Results 2,641-2,660 of 4,673 for speaker:Seán Canney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Seán Canney: Before we return to Mr. Mullaney, if a new contract is required, we will be here talking about it in two years' time, if we are here.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Seán Canney: These contracts came in in 2007 and they were being talked about for about five years before that. They were initiated because of all the talk about how long Dublin port tunnel was taking and how much of an overrun there was. We brought in this sledgehammer to crack a small nut. We put all the risk on the contractor, which was fine at the time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Seán Canney: Absolutely.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Seán Canney: I would say it is not in the area of civil engineering; it is in the area of construction.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Seán Canney: I would imagine that if a directive has been issued, all public contracting authorities should have a copy of it. However, it seems it has not filtered down from-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Seán Canney: If I could get sight of whatever direction Mr. Mullaney was given, it might explain a lot and I could explain it to other people.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Seán Canney: I welcome Mr. Parlon and Mr. Sheridan. I come from a construction background. The history of the public works contracts we have, for the benefit of the committee, is that they were introduced in 2007. Negotiations had been ongoing at the time, but the then Minister for Finance guillotined the whole process and brought in these contracts and forced them onto the industry. For the first...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Seán Canney: And no inflation. Basically, contractors were not pricing the risk. Then, however, as inflation began to take off a little, they were able to gauge and to price the risk. What has happened in the past six months, however, is such that nobody knows what will happen tomorrow, never mind next week or in 30 months' time. That is where we are. As I said earlier, the contracts were brought in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Seán Canney: The price of construction of a house has risen by approximately 30% in the past year. People will build a house, especially if it is a private house, to get into it. They will put in a septic tank and a hardcore driveway and move into the house.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Seán Canney: That is fine. It is what I did when I got married. I refer to the national development plan in the context of not having contractors who are eager to price the work. It always comes back to price. There is another mechanism for dealing with tenders in the context of the lowest price, namely, the most economically advantageous tender. That should be developed better to allow for account...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Seán Canney: It also comes down to the percentages that are allocated. For instance, if 70% relates to the lowest price, the rest of them do not really matter. There should be a balance between quality, safety, past performance and programme of delivery. That should have a better emphasis in the overall evaluation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Seán Canney: Yes.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Stability Programme Update 2022: Minister for Finance (4 May 2022)

Seán Canney: I thank the Minister for his presentation and his attendance at the meeting. I am reminded of the rainy day fund. With the way things are going between Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine, a rainy day fund would be needed every week to try to keep pace with all the different challenges that have been put before him over the past two and a half years. It is important that we recognise we are...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Stability Programme Update 2022: Minister for Finance (4 May 2022)

Seán Canney: What is available to the local authorities apart from housing adaptation and housing aid for older people to repair their own stock of houses?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Stability Programme Update 2022: Minister for Finance (4 May 2022)

Seán Canney: I stress that those second-hand homes are not homes at the moment. They are blocked-up boarded-up buildings with four walls and maybe a roof. They are not occupied and have not been lived in for up to 20 or 25 years. We need to tackle that. A recent report for the Northern and Western Regional Assembly identified 45,000 such properties in the west and north west of the country alone....

Rising Rental Costs: Motion [Private Members] (4 May 2022)

Seán Canney: We have heard a lot about housing this evening. I would have liked the Minister to be here to listen to what I have to say. I have previously made statements about housing that may have fallen on deaf ears. I have just come from a meeting of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight at which I raised an issue with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe. He does not agree with me that we...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Irish Language (4 May 2022)

Seán Canney: 284. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason section 2.4 of Circulars 52 and 53 of 2019 refer to an Appeal of an Irish exemption refusal when it is only a review of the procedures followed by schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22213/22]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Code (4 May 2022)

Seán Canney: 305. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will ensure that disabled artists will not be penalised and will be able to retain their disability payments if they are successful in qualifying for the basic income for artists; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21874/22]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (4 May 2022)

Seán Canney: 309. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if a person whose entitlement to the illness benefit is exhausted after two years can sign on for credits in the time between the end of their illness benefit and the making of an invalidity pension application in cases in which that person had full PRSI contributions made prior to becoming ill and who worked in the private...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Immigration Policy (4 May 2022)

Seán Canney: 391. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the steps that she is taking to ensure that the new immigrant investor programme does not make the public donation category more restrictive for public good projects such as hospitals and sports clubs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21967/22]