through taxation, which is the way they have always done it. Other issues are coming down the road regarding water.

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: I am going to point out where there will be more charges people will have to look out for.

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: The sewerage section of Dublin City Council will end up in private hands-----

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: It has.

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: It is. It is one of the effects that will happen. Sewage in Dublin City Council and local authority housing will be charged for and the council will not be dealing with these issues.