Results 2,321-2,340 of 4,672 for speaker:Dessie Ellis

Order of Business (19 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: Do you want a scrap?

Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (18 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: Tá sé thar am an reachtaíocht seo a chur le chéile. Cuirim fáilte roimhe. This is a positive straightforward Bill which introduces a system of registration which is long overdue but very welcome. I am happy to speak on it. I am sure the Minister will agree it is long overdue and will take no offence when I state we required this type of legislation long before he...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Motor Tax Collection (18 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: 203. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to allow taxi drivers to pay the tax on their SPSV vehicle online. [26280/14]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Motor Tax Collection (18 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: 204. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to increase the number of places at which motor tax related to an SPSV vehicle can be paid on the south side of Dublin. [26281/14]

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 38:In page 63, to delete lines 31 to 34 and substitute the following:"(2) (a) A housing authority may, if a tenant has refused to pay rent for a specified period of no less than 3 months and has refused to engage with the relevant authority, make a request to the Minister for Social Protection to deduct from net scheme payments the amount of rent payable to the authority...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: Department officials stated they would be taken off a housing list.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: That is after they are taken off the housing list.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: It was indicated that people would remain on the list.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: That is playing with words. It is unacceptable.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I would love to know where they are.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: After two years.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: It is the rule.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: It is reasonable to suggest a period of six months for monitoring the legislation subsequent to its introduction. I am not clear on how people will transfer from rental supplement to HAP. Many of the 78,000 people who are in receipt of rent supplement are making top up payments. What problems will we face when we come to assessing that in the local authorities? I can see major problems in...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: Today we met officials from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Department of Social Protection who confirmed in no uncertain terms that anyone who avails of HAP will be removed from the housing list. The Minister of State hesitated to say this but the officials confirmed it today. This will take many people off the housing list if they avail of HAP....

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I will press the amendment because I do not accept the Minister of State's argument that the local authorities are behaving or using good judgment. We need to put some sort of standard in place. A standard of three refusals across the board will not prevent flexibility. Currently, when the third refusal occurs, an individual will wait one year on the list. That is the penalty currently...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: It is one year in Dublin and two years in Cork. We are all over the place in this regard. We should allow three reasonable offers. There is no point in offering a place in which anti-social behaviour has occurred to beat the band. Dozens of people have refused offers in such a context. We need to use our common sense to develop a standardised approach.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I hear what the Minister of State is saying but she has not agreed to one amendment in this process. It is reasonable to standardise the system. Having two offers is inconsistent because people are being offered places in areas where others have refused them. On occasion, the same house is being offered four or five times, which does not make sense. Some local authorities are taking a...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 34:In page 54, line 30, after "offers" to insert "not less than 3".The reason I tabled this amendment is because it is not specific how many times the Minister proposes in section 45, where it states, "a prescribed number of reasonable offers". This varies between local authorities. Some local authorities state one offer and if one refuses the next offer, one waits a...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 29:In page 52, line 38, to delete “qualified household” and substitute “authority”.In respect of this amendment-----

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I understand what the Minister of State has said, but our experience of dealing with landlords is that these issues tend to drag on and we seem to wait indefinitely for places to be inspected and approved. We saw what happened in the inner city with regard to standards. In the surveys conducted the standards were very low. We need to be more precise about how long we should allow. From...