Results 381-400 of 6,287 for in 'Committee meetings' speaker:Catherine Murphy

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Current Housing Demand: Discussion (Resumed) (7 May 2014)

Catherine Murphy: I wish to revert to a couple of questions I asked previously. We talked about RAS and how what is being paid is over and above what people are getting in rent supplement. However, Limerick City Council has told the joint committee that landlords are withdrawing from RAS, which also is my experience. I believe this is happening where other options are available. How can housing assistance...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Current Housing Demand: Discussion (Resumed) (7 May 2014)

Catherine Murphy: I got the figures on the staff levels of local authorities in response to a parliamentary question. Using Kildare as an example of moving RAS staff to the HAP scheme, I note there is one RAS staff member. The flexibility is not there and one is not comparing like with like nationwide.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Current Housing Demand: Discussion (Resumed) (7 May 2014)

Catherine Murphy: Yes, I accept that.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: I must leave before 12.30 p.m.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: Sometimes the arrears are not real arrears in that owing to staffing issues, local authorities only review cases annually and a person may lose his or her job following a review resulting in a change in his or her circumstances for that year and this is only amended the following year. A different approach may be required to ensure that the arrears are not over-stated. It is a situation...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: Even when tenants do inform local authorities of their difficulties the local authorities, in some cases, will not do anything about it until year end. People who have never been in arrears before then panic because they believe they will be liable to pay rent which is substantially above their ability to pay because of changing circumstances. There must be some flexibility within the local...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: I move amendment No. 9: In page 28, to delete line 16.This amendment arises out of an issue which I raised on Second Stage. Some of the anti-social behaviour in this area is being caused by minors. According to the Garda Síochána there is very little it can do when there is a minor involved. While I acknowledge that the Bill does not provide for an excluding order in respect of...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: The Child and Family Agency will also liaise with the Garda and will probably act as the link authority.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: I ask the Minister of State to come back to me about the matter and I will not press my amendment.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: I move amendment No. 11: In page 37, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:"(4) A housing authority shall ensure that, unless otherwise directed by resolution of the elected members of the local authority to which the housing authority is subject, 100 per cent of the proceeds garnered from the sale of a house under this Part shall be retained by the local authority for the specific...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: Is that provision part of the general Government deficit? Is there flexibility to use the money for the purpose of housing? Are there moneys in the fund? We know it is retained at each local authority level, but do we know what is in the fund?

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: This is a legacy issue and is not of the making of the Minister of State. There were major sell-offs over the years and it has sometimes been seen as a windfall for the State. In fact, this is a short-term approach because we end up in a situation, as we have at the moment, in which it costs a fortune to deliver houses because of the shortage. Unless we do something to change this, where...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: If the Minister of State is going to change it, do we know to what it will be changed? Clearly, there would have been well known discount criteria for persons more than ten years in a local authority house. Obviously, they be tapered. If I recall correctly, a person had to be in a house one or two years - it may have been three years - before becoming eligible to purchase it. Is this the...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: What about the arrears?

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: The other question was about the availability of finance. There are more strict criteria now. Will that be true of the local authorities?

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: I presume the same obligation exists with the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, or with rent assistance. Will it still be necessary for them to register?

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: Landlords who signed up to RAS are now withdrawing from it. The latter is much more advantageous than the HAP scheme in that it involves 92% of the market rents. I do not know which landlords are going to rush to sign up to the HAP scheme in the first instance, particularly as it will be less advantageous than RAS from the point of view of the income they will receive. There are many...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: Twice as much-----

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: This appears to restrict HAP to the levels of rent caps available currently. In the parts of the country where there are large waiting lists, this renders this scheme redundant, because it is essentially impossible to acquire housing at the limits set by the Department of Social Protection. That Department is in denial that this is the situation. Every one of us here today must deal with...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Catherine Murphy: One of the things that is not counted in terms of the rent caps, which one must be acutely aware of, is that there is significant topping up taking place. The amount that people are paying for rent is being understated where they are making arrangements with landlords to pay extra. I do not know anyone in my area who is not paying additional amounts under the table, to the point where some...