Results 2,421-2,440 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: These are people's family homes.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: It is a serious conversation. These are people's-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: Is the Deputy going to keep going?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: Does the Deputy have any respect for the House?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: Yes. It is a shame.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I have a nine year old at home who has more manners than Deputy O'Brien. To be very clear-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: -----the reason it was announced in the budget was Deputy McConalogue and many others stressed that it would need to be in the budget or they would not believe it would happen. The Deputy should not tell me it was because of elections when it was something he was demanding. It was important that we signalled at budget time that this scheme would happen. The homeowners wanted to know that....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: I propose to take Questions Nos. 45 and 81 together. An expert panel on concrete blocks was established by my Department in 2016 and its terms of reference were focused on the investigation of the problems that have emerged in the concrete blockwork of certain dwellings in counties Donegal and Mayo. The report of the expert panel was published in 2017 and included eight recommendations,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: I will make a note and remind you in future. I am conscious the Deputy was not here earlier when I spoke to Deputy Pringle on the matter. We recognise that this is taking longer than any of us would like to get up and running, but it is important that we get it right. The Deputy is familiar with this. At every meeting we had with local residents, we explained the importance of getting-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: This is silly stuff. The Deputy should grow up.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: In fairness, Deputy McConalogue has kept abreast of these discussions for the past two years, unlike his colleague on the front benches. He understands how serious this is for homeowners and they know how important it is that we get this right. We have had to get the engineering and standard assessment parts right, and that is all in place. We are trying to get this up and running as...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: I acknowledge that Deputy Stanley understands we cannot just wave a magic wand and deliver housing. He might inform his party's housing spokesperson of the same logic because he does not seem to understand this. Other members of his party also do not understand it, but I am glad Deputy Stanley does. That is certainly progress. There are no projects awaiting approval for two or three...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: I wish to be very clear that our Department has no interest in unnecessarily prolonging the time involved in these proposals other than to comply with the Government-wide rules for capital project oversight. Deputy Stanley and many other Deputies want us to do this, so we do it. We have put in place a project that streamlines the process. I can confirm to Deputy Stanley that the parts of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: That is what the Deputy said.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: Each local authority brings forward a house design that suits its area. I do not think Deputy Stanley's theory that we should have just standard or generic designs is supported by any of the NGOs. No one is demanding we have one standard design. Yes, there are standard specifications we can have for much housing. This is something we in the Department have worked on, and we also work with...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: Again, I wish to be very clear that there are stages of approval. I am happy to talk through them. We have no time left to do so today, but I will bring the Deputy through the various stages of approval if he so wishes. There is no reason at all the design of a project should delay something unnecessarily. There are quite quick processes out there. Some local authorities have got through...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: In October 2018, the Government approved in principle the development of a grant scheme of financial assistance to support affected homeowners in counties Donegal and Mayo to carry out the necessary remediation works to dwellings that have been damaged due to defective concrete blocks. This followed on from the work carried out by the expert panel on concrete blocks established by my...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: The Deputy asks a fair question. We told the mica action group when we last met in Donegal that we had a target of this July to start fixing houses. It looks now as if that will not happen until the autumn. I do not see any reason why we cannot work out all the procedures and start fixing houses then. There have been a couple of meetings between Mayo and Donegal County Councils and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defective Building Materials (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: Deputy Pringle will understand that the scheme is not yet fully finalised; that will happen in the weeks ahead. Those who are most in need will be helped first and that is the logical way to approach this. We have been in some of these houses and we know how bad they are. The full cost of remediation works will not be met under the scheme but Donegal and Mayo local authorities said they...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (11 Jun 2019)

Damien English: In the case of County Louth there is no block on allowing the local authority to develop houses. In fact, we have engaged with the council on several projects. We have more than 60 projects going through the pipeline at the moment to develop houses. The council has a large landbank that carries a great deal of debt. We are happy to work with the council on that to bring forward housing...