Results 481-500 of 1,352 for speaker:Mary Fitzpatrick

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Happy Lá Fhéile Bríde to everyone. Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil le Seanadóir O'Loughlin. Today, I am thinking of everybody who is struggling with the enormous challenge of trying either to buy or rent a home. It is very frustrating and stressful for people. Last week we had the publication of the second quarterly report on Housing for All, the...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (3 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: It is great to see Senator Pauline O’Reilly in the Deputy Leader’s chair. I hope it is the first time of many. I raise the issue of multi-denominational, co-educational secondary schools, particularly in Dublin Central. When I was growing up, there was no multi-denominational, co-educational secondary school there, and it is more than ten years since I supported a campaign...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Monuments and Archaeological Heritage Bill: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (3 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank all the witnesses. We appreciate the time they are giving us in providing opening statements and for their promise of further documentation. It is most helpful to us in our pre-legislative scrutiny. As the witnesses stated, this is very important legislation and we want to get it right. Archaeology is something that sounds dusty and old, but I agree with Dr. Greene's point that it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Monuments and Archaeological Heritage Bill: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (3 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: The advisory council.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Monuments and Archaeological Heritage Bill: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (3 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I appreciate that my time is up, but can we come back to it in a later round? I think my question was misunderstood. I was not questioning the merit of the proposal. I was asking the An Taisce representatives to elaborate on what they propose the membership would be.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: While Sinn Féin and its friends, the investors, are laughing at renters, the Government is not. The Government is spending €900 million of taxpayers' money to support more than 100,000 renters. On top of that, it has committed €20 billion to increase the social and affordable housing stock and to give people a chance to own their own homes. Two citizens' assemblies were...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (9 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: There is a commitment within the Government to holding a citizens' assembly on drugs. I absolutely support that and it is one on which we should ask the Minister for Health to update this House in regard to when it will be convened. I welcome the commitment of €8 billion to retrofit homes. It will allow people who own their own homes, or who own and operate public buildings and...

Seanad: Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person (Amendment) (Stalking) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (9 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I welcome the Minister for Justice and thank her for coming to the House today, as well as for supporting my colleague Senator Chambers in this legislation she has brought to the House. I commend Una Ring, Eve McDowell and every victim and survivor of stalking, abuse, harassment and violence in whatever form it takes. Right from when she took office, the Minister made it a priority to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Interim Report on Homelessness: Discussion (8 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I am going to continue on this point. I have some other questions but this is a really important issue. I thank Mr. Durkan, Ms Hayes, Ms Timmons and Ms Tobin for coming in. This meeting is meant to be one of a series. Ending homelessness by 2030 is a key priority for the Government and for this committee. We made it one of our first priorities by producing the report and we are committed...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Interim Report on Homelessness: Discussion (8 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Okay. That is really reassuring to hear and we encourage everybody to engage with Threshold. On achieving the target of ending homelessness by 2030, we know about the 90,000 social house builds that are committed to, funded and which the local authorities are obviously gearing up to achieve but in the short term, what are we going to do? Is there sufficient supply there in the short...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Interim Report on Homelessness: Discussion (8 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Interim Report on Homelessness: Discussion (8 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Ms Hayes said funding is not an issue. What is the biggest issue?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Interim Report on Homelessness: Discussion (8 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: On that basis, a circular clarifying the situation would be very important. A pot of money has been allocated to acquire properties where it makes sense to do so. We could be waiting for one and four bedroom properties to come up and, at the same time, we could be allowing families to go into emergency accommodation when they are in properties that meet their needs and will prevent them...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Interim Report on Homelessness: Discussion (8 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I sincerely thank the witnesses not just for appearing before the committee today but for all the work they do every day. It is tremendous. They are dealing with the most vulnerable people in our society. We talk about the big numbers in Housing for All such as 300,000 homes and so forth, but it comes down to the individual lived experience of the people who suffer homelessness. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Interim Report on Homelessness: Discussion (8 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Does that include increasing the HAP?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Interim Report on Homelessness: Discussion (8 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: What about acquiring properties through lease?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Interim Report on Homelessness: Discussion (8 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: What about leasing properties?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Interim Report on Homelessness: Discussion (8 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I am on the north side of Dublin city. There were no new social or affordable homes built in the area in the past ten years. That is just a reality. To be fair, all of the services know my constituency very well because a large number of emergency accommodation services are being provided there. The Government has committed €20 billion to build homes, but it will take time. In the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Interim Report on Homelessness: Discussion (8 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: How can we stop them leaving?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Interim Report on Homelessness: Discussion (8 Feb 2022)

Mary Fitzpatrick: From my experience over the past five years in Dublin city, landlords who bought properties 20 or 30 years ago saw the value of the property drop dramatically in the crash and when the property prices began to rise again, they wanted to sell the properties, as that was their pension. Where a local authority could purchase the home and keep the family that was renting in situ, as they were on...