Results 2,101-2,120 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development (Amendment) Regulations 2019: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: Yes, because the issue is related to Brexit. Government decided that it was for these two ports.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: I thank the Chair for having us here. I welcome Ms Mary Hurley, Ms Ann Gill and Ms Rosemarie Tobin from my Department. With the permission of the Chair, and if it is okay with everybody, my officials would be happy to engage in questions and answers along with myself. I thank the Chair and members for the opportunity to appear again before the committee to give an update on the Traveller...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: I thank the Senator for his comments. That clarifies why we are here and why this has to be done. It is frustrating that money is not being spent. We can all see where the failings are happening across the country and where accommodation is of a poor standard or where there is no Traveller-specific accommodation. There have been plenty of ideas, plans and TAPs but they have not been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: I am not satisfied that enough accommodation is being provided across the board. The bottom line is that it is not happening. We can start the blame game, or we can make changes and move on. That is what I am about.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: We will engage with them all. Everybody has a responsibility in this regard. It is not happening as it should be.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: It is disappointing when objections are led by politicians and public representatives, regardless of what their background is or where they are from. It is a shame when there are objections to social housing, including Traveller-specific social housing projects. In my view, this should not happen. The objections of residents, regardless of whether they relate to an environmental issue or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: I will make some comments and Ms Tobin will come in then, if that is okay. I want to put on record and appreciate the support of Deputy Ó Broin, as spokesperson, and of his party for our efforts here, and from many others on the committee. I recognise that some of the recommendations do go against the grain of what many of us believe in respect of local decision-making and democracy....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: Yes, go on.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: Correct. Absolutely.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: We have the same worry. I meant to say at the start that I would be happy to engage with the committee much more over the next couple of weeks, if needs be. We hope to bring forward the action plan. It is a process that I totally believe in, having been involved in An Action Plan for Jobs and a housing plan, which the Deputy may have different views on. I would say that they are working,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: ----- but that should not count as new builds. We are happy to track that. When it comes to this, and in general with housing issues, we are an open book as a Department and I am too as a Minister of State. I think the Minister, Deputy Murphy, is as well. We are not hiding anything. It is put out fully on display. We might not always like what it tells us but it is on display we are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: I thank Senator Kelleher. If I miss any of her questions, she will remind me. Scrutiny starts here. I am happy to engage with the committee and we will do that as best we can. We are certainly open to any suggestions or ideas. That is what we have to do. The Senator is right about the importance of housing. That is why we take the housing first approach to helping rough sleepers. That...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: They have been accepted in principle but that does not mean we can implement them all. To be fair to everybody, we have to get everyone's views. That is what we have been doing in the last couple of months. Ms Tobin and Ms Gill have met the various interested groups. The Traveller associations have asked for more time to come back with submissions and comments. I want to be fair to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: It is a key recommendation. We are in discussions with the Department of Justice and Equality in respect of it. I will keep the Senator posted. All of these conversations will be concluded between this month and the next. The Senator asked when they will be introduced. The plan is to implement our full plan from the first quarter of next year, starting in January.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: All submissions have been shared so far. I do not see why we could not share those of the Department of Justice and Equality. I will try to meet each group and sit down with the Traveller organisations in the next couple of weeks. They are all represented on the NTACC but I will try to meet with each group individually. We have recommendations, but all the different players have different...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: That is part of the work we are doing with the NTACC. I met the chairman two weeks ago to get his views on how we can do that. He agrees that it will take time to adjust. We have sought input from several stakeholders on the recommended structure, that is, the national Traveller accommodation authority. We have asked Traveller organisations and local authorities for their views. I have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: The Data Protection Commissioner has been asked for a review and we await that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: My Department is talking to the officials in the Department of Justice and Equality on two of the components but we have not got the full command of it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: If we have not got the information by the end of the meeting we will forward it to the Senator.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Report of the Expert Group on Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (5 Dec 2019)

Damien English: When we have the information, we will give it to the Senator.