Results 6,941-6,960 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (17 May 2017)

Damien English: We will not be always here, despite what is in my best interests.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (17 May 2017)

Damien English: No. It is wrong to-----

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (17 May 2017)

Damien English: On zoned lands.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (17 May 2017)

Damien English: I will go with Deputy Jan O'Sullivan who covered this amendment quite well. People have to realise-----

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (17 May 2017)

Damien English: People have to realise that the power is not given to a Minister but to this House to scrutinise a decision of the Minister. Members come in here not just to comment or raise issues, and they do a great job of raising many issues, but politicians have to also make decisions. That is what democracy is about. There are many commentators in the media every day of the week but politicians go...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (17 May 2017)

Damien English: I know the Deputies did.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (17 May 2017)

Damien English: There is a Bill on that to come in later on.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (17 May 2017)

Damien English: We are doing that.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (17 May 2017)

Damien English: I will try to be brief. I will address amendments Nos. 4, 6, 7, 15 and 56. Despite the spirit of the conversation and the support of everyone here, we cannot accept the amendments as they have been put forward, but I would agree with all the arguments that have been made and the logic behind them. The amendments proposed by Deputies Cowen and Casey regarding the oversight and assessment of...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report Stage (17 May 2017)

Damien English: Yes, in the Seanad debate.

Topical Issue Debate: Agriculture Scheme Payments (18 May 2017)

Damien English: I thank Deputy Ferris for raising this issue. I understood he wanted to discuss TAMS, but I will try to cover other matters as best I can. I will set out the current position regarding the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS II. During 2015, a suite of six measures were announced under TAMS II. These measures were launched under the new rural development programme 2014-20 and...

Topical Issue Debate: Agriculture Scheme Payments (18 May 2017)

Damien English: I am sure Deputy Creed expects to be Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for a very long time and my understanding from farmers is that they want to keep him as Minister for a long time. While there might be a new Taoiseach, I am sure Deputy Creed will still be there and taking questions here. Again, I expressed his apologies at the outset that he could not take the debate here...

Topical Issue Debate: Homeless Persons Supports (18 May 2017)

Damien English: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It is not an ideological issue that we are relying on the private sector. We recognise we cannot provide overnight enough social housing to be able to deal with the situation.

Topical Issue Debate: Homeless Persons Supports (18 May 2017)

Damien English: We have a housing programme that has started, and Deputy Broughan is well aware of it. We have secured the largest investment ever in the State, secured by the Minister, Deputy Coveney, to invest in this area. The Deputy referred to the previous two Governments. If he checks the records he will see the provision of social housing was wound down before Fine Gael came into government and...

Topical Issue Debate: Homeless Persons Supports (18 May 2017)

Damien English: We did not do it. We have done our best to ramp it back up again. Just to be clear on the record, it was not a Fine Gael decision to stop-----

Topical Issue Debate: Homeless Persons Supports (18 May 2017)

Damien English: I just want to be clear, and I want to put this on the record because I am sick and tired of being told it is my party which stopped social housing. We did not. We are the ones who are putting social housing front and centre in what the Government and local government is doing. I have been around the country with local authorities telling them that we expect, and we want to continue with...

Topical Issue Debate: Homeless Persons Supports (18 May 2017)

Damien English: That is not what the Deputy said. He did not say in his area, he said it is not working and he is wrong in that.

Topical Issue Debate: Homeless Persons Supports (18 May 2017)

Damien English: The Deputy is wrong as 3,000 left last year. Accommodating family units in hotel arrangements is inappropriate for anything other than a short period of time, and I totally and utterly agree with the Deputy on that. Accordingly, Rebuilding Ireland makes explicit the commitment to ensure that by mid-2017 hotels will only be used as emergency accommodation in limited circumstances. The...

Topical Issue Debate: Homeless Persons Supports (18 May 2017)

Damien English: The Deputy raised several issues. Some rapid build construction houses are being sold privately for more than €500,000.

Topical Issue Debate: Homeless Persons Supports (18 May 2017)

Damien English: They are not modular homes. They are proper houses that will last 60, 70, 80 or 100 years. Do not try to give the impression they are not that.