Results 21-40 of 5,054 for speaker:Kathleen Funchion

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Irish Council for Social Housing (28 Apr 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: That is a good idea.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Construction Industry Federation (3 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: Many of my points have already been raised. I disagree with the abolition of Part V and the rule on providing 20% for social housing. Not only does the rule provide homes, but some of the best estates throughout the country are places where Part V was at 20%. I agree that if it is to be replaced by a levy there is no guarantee the money will be spent on social housing. Labour costs and...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (3 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: We all probably agree regarding the mystery of the cost of building a house. There is a lot of talk about how we need to reduce the cost, yet we do not seem to know exactly what that cost is. Are the issues mentioned regarding regeneration in a separate document? What was read was quite lengthy and I do not have it here in that detail. Could we get a copy of it?

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (3 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: Right. We have one.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (3 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: That is fine, I will get it. I agree with many of those points. I mentioned earlier that we have a great deal of vacant properties, particularly in rural areas, which we should be looking at. Not only is it good for an area to have these places regenerated and people living in them - it breathes a bit of life back into an area - but it can also provide some short-term solutions, because...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (3 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: Yes. I would be interested in the views of the witnesses. I do not think schemes like the HAP and the RAS are long-term solutions but we need to look at them in the short term.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (3 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: Is there not a responsibility on auctioneers? Maybe some are doing this - some of them are great - but in my experience, some are not. I suggest that auctioneers explain the schemes to landlords and go through the details of HAP scheme and RAS with them. I found that many auctioneers did not know what RAS was. What is Mr. O'Flaherty's option on that? Does he think that in general,...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (3 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: Yes.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (3 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: Yes.

Crime: Statements (5 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: I wish to focus on rural crime. It is important to remember that crime does not discriminate between urban and rural areas. It is also important that in discussing this issue we reflect on the worrying increase in crime in rural areas in recent years. There is a real sense of fear in communities where people are particularly vulnerable. The reality is that it is a result of cutbacks to...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (5 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: A lot of the points have been made but I want to mention two things. I have a huge issue with the mortgage-to-rent scheme. It could be a very good scheme but I have come across countless cases where it is not working. It is too difficult. People are being rejected or are not given enough information. People have often been in court already and had their cases adjourned but it is only at...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Professor P. J. Drudy, Trinity College Dublin (10 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: I actually do not have a question. I just want to make a brief comment. I agree with what Professor Drudy says about seeing housing as a right and not a way to make profit. I am a tenant myself and have moved a lot in the past few years as a result of houses being sold and so on, but obviously I am in different circumstances from many people. We forget the impact this is having on...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Mercy Law Resource Centre (10 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: I agree completely on having the right to housing in the Constitution. I am also glad to see Ms Regan bringing up mental health in respect of children as it gets overlooked a lot. There is a type of case which I often come across. The tenant is put on notice to quit and, although the landlord follows all the rules in terms of the number of days' notice depending on the length of the...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Mercy Law Resource Centre (10 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: We often see that there is no real reason given in these cases, although maybe landlords are not supposed to be doing that. Next thing, the property is up on daft.iefor an extra €200 or €300. While I know the constitutional right is not the answer to everything, I wonder if it would help in tackling that kind of stuff.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Dublin Homeless Network, Limerick and Clare Homeless Alliance, Cork Social Housing Forum (12 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: I agree with much of what the witnesses say, particularly about landlords not taking up the housing assistance, HAP, scheme, the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, and every other scheme. They have no interest. They will make up any excuse in the book and avoid it as much as possible. These are some of the best submissions we have got from any housing organisations because they deal with...

Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage (17 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: I congratulate the Minister on her appointment and wish her every success in her new role in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. I look forward to working constructively with her. I thought yesterday's briefing was excellent. I was happy to attend it. It was very useful. I hope similar briefings will be organised in the future. I hope the appointment of the Minister, Deputy...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Residential Tenancies Board (17 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: I agree with a lot of what Deputy O'Sullivan said. I thought we would have a bit more detail on proposals. I would like to know about the length of time taken to resolve disputes. I do not expect the witnesses to have the information to hand, but I would like a further breakdown, even on a regional basis, on the number of disputes and the length of time taken to resolve them. My...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Free Legal Advice Centres (17 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: FLAC has made several recommendations, including a mortgage reschedule tribunal, which it envisages as an appeals mechanism. Will Mr. Joyce give us some more information on that? I think that would be a good idea. I agree with the point Mr. Joyce made about not having an appeal. I used to work for a trade union. One of the fundamental things we always argued for was the right of everyone...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Free Legal Advice Centres (17 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: It is a good idea and something we should definitely consider.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Pavee Point (19 May 2016)

Kathleen Funchion: While this has been answered to an extent, I seek clarification. Were a statutory Traveller agency to be set up, do the witnesses envisage it would deal with the issues of underspending and how some local authorities are not drawing down money at all? Do they envisage such an agency having a wider role than simply with regard to housing? I represent the constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny and...