Results 16,961-16,980 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Data (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: 69. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of local authority dwellings that were refurbished in 2018 under the voids programme by local authority; if the funds originally allocated to each local authority were drawn down; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8246/19]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: I thank the Chair and members of the committee for inviting me to make a presentation on detailed consideration and scrutiny of my Bill, whose purpose is to rebalance the landlord-tenant relationship by providing for greater security of tenure and rent certainty for tenants. I am aware that Deputy Barry, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, and a number of other...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: Regarding legal advice, the legal adviser to our party was supposed to be with me today but, unfortunately, he could not be.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: He has contributed on the background to the Bill. Also on the issue of legal advice, this particular area has not been amended in the Constitution since 2004. The legal adviser to the all-party committee was Mr. Gerald Hogan, an eminent constitutional lawyer. We can rely on that, therefore, as being the basis for the kind of balance I am trying to achieve in this Bill. Regarding the term...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: I understand Deputy O'Dowd's suggestion that there should be a moratorium on evictions. At the same time, however, that might be hard to implement. How will the cases be dealt with where somebody is not paying the rent or is causing antisocial behaviour?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: There would have to be a way of determining that before it would be possible to do anything.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: Instead of generalisation, our approach is to try to pick out the individual reasons people lose their homes. We are trying to present legislative measures that would give those tenants security in their homes and also protect them from undue rent hikes. Regarding the rent pressure zones, they have had some success in the areas where they apply. I agree with Deputy O'Dowd on that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: They are not, however, completely successful, even in those areas. That is partly because there is not a rent register and, therefore, a new tenant does not know whether he or she is being charged more than the 4%. I accept the Minister has stated he is going to bring in an amendment on Committee Stage regarding that. That does, however, have to be dwelling specific, and Threshold has made...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: I may agree with him on some of the points but not on others.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: I will respond to Deputy O'Dowd on that particular question. Houses are being opened now in my constituency that I approved when I was the Minister of State with special responsibility for housing and planning.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: That just shows that it takes three to four years for social houses to come on stream.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: I have been in the situation where I have been the Minister of State who opened a housing development a previous Minister had sanctioned.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: We talk about how many houses are built this year. We need to look at what is going on in the pipeline.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: Yes, that is correct. We all know we had the collapse of the economy and houses were not built-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: I will finish on this. We have many people now in a private rented sector which is undeveloped. We are all trying to grapple with ways in which we can protect tenants in that situation. Different kinds of tenants are in competition with each other for a shortage of supply. That is the ultimate problem. We are trying to tease out in this committee what we can do to protect tenants in that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: First, on the data issue, we are all concerned that we do not have accurate data. When we got the submission from Threshold on the Bill proposed by the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, it made a proposal that is worth considering. It suggested that if a landlord issues a termination notice to a tenant for whatever reason, that he or she should be obliged to tell the RTB and that the RTB...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: That is probably worth considering, and perhaps it will be considered in the context of the Bill being introduced by the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy. That might be a way of ensuring, first, that there are data and, second, that the data are going to people who can do something about it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: Yes, if there is a danger that somebody would lose their home.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: Yes, for whatever reason. The provision is not in my Bill but it is worth considering. In response to Deputy Casey's point about rent pressure zones, I have exactly the same situation where there is an expensive urban area attached to a rural part of a local electoral area and it will never be included. They are chasing the average the whole time. We are all agreed on that. On Deputy...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Jan O'Sullivan: Exactly, but there are issues around that. Currently, in the case of Deputy Ellis's point, the increases would be much lower than 4% if they were linked to the CPI. The question is to figure out what will happen in the future, which none of us can do. On the issue about money to the tenant, that still happens with rent supplement and possibly RAS but not with HAP. With HAP it goes to...