Results 22,401-22,420 of 26,350 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Not correct.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The facts are borne out by looking at the first-time buyer activity. We have more than 500 first-time buyers per week now drawing down mortgages and buying their homes using the very supports we have brought forward, namely, the first home and help-to-buy schemes, which the Deputy opposes and would scrap. He has put nothing forward that would replace them, only some loose leasehold...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: No, it is not.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: First, Deputy Ó Broin is again trying to play with the facts that the all-in cost, as he said, includes the State subvention.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Sinn Féin has not published its housing plan. The Deputy said he will effectively-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: A Chathaoirligh Gníomhaigh-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: This might be for the Deputy's Facebook or Twitter video. He might let me answer the question.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: I project that we will deliver more than 6,000 affordable homes this year between all our various delivery streams. The Deputy wants to contend that is not progress from three years ago when there were zero, and then the number went up to 1,757 and to more than 4,00 last year. I am projecting that we will do more than 6,000 this year. They are 6,000-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: There are 6,000 families and 6,000 homeowners-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: -----because this Government supports homeownership. I support homeownership and the Deputy does not. It is very clear because all of the measures-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: He wants the help-to-buy grant of €30,000 abolished and taken away from them.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: He wants the first home scheme and vacancy grant abolished. There has been no housing plan whatsoever from Deputy Ó Broin, only some leasehold arrangements where people do not actually even own the land on which they buy their homes, or they are going to have to restrict to whom they sell the home.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: There will be over 6,000 this year. It is real progress, Deputy Ó Broin.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Reports (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The Report of The Housing Commission was submitted to me on 8 May, as the Deputy will be aware. I thank the commission for its work and the commissioners for three years of detailed work to look at a longer term strategy on housing. I established the commission. This is the first Government to do that and take a longer-term view. I have no difficulty with contrarian views within it...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Reports (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Is the Deputy to ask a question later on?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Reports (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Good. In the meantime, I have asked the Housing Agency to conduct a comprehensive analysis of costings, timelines and priorities. This will allow for a fuller consideration of the policy matters raised than would otherwise be possible, given the report does not cost actions or, indeed, specify timelines for implementation. The Commission's report, together with the Housing Agency...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Reports (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: No, absolutely not. I thank the commission for its work. I have thanked it publicly for that. In fairness, the report I received on 8 May took years to prepare. Lots of work the commissioners did in the subgroups requires more than two weeks' consideration. I published the report because part of it was leaked and I thought it much better that people could see the full report. That is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Reports (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: When this Government came in, I was very clear with people, and we published Housing for All as well, that we were dealing with a legacy issue of ten years of very significant undersupply of housing. There is absolutely pent-up demand. What have we done since then? Up to quarter 1 this year, we delivered 110,000 new homes. That does not include the thousands of vacant homes we brought...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Certainly not.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Provision (30 May 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: I have never been accused of being biased towards Sinn Féin.