Results 9,241-9,260 of 26,902 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Harbours and Piers Development (30 Jun 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 695. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he has met the financial controller of Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company regarding the concerns of the accountant (details supplied), since their resignation, given that the accountant cited concerns over the viability of planned projects and the future viability of the company itself; and if he will make a statement on the matter....

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Harbours and Piers Development (30 Jun 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 696. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in view of the resignation of a person (details supplied) and that person's concerns that it would be unethical to continue as director of Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company, his views that it is also unethical for the remaining directors to continue in this role; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26246/15]

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: My point follows on from Deputy Naughten's point. This amendment might make sense if the Government gave us a commitment and a cast-iron guarantee that the capital will be provided by the Government when the local authorities come up with plans to develop sites that are suitable for social housing where there is a social housing need. This pertains to something that I am very uncertain about...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: In the absence of such a provision, this is a mechanism to force the privatisation of local authority land. The only way the local authority will be able to come up with plans that it can finance, if the Government does not guarantee the local authority the money, is by handing the land over to private developers, who will take it and lease it back to the council at a further cost to the...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I have not tabled an amendment to the section, but I suggest the following for consideration given the possibility that I might put something in on Report Stage. I refer to section 5(2). When we are talking about the definitions of "site" and "home" on page 7, we are excluding what are described as "homes". Obviously, there is a very good reason to do that in most cases. One does not want...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Arguably, if there was a constitutional impediment, that could equally apply to the levy. If the levy can apply to land, I do not see why it cannot apply to vacant properties. It may be something we need to look at. I have not thought it out fully or put down an amendment, but it is something we should look at and consider. I am certainly going to do so. If there is any way to have a...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: This relates to the Government's plan to reduce the obligation on the developer from 20% of any development to 10%, which is a central aspect of the legislation. Undoubtedly, the Government will claim that a level of 20% is an inhibitor and discourages developers from developing and that reducing it to 10% could incentivise builders to start developments. It probably captures the...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: No, but I understand the Government's-----

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I do not. There is a link between this amendment and some of the others that I have tabled. My problem with it is that there is too much reliance on the private sector generally in the Government's approach to dealing with the housing crisis. This Bill is the working out of that logic, in that it asserts that the only way we will get the social and affordable housing that we need is by...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I am genuinely tempted by the idea that 10% of something is better than 20% of nothing, given the dire situation we are in. I put this amendment forward out of genuine concern and desire to have a serious debate on the issue. I remain open to hearing the arguments but I wanted to put it down because this is a central component of the Bill and I will consider it as we go along. Essentially,...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I am open to the argument but I am worried because once things head back in that direction, we may not be getting what we should be getting. We are also sacrificing the sort of balance, in terms of social mix, we should get. I want to signal a point that we will come to later. A very substantial get out clause is the lease back alternative. Deputy Wallace mentioned the cost of the land...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: My series of amendments covers a number of areas, but my major concern is the get-out clause, that is, that instead of the 10% to the local authority, there is a leasing option, if I understand this correctly, so that the developer, instead of the local authority or, for that matter, a voluntary housing body, ending up with the 10%, the developers can just agree to lease this property on a...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Minister is saying that, in general, where the capital is available local authorities will be encouraged to acquire rather than lease, but that creates a major slippery slope. I suspect this provision will mean that the bulk of the 10% will end up being leased, and the Minister has not convinced me so far that this will not be the case. On the profit issue, we know there has been a...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: This section adds to my anxiety, and that of other Deputies, about the consequences of the reduction in the requirement for social housing provision from 20% to 10%. I presume that, in order to accommodate that, the number of units will have to be reduced from nine to four. My fear is that it is a logical follow-on from the earlier state of affairs and it could become easier for...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I strongly agree with Deputy Murphy on this one. I believe Deputies sometimes put forward these review clauses just for the sake of tabling an amendment, so that they can say they said something about a Bill, but in this case there is a real argument for it because the housing market is completely fluid, volatile and subject to constant change. We have debated and disputed the arguments...

Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Instruction to Committee (1 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: There is a lot of detail there.

Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Instruction to Committee (1 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Bill has a new Title.

Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Instruction to Committee (1 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is a totally different Bill.

Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Instruction to Committee (1 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Exactly.

Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Instruction to Committee (1 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Minister deserves a medal from the political school of cute hoorism when it comes to how he has tried to manipulate, in the most cynical way, the democratic process in order to ram through measures to do with water charges in a Bill that ostensibly had nothing whatsoever to do with them when it was introduced in the Dáil. It is disappointing that much of the media have not shown...