Results 2,361-2,380 of 4,773 for speaker:Paudie Coffey

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Pyrite Issues (17 Sep 2014)

Paudie Coffey: Section 10A of the Finance (Local Property Tax) Act 2012 (as amended) provides for a temporary exemption of at least three consecutive years from the charge to Local Property Tax (LPT) for residential properties that have been certified as having “significant pyritic damage”. To avail of the exemption, the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Pyrite Exemption) Regulations 2013 require...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Litter Pollution (17 Sep 2014)

Paudie Coffey: The Litter Pollution Acts 1997 to 2009 provide the statutory framework to combat litter. Under the Acts, the primary management and enforcement response to littering is a matter for the local authorities. Local authorities are independent statutory bodies, with democratically elected councils and their own management systems and as such, it is a matter for individual authorities to...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Non-Principal Private Residence Charge Yield (17 Sep 2014)

Paudie Coffey: The Local Government (Charges) Act 2009, as amended, provides the legislative basis for the Non Principal Private Residence (NPPR) Charge. The NPPR Charge of €200 per annum, which has since been discontinued, applied in the years 2009 to 2013 to any residential property in which the owner did not reside as their normal place of residence. The table details Non-Principal Private...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Motor Tax Collection (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I do not have the answer the Senator requires. The figures I have outlined clearly state that by the end of June 2014, the motor tax receipts are €47 million greater than for the same period in 2013. It seems clear therefore that the measures implemented are having the effect of ensuring people who might in the past have tried to evade paying motor tax are compliant. The Department...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Pyrite Remediation Programme Implementation (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Senator for his kind comments. I spent over four years in the Seanad with many colleagues. They were very good years. I thank the Senator for raising this matter which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, and providing me with an opportunity to report on the progress made to date by the Pyrite Resolution Board in addressing this very difficult problem. The...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Pyrite Remediation Programme Implementation (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I understand these are very genuine concerns and they affect many public representatives of all political persuasions and none. The Senator, rightly, raises them on the floor of the Seanad. I wish him well in his meeting tomorrow with representatives of the Pyrite Remediation Board. I certainly would have no problem in meeting a delegation at some time if progress was not being made. A...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Motor Tax Collection (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Senator for his kind comments. I look forward to working with him and many colleagues in the House. I thank the Senator for raising this matter which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly. I acknowledge the importance of a healthy and competitive haulage industry to our general economic welfare and employment across all areas of the country. Changes to the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Voluntary Sector Funding (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I appreciate the Senator's genuine concerns in this matter and take on board the good case he has made. I discussed the issue with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly, this evening after I saw that this Adjournment motion had been tabled. We are prepared to reconsider applicants with disability or health-related functions to determine whether...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Voluntary Sector Funding (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Acting Chairman. I also thank Senator John Crown for placing this important matter on the agenda. I have a detailed response which will help to clarify how the schemes are funded and assessed. I can respond again should the Senator wish to raise further issues. On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, I am pleased to have an opportunity to address the Seanad on the funding...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I thank Senator Fiach Mac Conghail for his kind comments and I note his views. I have already spoken about the transfer policies and how they will be dealt with. My remarks are on the public record. I appreciate the Senator's having raised this issue with me. I acknowledge Senator Hayden's vast experience in this area as chairperson of Threshold. She has brought great insight to the...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: Second thoughts.

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I have been provided with quite a detailed response which I will read into the record and which, I hope, will reassure Senators. Before I do so, I reiterate the commitment given by my predecessor to follow up on this issue. While I agree with the general thrust of the amendments, I certainly cannot accept them. In specific reference to amendment No. 22, the Domestic Violence Act 1996 comes...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Cathaoirleach for his kind welcome. This is a very familiar setting to me as I spent over four years here. I enjoyed every moment of it and see many familiar as well as some new faces. I look forward to working with Members in my new capacity. I cannot accept amendment No. 10. The purpose of prescribing the appropriate period by way of regulations as opposed to primary...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I am happy to clarify the matter for Senators. As I said in respect of amendment No. 10, the purpose of prescribing an appropriate number in regulations as opposed to primary legislation is to allow for flexibility if needed to change the number set where it becomes impractical. Two refusals is a reasonable number so as not to disadvantage other households on the waiting list in being...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (16 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: The ongoing piloting of the HAP will include as part of the national roll-out of the scheme a review of the current allocation and transfer policies of housing authorities to give appropriate weight to households on the transfer lists in the allocation of available social accommodation. It is intended to provide that where a HAP recipient who has come off the waiting list applies to go onto...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Concert Licensing: Dublin City Council (15 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: This is an important point because anybody who served on a local authority would know that if a councillor had an interest in a decision being taken by the council he or she would have to vacate the chamber to avoid being involved in the process. A fundamental issue arises in this regard. I am not casting aspersions but it is something we will need to consider at a future date. Where there...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Concert Licensing: Dublin City Council (15 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: I am sorry for interrupting but this is critical to the confusion and the conflict as I understand it. Given all that Mr. Keogan said, which I accept in terms of the balanced and reasonable approach taken, was it not a serious mistake to offer the matinées because that would have contributed to a much more serious intensification and demand on the neighbourhood and traffic management...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Concert Licensing: Dublin City Council (15 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: It was a rearguard action. Dublin City Council was willing to consider it in hindsight. Given that, why were five concerts not considered at the outset as a once-off? Given the lessons we have learned and the pressures and difficulties it brought on the council and everyone else, it could have been decided that it would not to be allowed to happen again. Could the concerts not have been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Concert Licensing: Dublin City Council (15 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: My question to Mr. Keegan is whether he thought it appropriate that someone with family connections and a house in the local area should have been as closely involved in the decision making process.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Concert Licensing: Dublin City Council (15 Jul 2014)

Paudie Coffey: Given the public discourse and perception around the debate I am sure Mr. Keegan would have pre-empted it and understood that it would have become very controversial. To avoid any charges or accusations of conflicts of interest, did Mr. Keegan feel there was no necessity to appoint another official to examine the decision?