Results 2,941-2,960 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Credit Union Lending (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: I think my colleague on my right prefers a mocha frappuccino, although they are not very common down in my area. I prefer the mocha to be straightforward. To be clear, we have sat down with them. I would point out that when we took up the brief of housing, as Fine Gael Ministers, one of the first issues was to make sure the money that credit unions have was made available, and while they...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: I want to be clear on this. One of the first things we decided to do in the Rebuilding Ireland plan was to change the policy in relation to the process of delivering housing projects, that under previous administrations, Governments, Ministers and parties was taking three, four or five years. We put a process in place, in conjunction with the local authority sector, that is in line with...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: Can I finish, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle? The Minister and I wish-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: I and the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, would be very happy if all involved could make this happen in 30 weeks. In some cases, it is possible to do it in 30 to 35 weeks. In the private sector, if one asks a developer or builder today, and they look out and pick a new site and ask them how quickly they can be on site, they will say roughly 14 months to go through all the planning etc....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: It is there.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: The Deputy is forcing me into making this point to her. Previous housing Ministers from her own party had processes and positions in place that were gobbledygook, were red tape and took three, four five and six years - ridiculous times. One of the first things we did was to get in there and change the process to get on site. I am not saying it is perfect, I would like to get it even faster...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: I would be very happy if the Deputy could tell me where we could shave off more weeks but it is an agreed process, which is in line with the private sector as well which claims to do all of these things really quickly. Our sector can now do it just as quickly. Mr. Brendan Kenny attended the committee yesterday, and he did not blame our Department for delays.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: I want to clarify it. The process is changed and I am quite happy to give the process to Deputy Burton. She can go through it and come back to me with her pen if she has any changes and I will be happy to look at it. We want to get on site more quickly - trust me. All that Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, ever asked of local authorities is that where they can, to be more urgent in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: St. Teresa’s Gardens, the housing project referred to by the Deputy, is a key regeneration project, the first phase of which will see the delivery of 54 new social housing homes. As the project is currently the subject of a tendering process, it would not be appropriate for me to comment at this time on the likely project costs. I understand this matter was discussed by the committee...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Funding (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: That is my understanding.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Funding (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: I would be surprised if credit unions could not invest in an SPV that was set up to facilitate their investment.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Funding (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: That is what it is meant to do, so something will have gone seriously wrong if they cannot invest.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Funding (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: Someone is feeding the Deputy information. That is grand, but whoever that is is obviously involved in the process, and that process is meant to find a mechanism for whoever that is to invest money. If that process does not succeed, then an SPV will not be announced in October, as allowing investment is what it is trying to do. There are two bodies involved - the ILCU and CUDA. We have...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Funding (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: My answer might not be a surprise either because I have also answered the question on more than one occasion. I am happy to engage with the Deputy on this because it is an important topic.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Funding (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: The Deputy will find that I answered it the last time but he might not have liked the answer. I will always give the best answer and the most up to date position. I am happy to discuss this.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Funding (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: I was just setting the scene.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Funding (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: Following engagement with the credit union sector on proposals for credit unions to provide funding for the provision of social housing, the Central Bank undertook a review of the relevant investment framework in 2017 and our Department fully engaged in all parts of that. On foot of this review, revised regulations commenced on 1 March 2018. The revised regulations included the addition...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Funding (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: I have already been as clear as I possibly can on this. This is something into which we have put much work. We have worked with the Department of Finance and the Central Bank to make sure it could happen. The issuing and setting up of SPVs is not something the Department can do.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Funding (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: We are clear on that. The Department has assisted with the funding, through the ICSH, to help develop that. It is in three phases, the first two of which are complete. Phase 3, on which the Deputy is asking for an update, is due in October, in the next couple of weeks. That is to allow a special purpose vehicle to be set up. The Deputy is right to say the Irish League of Credit Unions is...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Legislative Process (27 Sep 2018)

Damien English: As outlined during the 2nd Stage debate on the Urban Regeneration and Housing (Amendment) Bill 2018 introduced by Deputy Wallace which, among other things, proposes a number of amendments to the vacant site levy provisions, the Government shares the same overall objective as the Deputy regarding the need to tackle land hoarding and ensure that vacant under-utilised sites are...