Results 7,841-7,860 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Damien English: No. In other previous discussions, I had said, as did the Minister, Deputy Murphy, that we would go to this, but that it needed more clarity. Let us very clear on this. We agreed before the end of Committee Stage we would clarify that we wanted to go to a zero rate. We are doing that. We will have Report Stage. I suggest, for the final time, that the Senator does not call a vote on this...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Damien English: It is in the regulations.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Damien English: Amendment No. 44 complements measures agreed to in the Dáil debate on the Bill to address the past performance of developers in the consideration of planning applications. I commenced my approach to this issue during the Committee Stage in the Dáil by tabling an amendment to section 34 of the principal Act which would require planning authorities in the assessment and determination...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Damien English: With the agreement of the House, I will discuss amendments Nos. 45 and 46 together.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Damien English: Government amendment No. 45 comprises two measures. The amendment deletes the provisions of section 35 of the Bill to amend section 28 (2) of the Planning and Development (Housing) Residential Tenancies Act 2016. Section 35 relates to the further extension of the duration of planning permission for certain developments relating to 20 or more houses, which is provided for in section 42 of...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Damien English: I do not follow the argument. What does The Irish Timesarticle refer to?

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Damien English: Yes, but I am not sure how it relates to this Bill.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Damien English: I would not mind responding.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Damien English: I wish to clarify two points. The issues to which Senator Murnane O'Connor refers would have come up very clearly at the committees. Both committees were given the job of scrutinising the plan on behalf of the Houses of the Oireachtas after a motion in the Houses to do that. There was talk of strengthening the position around education, and it is plainly important that we do that in...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Damien English: -----a process whereby new plans that are published and produced follow the spirit of the legislation, even though the legislation has not been passed yet. It is hoped it will get there some time this year. We are putting in place a process that guarantees, no matter who is in Government in the future, that there is a protocol that takes account of all the consultation we have had and that...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Damien English: -----but in that case it would be very difficult. It would assume a lot of the responsibilities of planners. That is the job of the planning departments and planners whose profession it is. We are politicians and legislators who make decisions on documents and so on. We would not be in a position here to do all that planning detail of a national plan that needs to be passed through the...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Damien English: No.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Damien English: Can I raise a few issues that I hope to deal with on Report Stage?

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2018)

Damien English: Yes, that is fine once they get taken.

Seanad: Business of Seanad (25 Apr 2018)

Damien English: Before formally concluding Committee Stage in the Seanad I shall outline, in accordance with the procedures, four of the amendments that I have already referenced in the Dáil and earlier during deliberations in the Seanad. The following list are four amendments that my Department is working on which I propose to table on Report Stage in the Seanad: amend the Derelict Sites Act 1990 to...

Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Apr 2018)

Damien English: I recently met the chief executive and staff of the local authority in Kerry and that matter was not put to me as one of their main issues of concern. There is enough room with the housing assistance payment in certain cases, as there is a 20% allowance to go above the cap if needs be. It was not raised with me, but I am happy to discuss it with the Deputy and with the local authority. If...

Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Apr 2018)

Damien English: The Deputy and I were at the meeting to which he refers. The timeline given at the meeting was that we would hopefully be in a position to publish the protocol in February or March. We are a little behind that now, but the protocol is practically ready to be published. It is the work of the NSAI; it is not work my Department can do directly. We asked the NSAI to prepare the protocol as...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Maritime Spatial Planning (26 Apr 2018)

Damien English: My Department is responsible for national marine environmental policy in Ireland, principally through the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The aim of MSFD is to integrate environmental considerations into all aspects of marine activity to maintain or reach a point of good environmental status (GES) in our seas and oceans and ensure that this status...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Unfinished Housing Developments (26 Apr 2018)

Damien English: I propose to take Questions Nos. 229 to 231, inclusive, together. My Department recently published the 2017 Annual Progress Report on Unfinished Housing Developments, which are regarded as developments not substantially complete in the context of the scope of works envisaged under the relevant planning permission.  The report is available on my Department's website at the following...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Building Regulations (26 Apr 2018)

Damien English: The Expert Panel on concrete blocks was established by my Department in 2016, to investigate problems that have emerged in the concrete blockwork of certain dwellings in Counties Donegal and Mayo. The panel had the following terms of reference: (i) To identify, insofar as it is possible, the numbers of private dwellings which appear to be affected by defects in the blockwork in the...