Results 3,421-3,440 of 4,773 for speaker:Paudie Coffey

Seanad: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I am happy to outline and clarify the matter for the Senator. It concerns the property rights of citizens and related issues. We must follow due process in how we apply a levy. Citizens must be given appropriate time and processes to respond to proposed designations. There has been extensive engagement between officials from my Department and the Office of the Attorney General in...

Seanad: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I will first address some of the points the Senator rightly makes about the unsustainable development we have seen in the past. Much of that has to do with the zoning decisions that were made, causing urban sprawl and development in areas where there was no demand. It contributed to a property bubble that was never going to last. That is why we in Government have revised how sustainable...

Seanad: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: We oppose amendment No. 9. This amendment, which was also brought forward on Report Stage in the Dáil, seeks to amend the provisions in section 14 of the Bill which provides the criteria by which the planning authority or the tribunal may deem that a vacant site has a zero market value. The amendment proposes to delete the following criterion: "the site is situated on contaminated...

Seanad: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I thank Senator Cullinane for raising this interesting point of debate. As the Senator knows there are various reasons and legacy issues associated with many contaminated lands. They might have been brownfield sites from industrial or manufacturing plants or just contaminated land. To reassure the Senator, other environmental legislation is already available through the powers of bodies...

Seanad: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I oppose amendment No. 14, which seeks to amend section 17. The proposed amendment would set the levy at zero for the year of ownership change only. The overall purpose of the vacant site levy, as we have said is to incentivise the development of the suitable vacant sites in central urban areas. Section 17 provides an incentive for landowners and purchasers of vacant sites that where the...

Seanad: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Sections 20 and 22 provide that it is an offence to provide false or misleading information, for example in a submission to a planning authority and to forge or alter documents, or a certificate of discharge. Committing such an offence can lead to a class A fine or imprisonment, or both. Amendment No. 16 seeks to insert a new subsection to section 20, requiring that any fine resulting from...

Seanad: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Section 23 of the Bill outlines how the proceeds of the vacant site levy are to be used by the planning authority. It essentially ring-fences the proceeds to be solely used for "the provision of housing on residential land" or for "the development and renewal of regeneration land". The legislation states that the proceeds "shall" be used in this way. The proposed amendment would insert a...

Seanad: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I am opposing this amendment. Section 25(3) of the Bill already provides that "every regulation or order made under this Part shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation or order is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation or order is laid before...

Seanad: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The Construction 2020 strategy makes it clear that the viability and affordability of housing is an issue in this country. The provisions in this section of the Bill would permit reductions in development charges on existing planning permissions that have yet to be activated. This section also provides that the new lower development contribution scheme shall apply to any unsold housing...

Seanad: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I wish to make it clear that housing is a priority for this Government. It is one of the most challenging issues facing society at the moment but it cannot be resolved overnight. We have inherited a position where we have come through the worst economic crash that this country has ever experienced. The whole construction sector has been devastated and wiped out. When one brings all those...

Seanad: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The Senator has made broad ranging points in terms of the wider housing debate. I agree with him on some of them but disagree with him on many others. We are coming from slightly different perspectives and yet we are still dealing with the same problem and issues. It is reasonable in any society for people to have the expectation of owning their own homes. If people have that legitimate...

Seanad: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I appreciate the point the Senator makes. It probably is a matter for a wider debate. My Department, the Minister, Deputy Kelly, and I have regular engagements with the approved housing body associations. We have a monthly social housing strategy oversight meeting when we bring all the stakeholders together, including those bodies, the local authorities, Department officials and the...

Seanad: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Senator Barrett raises some pertinent points. I thank him for raising them because they are part of the wider housing debate in terms of affordability and the whole economic feasibility of housing in this country. We have to take into account everything I said earlier, including land costs, infrastructural costs and the need to deliver vital public infrastructure. On top of that, we have...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Private Rented Accommodation Deposits (22 Sep 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 regulates the tenant-landlord relationship in the private rented residential sector. Section 12 of the Act states that a landlord shall return or repay promptly any deposit paid by the tenant to the landlord on entering into the agreement for the tenancy or lease, subject to compliance by the tenant with provisions regarding default in the payment of rent...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Building Regulations Application (22 Sep 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1384 and 1432. The review of S . I . No. 9 of 2014 following its first 12 months in operation was announced on 2 April 2015. 171 submissions were received from private individuals, industry stakeholders and local authorities during the public consultation process . All submissions received were reviewed by my Department and a Report on the Consultation...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Pyrite Issues (22 Sep 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1385 and 1388 together. HomeBond is a private limited company providing structural guarantees for new houses and, since November 2008, the HomeBond Insurance scheme is underwritten by Allianz Insurance.As is the case for any private company, its operations are a matter for its management and Board of Directors. I understand that HomeBond Insurance Services Ltd...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Pyrite Issues (22 Sep 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1386 and 1387 together. An agreement was signed i n mid- June 2014 between the P yrite R esolution B oard and HomeBond on the voluntary contribution that HomeBond would make to the implementation / administration of the p yrite r emediation s cheme.The a greement came into immediate effect and is subject to annual review. The a greement sets out the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Tenant Purchase Scheme Administration (22 Sep 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1393, 1405, 1418, 1427 and 1429 together. Part 3 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 provides for a new scheme for the tenant purchase of existing local authority houses along incremental purchase lines, similar to the schemes currently operating for local authority apartments and certain new local authority houses. The Government’s...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Priory Hall Development (22 Sep 2015)

Paudie Coffey: An Implementation Oversight Group, chaired by Dr Martin McAleese, was established with representatives of the Priory Hall residents (both owner occupiers and buy-to-let owners), the Irish Banking Federation, Dublin City Council (DCC), my Department and the Department of the Taoiseach. The Group has met regularly and substantial progress has been made. Detailed legal documents have been...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Private Residential Tenancies Board (22 Sep 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) is an independent statutory body established on 1 September 2004 under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 and I have no function in relation to the operational matters of the Board. Consequently, my Department does not collate the information requested. The 2004 Act regulates the landlord / tenant relationship in the private rented residential...