Results 4,121-4,140 of 6,908 for speaker:Cian O'Callaghan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Inflationary Costs in the Construction Industry: Discussion (28 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: I have a few questions for Ms Hegarty and one for Mr. Doyle. He referred to 204 vacant units identified in Monasterevin and said that only 24 owners were interested in development. Regarding breaking down the other vacant units in terms of fair deal, disputed and, in particular, those who are not interested, can he expand on the non-interested cohort?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Inflationary Costs in the Construction Industry: Discussion (28 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: It would be useful to get those data to have insight into what the position is. I thank Ms Hegarty and the Irish Council for Social Housing for coming before the committee. In her statement, she identified the land value trap as a major issue in terms of why construction often stops and we have a stop-start approach. That approach involves huge costs and major skills losses. What measures...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Inflationary Costs in the Construction Industry: Discussion (28 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: I thank Ms Hegarty. I can take from that that the weakness of the public sector side of delivery as a counterbalance and counter-cyclical part of housing delivery is a key issue. The access, or lack thereof, of small builders to finance for land is a key structural weakness that needs to be addressed, as well as other ways to support smaller builders, and that is a key part of delivery. ...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Inflationary Costs in the Construction Industry: Discussion (28 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: The points on timber frames and fire safety are valid. Unfortunately, there are examples where it has not been done properly. I would not have full confidence that all of the lessons have been learned yet. Ms Hegarty referred to six storeys being cost optimal. With regard to reasonable density, a very strong argument has been put forward by others, including Lorcan Sirr and the Irish...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Inflationary Costs in the Construction Industry: Discussion (28 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: Ms Hegarty's view is that we are not taking a sensible approach in terms of density. We have two extremes. We are still doing a lot of low-density, unsustainable development, as well as poor-quality, high-density developments with which there are numerous problems. We should be landing generally on three to six storeys in most areas. That would make sense in terms of having a good-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Inflationary Costs in the Construction Industry: Discussion (28 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: You would have good standards plus a good level of density for providing infrastructure and access to public transport to meet our climate change objectives. We could achieve a huge amount in that range in most areas. That is Ms Hegarty's view.

LGBTQI+ and Equality: Statements (23 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: I welcome that these statements are taking place. It is more than 25 years since I attended my first Pride march. It was 26 years ago, which is hard for me to believe in many ways. Much has changed in Irish society since then and much has changed for LGBTQI+ people. That said, while some things have changed massively for us, some things have remained quite the same. The Pride march has...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rental Sector (23 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: I thank the Minister of State for that response. I want to be very clear that this is just one example of hundreds. If one talks to Threshold or to anyone working in this area, there are hundreds of renters where the RTB will not help progress a case and will refuse point blank to do so if the landlord is not registered or if the renter cannot provide proof of the landlord’s address....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rental Sector (23 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: 4. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the redress available to tenants who make a complaint to the Residential Tenancies Board about breaches of their tenancy rights when they relate to a tenancy with an unregistered landlord or a landlord who fails to provide an address; the action being taken to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rental Sector (23 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: What redress is available to tenants who make a complaint to the Residential Tenancies Board about breaches of their tenancy rights when they relate to a tenancy with an unregistered landlord or a landlord who fails to provide an address? There is a significant issue of the RTB being ineffective in dealing with cases in which the tenant does not have proof of his or her landlord's address....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Rental Sector (23 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: I wrote to the Minister about this recently. Indeed, the Minister has been cc'd in correspondence on this since April. I detailed one instance, an example of hundreds of instances, in which the RTB is unwilling to progress a case against a landlord who is not registered. In that instance the problems began in November 2021, when the hot water in the building stopped working. Following a...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Ukraine War (23 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: 42. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the actions that are being taken to ensure that there is adequate housing for Ukrainian refugees in the medium-term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31796/22]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: State Bodies (23 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: 48. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government when he was first informed about allegations of wrongdoing at An Bord Pleanála; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31795/22]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Schemes (23 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: 88. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the European Commission Directorate-General for Competition concluded its investigation into the Croí Cónaithe cities scheme following the pre-notification; if so, the outcome of the investigation; if not, when the outcome is expected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31794/22]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Discussion (23 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: I was first elected as a councillor in 2009 in an area of Dublin where a lot of pyrite was emerging in housing estates. It is terrible to see that, more than ten years on, a lot of the issues that residents in those areas were raising - the same issues of access to core testing and so on - are still not being addressed properly. As for the general scheme and head 24, which is about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Discussion (23 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: The first question was whether the witnesses have an opinion on section 24 of the scheme, which affects class actions and-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Discussion (23 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: I will start where the Chairman left off. In the absence of testing of foundations taking place, how can Mr. O'Connell be relatively confident there will not be problems with foundations?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Discussion (23 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: Is it not the case, however, that the vast majority of the remediations done to date related to infill? They relate particularly to the infill and the material that was going to the infill and that is why the other parts of the structure were not affected. Is that not the case?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Discussion (23 Jun 2022)

Cian O'Callaghan: I thank the SCSI for the work it has done. The pricing it has done is based on standards and products from 15 years ago, many of which are not available now. How did it calculate the pricing on that basis?