Results 1-20 of 73 for land speaker:Emer Higgins

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Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2021)

Emer Higgins: I speak to my motion in that same grouping. I am looking for the affordable land value mechanism to be enshrined in the legislation. We all need to have confidence that affordable homes built on public land will be made as affordable as possible. That means having an affordable land value so that the prices reflect the fact these houses are on land which is effectively discounted because...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Jun 2021)

Emer Higgins: ..., the main difference between what this Government wants the LDA to do and what the Opposition wants it to do boils down to the delivery of homes. We want the LDA to deliver housing on State-owned land and the Opposition does not want it to have that power. That is why the LDA must have the power to act on unused State-owned land, including local authority-owned land. We are in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Affordable Housing Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Mar 2021)

Emer Higgins: ...that the Housing Agency is involved but also that we get other viewpoints. I agree with what the CCMA representatives said with regard to local authorities being best placed to know their own land and what is best suited for the land. I know the association is doing a lot of work on land mapping. I am conscious that target setting was mentioned in the opening statement. I am...

Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Second Stage (Resumed) (18 Feb 2021)

Emer Higgins: I welcome the Land Development Agency Bill and thank the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien for his work on it and the former Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, for all he did previously. We can all agree that housing is one of the most pressing emergencies facing the country. This Bill offers real opportunity to deliver the affordable homes that we so desperately need. This year we will see...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementation of Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: I thank Ms Farrelly. The Land Development Agency intends to deliver approximately 1,000 homes in Fingal. Can she talk me through how that will work? Is that the agency's land bank or is it a joint project? What are the practicalities of that project?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: This was the question around zoned land and how there should be a presumption that all zoned land should be getting planning permissions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Land Value Sharing and Urban Development Zones Bill 2022: Discussion (4 May 2023)

Emer Higgins: ...and apologise for missing the first half of the meeting as I had a prior engagement. The Leas-Cathaoirleach's question dealt with what I was going to ask. In particular, it is in regard to the land value sharing elements for what was rural land when it is still being farmed. In short, is that an exemption?

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (9 Jun 2020)

Emer Higgins: 150. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason the land behind the temporary classrooms for a school (details supplied) will now be used for temporary classrooms for a new educate together school; the reason the land is not being used for a permanent building for the school; the reason there has been no communication with the school on this issue; and if he will make a statement...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Marine Planning Area Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Nov 2021)

Emer Higgins: ...example the Minister of State can give where the Government or Minister has divested that power of sale to other public bodies? Local authorities can determine whether they sell publicly-owned land through the democratic process with publicly-elected county councillors. I seek examples of other public bodies. We have hospitals and all sorts of entities that own land. Do others have...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (25 May 2021)

Emer Higgins: ...turn. Indeed, they have already shaped it to some degree because there are lots of left-leaning elements in there already, including the taking back of power from developers and the utilisation of land that has been effectively frozen by stagnation. This is all about something that we all allegedly agree on, that is, delivering homes for people who need them. Surely we all want to make...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Feb 2023)

Emer Higgins: ...based on the preliminary Central Statistics Office, CSO, data and the real-time lived experience of the delivery of homes? That would be helpful. I was disappointed by CIF's statement on zoned lands and the need for an assumption of permission on zoned land prior to applications being made. That simplifies a complex situation. All of us who have worked on development plans deal know...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Land Value Sharing and Urban Development Zones Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (16 May 2023)

Emer Higgins: ...getting a feel for what is happening in the planning world. I encourage other councillors to do that. What I hear today is that this measure in the medium term is likely to dampen development land prices but in the short term it could create inflation. That is a concern. If that is a real concern, my main question is what we can do to insulate ourselves and the market from that. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Land Value Sharing and Urban Development Zones Bill 2022: Discussion (4 May 2023)

Emer Higgins: When decisions are being made about zoning, the Department is not dealing with specific sites usually but a large sale of land. It is coming at it from the bird's eye perspective of the land being capable of being serviced and that it could go ahead rather than from the planning perspective, and examining everything from sight lines to how close it is to the other, and all of those issues....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill: Discussion (11 May 2021)

Emer Higgins: ...that we give the LDA enough teeth to deliver homes, including affordable homes, and I think we are all united in that purpose. From a reserved function perspective in terms of the disposal of lands, for sites in towns with a population of 30,000 or fewer where councillors know best the terrain, the population area, the needs of the population and the area, it is critical that...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Accommodation (9 Jul 2020)

Emer Higgins: ...pupils of that facility. An additional two prefabs will shortly be added. Scoil Chrónáin has looked forward to securing funding for a long-awaited school building for 45 years. When the Department purchased land from South Dublin County Council adjacent to the current school and it was assigned to a new school for Scoil Chrónáin, there was hope that finally the...

Housing for All Update: Statements (4 Oct 2022)

Emer Higgins: ...Sinn Féin Members have voted to support policies that deliver homes and drive affordability. In fact, that is often not what happens in this Chamber. They voted against the establishment of the Land Development Agency, which is the body set up to deliver public homes on public land. The party did not propose an amendment to that legislation but simply voted against it. It opposed...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Jun 2021)

Emer Higgins: I will speak to amendment No. 189. There is a balancing act between ensuring that the LDA achieves its objective of delivering housing on appropriate State-owned land while also ensuring that publicly elected councillors retain their section 183 authority to determine what should happen on State owned land. Our counsellors and the leadership teams of councils are best placed to determine...

Finance Bill 2021: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Dec 2021)

Emer Higgins: ...cannot aspire. That is why I am glad that budget 2022 will help people in that situation. It allocates significant investment to local authorities to deliver affordable homes on public land. It provides funding for the first ever national cost-rental scheme, which means long-term, secure, affordable leases for those who wish to rent. It provides for the shared equity scheme for new...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency: Chairman Designate (20 Jan 2022)

Emer Higgins: ...about the need to develop positive relationships with local authorities. I know this is part of the bread and butter of his role. It was good to hear him on the record clearly dismiss fears of land grabs from local authorities. This is because one of the main concerns of elected local authority members when it comes to the LDA is that many of them feel it would bypass or quench the...