Results 9,301-9,320 of 26,902 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Harbour Authorities (7 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 590. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport further to previous Parliamentary Questions (details supplied), the reason the Irish International Diaspora Centre Trust Limited, as shown in the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company profit and loss accounts for the years 2012 and 2013, shows that €67,904 and €120,234 respectively was owed to Dún Laoghaire Harbour...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Did we hear back from the Minister of State?

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I think so.

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Let me assure the Minister of State that we are not in any way being cynical for the sake of it. It is because the crisis we face is so serious and is set to get worse unless radical action is taken. The point I made and, as far as I am concerned, the point of this amendment is that if the local authorities are forced to levy themselves because they have not developed a particular site...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I move amendment No. 3:In page 6, line 29, after "land" where it secondly occurs to insert "other than land owned by a housing authority".

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Yes.

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Let us hear from the Minister of State.

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I would be interested to hear more from the Deputies who tabled these amendments about the logic of them. Setting aside the debate we just had about the imposition of this levy on local authorities, with which we disagree with for all of the reasons already discussed, the levy is not a bad idea. The conditions the Minister has attached to it are reasonable, although open to interpretation....

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: On the same issue, the fear is that moneys that flow into the coffers of local authorities from the levy will be frittered away for other purposes. There is no guarantee this money will be used to contribute to the provision of additional social housing. The Minister of State was studied in his vagueness in answering the question. I ask him to provide a direct "Yes" or "No" answer to the...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I asked a very direct question and, yet again, got a very indirect answer or none at all. The question is: are local authorities required to spend the money on social housing or can they spend it on other things? That is what we want to know. As I understand the amendment, it states that we need to spend the money on social housing. I think the Minister of State has told us they can spend...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Minister of State did not.

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: He should answer the question. Are the local authorities required to spend the money on social housing? "Yes" or "No."

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I was. The Minister of State said they were allowed to-----

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is allowed. So they are not required to do so.

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: So they are not required to spend the money on social housing. The Minister of State could just say that.

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Somebody asked why the Government would want to reduce the requirement for developers to reduce from 20% to 10% the level of development given over to social and affordable housing. I found part of the answer in the latest document from the European Commission, the post-programme surveillance report. It comments on the shocking rise in rents and so on and states: "Policies should aim to...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I can help Deputy Coppinger on that one. In response to a recent question, the Minister of State informed us that 1,700 housing units are to be built in 100 separate projects across all 31 local authorities by the end of 2017. To put that in context, in my area alone, 1,200 people joined the list last year. They are joining the list at a rate of 100 per month. The figures are the same...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: We have had a long debate on this matter. We have gone through the various arguments in great detail on Committee and Report Stages. The five amendments I have tabled and the amendments tabled by some other Deputies deal with the worst aspects of this Bill. We have argued at length about the big weaknesses in the Bill. There are one or two strengths as well. The get-out clauses and...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Any good that is in this Bill is completely wiped out by these leasing provisions. This marks another fundamental watershed in this Government's gallop away from the principle of the provision of social housing by local authorities and towards outsourcing such provision to the private sector. When private developers build housing under this Bill, nothing at all - not 20% and not 10% - will...

Written Answers — Department of Health: HSE Properties (8 Jul 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 162. To ask the Minister for Health his views that it is acceptable for residents at the Health Service Executive's Elizabeth Court psychiatric care home in Phibsborough in Dublin 7 to be denied the right to smoke cigarettes in their own private outdoor space at their own home; the policy this comes under; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27808/15]