Results 3,741-3,760 of 15,250 for speaker:Eoin Ó Broin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Discussion (24 Oct 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: This is really important. There is no threat to small AHBs in this but what if a situation arises where, in the view of the regulator, an AHB is no longer able to operate, for example if the stock is not being maintained and there are issues? These are real things.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Discussion (24 Oct 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: It is in respect of those cases where the regulator takes a view that there is a problem with an AHB and certain of its stock; the funds that are available may not cover the cost of that. I only say this because I had a live case in my own constituency a number of years ago of approximately 100 units. I am not saying it should be as complex as the credit unions but a resolution process and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Discussion (24 Oct 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: We can follow the answers in the Official Report.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Discussion (24 Oct 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: My point is a different one, because I accept that. The issue is what is the threshold against which the regulator is allowed to take those various steps, particularly in terms of the investigations etc.? To simply use language, as it does in another section of the Bill, to the effect that the regulator is "of the opinion" is very broad. Surely, if the regulator is going to instigate an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Discussion (24 Oct 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am not arguing that third-party complaints would be specified. I am suggesting "reasonable suspicion" would be a better formula for the legislation than "of the opinion".

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Discussion (24 Oct 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: Does that then mean the Minister is not legally obliged to go through the Public Appointments Service because it is not specified in the legislation? Is that the impact of that decision?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Discussion (24 Oct 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: I accept that but if the use of the Public Appointments Service is not stipulated in the legislation, does that not allow the Minister to legally make appointments outside of the Public Appointments Service process? The answer is "Yes" is it not?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Discussion (24 Oct 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: I accept that but I am saying that notwithstanding the general practice, because we have had cases in the previous Oireachtas where the general practice was not adhered to in another Department and it caused some controversy if Mr. Lemass remembers, if it is not stipulated the Public Appointments Service must be used, a Minister is then free to appoint somebody outside of that if he or she so...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Water Supply Contamination (5 Nov 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: 22. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the information he received regarding the failure of Irish Water and Fingal County Council to fully implement the recommendations of the March 2019 drinking water audit report relating to the Leixlip water treatment plant prior to the alum dosing incident that resulted in the issuing of a boil water notice for 615,539 persons...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Water Supply Contamination (5 Nov 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: As the Minister knows, we have had two significant boil water notices issued for the five local authorities in Dublin, Kildare and Meath. Today, representatives from Irish Water, the EPA, Fingal County Council and the City and County Management Association, CCMA, appeared before the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government. What actions has the Minister taken since the two...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Water Supply Contamination (5 Nov 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: I thank the Minister for his reply. Two things became evident from today's hearings. The first is, obviously, very significant systems failures and management failures between the incident that took place in April and the EPA audit in March and the event in October. Not all of the eight recommendations the EPA made in March have been fully implemented. The EPA has made another nine...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Water Supply Contamination (5 Nov 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: I thank the Minister for his response. I wish to press him, however, on the issue of the ultraviolet filtration system because, if that is necessary, it will require additional capital investment over and above what has already been allocated for this plant. Therefore, while I am not asking him to commit to that expenditure, I am asking for reassurance that if it is required, he will look...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Water Supply Contamination (5 Nov 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: 27. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the cause of the recent boil water notice at the Leixlip water treatment plant was the same as that discovered by the Environmental Protection Agency in March 2019. [45234/19]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Water Supply Contamination (5 Nov 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: To move on a little bit from what we were discussing earlier, I was not questioning the decision regarding whether to shut down the water supply or to introduce the boil water notices. I understand the logic behind that. I refer more specifically to what happens after the current upgrade works to deal with the turbidity issue are carried out. The Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, was...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Water Supply Contamination (5 Nov 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: I welcome that direct engagement. The EPA's audits are very valuable and very useful and are produced in a way that those of us who are not technical experts in the field can fully understand. The Minister is absolutely right. The ongoing upgrading of the filtration system in the old part of the plant which supplies 20% of the water to the greater Dublin area is, as far as we understand,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Traveller Accommodation (5 Nov 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: 28. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans for the implementation of the recommendations of the expert group on Traveller accommodation published in July 2019. [45235/19]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Traveller Accommodation (5 Nov 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: As we know, it was in 2017 that the Housing Agency, on foot of a request from the Department, published a very extensive report showing the failings in the Traveller accommodation budgetary process. To the Minister's credit, he put together an expert group which produced a very good report, which was published in July. We are now four months on from that so I am interested to hear the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Traveller Accommodation (5 Nov 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: I thank the Minister of State. I acknowledge the work and commitment of the Minister of State to this project. Because of this commitment, he has built up a considerable volume of trust with members of the Opposition and with the stakeholders. I have two concerns. The Housing Agency's report was published in January 2017. Extensive consultations took place during that. The expert...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Home Loan Scheme (5 Nov 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: The Minister will be aware that one of the difficulties in Dublin is that the loans being offered are, on average, €200,000. My local authority of Dublin City Council offers €180,000. This is far short of the market rate. 6 o’clock One of the things we are being told by people who receive offers that are simply too low in the context of purchasing properties is...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homeless Persons Data (5 Nov 2019)

Eoin Ó Broin: 37. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of adults and children registered as homeless in each of the years 2016 to 2018 and to date in 2019, by local authority area in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45233/19]