Results 4,241-4,260 of 7,126 for speaker:Alan Farrell

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: Have the units been inspected since they were delivered on foot of the information that is now in the public domain?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: I accept that. Could the witnesses outline to me the number of individuals in the State who are either in emergency accommodation or being supported by the State through the HAP scheme or any other scheme and who do not have a right to permanent housing?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: That is exactly what I am asking. How many people in emergency temporary accommodation do not have a housing right?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: One third?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: That would be helpful. Could Mr. McCarthy outline the number of family hubs delivered, the numbers of persons housed in them in 2017, and the cost involved? The sole purpose of the Committee of Public Accounts is to probe financial expenditure so I will move to that. I believe the Department has an extra €60 million this year for the provision of hubs across the State. Looking...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: Did Mr. McCarthy say the cost is approximately a ratio of 4:1?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: How many people exited the hotels in 2017?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: I do not know if Mr. McCarthy will be able to answer these questions, but what is the average build cost of an average three-bed, semi-detached house versus the acquisition cost in the State?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: The acquisition is significantly-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: I understand. That is as opposed to where demand is, which is mostly in the cities. Have any housing estates been developed in the past five years where there has been no provision of social or affordable housing?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: Deputy MacSharry was getting to the issue of the lack of personnel in certain local authorities earlier and he continually referred to Fingal County Council. I am very proud of the work that is done in Fingal County Council. The Minister and I visited the area last Friday and were told a target of 1,376 housing units were to be provided over a three-year period. Fingal has delivered 2,241,...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: Could I intercede for a second? If there is serviced site outside a provincial town with road frontage and correct zoning, is Mr. McCarthy telling me it is cheaper for the local authority to simply ignore that serviced, zoned site and try to find properties to buy within that provincial town for the provision of social housing? The point I make is that surely it should be doing both. It is...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: With respect, Mr. McCarthy did not answer my question on why they are not doing both. I appreciate that there are lots of vacant properties. We are nearly four years into this crisis and various policies have been put forward for local authorities, which are now being fully funded. Mr. McCarthy illustrated the drawdown parameters for funding to each of those authorities in terms of...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: As my time is limited, I will conclude by asking Mr. McCarthy to provide the figures in response to the questions that are outstanding. I am happy to provide him with the questions if he did not catch them all. My final remark relates to the additional funding for the provision of family hubs. Mr. McCarthy illustrated the cost of hotel accommodation versus family hub accommodation and it...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: I alluded to the fact earlier that a significant number of people are being supported in housing across the State who do not have a long-term housing entitlement. I am not targeting those individuals for any other reason than that it is not discussed. It is not something that is out there. We are not discussing the fact that there are large numbers of people who are not entitled to social...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: Absolutely.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: My point is that this is the Committee of Public Accounts. Our job is to scrutinise public expenditure.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: It occurs to me that we are throwing huge sums of money at short-term housing for people without a social housing entitlement. We need to change the provisions in order that they have a housing entitlement and they get houses. We must stop spending vast sums of money on an annual basis on the provision of short-term accommodation and give them permanent residency here. There is no point in...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 10 - Funding and Oversight of Approved Housing Bodies
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government
2017 Financial Statements - Housing Agency (25 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: To my knowledge, no cases have been won which are not pending an appeal. The vast majority of private dwellings which were remediated privately were remediated through out of court settlements. They were not adjudicated on by the Judiciary. I am happy to show the Deputy photographs of my house when it was being remediated.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Accommodation (23 Oct 2018)

Alan Farrell: I thank the Minister for his response. Given that he has only been in the role a matter of days, he will be shocked as all of us are, regarding the developments that have directly affected 1,200 pupils and which will undoubtedly affect many more. It is particularly shocking, and an indictment of poor construction techniques and oversight of the construction industry in the past, that...