Results 4,441-4,460 of 8,196 for speaker:Alice-Mary Higgins

Seanad: Health and Criminal Justice (Covid-19) (Amendment) Bill 2021: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I thank the Minister for effectively accepting the amendments that I put forward in the Seanad. They dealt with a very serious issue whereby the Bill, as drafted, was indefinite. The Bill allowed for indefinite extension by three months' resolution, followed by a three month's resolution, with no final end date. I made the case in the Seanad on the seriousness of what that would mean in...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Yes. I will not speak for much longer on this amendment as we have discussed it. The amendment deals with the amounts that would be paid to a provider of affordable housing, for example, a developer with whom a local authority or housing authority has an arrangement. There are two clauses here. One relates to the price paid directly by the direct purchaser, that is, the individual who...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: However, my point is that the difference should be made up only up to the market price and not above it. As I said, there are two elements of this. The first is the agreement that is made - the agreement a council, for example, might have made with an AHB to say it is going to buy affordable houses at €300,000 each or whatever. Then there is the price made available to the...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am happy to pursue this further on Report Stage but to be clear-----

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Okay but we will come back to the Part 5 question as it is a slightly different Part 5 question.

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I am going to withdraw it for now and come back and engage on it before Report Stage. There is a valid concern here and I might need some answers in writing on that.

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: Just to clarify, I will be reintroducing it on Report Stage.

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 27: In page 10, line 8, after “person” to insert the following: “except where such an amount would bring the total amount paid for the dwelling to greater than market price”. Again, I will move it and withdraw it, in order to come back to this on Report Stage.

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 28: In page 10, line 14, after “may” to insert “in exceptional circumstance”.

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 29: In page 10, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: “(c) in State ownership or owned by an approved housing body.”

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 30: In page 10, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: “(1) The purchase of such open market dwellings may constitute no more than 10 per cent of the affordable housing purchase supported by a housing authority in any given year.” I note that the 10% target I have set here may be a matter of concern. I will reserve the right to...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The question is about the definition of "market dwelling".

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 36: In page 11, line 22, after “occupation” to insert the following: “and the persons making the application make a declaration of their intent to be owner-occupiers of the affordable dwelling for such a period as might be specified by the Minister”.

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 37: In page 12, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following: “(8) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (7) and (8) a housing authority may set out additional criteria for eligibility of applicants for a specific affordable housing purchase arrangement with respect to income and asset thresholds with regard to ensuring access to affordable purchase for...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will come to my amendment presently. First, however, I want to speak briefly on amendment No. 38, which is stronger in some respects than my amendment. I believe we should press these amendments but I will also be coming back to see if we can incorporate some of the language from amendments Nos. 38 and 37. Of course, these amendments are not contradictory and there is nothing to stop...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I withdraw amendment No. 37 and reserve the right to reintroduce it on Report Stage.

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I believe this amendment complements this section of the Bill. We had some indication in the last session that a previous constructive amendment, which was tabled by Senator Warfield in respect of the role of co-operatives, would be taken on board. Amendment No. 40 is complementary. I recognise that the 30% piece goes towards some of my concerns about prioritisation rather eligibility....

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will be brief. This is a better drafted version of my amendments Nos. 34 and 35, which related to households headed by a single person. I also had amendments relating to households with a disability. It should be borne in mind that households in which somebody has a disability constitute a very large proportion of the population. For technical reasons those amendments could not be...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I will briefly speak to amendment No. 43. We have talked about the input that local authorities can have in respect of the scheme of priority but my concern is that housing authorities can make or amend a scheme of priority and give it to the Minister, but the Minister can then change it completely. The Minister can direct the local authority to amend the scheme of priority. The section...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 43: In page 13, line 27, to delete "comply with" and substitute "have regard to".