Results 3,141-3,160 of 14,127 for speaker:David Stanton

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Water Quality and Infrastructure and Small Town and Villages Growth Programme: Discussion (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: I wish to return to the issue of the CPO process. In his response, Mr. Gleeson stated that he prefers voluntary arrangements but they invariably end up as a CPO process anyway. My understanding, from talking to people on the ground, is that the system is not satisfactory. Can he outline how the voluntary arrangements work? Who sits down with the landowner, for instance, in the Midleton...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Water Quality and Infrastructure and Small Town and Villages Growth Programme: Discussion (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: Apologies for interrupting; my time is very limited. I ask Irish Water to have a look at that, because my understanding from dealing with people in the ground is that it is quite cumbersome and legalistic, and involves solicitors, estate agents and so on. Perhaps it would be more efficient if one person were to go and sit down across the table from the landowners and negotiate a deal with...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Water Quality and Infrastructure and Small Town and Villages Growth Programme: Discussion (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: No, they are not. The treatment plant is there. It is about putting in a pipe. The landowners only want a few metres added to a pipe. It is a small job. Overall, in respect of Midelton, I am talking about taking wastewater from Midleton to Carrigtowhill. The plant has been built. All the landowners want is to put in a pipe that is a few kilometres long and build two small pumping...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Water Quality and Infrastructure and Small Town and Villages Growth Programme: Discussion (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: Irish Water is not allowed to borrow money, then.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their work and the enthusiasm that is apparent in respect of what is no doubt a challenging and difficult area. I wish them well with their work in the area. How many transient halting sites are there in the country?

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: What is Mr. Benson's view in respect of the whole issue of transient sites? Is he suggesting there is no demand for them?

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: The Department is changing the funding model. I note that, according to the expert group, between 2008 and 2018, €168 million was allocated but only €111 million was drawn down. The Department is not actually funding out to local authorities any more; it is expecting them to draw down funds as required. How is that going?

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: The expert report refers to Part VIII planning. The suggestion is that the reserved function of local authority members should be suspended. How many times has this particular Part VIII procedure been used by local authorities to block Traveller accommodation proposals by local authority executives?

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: Does Mr. Benson have any sense of whether it is widespread or anecdotal?

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: I refer to the role of approved housing bodies, which are also mentioned in the report. Has consideration been given to a specific approved housing body for Traveller accommodation? What role are AHBs playing at the moment in respect of providing Traveller accommodation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: There are a lot of AHBs getting a significant amount of money from the State, so I expected they would have been delivering accommodation for Traveller families as part of their role. Mr. Benson was asked about specific accommodation design. I ask him to comment on the trespass legislation that is referenced in the report and the various constraints that is causing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: Mr. Benson's Department has a view on the matter, however.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: In my former role, I visited several Traveller accommodation centres and sites and so on. In one of them, I came across a building that was being used for a homework club for children. It was not a great building. When children come home from school, they quite often cannot do homework because the accommodation is overcrowded or too small or there is too much noise or whatever else. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: I am pleased to hear that Mr. Benson is supportive of such initiatives and that the Department provides the building because when I saw this in action I thought it was one of the best things I had seen. I have mentioned it before at this committee and the Chairman, who is currently on leave, said she had never experienced it but that it was extremely positive. I suggest that Mr. Benson take...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: It struck me while reading the report that the expert group seemed to think it was a good idea, so I thought I would raise it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: Is there any plan to expand the role of regional assemblies in respect of this issue?

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: There is talk of a shared services model, whereby one local authority would provide services on behalf of all the others and become an expert, if one likes, on certain parts of this. Is that of merit and something that might be considered?

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: Part of the culture of many Travellers is their attachment to horses. Does the Department take on board that attachment in the context of its provision of housing? I came across several examples of this. One gentleman told me that without his horse he would not have any reason for living. The horse kept him going; he went down to the field every day and fed it and looked after it and so...

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: That is good to hear. We have a national Traveller accommodation consultative committee, but the report contains a proposal that an authority with more teeth be established. Is that something that Mr. Benson believes will happen and is it something of which he would be in favour?

Joint Oireachtas Committee On Key Issues Affecting The Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (Resumed) (23 Sep 2021)

David Stanton: One of the most challenging places I visited was Spring Lane in Cork. It is an extraordinarily difficult place. Perhaps someone from the local authorities could tell me whether progress is being made on improving the accommodation for the people living there. I have been in many places, but that was one of the worst I have seen.