Results 281-300 of 450 for going forward speaker:Simon Coveney

Topical Issue Debate: Local Authority Funding (27 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: No it was not under threat. As part of the plan, the Department agreed to give an extra €1 million to Sligo each year over a five-year period. Only nine months later we are now in a situation where we are being told the plan is not workable. I have to stand over a situation where we are trying to bring back an acceptable level of financial management to the local authority in Sligo....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (21 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: It is great that Senator Victor Boyhan has read the plan. From my perspective, that is very good. I will go through some of the schemes mentioned. On student accommodation, it is my understanding anything happening on public land which is controlled and managed by a local council is subject to a Part VIII process. It is up to the council to make sure it does this in a way that is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (14 Sep 2016)

Simon Coveney: ...Department last week. I hope they found it useful. We are trying to ensure everybody has access to all the information they need on the action plan which will be a feature of the lifetime of this Government. The more people who know the detail of what we propose, costing, numbers and timescales for different targets, the better for everybody. I thank the committee for inviting me...

Housing (Sale of Local Authority Housing) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (20 Jul 2016)

Simon Coveney: ...to be read a Second Time on 31 March 2017, to allow for—(a) the Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme to be reviewed after one year in operation, in line with the commitment in the Programme for a Partnership Government. The review will commence in January 2017 and the intention is to complete it by 31 March 2017; and (b) the opportunity, in the context of that review, to consider...

Seanad: Action Plan for Housing: Statements (20 Jul 2016)

Simon Coveney: I am particularly pleased to speak in the Seanad on "Rebuilding Ireland", which we launched yesterday. It is the Government's new action plan for housing and homelessness. This is a very significant effort by the Government to start a process by which, in time, it will fix a broken property market and respond more effectively to the needs of very vulnerable people who find themselves...

Housing Strategy: Statements (19 Jul 2016)

Simon Coveney: I thank Deputies for affording me the opportunity to present to them the key elements of the Government's Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness. The housing emergency, which is especially acute in our urban centres, is the most pressing social and economic issue facing the country. To have a home is a basic human need, and we are elected to this House to ensure all our citizens have a...

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Fifth Stage (13 Jul 2016)

Simon Coveney: ...is and so on. Deputy Kelly made some comments yesterday that I want to address. I went to Brussels last week and had quite a lengthy meeting with the Commissioner and his officials. It was a good meeting that went on for about an hour and a half. I was very anxious to explain in some detail the political history of water in Ireland, as well as the challenges we face and how we have...

Seanad: Housing for People with Disabilities: Motion (13 Jul 2016)

Simon Coveney: ...in this room about this issue. I thank Senators Dolan and O'Sullivan. I know Senator Kelleher quite well and given her experience with the various organisations she has worked for, it is a good example of the Seanad adding value to a debate around a sector that needs a comprehensive policy response. Having former Ministers for housing in the House also significantly helps as well. We...

Report of the Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Motion (7 Jul 2016)

Simon Coveney: ...Homelessness and, perhaps more importantly, to debate in this House how we can all work towards addressing the many issues regarding homelessness. I will also use the opportunity to set out the Government's priorities and intentions for the forthcoming action plan on housing. I want to place on the record of the House the fact that I welcome and commend the excellent work of the...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Simon Coveney: ...the Chairman on her appointment. I hope and think it will be a very busy committee. We have made no secret of the fact that housing is a major priority if not the biggest priority for Government and we want to work with everyone on the committee to solve the multilayered and complex problems around housing. A number of members of this committee were also members of the Committee on...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016)

Simon Coveney: ...to our Department. It is interesting that we had a mix of compliments and criticisms for the decision to increase rent supplements and the HAP, as one would expect. This proves it is not a straightforward issue in terms of the impact it might have on rents broadly. Certainly, it was the right decision. This is about keeping people in their homes in the context of more people being...

Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (28 Jun 2016)

Simon Coveney: ...is a very short Bill and there has been little discussion on the technicalities of the legislation. I hope we will have an opportunity to do this on Committee Stage in the coming days when we will go through the Bill line by line to make sure we get it right. Essentially, the thinking behind the legislation is clear. It is about trying to create a window of opportunity to have a less...

Waste Collection Charges: Motion [Private Members] (21 Jun 2016)

Simon Coveney: ...pay-by-weight charging for household waste collection from 1st July, as the most effective and proven means of managing and segregating household waste, in line with the polluter pays principle, to reduce residual waste going to landfills but also to give households more control over their waste costs, by incentivising people to reuse, recycle and compost better, and providing for more...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Jun 2016)

Simon Coveney: ...from different political parties to try to explain the approach we are taking towards housing which I regard as a national emergency, particularly in some of our larger urban centres. We can go into some detail later on regarding our thinking to date and when we will launch a formal response to that in the context of the action plan for housing, which will be launched later this summer. ...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Jun 2016)

Simon Coveney: ...planning with that in mind. Obviously, there will be some direct-build social housing estates and some approved housing bodies will purchase turnkey solutions of 30 to 50 units that can be put to very good use. However, we must make sure we do not repeat the mistakes that were made decades ago where we had huge swathes of urban centres that were solely social housing. That would be a...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Environmental Protection Agency (26 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: .... Results for these pollutants were below EU limit values in 2014 as detailed in the report, Air Quality in Ireland 2014 – Key Indicators of Ambient Air Quality, available at www.epa.ie/air/quality/aqr/. Going forward, the EPA has commenced preparation of a draft national ambient air monitoring programme under Section 65 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 (as amended),...

Priority Questions: Irish Water (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: ...are put together, of publishing reports in full in order that people can get the context around issues as important as delivering safe public water supplies. We will have an opportunity to go into these issues in some detail in the debate tonight. Something I hope this House will be able to do over the next nine months, because we will be debating water on many occasions between now...

Agriculture: Statements (4 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: It is my intention to report back to the Oireachtas as soon as I have received the Attorney General’s advice and I have examined a way forward in the context of that advice. Subject to that advice, I would be open to amending the current statutory instrument to move further towards meeting the concerns raised on the assignment of points following the completion of the prosecution...

Agriculture: Statements (4 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: ...I consider the IFA to be very important. It has been through a difficult period and now has new leadership following an election. I wish Joe Healy well in the challenges he will face and I look forward to working with him, if I have the privilege of being Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in the future. As Members are aware, the agrifood sector has performed strongly in...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Sheepmeat Sector (20 Apr 2016)

Simon Coveney: ...new markets for all Irish agri-food products including sheep meat. In addition last year Commissioner Hogan set up the Sheepmeat Reflections Group at EU level to examine the sheep sector and the support it needs going forward in order to continue to make an important contribution to agricultural output. My Department is participating in this group and I expect the outcome of this...