Results 2,321-2,340 of 4,676 for speaker:Dessie Ellis

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I understand what the Minister of State has said, but our experience of dealing with landlords is that these issues tend to drag on and we seem to wait indefinitely for places to be inspected and approved. We saw what happened in the inner city with regard to standards. In the surveys conducted the standards were very low. We need to be more precise about how long we should allow. From...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 23:In page 51, line 7, to delete "qualified household" and substitute "authority concerned".

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 24:In page 51, line 8, after "dwelling" to insert "for the qualified household concerned".

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 25:In page 51, line 21, to delete "qualified household" and substitute "authority concerned".

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 26:In page 51, line 22, after "dwelling" to insert "for the qualified household concerned".

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 27:In page 52, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following:"(c) proof that any other dwellings under the ownership of said landlord which are occupied by a private tenant or other household within Housing Assistance Scheme have their tenancy registered with the Residential Tenancies Board.".The amendment requires that landlords taking part, or hoping to take part, in...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I am conscious that while one property owned by a landlord may be considered for HAP that landlord may have other properties which are not registered. It is important to have consistency with regard to whatever landlord is there and that he or she is not operating differently elsewhere. That is the purpose of this amendment, which seeks to include the provision that "proof that any other...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 29:In page 52, line 38, to delete “qualified household” and substitute “authority”.In respect of this amendment-----

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 34:In page 54, line 30, after "offers" to insert "not less than 3".The reason I tabled this amendment is because it is not specific how many times the Minister proposes in section 45, where it states, "a prescribed number of reasonable offers". This varies between local authorities. Some local authorities state one offer and if one refuses the next offer, one waits a...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I hear what the Minister of State is saying but she has not agreed to one amendment in this process. It is reasonable to standardise the system. Having two offers is inconsistent because people are being offered places in areas where others have refused them. On occasion, the same house is being offered four or five times, which does not make sense. Some local authorities are taking a...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I will press the amendment because I do not accept the Minister of State's argument that the local authorities are behaving or using good judgment. We need to put some sort of standard in place. A standard of three refusals across the board will not prevent flexibility. Currently, when the third refusal occurs, an individual will wait one year on the list. That is the penalty currently...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: It is one year in Dublin and two years in Cork. We are all over the place in this regard. We should allow three reasonable offers. There is no point in offering a place in which anti-social behaviour has occurred to beat the band. Dozens of people have refused offers in such a context. We need to use our common sense to develop a standardised approach.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: Today we met officials from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Department of Social Protection who confirmed in no uncertain terms that anyone who avails of HAP will be removed from the housing list. The Minister of State hesitated to say this but the officials confirmed it today. This will take many people off the housing list if they avail of HAP....

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: It is reasonable to suggest a period of six months for monitoring the legislation subsequent to its introduction. I am not clear on how people will transfer from rental supplement to HAP. Many of the 78,000 people who are in receipt of rent supplement are making top up payments. What problems will we face when we come to assessing that in the local authorities? I can see major problems in...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: Department officials stated they would be taken off a housing list.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: That is after they are taken off the housing list.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: It was indicated that people would remain on the list.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: That is playing with words. It is unacceptable.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I would love to know where they are.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: After two years.