Results 22,181-22,200 of 28,162 for speaker:Catherine Murphy

Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (1 Jul 2015)

Catherine Murphy: I have tabled amendment No. 3 to amendment No. 20, and it is very similar to some of the other ones. Amendment No. 20 would allow the Minister for Finance to take up to €540 million from the local government fund and transfer it to Irish Water. The provision changes section 6 of the Local Government Act 1998, which established the local government fund. It achieves this by altering...

Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Motion to Recommit (1 Jul 2015)

Catherine Murphy: As a teller, under Standing Order 69 I propose that the vote be taken by other than electronic means, because of the critical nature of bypassing a whole section of the process.

Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Motion to Recommit (1 Jul 2015)

Catherine Murphy: I move:That in accordance with Standing Order 134(1), the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014 be recommitted in its entirety.On Committee Stage, we were told as a by-the-way at the end of Committee Stage rather than at the beginning that there would be changes to the Bill. We were not told there would be substantial changes. The process is technically very flawed and for that...

Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill: Instruction to Committee (resumed) (1 Jul 2015)

Catherine Murphy: On a point of order, under Standing Order 134(1) I wish to move a motion to recommit the Bill in its entirety to Committee Stage. There was a procedural error on Committee Stage because we were not informed at the beginning of Committee Stage that there would be a substantial change to the Bill. It was only at the tail end of Committee Stage that we were informed. I believe there was a...

Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill: Instruction to Committee (resumed) (1 Jul 2015)

Catherine Murphy: This is the third Bill related to water services that has been through a very flawed process. The first, introduced in February 2013, was introduced on the same day as the promissory note deal, if one wants to call it a deal. It was so heavily guillotined that only one amendment was debated. With regard to the second Bill, introduced in December of that year, only three hours were allowed...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Catherine Murphy: I am open to persuasion on this but I cannot get my head around it. The levy would be applied by, and paid to, the local authority, so it would have to go through a regime to do that. Local authorities do not have huge independent means for the development of these sites. Could the Minister of State envisage a situation in which the local authority is forced to develop one particular site...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Catherine Murphy: I am not against the vacant site levy. It is a good idea, if it is applied correctly. Under the provisions of amendment No. 1, however, the local authority will be levying itself. It is placing an administrative burden on one department to levy another department. I understand it is a reserved function, so one could have a situation in which councillors decide that a particular area can...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Catherine Murphy: I move amendment No. 2:In page 6, to delete line 34. The thinking behind the amendment is that the provision in this respect should not be so confined The Minister of State is right about the assets in our towns and city centres. If we are to develop our facilities in towns and villages, and perhaps take some of the pressure off in terms of urban-generated housing in the countryside,...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Catherine Murphy: The assets mentioned by the Minister of State, including public transport or a clinic, for example, will be in areas that would probably be doing all right. I accept Deputy Mulherin's point that it is not a one size fits all approach. The local authorities will have the responsibility to designate, and that is not something that will be imposed. I am quite sure people around the country...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Catherine Murphy: I move amendment No. 3:In page 7, to delete line 1 and substitute the following:"(iii) an area of the site greater than 0.08 hectares is vacant or idle,".

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Catherine Murphy: I would not be sure.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Catherine Murphy: Unfortunately, Article 43 tends to be interpreted according to the first part of the provision. In fact, there is a second part of it that refers to the common good. It is not in the common good if there are a lot of vacant properties around the place while there are people without homes. It is interesting to note that one of the locations where this is done is the USA where foreclosures...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Catherine Murphy: I move amendment No. 8:In page 7, line 18, to delete “1 January 2017” and substitute “1 January 2016”. These amendments deal with the register of vacant sites. The dates for the completion of this have been pushed out into the future, however. Given the urgency of actually getting this up and running, I do not understand why the timeline has been pushed out as...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Catherine Murphy: I move amendment No. 9:In page 7, to delete lines 27 to 38. Most local authorities will have to prepare a register on housing need. Essentially, this amendment seeks to remove the requirement for a planning authority to determine a housing need for the purposes of preparing this register. It may well be the case where a local authority has not prepared a housing need, it could drag this...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Catherine Murphy: I move amendment No. 10:In page 8, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following:“7. (1) Owners of sites greater than 0.08 hectares that are vacant or idle have a responsibility to register their interests with the local authority before 1 January 2016 or face a fine of 3 per cent of the site market value for the year 2016.”. This amendment introduces a deadline date, 1...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Catherine Murphy: I move amendment No. 11:In page 9, to delete lines 16 to 18. I defer to Deputy Wallace.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Catherine Murphy: I move amendment No. 12:In page 9, to delete lines 19 to 22.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Catherine Murphy: I move amendment No. 13:In page 9, to delete lines 23 and 24.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Catherine Murphy: I move amendment No. 14:In page 9, line 36, to delete “1 June 2018” and substitute “1 June 2017”.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Catherine Murphy: I move amendment No. 15:In page 9, line 38, to delete “1 January 2018” and substitute “1 January 2017”.