Results 24,161-24,180 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Eligibility (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 prescribe the procedures for households to apply to housing authorities for social housing support and the conduct and review of social housing assessments. The income threshold is the basic measure of whether a household is eligible in the first instance for social housing support. The 2011 Regulations prescribe maximum net income limits for...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: The correct figure is 28,000.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Seanad for really co-operating in trying to facilitate the movement of this Bill quickly through the Houses. I am determined to try to get this legislation finalised and enacted before the end of the year in order that when we start next year, we will have a series of new systems that can deliver more efficiently than current systems. The focus so far in the discussion has...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: I will tell the Senators exactly what I said for the avoidance of any------

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: -----doubt. This was not an organised meeting a few days ago.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: Sometimes one needs to take the ball on the hop and the ball bounced today and I thought I would pick it up and run with it.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Senators should listen to what we are trying to do. We will introduce an amendment next Tuesday on Report Stage, which is very similar to the amendment the Senator will move later. We can tease out why there need to be tweaks and so on. We will require chief executives during the pre-planning consideration process, which is a statutory nine-week period, to inform and consult...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: Fifty next year.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: Senator Landy's concern seems to be based on the fact that he thinks I am having a go at local authorities for their delay in making decisions. As it happens, that is not what this is about. There is as big an onus on developers here as there is on the system to make decisions. If developers do not have their work done before they go to a pre-planning stage, they will not get very far. We...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: If we were to instead take the approach some people have suggested and just concentrate on streamlining the decision-making process at local authority level, the reality is that the vast majority of these would be appealed and go to An Bord Pleanála anyway. While I accept that it would improve it, even if we had a guaranteed eight-week decision-making process at local authority level...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: I am certainly never going to take the AILG for granted. I outlined some of our thinking to the AILG. I believe it is consistent with what a number of people have been saying. I told the AILG that we would try to introduce an amendment. I did not give an exact wording, but I gave the spirit of the amendment we want to introduce on Report Stage. We will talk about it later when amendments...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: Just one housing estate has been built in County Galway, which Senator Craughwell knows well, in the past seven years. The estate in Oranmore was the only one to be built in the second largest county in Ireland in that time. I do not think the estate in question was over 100 units. Maybe I am wrong in that regard.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: The point I am making is that we are trying to improve the pace of delivery by changing the system in a fairly fundamental way for a temporary period. We are trying to get movement in the system. That is all we are trying to do. We will have a separate planning Bill. A planning Bill that is before the Dáil on Second Stage at the moment will set up a new planning regulator to make...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: All we are talking about today is a proposed response in parts of the country where the potential exists to start delivering larger-scale developments to meet very pressurised housing demand. It is clear from what the Central Bank has done today that it recognises the need for its regulations to change. It is changing the deposit requirements that apply to first-time buyers. I am glad that...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: I accept that some people criticised what we did.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: The core issue that is inhibiting first-time buyers who want to apply for a mortgage to buy a property is the ability to accumulate a deposit to apply for such a mortgage. That is essentially what the Central Bank is saying today and that is what we said on budget day.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: No, they did not. When people tried to get evidence of that, I think they got one or two examples from the entire country. There has not been too much evidence since.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: The core issue here is that we must get builders building on the scale we need to start making a positive impact on the supply deficit. This is one of the many things we can do to help the process. I take the point that planning permission has been granted for 27,000 or 28,000 units in Dublin. Some of the reasons those sites are not moving relate to finance, infrastructure and speculation....

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: Yes. I gave an example. The breakdown of the 15 individual applications, in terms of the timeline for each segment, is available. If one looks at it, one will see that it is shared across the system. Some of the delays have been caused by requests for further information. A delay on the part of the developer is potentially just as likely as a delay on the part of the system. The new...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Simon Coveney: The first thing I would like to say is that the idea of formal applications going directly to An Bord Pleanála is not a new one. It is already permitted in the case of large strategic infrastructure like an incinerator, a road or a hospital. The children's hospital project is going straight to An Bord Pleanála.