Results 7,341-7,360 of 15,555 for speaker:Eoghan Murphy

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Chairman for her good wishes and I thank the committee for the opportunity to appear here on one of the first sessions since my appointment as Minister. I see today’s meeting as a chance to hear at first hand the committee's views on how we can build on the significant progress being made to implement the Government’s Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the members for their questions. I have taken a note of each one and I will come back to each. Please bear with me. Deputy Ó Broin raised the issue of the numbers of reported homeless, what we count and how we count it, and it is a valid question. We in the Department are responsible for our own numbers and we publish them. We are good in getting the information we get out...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: We do not yet know the total number who will present-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: Of the approximately 650 families there at the end of May, a large number will move out of commercial accommodation in hotels into hubs or other supports while others who will not have been moved by the of the month will have been notified by letter where they are going.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: No.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: This is the purpose of the meeting I am having with the local authorities in the morning. I have been interacting with them all week. I held a meeting with them on Monday and asked the Secretary General to write again on Tuesday. Obviously, when I came into the Department the first thing I asked about when I met the Secretary General on the Thursday morning was Grenfell Tower, to be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: Certainly. I was going to come back to that because I have taken a note. I wanted to go in sequence. It is the same question and there is a thing around costs. I visited the Mater Dei hub and encourage anyone to go and see this building. What would have taken 18 months has taken about 18 weeks. There are over 160 people on site working continuously.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: It is the Mater Dei site. It is one of the family hubs coming on stream to support about 50 families.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: These hubs are not hotels. They are incredibly impressive. They will have playrooms, cooking facilities and wraparound services for children including homework clubs and supports to help families move out and on to permanent forms of accommodation, which is what we want. It is well worth it. When the Deputy talks about the spend, we have to solve this now. I understand that she says if...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: My understanding is that it is legal because the fire authorities have inspected the building and put in place any measures they feel are necessary at the moment. There are no families there at the moment. Given the window they have, they are working with the local authority to continue completion works. Deputy Ó Broin also referred to Housing First and the number of tenancies to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: Let me clarify what exceptional circumstances refers to and that is where there is an exceptional circumstance for a family that is already being looked after in a hotel and we are not going to move as quickly or as easily with that particular family because of a unique consideration that might be there that will require a tailored response. The policy commitment was always to make sure that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: We have provided an additional €10 million for hubs. One hub has already been identified to house 200 new families, so that we can get them out of hotels as quickly as possible.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: We have put in this additional €10 million to house an additional 200 families. I have been able to move money from elsewhere in the same budget to the hubs budget to increase it to €35 million. Sites have already been identified to do this. It an unfortunate situation to be in that, as we move into the beginning of the second half of this year, there will still be, according...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: I was coming to that point. It is important to state that there is responsibility in the Department because of the local authorities and the fire authorities. The Department is also responsible for the building regulations. One of the first things I did was to request all local authorities to carry out inspections of their multi-unit developments to make sure that life safety, being the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: This is exactly the work that is happening now. We are looking at the resources that will be needed and what has happened already to date. We know that in some local authorities the inspection rate is as high as 70%, but in others it is not as high. That is why we want to move to a risk-based model because that is the better model.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: I confirm to the Deputy that the first piece of work is around life safety and making sure that people are safe where they are at the moment. There are a number of further pieces of work that we need to do around the regulations. There is a new volume coming out at the beginning of July and there is a second volume to be reviewed in relation to fire safety. We need to get a full output in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: Cork. I mentioned Housing First, and I spoke the McVerry Trust about Housing First. I know more progress has been made in Canada. A couple of new ideas could be added to Housing First. That is good and I will look at the suggestions and report back on them when I can. In respect of Ballyfermot, I apologise that the local representatives were not invited to the Ballyfermot meeting. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: Deputy Coppinger is not here. One would not compare it to a Magdalen laundry. It is grossly unfair. I hope the Deputy can get down there while some of the workmen are still on site because it is an incredibly positive story. Fifty families will go in there, not forever but for a short period. The assistance that is there will get them out of the hub into more permanent accommodation. It...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: Not at all. I spoke to the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, earlier about this. I made that exact point to him and he made the exact same point back to me. I have also said it to the Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar. When he appointed me, he said no idea is too radical. He told me to think of everything and not to dismiss anything because it does not sound like something Fine Gael might support....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: Yes, my apologies. It is for a Topical Issue matter.