Results 2,261-2,280 of 4,676 for speaker:Dessie Ellis

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I agree in general with local authorities taking over the responsibility for rent supplement in the form of the HAP. However, once again we are moving to a system where the tenant or person receiving the assistance must source the accommodation and the local authority will have no role in sourcing places. Will Minister of State clarify this? It seems to me that this is no different from...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I must come back to section 37(2)(a), which provides that a household shall source the dwelling in respect of which it seeks housing assistance. This is a major problem for families unless there is some help from the public authorities, which the Minister of State says must work within existing resources. The reality is that we have had homeless people lugging children around trying to find...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I wish to clarify how the portion of the rent that is paid by the tenant to the local authority under the HAP scheme is determined. Is it done in exactly the same way the local authorities deal with income in allocating a council house?

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I have a problem with the mandatory reduction of rent at source to deal with arrears. That should not be imposed on people. It could be considered where there was prolonged non-payment of rent, appropriate warnings given and arbitration methods exhausted but I have always been opposed to going after people's social welfare payments or through their pay packets, so to speak, which seems to...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I wish to clarify one point. I assume that people in receipt of the HAP are on the housing list. We have encountered problems where people lost their homes and ended up in receipt of rent supplement but were not included in the housing list. Is it intended to rectify this? There is a similar problem where people have become homeless and ended up sleeping rough. However, they have not...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I sought clarity on persons who were homeless but not on a homeless priority list. This has been a huge problem. The people concerned move from place to place but are not considered for inclusion in the homeless priority list. Perhaps the Minister of State has not encountered this issue, but it is happening in Dublin.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: It does not. They are in no man's land. The issue must be addressed.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: It is not happening. It is clear that Dublin City Council operates a system that does not include them.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I understand that.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I have always been opposed to the idea of a mandatory deduction of rent at source to deal with arrears. However, if it was a very serious case where an eviction was taking place and appropriate warnings and arbitration had been provided for and exhausted, taking a percentage from a social welfare payment would be an option. It should be a last resort given that people are struggling and...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: Amendment No. 52 is included in this group. Deputy Cowen has tabled an amendment regarding people on RAS.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I will discuss it then.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: At the time the RAS was introduced, a commitment was given that people would be housed and the lease would roll over, or they would get a local authority house. It seems that commitment was never lived up to. What has happened is that many who availed of accommodation under RAS have ended up homeless, which is absolutely scandalous. They are left sitting in no-man's-land. I understand...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: At the time the RAS was introduced, a commitment was given to people on the housing list that were they to accept accommodation under the scheme they would be taken off the housing list, but on the basis that they would have a place and would either get another RAS if the RAS disappeared or get local authority housing. Now these people are faced with a terrible situation if, for example,...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: Could it be worded in terms of putting them back on the housing list and dating it back to the time when they first went on the housing list? People who availed of housing under RAS had to have been on the housing list for at least three years to be eligible for RAS in the first place. They would have been a long time on the housing list. There may be a way of giving them a position on the...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: The amendments must be tabled for Report Stage before Friday. That is a tight schedule for many members.

Order of Business (5 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: There are serious concerns in regard to Moore Street and its environs. The protection and preservation of the entire historic area is of national importance. As we approach the 2016 celebrations, hanging over us are plans to bulldoze this area. The monuments Bill needs to be brought forward and we need a debate and action to stop our heritage being vandalised. When will this happen? We...

Death and Burial of Children in Mother and Baby Homes: Motion [Private Members] (10 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I welcome the news today that a commission of investigation is to be established into the monstrous discovery in Tuam. I welcome that this has been done with a pace not seen in previous cases where the State might have felt the need to close ranks and protect itself. Many lessons have been learned over recent years, especially during this Government's term, that action has to be taken and...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 1:In page 6, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following:“ “authorised advocate” means an elected public representative, social worker, medical or legal professional or a representative of a tenants or housing rights body recognised by the local authority;”.I have tabled these amendments on the basis that many tenants who go to local...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: 11 o’clock My amendment suggests this should be at the tenant's request. Some tenants understand what they are being told, but I have come across people who cannot even read or write. They go in to their local authorities and just sit and listen, but do not know what is going on. Practice is different across the local authorities and that is my concern. Nothing is defined. A...