Results 23,281-23,300 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: I will respond now to the questions posed at this point. I will try to do so quickly, otherwise we will not get past this pillar. I take on board some of the Deputy's points in regard to the rental market. There is a great deal of stakeholder consultation needed to get the balance right in terms of any changes to be made to the rental market. What we do not want to do is make changes that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: We will provide agencies such as Focus Ireland, the Peter McVerry Trust and the Simon Community with the resources to encourage the owners of identified properties to upgrade them so that they can be brought back into use. There is much talk about boarded up houses and empty properties, particularly in our cities. Some of them are in public ownership but most of them are in private...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: That is a design issue. Whether one uses slate on the outside of a house or whether it is painted or pebble dashed is an aesthetic issue. The construct of the houses in Poppintree, which I have been in, is pretty good. Obviously, we must make sure that we are building houses that look attractive, as well as houses that make sense from all the other management perspectives. However, the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: I take some of the points. In respect of Airbnb, I must declare an interest as I went on holidays this summer to France and used Airbnb. It was a great holiday-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: It is up to France to collect the taxes. While Airbnb is a solution for some things, as far as I am concerned it also causes problems in other areas. We are trying to create long-term tenancies and certainty. Airbnb is a short-term solution mostly for people who are on holidays or who are staying somewhere on city breaks and so on. There are also issues pertaining to regulation,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: May I take a break first?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: The centralised procurement process will be in place by November, but that does not delay it because the various councils in Dublin have pressed ahead with their own procurement processes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: It is a combination of everything, which is why we are trying to shorten the time for each stage.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: We had a long conversation on rapid build earlier, with respect. We spent quite a bit of time on it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: Can I answer some of these questions? I do not mean to rush, but we have been-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: We are covering issues for the second time. That is all I am saying.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: I am in the hands of the Chairman, but I will answer the questions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: Let me answer the question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: Let me try to deal with a number of those questions. I refer to some of Deputy Boyd Barrett's comments. In mixed tenure development on public land we are trying to enure that we are building communities that have a mix of social, affordable rental and rented or owned private units. We are trying to ensure that the advantages of diversity and mixed tenure benefit those communities in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: That is what Part 5 is about.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: One cannot force mixed tenure onto private property beyond that for which we have legislated. We have legislated for Part 5. Unlike in the past, we are not going to allow developers to buy out that obligation. Rather, we are going to require that there be mixed tenure. One will see far more than 10% social housing in many private developments because as part of the funding model many...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: Deputy Coppinger can use ideological terms all she likes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: I am a pragmatist.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: I am not going to start throwing insults.