Results 2,381-2,400 of 4,698 for speaker:Dessie Ellis

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Current Housing Demand: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I too thank the witnesses for their presentations. This meeting comes in the context of the housing Bill which is going through the House. Many issues are arising about which we are worried, one of which is that there are 76,000 people in receipt of rent supplement. There is a proposal under the HAP project which is being piloted in Limerick to bring it under the control of local...

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

Dessie Ellis: The Minister of State mentioned the Attorney General who gave bad advice previously on upward-only rent reviews. It is the same Attorney General. I disagree with the principle of mandatorily taking money by the Department of Social Protection from those on social welfare payments. We should not do that. The same approach has been used in other areas. People are struggling at the moment....

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Pyrite Remediation Programme (17 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: 83. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an update on the progress of the pyrite resolution works taking place and completed at this stage and the work to monitor other sites with pyritic contamination on an ongoing basis. [25443/14]

Johnstown Castle Agricultural College (Amendment) Bill 2014 [Seanad]: Second and Subsequent Stages (12 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I dtús báire, ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an mBille seo. Sinn Féin welcomes the Bill and, as such, has no objections to it. The proposal to develop the castle and gardens at Johnstown Castle as a visitor destination for the south east region is also welcome. As we are all too aware, the region is an unemployment black spot which is in urgent need of assistance...

Johnstown Castle Agricultural College (Amendment) Bill 2014 [Seanad]: Second and Subsequent Stages (12 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I thought I only had five minutes.

Johnstown Castle Agricultural College (Amendment) Bill 2014 [Seanad]: Second and Subsequent Stages (12 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I did not know that.

Order of Business (12 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: When it is planned to amend the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 to help to facilitate the creation of an all-island gas market? The Bill is entitled the Common Arrangements for Gas Bill. Do we know when it will be published?

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: The Minister of State referred to solutions. There are solutions to everything but we have put forward proposals with regard to solutions. I realise they would take some time but they could work if they were enacted quickly, worked on and if the Cabinet would agree it. We know from all the parliamentary questions we have put that there is at least €1 billion in the strategic fund...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: If local authorities were given responsibility for sourcing properties, we would really see the scale of the emergency we face. There is absolutely no doubt that many people are topping up their payments and have been doing so for some time. Increasing rent supplement without putting rent controls in place will not change that. There is still going to be a creeping effect in respect of...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 20:In page 49, to delete lines 32 and 33 and substitute the following:“(a) the housing authority concerned shall source dwellings in respect of which they will seek to place people under the housing assistance scheme,”.I am aware that we have issues over HAP and we have just had arguments on the previous grouping. However, I do not understand why, with the...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: In view of the importance of this issue-----

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: As one of those who tabled the amendment, I call for a walk-through division.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: The Minister should check that. Everybody knows there is.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: The Minister is missing something. If one comes off rental supplement and goes into HAP, one must reapply to get a transfer. It is a different system.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: One of the problems is the Minister of State might genuinely believe that this will not change anything and the use of the words "shall not" does not alter anything. She may believe the word "appropriate" is enough but this will come down to the interpretation of local authority managers and not hers. Managers will see this as a giving them a green light to say this is appropriate...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: The transfer list is the transfer list.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: Who is on the list?

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I have an amendment. I thought you were taking the people who had amendments first.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: I am sorry about that. I do not know whether we are learning lessons. There are approximately 70,000 people on rent supplement and just under 30,000 on the RAS. We have seen what has happened with rent supplement in terms of the number of people now reporting as homeless and the number being put off the housing list and having to seek rent supplement. We learned today that rent supplement...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Report Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2014)

Dessie Ellis: The Acting Chairman, Deputy Bernard J. Durkan, stated that if amendment No. 16 was defeated, the other two amendments in the group would fall.