Results 8,661-8,680 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Fire Service (29 May 2019)

Damien English: The provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises and fire appliances is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Services Act 1981. My Department supports the fire authorities through the setting of over-arching policy,...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Defective Building Materials (29 May 2019)

Damien English: I thank Senator Humphreys for raising this important issue. At the outset, I acknowledge the very distressing and stressful circumstances which the owners and residents of buildings face where building defects emerge. In general, building defects are matters for resolution between the contracting parties involved - the homeowner, the builder, the developer and-or their respective insurers,...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Defective Building Materials (29 May 2019)

Damien English: I cannot be much clearer on this. Difficulties arising from pyrite and mica are different from difficulties with apartments. The key issue is defective material versus defective workmanship. In the case of pyrite and mica, the houses will become uninhabitable. These are very different circumstances. Expert groups and panels were set up in both cases for a number of years. The pyrite...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Defective Building Materials (29 May 2019)

Damien English: We have also looked at apartments and a task force made recommendations. In all cases when the evidence is gathered and examined, we act on recommendations. That happened with pyrite, mica and problems with apartments. The Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, has been very clear on this in the Dáil. I am happy to meet the Senator to discuss options and I have met others to try to discuss...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: In the case of County Louth there is no block on allowing the local authority to develop houses. In fact, we have engaged with the council on several projects. We have more than 60 projects going through the pipeline at the moment to develop houses. The council has a large landbank that carries a great deal of debt. We are happy to work with the council on that to bring forward housing...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: It is up to Louth County Council to bring forward a plan, and we are happy to engage on that. I wish to be clear on vacancies. We have used Louth as the best example of a local authority that has tackled vacancies. The council has gone out on many occasions in recent years under various schemes through which we have allocated money. The council has been successful in bringing forward...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: In October 2018, the Government approved in principle the development of a grant scheme of financial assistance to support affected homeowners in counties Donegal and Mayo to carry out the necessary remediation works to dwellings that have been damaged due to defective concrete blocks. This followed on from the work carried out by the expert panel on concrete blocks established by my...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: The Deputy asks a fair question. We told the mica action group when we last met in Donegal that we had a target of this July to start fixing houses. It looks now as if that will not happen until the autumn. I do not see any reason why we cannot work out all the procedures and start fixing houses then. There have been a couple of meetings between Mayo and Donegal County Councils and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: Deputy Pringle will understand that the scheme is not yet fully finalised; that will happen in the weeks ahead. Those who are most in need will be helped first and that is the logical way to approach this. We have been in some of these houses and we know how bad they are. The full cost of remediation works will not be met under the scheme but Donegal and Mayo local authorities said they...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: I acknowledge that Deputy Stanley understands we cannot just wave a magic wand and deliver housing. He might inform his party's housing spokesperson of the same logic because he does not seem to understand this. Other members of his party also do not understand it, but I am glad Deputy Stanley does. That is certainly progress. There are no projects awaiting approval for two or three...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: I wish to be very clear that our Department has no interest in unnecessarily prolonging the time involved in these proposals other than to comply with the Government-wide rules for capital project oversight. Deputy Stanley and many other Deputies want us to do this, so we do it. We have put in place a project that streamlines the process. I can confirm to Deputy Stanley that the parts of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: That is what the Deputy said.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: Each local authority brings forward a house design that suits its area. I do not think Deputy Stanley's theory that we should have just standard or generic designs is supported by any of the NGOs. No one is demanding we have one standard design. Yes, there are standard specifications we can have for much housing. This is something we in the Department have worked on, and we also work with...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: Again, I wish to be very clear that there are stages of approval. I am happy to talk through them. We have no time left to do so today, but I will bring the Deputy through the various stages of approval if he so wishes. There is no reason at all the design of a project should delay something unnecessarily. There are quite quick processes out there. Some local authorities have got through...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: I propose to take Questions Nos. 45 and 81 together. An expert panel on concrete blocks was established by my Department in 2016 and its terms of reference were focused on the investigation of the problems that have emerged in the concrete blockwork of certain dwellings in counties Donegal and Mayo. The report of the expert panel was published in 2017 and included eight recommendations,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: I will make a note and remind you in future. I am conscious the Deputy was not here earlier when I spoke to Deputy Pringle on the matter. We recognise that this is taking longer than any of us would like to get up and running, but it is important that we get it right. The Deputy is familiar with this. At every meeting we had with local residents, we explained the importance of getting-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: This is silly stuff. The Deputy should grow up.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: In fairness, Deputy McConalogue has kept abreast of these discussions for the past two years, unlike his colleague on the front benches. He understands how serious this is for homeowners and they know how important it is that we get this right. We have had to get the engineering and standard assessment parts right, and that is all in place. We are trying to get this up and running as...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: When we met all the residents on the Mica Action Group on a number of occasions, we all agreed that the entire process they are going through is most frustrating. Nobody wants to be in a home that has been affected by these products, and this has been going on for a number of years, but they also clearly understood the importance of it. We got this right through all the different stages....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: I want to be very clear on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Murphy, and myself. When a Government intervenes to fix people's homes with taxpayers' money the process takes a little time because we have to go through many procedures to do that. We also have to make sure that we fix the houses properly and in a safe manner to ensure people feel safe in their homes again. We met those in the...