Results 981-1,000 of 1,760 for speaker:Aideen Hayden

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (16 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: I expressed my support for the general thrust of these amendments on Committee Stage. There is no doubt that there is a major issue here, particularly for women who experience domestic violence and who are disqualified from access to social housing because they may already be the joint owner of a property, although this may be in substantial negative equity. The Minister of State's...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (16 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: I wish to highlight three issues in respect of this legislation. The first of these relates to the various orders which will be put in place in the context of tenancy warnings, etc., and which will replace the summary procedures for which provision is made under section 62 of the Housing Act 1966. The measures contained in the Bill are definitely a considerable improvement on what is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: I wish to put on the record that I am the chair of Threshold. With regard to the housing market generally, the National Economic and Social Council, NESC, stated in its 2004 report that up to one third of all Irish people would require assistance with their housing in the future, either through the provision of social housing, assisted purchase or another format. In its most recent report...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: I do not want to focus on social housing supply because it is a longer-term measure that will not deliver in less than 12 to 18 months. I am more interested in focusing on exactly what measure are necessary today to assist in this crisis.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: Given that we have a shortage of supply and an excess of demand, if we increase the rent supplement budget the State will end up paying more for housing. How would Ms Randall respond?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: How does Ms Randall feel about rent control?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: To my mind, it goes without saying.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: Mr. Allen seems to be saying it is important to stay with the housing first approach and not allow the crisis to deflect from it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: It is difficult. We could talk about it all night. I note the comments on tax reform and I agree it is important. We gave tax incentives for people to build multi-storey car parks down in the ass end of Killarney or wherever. No disrespect to Killarney.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: I apologise to Senator Paul Coghlan. I will have to explain myself. I love the area. My point is that in 2003, Threshold produced a report that stated that only one third of landlords were willing to take rent supplement tenants. This is not a short-term problem but has been with us for a long time. If we are going to depend on the market to supply housing to people in need - which I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: May I ask a final question regarding approved housing bodies? Were the remit of such bodies to be expanded, might there be a role for them in cross-subsidising their activities? In other words, they could have their social remit while at the same time being able to provide housing into the private sector or in other words, cross-subsidising their social housing provision with private rented...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: Can I ask a question?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: My point relates to what county councils can and cannot do. If we lived in an ideal world, county councils would buy when properties were cheap and release them on to the markets when they were expensive. The difficulty is that because county councils' borrowing is on the State books and the State is limited in what it can borrow, it is not in a position to do that. I do not think we...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: I raised yesterday with the Leader the issue of price increases for student accommodation in the various campuses around the country. Another issue of great importance to many students is the number of student deposits retained at the end of the academic year by on-campus accommodation providers. At one stage, almost two out of every three students had had a deposit unjustifiably retained...

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (17 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: I thank the Minister of State for his response to Senator Sean D. Barrett's comprehensive amendments. I understand from where the Senator is coming. He has been critical, particularly of the Department of Finance, about what went on in some areas during the years the economy collapsed and beforehand. However, it is important to recognise that the NTMA was set up in response to some of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: The position on alcohol and tobacco is almost self-evident and it is hard to argue against it. One problem is that increasing taxes on cigarettes and alcohol hits poorer people harder; that is a fact. I am very interested in the concept of the sugar tax. On the face of it, the argument about sugar also seems self-evident, except for the fact that, as acknowledged, a tax on sugar would be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: Does Ms Loughnane accept that there are different views on this?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: There are people in this country who have extremely limited incomes. They have children and they can walk into Lidl, Aldi and other supermarkets and buy these products despite the fact that they do not have a great deal of money. I have children and most other children I know want to imbibe sugary drinks. The reality is that a pint of milk is more expensive than a pint of Coke. The latter...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: We will move on. I am more interested in another aspect of this matter. More money will be taken from poor people than from their richer counterparts if a sugar tax is imposed. That is just a fact. What fiscal proposals does Ms Loughnane have in the context of putting that money back into the pockets of poor people?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Jul 2014)

Aideen Hayden: Is Ms Loughnane referring to ring-fencing any moneys that would be gained from the imposition of a tax in respect of sugary drinks and, for example, using them to provide schools meals, particularly in disadvantaged areas?