Results 2,401-2,420 of 4,773 for speaker:Paudie Coffey

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: The ongoing piloting of the HAP will include as part of the national roll-out of the scheme a review of the current allocation and transfer policies of housing authorities to give appropriate weight to households on the transfer lists in the allocation of available social accommodation. It is intended to provide that where a HAP recipient who has come off the waiting list applies to go onto...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: Second thoughts.

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I have been provided with quite a detailed response which I will read into the record and which, I hope, will reassure Senators. Before I do so, I reiterate the commitment given by my predecessor to follow up on this issue. While I agree with the general thrust of the amendments, I certainly cannot accept them. In specific reference to amendment No. 22, the Domestic Violence Act 1996 comes...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I thank Senator Fiach Mac Conghail for his kind comments and I note his views. I have already spoken about the transfer policies and how they will be dealt with. My remarks are on the public record. I appreciate the Senator's having raised this issue with me. I acknowledge Senator Hayden's vast experience in this area as chairperson of Threshold. She has brought great insight to the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Voluntary Sector Funding (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Acting Chairman. I also thank Senator John Crown for placing this important matter on the agenda. I have a detailed response which will help to clarify how the schemes are funded and assessed. I can respond again should the Senator wish to raise further issues. On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, I am pleased to have an opportunity to address the Seanad on the funding...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Voluntary Sector Funding (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I appreciate the Senator's genuine concerns in this matter and take on board the good case he has made. I discussed the issue with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, this evening after I saw that this Adjournment motion had been tabled. We are prepared to reconsider applicants with disability or health-related functions to determine whether...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Pyrite Remediation Programme Implementation (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Senator for his kind comments. I spent over four years in the Seanad with many colleagues. They were very good years. I thank the Senator for raising this matter which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, and providing me with an opportunity to report on the progress made to date by the Pyrite Resolution Board in addressing this very difficult problem. The...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Pyrite Remediation Programme Implementation (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I understand these are very genuine concerns and they affect many public representatives of all political persuasions and none. The Senator, rightly, raises them on the floor of the Seanad. I wish him well in his meeting tomorrow with representatives of the Pyrite Remediation Board. I certainly would have no problem in meeting a delegation at some time if progress was not being made. A...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Motor Tax Collection (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Senator for his kind comments. I look forward to working with him and many colleagues in the House. I thank the Senator for raising this matter which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly. I acknowledge the importance of a healthy and competitive haulage industry to our general economic welfare and employment across all areas of the country. Changes to the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Motor Tax Collection (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I do not have the answer the Senator requires. The figures I have outlined clearly state that by the end of June 2014, the motor tax receipts are €47 million greater than for the same period in 2013. It seems clear therefore that the measures implemented are having the effect of ensuring people who might in the past have tried to evade paying motor tax are compliant. The Department...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage to Rent Scheme Application Numbers (17 Sep 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Deputy for his good wishes. ` My Department funds two mortgage to rent, MTR, schemes, a local authority, LA, scheme and an approved housing body, AHB, scheme. Both schemes are designed to assist families with income difficulties whose mortgages are deemed unsustainable and likely to remain so. Both schemes allow the household to remain in the home as a social housing tenant....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage to Rent Scheme Application Numbers (17 Sep 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I recognise and share the concern of the Deputy, as every Member does. I reassure the Deputy that the Government is committed to ensuring as far as possible that people remain in their family homes. While I note that the Deputy is calling for an increase in the numbers using the scheme, my hope is that people's circumstances improve so that they do not end up having to make an application....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mortgage to Rent Scheme Application Numbers (17 Sep 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I accept the point the Deputy makes regarding awareness, but I am sure I am right in saying that in their negotiations with people in difficulties, lending institutions make them aware of all of the options available to them to remain in the family home. MABS does Trojan work to inform and assist people in debt difficulty. MABS informs people in difficulty of the options available to them....

Other Questions: Local Authority Housing (17 Sep 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Deputy for his question and wish to reiterate the Minister's comments, in that the provision of housing units is a high priority for the Government. Action No. 1 of Construction 2020: A Strategy for a Renewed Construction Sector provides for a national framework for housing supply to be established on a statutory footing, with an annual national statement of projected housing...

Other Questions: Local Authority Housing (17 Sep 2014)

Paudie Coffey: The Government recognises the challenge of providing housing units. The housing shortage exists for a reason: the policy of previous Governments was to abdicate responsibility for direct provision of local authority houses. In tandem, the problem was exacerbated when the Part V element of private developments, which was intended to address many of the housing gaps, failed to deliver the...

Other Questions: Local Authority Housing (17 Sep 2014)

Paudie Coffey: A number of responses are needed to urgently respond to this problem.

Other Questions: Local Authority Housing (17 Sep 2014)

Paudie Coffey: Yes. I recognise that Kildare has its demands and it is recognised by Government that the greater Dublin area, the commuter areas and other large urban areas in the country have a far greater demand on social housing provision. That is why there is a medium to long-term strategy, as well as a short-term one, where a national framework for housing supply is being established and will be put...

Water Services (Exempt Charges) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (17 Sep 2014)

Paudie Coffey: It is flawed.

Water Services (Exempt Charges) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (17 Sep 2014)

Paudie Coffey: It is flawed legislation. You were the guys who were singing on the lorry.

Water Services (Exempt Charges) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (17 Sep 2014)

Paudie Coffey: They were having a sing-song on the back of a lorry while the country was going down the tubes.