Results 2,081-2,100 of 15,009 for speaker:Eoin Ó Broin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2017 Order: Motion (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: During the consideration of the legislation we got a very useful spreadsheet with the 18 developments that were being assessed at that stage. It would be helpful if we got a similar spreadsheet, even on a six-monthly basis, of the kind of information the Minister of State has shown but presented as a flow chart. The smaller number of applications that got through the pre-application process...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2017 Order: Motion (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: Yes. Some of us did not support the legislation and our argument was because the two areas that were taking the longest were the pre-planning and the request for information periods. If we saw similar timelines for this, it would give us a sense of whether it is working the way the Minister of State hoped, or not.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: Should we proceed Vote by Vote?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: I thank the Minister for the presentation. The second page of the housing Vote contains a long table showing key outputs and public service activities. I seek clarity on it. I am clear on the first three rows. There are then three rows as follows: total number of social housing units to secure through social housing capital programmes; to secure through all build programmes; and to secure...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: It is on the second page of the housing Vote. It is the fourth table outlining key outputs and public service activities. It is the long one. I have no query about the first three rows. Will the Minister explain the differences between the next three rows? There is a target of 560 voids in 2018. That brings us back to the thorny subject of when a void is really a void and just an...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: In terms of voids, the problem with the way the figures are being presented - I was one of those who asked for that figure to be removed, so I welcome that the Minister did that - is that, when the voids programme was originally introduced, it was concerned with bringing units that were effectively not part of the housing stock back into it. Regardless of whether they were included in the...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: I do not want to cut across the Minister, but he is talking about expensive re-lets. A property that has been tenanted by the same family for 40 years or more may have had very little work done on it over its lifecycle. The cost of re-letting such a property is expensive because of the need for rewiring, reinsulation, new windows and new kitchens, etc. It costs way more. That work can be...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: That is what I am saying. I get that.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: When the voids programme was first announced, it was about long-term vacant properties in the first instance. I am not challenging what the Minister is doing, but I am saying I think this needs to be spelled out very clearly in the figures so that people are absolutely clear on whether something is an expensive re-let, rather than a 2:1 or a property that has been brought back into use after...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: They are added into the overall target, however.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: Will the Minister give the committee the figures for last year and this year? I think it would be more transparent if the Minister were to break the voids down so that we know which categories they fall into.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: Okay.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: If the Minister cannot make comparisons, how can he establish value for money? What determines value for money in this scheme versus the other schemes? I will go back to the first question I asked about the public private partnerships. I realise there is some difficulty with them. My understanding is that a public service benchmarking exercise has been carried out. I gather it is held...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: What is the benchmark against which the those involved judge whether the projects are value for money or otherwise?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: What is the mechanism to make the assessment?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: What will they compare it to? With PPPs the costs are compared to the benchmarking exercise. How will it work with enhanced leasing? Is there a comparable measure?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am sorry to press the Minister on this point. The Minister is saying that it will represent value for money. Yet, he is saying that he does not know what they compare it against to make that judgment.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: The Minister is saying there will be a comparison of some kind. Is that correct?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: Will that be published in the same way as the public service benchmarking will be published post the awarding of the PPP contract in order that we can assess it for ourselves?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 23 - Property Registration Authority (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: I have three follow-up questions, two of which are related to the issues raised by Deputy Casey. One of the interesting questions about the figures on the number of people who exit from homelessness is the number who end up back in emergency accommodation. Professor Eoin O'Sullivan has produced some interesting research in which he tracks, on a monthly or quarterly basis, the number of...