Results 8,461-8,480 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I cannot accept these amendments because they duplicate an existing enactment in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009. Section 13 of the 2009 Act provides that capital moneys accruing to a housing authority from a number of sources, including the sale of a dwelling under the old tenant purchase scheme provided by the 1966 Act, or the two incremental purchase schemes provided for...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I understand that it is available and retained at local authority level. I can come back to the Deputy with more practical information. The provision exists and perhaps it should be more publicly known.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: To answer the question posed by Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett, if local authorities have money, they can build houses-----

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: -----provided they get planning permission. We all know about the general restrictions in that regard. They are telling me that they do not have money. With regard to vacant houses, local authorities are telling me they do not have the money to do up the really bad ones and that they must get money from the State to do so. Deputy Catherine Murphy or Deputy Barry Cowen raised the question...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Legislation already exists providing for the sale of flats but it does not apply to the different types of dwelling to which the Deputy refers, such as maisonettes. I do not have the precise detail of why certain types are excluded, but legislation exists for the sale of flats, although the measure has not had a huge uptake.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Apartments are not included because, under Part IV of the 2009 Act, section 50 relates to the tenant purchase of apartments. A portion of the 2009 Act already deals with the sale of apartments. There is an issue in respect of maisonettes and common areas. I acknowledge that there is an issue, but there is a facility for the purchase of apartments. It is on page 57 and 58 of the 2009 Act....

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The scheme for apartments is in existence, whereas the former tenant purchase scheme is gone, so we are introducing a new one to replace it. It is along the lines of the one already in place for apartments in so far as it is an incremental purchase scheme.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I move amendment No. 12: In page 37, line 20, to delete “the tenant” and substitute “subject to subsection (2), the tenant”.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I move amendment No. 13: In page 37, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following:“(2) In applying subsection (1)(a)(ii), a housing authority shall disregard the case where the authority or the approved body concerned is satisfied that the failure of the tenant or household member concerned to substantially comply with the terms of the rescheduling arrangements was due to...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I move amendment No. 14: In page 39, to delete lines 22 and 23.This amendment is to section 25(2) and deletes the requirement that a tenant purchaser of an existing local authority house will, during the period of the incremental purchase of the property, have to obtain the prior written consent of the housing authority to carry out material improvements to the house. This will make it...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: We are removing the requirement to obtain prior written consent to make improvements.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Yes.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I move amendment No. 15: In page 45, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following:“Part 3 and amendment of Principal Act 31. The Principal Act is amended in section 90—(a) by deleting subsections (1)(a)(i), (2), (3), (4A) and (6A), and (b) in subsection (7), by deleting paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) and by substituting the following for paragraph (l):“(l) in the case of...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: What we are proposing is a relatively generous scheme, but we have not yet drafted all of the regulations. There is no reason I should not give the committee some indication of what we hope will be included in them and I will do so as soon as I can. We hope the discounts will be related far more to income than was the case in the past, when it was mainly a matter of length of tenancy. At...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I am delighted Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett is so impressed. That should help to address the issue of arrears. The intention is that this will be far more related to ability to pay and income than previous schemes. However, matters such as work done will be taken into account, where somebody has carried out improvements on their home while living in it. The general scheme will be generous....

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: There were significant arrears in respect of local authority tenant purchase and mortgages generally with local authorities. There are significant arrears anyway among people who have mortgages of one type or another, and because local authority mortgages tend to involve people who are in lower income bands, they tend to be under a great deal of stress. I have probably provided replies to...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I do not know of any plans to change the scheme relating to local authority loans in terms of getting two refusals and so forth. I have some concerns about cases in which people have been refused loans even though one would be of the view that they should be in a position to repay them. I am trying to ascertain whether that must be examined. We must be very careful about these things...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I will try to publish an outline of what we have in mind as quickly as possible. That will give members a sense of it and an opportunity to debate it before we sign off on the regulations.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I move amendment No. 16: In page 45, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following:“Part 3 and amendment of Act of 1992 32. The Act of 1992 is amended by deleting section 26(2).”.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (4 Jun 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I move amendment No. 17: In page 45, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following:“(a) in section 10(a) by substituting the following for subparagraph (iv):“(iv) the sale, or consent to the sale, of a dwelling under section 90(1)(b) of the Principal Act to a person other than another housing authority;”,”.