Results 561-580 of 5,941 for speaker:Paul McAuliffe

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government.
Local Government Fund
Chapter 2 – Central Government Funding of Local Authorities. (25 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: As such, some elements relate to the larger project.

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government.
Local Government Fund
Chapter 2 – Central Government Funding of Local Authorities. (25 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: In July 2019, a new council was elected. It has a different approach to housing and seeks to build more public housing on public land. In November 2019, the council voted to approve the HLI deal and made a parallel agreement with Bartra Capital Property to purchase 30% of the stock for cost-rental accommodation. I know the new Government is committed to a cost-rental approach. At this...

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government.
Local Government Fund
Chapter 2 – Central Government Funding of Local Authorities. (25 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: I really appreciate the Department's support, which was key to securing agreement on that site. That bears comparison with what happened just a week ago at the Oscar Traynor Road site. A full year passed between the decision on O'Devaney Gardens in November 2019 and the vote on the Oscar Traynor Road site in November 2020. It was known that the proposal for O'Devaney Gardens was barely...

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government.
Local Government Fund
Chapter 2 – Central Government Funding of Local Authorities. (25 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: An earlier speaker described a mix of incomes. The main reason for the failure of this project was uncertainty around the prospect of 50% private ownership. These units could easily become private rental housing through the housing assistance payment, HAP, or a real estate Investment trust, REIT. Providing models of funding which allow certainty around the outcome will be the secret to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Issues (26 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: 9. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on Poland and Hungary blocking coronavirus recovery funding due to it being linked to the rule of law; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38266/20]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Issues (26 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: I thank the Minister for his comments. There has been debate on this issue already and I will not extend it. A sum of €2 trillion is an eye-watering amount of money, but even that amount is not enough to entice Europe to deviate from its values. Many in the UK argued for a long time that the EU is a Common Market rather than a Union. That is an important aspect in respect of how we...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Issues (26 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: I thank the Minister.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Israeli Settlements (26 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: 21. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on new illegal settlements on the West Bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38265/20]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (26 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: 193. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans for amendments to the spend and save scheme in view of the current level 3 status of the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29974/20]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Motor Insurance (26 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: 120. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to implement the recommendations made in the report by the working group on reducing the cost of motor insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39117/20]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Interest Rates (26 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: 139. To ask the Minister for Finance the steps he is taking to reduce mortgage interest rates; his views on whether interest rates being charged here are reasonable compared to the rest of Europe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39118/20]

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government (Resumed)
Chapter 11 - Social Housing
Chapter 12 - Land Aggregation Scheme.
Chapter 13 - Pyrite Remediation Scheme. (26 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: I welcome our guests, Mr. Doyle, Mr. O'Connor and Ms Ryan in the room, and all those who are joining us via Teams. I hope to keep my questions short and hope the witnesses can keep their responses short so that we can cover as much territory as possible. I hope to cover Chapters 11, measuring performance for Exchequer spending on social housing; Chapter 12, progress under the land...

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government (Resumed)
Chapter 11 - Social Housing
Chapter 12 - Land Aggregation Scheme.
Chapter 13 - Pyrite Remediation Scheme. (26 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: While the indicators measure the output, in some cases there was a failure to understand the economic element and the value-for-money element. Let me take two examples. A housing assistance payment, HAP, tenancy has an indicator. Many of us in the room would have dealt with a family who might have become homeless, availed of emergency accommodation, exited emergency accommodation, taken up...

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government (Resumed)
Chapter 11 - Social Housing
Chapter 12 - Land Aggregation Scheme.
Chapter 13 - Pyrite Remediation Scheme. (26 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: I do not want to delve too deeply into the policy area. In highlighting those issues, we are highlighting that the policies were revenue intensive and, in many ways, they were short-term because of the immediate shortage. Their value for money and efficiency, and the more holistic aspect in terms of being more than just a home were not considered by the policy. The accounting is really...

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government (Resumed)
Chapter 11 - Social Housing
Chapter 12 - Land Aggregation Scheme.
Chapter 13 - Pyrite Remediation Scheme. (26 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: I am sure many people in the political space would agree that HAP is a total waste of taxpayers' money over a long period. Our failure to wean ourselves off HAP over the past ten or more years has been a failure of policy. Mr. Doyle spoke about the supply of housing. I ask about the land aggregation and Mr. O'Connor might like to answer some of these questions. Let us cast our minds...

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government (Resumed)
Chapter 11 - Social Housing
Chapter 12 - Land Aggregation Scheme.
Chapter 13 - Pyrite Remediation Scheme. (26 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: Even with 900, that is still less than one third of the total potential of those sites.

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government (Resumed)
Chapter 11 - Social Housing
Chapter 12 - Land Aggregation Scheme.
Chapter 13 - Pyrite Remediation Scheme. (26 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: The point about the mix echoes a point I previously raised regarding the range of policy measures. As a former local authority member, I have some experience of how it can be really difficult delivering a mix on big sites. Can Mr. O'Connor answer the criticism of why it has not proved possible to deliver on so many of the sites transferred to the Housing Agency? I think 37 were categorised...

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government (Resumed)
Chapter 11 - Social Housing
Chapter 12 - Land Aggregation Scheme.
Chapter 13 - Pyrite Remediation Scheme. (26 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: Is Mr. O'Connor saying that the figure of 37 sites, with 25 having low demand, is not correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government (Resumed)
Chapter 11 - Social Housing
Chapter 12 - Land Aggregation Scheme.
Chapter 13 - Pyrite Remediation Scheme. (26 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: Let us focus on those other sites, because I have asked that question twice. I appreciate that the Housing Agency is dealing with issues decided outside its remit. Is it the case that there were sites bought by a local authority, because it wished to develop them, which had the potential to deliver 50% of the total estimate, that the Housing Agency asked was it interested and the local...

Public Accounts Committee: 2019 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government (Resumed)
Chapter 11 - Social Housing
Chapter 12 - Land Aggregation Scheme.
Chapter 13 - Pyrite Remediation Scheme. (26 Nov 2020)

Paul McAuliffe: How can any local authority suggest that it either has low demand or no need in the midst of the current housing crisis? It seems an amazing assessment.