Results 4,441-4,460 of 7,404 for speaker:Mick Wallace

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: I commend the Government on this as I thought I would have a better chance of putting in 0.08 ha than 0.05 ha. I made the point in the Chamber that there are so many infill sites in large towns and cities in the country and some are very valuable. This is definitely a good move and I will support the Government's intention to change the value to 0.05 ha.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: These amendments are self-explanatory. The wheels of bureaucracy move slowly. However, the timelines for registering and the levy should be brought forward by one year. The onus should be put on the owner of a site to register rather than the local authority having to seek out the owner. The same principle was used with the local property tax. I cannot understand why it cannot be used...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: In the environment Bill which will debated later this week, it is proposed a landlord will be given 20 days to re-register new tenants for the purposes of water bills while the owner of a vacant site will get a year and a half to register it. That does not sound fair to me. The Government should revise its timelines in this section.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: Setting aside the duration of 12 months issue and focusing on the matter that the majority of the site has to be vacant, if I had a development site that would come under this levy, I would make sure it was not vacant and put something on it. What is a vacant site? If I put a car park on more than half a site, does that mean it is no longer vacant? It is a dangerous path to go down. If I...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: The chances of a developer not knowing that his site was zoned for development and that he was land-banking are pretty slim.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: As the Minister of State knows, I disagree with the criteria, which is the reason for this amendment.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: This amendment also relates to the timeline. It should be brought forward by a year. I will give my tuppence-ha'penny worth in the House.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: Am I right in thinking this amendment relates to whether the site is fully occupied? I have made those points already, so I will just press the amendment.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: I disagree with that. Buying development land with hard cash is unusual. It does not really happen. Most sites that are bought for land-banking will be mortgaged. This legislation gives them a way out by saying they only have to pay half of the levy if there is a 50% mortgage on it, or three quarters if 75% of it is mortgaged. That is a ridiculous idea. All this stuff is mortgaged to...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: I agree. It makes sense. If the tax on a site is confined to that site for ten years, one is only hoarding money. It is a good idea to spend the tax in the area.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: Naturally, we are not going to get a large amount of social housing unless the State builds it. If the State ring-fenced 10% of property as social and affordable housing and there was zero chance of a developer getting out of that obligation, I would agree with the 10% level. Currently, one cannot get financing from a bank if one owns a site but has to cough up 20% of it. Part V was a...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: I agree with reducing the obligation from 20% to 10%, provided it is written in stone and it is impossible to get out of the obligation. The Minister of State said that if Deputy Boyd Barrett were appointed Minister with responsibility for housing, he would not be able to build all the houses-----

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: I will struggle to find the reference now but I will raise it on Report Stage.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: I did not invent it but perhaps I have misinterpreted the Bill. I hope I have but I will raise my interpretation of it on Report Stage. The Minister of State said that if Deputy Boyd Barrett was Minister with responsibility for housing, he would not be building all these houses. The Minister of State is dead right but there is a good reason for it. The Government would not give him the...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: He would not.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: The Minister of State will not even let me talk now. It beggars belief that the EU does not allow states to borrow money off the books at the 1.7% interest rate to invest in infrastructure because it is a no-brainer. We are pushed into the hands of PPPs where the money costs about 15%. That is just lunacy. I think the Government would have more of an appetite for building more State...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: First, I have to disagree with Deputy Stanley for giving Fianna Fáil credit for the provision of affordable housing.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: The Fianna Fáil Government did not deliver 1% of it. If 10% of the land zoned for residential and-or residential and other uses is ring-fenced for social and affordable housing, there will be less pressure to deal with it. There was a major flaw in the old system. If a builder bought a site to build 50 units and paid €100,000 a unit, under the current Part V provisions, he...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: Some of my points have already been made. Whether it is one house in four or five or one in nine or ten will depend on whether the requirement is for 20% or 10% social housing. As I said already, if I were guaranteed that the 10% requirement was ring-fenced and could never be got out of by anybody, I would agree to the ability of the local authority to acquire one house in nine or ten being...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Expenditure (30 Jun 2015)

Mick Wallace: 139. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to provide additional investment in education spending to provide a totally free primary education for all children which would cover all financial extras such as books, classroom resources and transportation, in line with the recent call by a charity (details supplied) for an investment of €103 million for this purpose; and...