Results 8,301-8,320 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (18 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: Could the Taoiseach mention in his response any document that sets out the Government's actual economic strategy? We debated the national planning framework this morning. It says we want to move to a low-carbon economy and to reduce the commuting distance but nothing is happening in either respect. As far as I could see, last week's budget contained no signal of an industrial or economic...

Ceisteanna - Questions: EU Summits (18 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: 16. To ask the Taoiseach further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 1 to 7, inclusive, of 4 October 2017, the outcome of his meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on the margins of the European digital summit. [43767/17]

Ceisteanna - Questions: EU Summits (18 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: I will concentrate on the purpose of the visit around the digital economy and the meeting in the margins with the Dutch Prime Minister. The UK is potentially leaving the European Union and it tended to be a party we worked with on digital policy and shaping the European agenda. Does the Taoiseach see that kind of role with the Dutch? I am conscious we also have a difficulty in that part of...

Pre-European Council: Statements (18 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: I welcome the opportunity to comment in advance of the European Council meeting. I will deal, first, with the future of the European Union. I agree with what the Taoiseach said, that we should be setting out our positive agenda, not just what we are opposed to, but in truth, listening to his statement and trying to parse what the positive agenda was, he referred to the development of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Planning Framework: Discussion (18 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: I am not a member of the committee but I very much appreciate the chance to speak. As the former Minister, Deputy Coveney, stated, this plan is probably the most important we have in this Dáil. I was hugely supportive of the approach to a national planning framework on the understanding that it was promoting a stopping of the sprawl and a reduction in the long and ever-lengthening...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Planning Framework: Discussion (18 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: If we are serious about this, the budget should have started the process of carrying it out in reality. I am sorry, but I see no ambition from this Government on the climate front.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Planning Framework: Discussion (18 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: We cannot have plans that refer to how great we are and how we are going to be really good at decarbonisation but actually do nothing about it. That is what is happening.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Planning Framework: Discussion (18 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: Here is my view on this plan: I do not believe a word in it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Planning Framework: Discussion (18 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: The actions of this Government suggest it does not believe a word of it either. It is all just spin and talk. It is not real. I wish to make a third point about going back to the people and doing it from the bottom up. Where is the bottom up? There are three regional assemblies. If the Department projections are true, my regional assembly will be an assembly of 3 million people. I do...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Planning Framework: Discussion (18 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: I have undertaken an analysis of the budget. The budget is important because what we spend now on infrastructure is what happens in ten, 15 or 20 years time. The next three years is when the tap on infrastructure will be turned on. My reading of the three-year plan is that it is all about roads. That is the only area of transport we are investing in. Transport is important. Transport,...

Other Questions: Refugee Resettlement Programme (19 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: 4. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of refugees expected to arrive here by the end of 2017 in accordance with the EU relocation programme developed in response to the Syrian refugee crisis; the locations of those who have already arrived; and his plans to settle these refugees around the country. [44534/17]

Other Questions: Refugee Resettlement Programme (19 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: Questions were taken more quickly than I thought they would be, but I appreciate being able to ask this one. It arises from a concern I have about Syrian refugees based in Greece who have looked to be assigned in Ireland and who have been told that they cannot come here because we do not have accommodation. I know that refugees here are in welcoming centres, but they have been in them for...

Other Questions: Refugee Resettlement Programme (19 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: The Minister mentioned the progress made in bringing people here from Greece and Lebanon. Will he update us on the position in bringing refugees here from Italy? I know from the replies to previous questions that the former Minister had articulated a concern that the nature of our relationship and work with the Italian authorities had slowed down the arrival of refugees. Will the Minister...

Other Questions: Refugee Resettlement Programme (19 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: This is my last question. I will go back to the Department about what is happening in Italy. On how we will reallocate refugees into local communities, it is my understanding the reallocation will be towards areas there there is not a large social housing waiting list, which makes sense. By definition, it is likely that these communities or towns are not exactly thriving, not the busiest...

Other Questions: Refugee Resettlement Programme (19 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: They were the wrong words to use; I take them back.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (19 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: 103. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the planned changes to direct provision; and the timeframe for their implementation. [44535/17]

Other Questions: Tax Collection (24 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: 8. To ask the Minister for Finance if he has considered the reintroduction of a tax on super-normal profits - in the context of profits generated by the rezoning of land - as a mechanism for reducing the price of land, which is increasing as a result of ongoing speculation. [33188/17]

Other Questions: Tax Collection (24 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: In the Green Party's period in government we helped to introduce a tax on super-normal profits relating to speculation in land. This is an essential measure to try to avoid a return to the housing bubble conditions and to bring down the cost of building. It is interesting that the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland said earlier today that the cost of building in Dublin is incredibly...

Other Questions: Tax Collection (24 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: Does the Minister agree with Mr. Justice John Kenny's 1973 report which said that the profits accruing from a public decision to rezone land rightly belong to the public rather than the developer? The report found that the lack of such a tax on the profits that accrue from a rezoning decision leads to a tendency to hoard land. Rather than being a disincentive for owners to dispose of land,...

Other Questions: Tax Collection (24 Oct 2017)

Eamon Ryan: The Minister agrees in principle to the tax but he disagrees with the timing. Am I right in that interpretation? Is it that it would act as a disincentive? When will the time be right for us to attack this fundamental lack of justice, as well as the rot which lies at the centre of the high-price housing and property bubble instincts that exist in this State? When will be the right time to...