Results 12,341-12,360 of 24,567 for speaker:Róisín Shortall

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: The Minister has done nothing about it.

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: I am not talking about buying.

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: The Minister misses the point. I am not talking about him buying those properties. I am talking about him putting responsibility on the owners of vacant properties to bring them back into use. I am not talking about buying them but, rather, bringing them into use and if they do not have a use for them, they put them on the market. If they cannot let them, then they should be put on the...

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: -----those properties to be brought back into use.

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: It has not happened until now.

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: Why has the Minister taken so long to change the rules in that regard? Why are all of these very good properties lying-----

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: -----idle because of the inability of the Minister to take a broad holistic view to tackling the housing issue? There was a proposal put to the Minister, with which Deputy Ellis and I are very familiar, on the question of the financial contribution scheme. It is an excellent scheme that has been used widely in north-west Dublin over the years in respect, for example, of cases where there is...

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: He has arrived. I missed you. I am looking forward to hearing from you. I am glad you have joined us, finally.

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: I find it impossible to understand how, after all the racket that was made and all the posing and shadow boxing that went on during the past few days, you can have the courage to come here tonight. You must feel very ashamed of the carry on that has happened during the past few days and the withering climb down you have had to engage in to come along here this evening.

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: I listened very carefully to what the Minister said on "Morning Ireland". When he was asked to defend the figure of 4%, he said it was evidence based and that everything he was doing was evidence based. Saying it is evidence based does not make it evidence based. When the Minister was asked to point to the evidence, it was very thin on the ground. He said the evidence was taken from the...

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: I ask the Minister to justify the fact that people are saying they have never seen returns like they can get from the Irish rental market and they feel badly for the Irish people. How can the Minister possibly justify giving those people a 4% year on year increase in rent for the next three years? Has the Minister any defence whatsoever for it? The IRES REIT owns almost 2,500 apartments in...

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: My reading of the formula the Minister is using and the definition of "t" in it seems to confirm it.

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: I look forward to that, given that it is not clear in the amendments. After a certain amount of weak handed pressure from his colleagues in Fianna Fáil, the Minister has said he will consider the extension of the rent pressure zones in the next couple of months.

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: Given that the Minister keeps talking about it being evidence based, I must ask why he has not used the evidence to select the areas. There is a significant problem in all of Dublin and there are issues in Cork. Why did the Minister not use the evidence available regarding the rent hikes we have seen during the past year?

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: For example, the rate of rent inflation during the past 12 months has been 15.8% in Meath, 13.4% in Kildare, 10.6% in Wicklow, and 15.2% in Louth. I can pull this evidence from the Internet in two minutes. Why can the Minister and his Department not get their hands on the evidence, given that he claims the Bill is evidence based? Why has he not included these areas in his proposals?

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: Why is it now that he-----

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report Stage (15 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: One must ask why the Minister has not used this evidence. It is available to everybody else. If he is to bring in some kind of rent restrictions, why has he not extended them to all those areas so badly affected by rent inflation? He clearly did not use the evidence in designating the areas. There is a clear argument for extending these restrictions across the country. However, he is now...

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: I thank the Minister for the clarification and the change to the formula. I seek clarification on the second point the Minister made in which he spoke about a situation in which the tenancy changes mid-year. I want to be clear about what would happen in those circumstances. The Minister said that a 2% increase would apply to six months and there would then be a 2% increase for the other...

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: On a point of order, if the Minister is going to respond I would ask for clarification on the second element of this.

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)

Róisín Shortall: I raised the issue of the provision for an 8% increase publicly yesterday morning and in my contribution to the debate yesterday evening. Regrettably, the Social Democrats-Green Party grouping did not get any notification of a briefing this morning, nor did we get any material. As of now, we have nothing other than what the Minister spoke about this morning. It is regrettable that we were...