Results 2,161-2,180 of 15,555 for speaker:Eoghan Murphy

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: This is the problem when the Deputy comes up against facts. They are quickly forgotten and he goes to mantras we have heard before. I had this in the Seanad last week during debate on the rent Bill. I had to make the same arguments again, even though I had already made them in the previous week with the same representatives from Deputy Ó Broin's party because they were not listening...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Senator for his questions. To respond to the last question he asked, I did not see the report, I am afraid, because we were in committee first thing this morning. The plan is, as we finish our voids programme, which is coming to its conclusion, to move that money and activity into maintenance. Maintenance of the social housing stock across the country fell through the crisis...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I will be more specific. The Housing Agency has finished its work on the land aggregation scheme, which I believe it has published. According to the report I have, all of the plans were returned by the end of September 2017. Separately, local authorities are updating the Rebuilding Ireland land map. I will get a detailed note for the Senator to confirm the position and see what we can do...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I want to be sure that the local authorities did misinterpret something from our side. I do not want to say they are not in compliance with this action in case they had a different understanding of the position.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy for the question. He talks about the failure of policy but I am not sure what policy proposal he is bringing forward as a silver bullet to the challenges we face. What we require in housing is a number of different policies because it is a very complex area. That is what we have. To pretend Deputy Boyd Barrett has some radical and different way of doing it that would...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: What use is that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: Of course there is a choice. The Deputy is involved in the political democratic process but he has to lean in and get involved. He can bring forward proposals and work with us or he can go outside and protest. Going outside to protest will not house one extra person. I guarantee that. On the Deputy's specific question, more than 1,500 new homes will have come into the stock of social...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: Great. The Deputy will have seen how we built those houses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: Deputy Boyd Barrett has a problem with those houses or the quality of the work.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: Then what is the Deputy complaining about when it comes to the quality of social housing?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I spoke about the housing assistance payment at length earlier on. It is there to complement what we are doing in relation to build. There is too much dependence on HAP today but that dependence will decrease. However, there will always be a need for HAP because individuals like the flexibility it offers around where they can live and from a social housing policy point of view, it allows...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I request a comfort break at some point given how long we have been here.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I was being careful with my language.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy for his follow-up questions. Regarding co-living, I will not discuss an individual planning application. As the Minister with responsibility for planning, I must be very careful. I note that the Deputy did not object to co-living as a concept when it was introduced. Earlier today, one of his colleagues, as well as Sinn Féin, welcomed the concept and supported it....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: -----of the example that the Deputy cited. The social housing that I have seen has been built to an exceptional standard, as it should be. We are not falling back into some of the mistakes that were made previously in terms of the stigmas that arose from social housing. Design, planning and forethought are going into the building of new social homes, how they look and feel, what they are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: A lot of the issues upon which the Senator has touched, such as zonings, land disposal and the formation of companies by local authorities, are functions the local authorities have. When a local authority has a function that has not been removed, the Minister cannot just step in and interfere.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I understand the concern the Senator is raising, however. I know the Local Government Audit Service looked at the operations of these types of entities before. I suggest that the Senator might raise it as a Commencement matter, to help have a public engagement on this matter and we can speak about this specific project in as much detail as I will be allowed to at the time. That might help...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: How dare you.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I will make a couple of initial points on turnkeys. There is a misperception around what a turnkey is. People hear the word "turnkey" and they think a house is built and completed and the local authority has decided to buy it and take the keys. In most instances, a turnkey is where the land is vacant, is not being developed at all and will not be developed but for the fact that the local...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Discussion (29 May 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: We had the feedback from the committee about 12 months ago and I have engaged with the Construction Industry Federation, CIF, and other bodies on this. We want to get moving on this in the autumn. We want to do this and we are going to do this and we will be addressing it in the autumn session.