Results 3,381-3,400 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Fire Service (20 Mar 2018)

Damien English: Responsibility for the provision of emergency medical services, including pre-hospital emergency care, rests with the Health Service Executive (HSE) which operates the National Ambulance Service (NAS) and emergency departments in hospitals in accordance with health sector legislation and national policy. The HSE operates under the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Health. As...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: I thank the committee for inviting me here today to speak about the implementation of the Traveller accommodation programmes. It is timely to have this discussion now and it is a worthwhile focus for the committee over the months ahead. I thank the committee for its interest in the area. In accordance with the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, housing authorities are responsible...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: I thank the Chair for her comments. First, I welcome the positivity of Deputy Ó Broin and his party towards what we are trying to do here with the expert review recommended by the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee, NTACC. The NTACC is the policy group which would make recommendations to me and I work closely with it. Like that, if positive suggestions come...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: I will not prejudge what the expert panel will suggest. I and the Department are open minded on this. Whatever it takes to move this forward, we are willing to make the necessary changes if positive suggestions and recommendations come back on which we can get agreement. Ideally, the expert group will bring the report to the NTACC and it will agree with it and make recommendations to us....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: Yes, I believe local authorities must step up and make their decisions. In certain areas there appears to be a lack of commitment to making decisions about responsibilities. In other areas, there are complications, sites get complicated and matters are never dealt with. Local authorities must be focused. From what I have seen, while there is a commitment, the resources and staff must be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: I agree with the Deputy. I have not singled one group over the other. It is a collective. Some local authorities have not delivered for a combination reasons. In some cases that is due to a lack of commitment and focus. I am talking about local authorities as a unit and have not singled out anybody. We need to find ways to deal with the matter. In some cases, there are genuine reasons...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: In terms of making up the shortfall, funding has not been specifically ring-fenced. Money was allocated to some projects two or three years ago. That money is still available if the project moves forward. In a way, the work is ring-fenced.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: I want the moneys spent. I can guarantee that my Department official, Ms Hurley, will spend the money quickly if she gets a gap at all.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: The money is always spent on housing. In the past couple of months we have attempted to buy housing that might suit Traveller-specific accommodation. The money might not have been spent on specific projects but we make the accommodation available in a roundabout manner. I hope the accommodation will still be delivered somewhere down the line. Yes, the money is still available. If a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: Deputy Barry has raised several issues specific to Cork and more general issues. I am not familiar with the case of the individual caravan in the field but I will certainly get it checked out. There is no reason for anyone to be living in a caravan without a roof. I would be surprised if it were the case and I would be disappointed with the situation. It is something we will look into. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: I will not get into petty arguments about politicians' wages and so on. Politicians' wages are linked to Civil Service grades and the cuts were implemented across the board. The reason they are linked is so that it is not our decision. That is how it is and most people agree with that process. Deputy Barry might not but this is not the place to deal with that. I have already said that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: The key thing is that we are putting the money back in and that we do so as quickly as possible. I have spoken to committees repeatedly on the need to put the business case together to show that it can be spent. When I look for more money for this area, whether within the departmental budget or with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, I have to be able to show that we can spend...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: I know Senator Kelleher's commitment to this. We have had a number of meetings on the subject and I know her commitment is genuine, so I will respond to her in that positive context. I also want the expert panel to be up and running. I have had a couple of meetings with the chair and members of the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee before Christmas and since in an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: I had intended to deal with that point. Across several counties, quite a high percentage of homeless families are from a Traveller background, which proves Senator Kelleher's point about the difficulty in finding rental accommodation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: We do not intend to continue to rely on the private sector but have had no choice in that regard. Although money is being put back into public housing and other schemes, it takes time to get that accommodation up and running and we must, therefore, work with and rely on the private sector to a large extent in the early years. However, it is to be hoped that as we invest far more taxpayers'...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: I thank the Senator for his comments. There are a number of reasons for delays in delivering projects. One is the planning process and another is site selection. There needs to be a commitment from all sides to make it happen as well as a conversation with all the various stakeholders about the realistic possibilities on a specific site and what is possible on a particular site. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: That is work that is often ongoing. It would probably aid the expert panel that has been set up. We can certainly commit to that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: Deputy Ó Cuív is absolutely right. There are too many disgraceful cases and this is why we are here. There are some great projects and some have been very successful, but some of the sites I have visited are nothing short of disgraceful, and I agree with the Deputy on this. He went through the history of a particular Galway site, which I have also visited. It is a failure -...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Provision of Traveller Accommodation: Discussion (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: In saying this, while the site is temporary and people are there without permission now, the accommodation is not acceptable either. In some cases, people possibly cannot wait for a solution for the site without finding new accommodation and putting it on the site, because some of the accommodation is just disgraceful. It is not acceptable and people should not be asked to live in it. I...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Litter Pollution Legislation (8 Mar 2018)

Damien English: I agree that plastic microbeads in rinse-down-the-drain products should be banned and, as my Department is responsible for the protection of the marine environment, I am working to ensure that this happens. My Department proposes to implement a legislative ban on the sale or manufacture of personal care products, detergents and scouring agents containing plastic microbeads and it is...