Results 3,241-3,260 of 3,550 for speaker:Dominic Hannigan

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I welcome the Minister of State's response. I am willing to withdraw amendment No. 12, subject to receiving clarification from the Minister of State and his advisers.

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I move amendment No. 10: In page 12, subsection (1)(b), lines 39 and 40, to delete all words from and including "any" in line 39 down to and including "section 21" in line 40 and substitute the following: "the demand for social housing as outlined in the assessment of need in its administrative area conducted in accordance with section 21". This amendment relates to the content of housing...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I move amendment No. 11: In page 13, subsection (2)(a), lines 18 to 22, to delete all words from and including "The" in line 18 down to and including "following:" in line 22 and substitute the following: "A housing services plan shall also have regard to the following and shall include such further information and priorities related to the following as the Minister may direct:". This...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: The difference concerns the definitions of "may" and "shall". I will not press the amendment.

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I move amendment No. 14: In page 13, subsection (1), line 39, after "to" to insert "and seek responses from". This relates to the preparation and making of draft plans. Currently section 16 (1) states, "A housing authority shall prepare a draft of the housing services plan and shall send a copy of the draft housing services plan to [a list of bodies]." We are seeking to amend the subsection...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I move amendment No. 15: In page 14, subsection (1)(d), line 1, after "bodies" to insert the following: "or other bodies including community based organisations, networks, fora or other representative bodies; voluntary service providers, housing and/or homeless networks and fora; or any other body". The amendment seeks to strengthen the consultation aspect of the service plan. Amendment No....

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I thank the Minister for his partial response. I will not press the amendment.

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: From recollection, the Minister of State was rudely interrupted and had not finished what he was going to state, although I declared I intended to withdraw the amendment which might help to expedite his response.

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I move amendment No. 19: In page 14, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following subsection: "(2) Where the proposals submitted by bodies referred to in subsection (1) are not incorporated into the housing services plan, the housing authority shall furnish reasons for not incorporating those proposals.". This amendment seeks to include a clause after the end of section 16(1) and its...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I thank the Minister of State for his reply. As one who spent some time on local authorities I feel this is necessary. Otherwise, I would be concerned that in some instances the managers will not respond and will not tell the various organisations why they failed to take account of their proposals. I cannot let this rest.

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: This is the second time this has happened in two weeks. There might be a problem with the system.

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: The Labour Party supports this Bill. Our amendments are tabled with the intention of improving the thrust of the legislation. I compliment Senator Doherty on providing a definition of homelessness and the Labour Party will support its inclusion. Clarity is required and we have seen from the exchange between Senators Doherty and Norris that there are issues relating to mobile homes and...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I was slightly disappointed with the Minister of State's response. I heard what he said about mobile homes and it was something I intended to discuss. I know Senator Norris was hoping for some intellectual contribution from one of his Trinity colleagues, but I do not have their grey matter.

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: As regards mobile homes, I suggest that it is an opt-in. It is not a compulsory definition, which may annoy or upset people if they take it as a slur. If an individual or group thinks that because they are living in a mobile home they are homeless, let them opt in to the clause. It is not beyond the wit of the Minister of State's advisers to come up with a wording that would achieve the...

Seanad: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I support my colleagues in their call for a definition of homelessness to be inserted in the Bill. I also wish to give notice that I intend to table amendments on Report Stage on obliging housing authorities to prepare housing action plans.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: Senators referred to the difficulties faced by small businesses at present. In this climate it is vital we ensure our small businesses are not being ripped off. I want to give two examples where I believe excessive profiteering is taking place by suppliers to small business. The first is in regard to company travel. Businesses must use airlines to go abroad to do business. We know the...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I also want to draw attention to the latest annual report of An Bord Pleanála. As a result of the downturn in the economy, there are now 15% fewer cases going to An Bord Pleanála but staff numbers have increased by 26% and the number of external consultants used has risen by 20. It is clear the board needs to look again at its resource requirements. I am not suggesting that redundancies...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I join other Members in expressing concern about the state of our financial institutions. We heard today that shares in two major banks, Bank of Ireland and Anglo Irish Bank, are now valued at less than €1. The latter's current valuation of €600 million is only slightly higher than that of Paddy Power. Is it time for the Government to consider taking a stake in some of the banks to...

Seanad: Death of Member: Expressions of Sympathy (18 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: On behalf of the Labour Party I extend my sympathies to Ann, their children and Seamus's colleagues in Fianna Fáil. Seamus's death was very untimely at the young age of 60 years. Séamus was young when former Taoiseach Jack Lynch appointed him general secretary. He led the modernisation of the party in the 1970s. He would have enjoyed the recent presidential election in the United States...

Seanad: Radon Protection Measures: Statements (13 Nov 2008)

Dominic Hannigan: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and the fact that we have taken time to debate this very important issue. The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, RPII, estimates that more than 100,000 houses have unacceptably high levels of radon but the general public and the media do not seem to be aware of the dangers. Last year the institute warned that some radon gas pockets...