Results 881-900 of 4,773 for speaker:Paudie Coffey

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: This is an opportunity.

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: This is a great opportunity.

Seanad: Order of Business. (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: This is an opportunity to work together to help local radio.

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: We welcome this amendment because it gives clarity. It is essential to give a clear definition in legislation to what is a common area. We are happy to support this amendment because it gives that clarity.

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: This is a significant amendment to the Bill and I believe it is essential. The Minister will agree that speakers on Second Stage outlined the great concern and complications that exist where large multi-unit developments are present. For example, apartment blocks and traditional housing estates might be part of the one development. There is confusion about the entire area. I hope this...

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Minister for his reply. Perhaps he would clarify one further point. This is a significant amendment that will have an impact on the whole area of management of developments. When it becomes law, will it be retrospective to existing developments or will it apply only to new developments? That is a pertinent question having come through a prominent construction boom but we are...

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: I am happy to hear the Minister's response on this issue. I understand that if there are contracts in place, it will be difficult to break them. If there are existing arrangements, by contact or otherwise, such as voting rights, it will be difficult. The main areas are the grey areas that have been in existence up to now. People did not know where to turn. They were being levied these...

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: Is the Minister trying to create jobs?

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: I move amendment No. 18: In page 5, subsection (1), line 1, before "person" to insert "developer or any other". This is an attempt to clarify the conditions relating to the sale of units in multi-unit developments. The Bill as it is currently drafted refers to "[a] person to whom this section applies". What does "a person" mean? Who is this person? We are trying to be more specific when...

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: This is similar to Senator O'Toole's amendment and Fine Gael's amendment No. 21, which I will not elaborate on further. The thrust of this and the related amendments is to secure an element of the purchase price to ensure the development or units being built are completed to a satisfactory standard. We are all at one on that issue. These amendments come highly recommended by the Royal...

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: I can understand from where the Minister is coming. I understand that if there was a 5% levy or charge for finishing estates that developers would load it onto the purchase price. However, we need to learn from the mistakes of the very recent past. We have all seen - and I am sure they are also in the Minister's constituency - the impact of unfinished estates and developments on those who...

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: In fairness, they might be protecting their clients' interests.

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: Perhaps for the same reason as the Minister in not wishing to implement the proposal on the 5%.

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: I move amendment No. 32: In page 6, line 25, after "completed" to insert "as certified by a professional person".

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: I move amendment No. 46: In page 9, before section 12, to insert the following new section: 12.--(1) From the commencement of this section, an owners' management company shall be incorporated under the Companies Acts for a multi-unit development which comprises 5 units or more and shall carry out the functions referred to in this Act. (2) The title "owners' management company" and the letters...

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Minister for his response and I take his comments on board. He mentioned that he will be consulting other stakeholders on elements of the Bill. Will he or his officials consult the LRC at any stage to take the recommendations of its comprehensive 2008 report on board? What has he taken on board from the report and for what reasons has he not included any of the LRC's...

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: The Bill is welcome, as it regulates the running of management companies. This section puts a structure on the organisation of annual meetings and reports of owners' management companies and gives a clear definition to residents and citizens involved in multi-development units. Residents and members will receive annual reports and have an opportunity to raise issues at an annual general...

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: Was the Senator hanging her stockings on the balcony?

Seanad: Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009: Committee Stage (10 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: This is an interesting amendment. The issue arises as a consequence of modern living conditions and standards. When people lived in traditional houses, they would have had a back yard or back garden in which to put up a clothesline. I am not saying I come down on either side of the argument because we would not want to have all kinds of unsightly paraphernalia and various items of attire,...

Seanad: Order of Business. (23 Mar 2010)

Paudie Coffey: The people are demoralised and the debacle at the Passport Office on Molesworth Street is only one of the many bushfires raging around the country. We can see the very real effects of the warning signals given many months ago about the divide between public and private sector workers. It sad to see workers and citizens being pitted against each other in such a public manner just a few...