Results 21-40 of 221 for speaker:Aubrey McCarthy

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Vacancy and Dereliction: Discussion (21 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: I thank the witnesses for being here. I reiterate what Dr. O'Connor and Ms Sherry have said about the homeless figures. I was just up in the Seanad. There are now more than 5,100 children in homeless emergency accommodation. You think, "Wow." I travel home from here. I go to Naas and travel through Kilmainham and there are a lot of derelict properties. There are a lot of shops in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Vacancy and Dereliction: Discussion (21 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: Surely the Government has to play its part in that because there is a huge chunk of the cost of first-time buyers’ houses going to the Government.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Vacancy and Dereliction: Discussion (21 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: We have to regulate because you can see what happened with pyrite, etc., but are our regulations too extreme? There is no Toyota Yaris house any more. There is only Mercedes. The specs are very high. Is that an issue?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Vacancy and Dereliction: Discussion (21 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: I am not talking about profit. I am talking about people and their forever homes. What Ms Sherry has said is about the affordability of a house. My next question is for Mr. Taaffe. When my parents were starting out, they needed £3,000 to buy a house. Now, starting off in Dublin you need half a million euro. You nearly have to be a millionaire to have a starter home. Something has...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó – Order of Business (15 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: I rise to speak about the Defamation Bill currently before the House. I think it is our final opportunity to deliver a defamation Act that protects the right of ordinary citizens and small business owners across Ireland. For too long, our defamation laws have enabled a culture of vexatious litigation whereby retailers, forecourt operators and restaurateurs are targeted not for wrongdoing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Briefing on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of a Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill 2025: Discussion (15 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: I am just a bit confused with what my colleague, Senator Fitzpatrick, mentioned about the mechanism of how it works and the self declaration. I am involved with homelessness but I am also involved in the tourist sector. I remember back in 2017 Airbnb was going to be done away with, there was to be no more and everybody was warned. Anything I had as Airbnb in Dublin I made sure was stopped...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Briefing on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of a Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill 2025: Discussion (15 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: Are the local authorities going to police it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Briefing on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of a Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill 2025: Discussion (15 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: Everybody who had an Airbnb was going to jail back in 2017. Nearly ten years later, that has not happened. It looks like there is going to be a lot of resources required in order to police this.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Briefing on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of a Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill 2025: Discussion (15 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: I wear another hat. I am involved in homeless outreach, homeless centres, etc. We have a café on Pearse Street called The Light House where you meet a lot of people and we feed up to 500 people a day. One thing I am seeing is that the emergency accommodation numbers are just over 16,000, with 5,000 of them being children, which is unforgivable given the amount of houses that have been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Briefing on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of a Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill 2025: Discussion (15 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: Which cancel out our emergency accommodation nationally.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Briefing on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of a Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill 2025: Discussion (15 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: The Cathaoirleach mentioned Youghal. In areas like that, where tourism is the backbone and keeps the whole thing going, there has to be a delicate balance.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Briefing on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of a Short Term Letting and Tourism Bill 2025: Discussion (15 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: I thank Ms McGuire and wish her the best going forward.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: I am out of breath, a Chathaoirligh. I rise to highlight an innovative child-centred proposal that deserves attention. It is called a peer-to-peer well-being digital licence. It builds on the success of the It Takes A Village project in Greystones and Delgany and offers a way for kids to have digital literacy and online safety in schools. It empowers secondary students to mentor young...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: I was looking at the Seanad on TV and wondered if I would make this. Online safety is not just a technical issue for young people, it is also a well-being one. Young people are already dealing with cyberbullying, misinformation and data privacy issues. They must be part of the solution. This peer education initiative respects their lived experience and aligns with the UN Convention on...

Seanad: Budget 2026 (Enterprise, Tourism and Employment): Statements (14 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: I thank the Minister, Deputy Burke. I reiterate what Senator Nelson Murray said to welcome him to the House. I thank him for engaging with us on budget 2026. The budget arrives at a very important time for Ireland. I am a member of the enterprise committee so I know what is happening out in the real world with the small firms, the family businesses, the cafes, the florists and the...

Seanad: Support for Ukraine: Motion (14 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: I thank the Minister of State for being here. I rise to support the motion. As Senators O'Loughlin and Daly mentioned, there is a lot going on in the world at the moment, and often Ukraine is not mentioned and is forgotten about because the war has been going on for so long. We are rising to support the motion, however, affirming Ireland’s unwavering solidarity with the people of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Multiple Unit Developments: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: I thank the witnesses for being here and for their statements. I am shocked by what has been mentioned. Deputy Hearne mentioned Grenfell and a witness said, "But for the grace of God." We were mentioning fire wardens. It sounds like a grave situation, and as was said, but for the grace of God nothing has happened. In my area of Kildare a number of years ago, six units of housing were...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Multiple Unit Developments: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: Usually, and I get that you set up a different company and do another gig, but it is the professionals who certify the work who are meant to be indemnified.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Multiple Unit Developments: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: By whom?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Multiple Unit Developments: Discussion (14 Oct 2025)

Aubrey McCarthy: That is my point. All those people were involved in the initial blueprints.