Results 4,861-4,880 of 5,013 for speaker:Victor Boyhan

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (29 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: I thank the Minister of State. This section of the Bill has necessitated the longest debate. I acknowledge that the Minister of State and his officials have worked something in to this Bill, but I believe it is unworkable. I will give a number of reasons. There are no municipal districts in Dublin, there are only area committees many of which take place in very small rooms. We spoke about...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (29 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: They are not.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (29 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: That is not the same thing.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (29 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: Not at all.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (29 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: Will the Minister of State just tell us what the position is?

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (29 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: I move amendment No. 11:In page 33, to delete lines 17 to 23 and substitute the following:" " (c) Where the development in question is a housing development, for a resolution to have effect under paragraph (b) —(i) it has to be adopted by a majority of the members of the local authority, (ii) it has to be passed not later than 6 weeks after the receipt of the manager’s report,...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (29 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: We take on board what the Minister of State has said and will withdraw the amendment. I am happy to say we will have other opportunities, as the Bill will be brought to the Dáil where, no doubt, the Minister of State will deal with all of these issues again. I hope the matter will be raised in another forum with him and thank him for his time. Unlike others, I do listen and have taken...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: I welcome the Minister and thank him for his engagement to date. I have taken on board what Senator Coffey said, but the Minister is here now. This is his opportunity to perform, to prove himself and to deliver on pre-consultations and engagement with councillors, Senators and Deputies. It is all very well to talk about what we will deliver and then to be told, as we approach the door of...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: I would love to have been there with the Minister.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: I wish to respond to a few brief points the Minister made. Of course we know that it involves much more complex things; we all know that. I wish to make reference to the Oireachtas Library and Research Service's Bills digest, which is fully impartial. It is an interesting document. I spoke to the Minister's officials when they were briefing us last week and they were not even aware of the...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: I will return to that point because the more the Minister engages with it, the more it raises other questions. We engage and that is part of the process. I thank the Minister.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: The Minister is being transparent and it is all very helpful. We are all very familiar with the critical infrastructure applications and fast-tracking to the board. We all understand it. That is not a problem. The point the Minister seems to be missing is the right of citizens to engage in the process. I have previously put in observations to a strategic infrastructure development board...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: The point is the Minister is not addressing that. He has not addressed the democratic deficit of the elected members in any of his responses. That is the weakness in it and it is the real criticism. The Minister is the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. Local government is part of the Minister's remit. He should be enhancing the competence of local government...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: I would like some clarification from the proposers. I hear what they are saying but I will be the devil's advocate. We have a housing crisis and, if I understand it correctly, this amendment applies to an extant or current planning application for a number of units. If the new legislation is given effect and permission can be fast-tracked, would such a party be permitted to put in a new...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: I am open to correction but what happens if a new application is received that is, if I dare say it, a better application with higher densities, for example? That would facilitate more units on a site. What happens if the new application is good and addresses concerns about the shortage of houses? We would need to stand back from that. I am not a planner but there are a number of...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: I will conclude. We must be careful. In principle I support the amendment but I would not like this to block better applications with higher densities and good-quality units. I urge us to be cautious. I would like to hear from the proposers about their intentions, as well as the Minister and his officials. We should look to throw more light on this. I would not like to jeopardise a...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: I move amendment No. 2:In page 7, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following:“(3) An order referred to in subsection (2) may only be made subsequent to an independent review of the operation of this Chapter to include a public consultation process, any such review to commence not later than July 2019.”. The suggestion that we discuss amendments Nos. 2 and 3 together is a...

Seanad: Micro-plastic and Micro-bead Pollution Prevention Bill 2016: Second Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: I thank Senator Grace O'Sullivan and the Civil Engagement group for bringing the Bill to us. It is disappointing. Senator Paudie Coffey made a point about respectful engagement across the Chamber. It is important. People are looking at the Seanad and seeing how we conduct ourselves. The past few days have been disappointing. Inevitably, we get angry, annoyed and disappointed. It is...

Seanad: Micro-plastic and Micro-bead Pollution Prevention Bill 2016: Second Stage (23 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: They could flag or indicate their amendments. It is fair and reasonable. Senator Coffey made the point that it is about being respectful of each Member. The Minister, and the Minister alone, should make a decision to allow the Bill to go to the next Stage and let us see what other issues we can tease out. It is reasonable and fair, and it would be a measure of his commitment to new politics.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (23 Nov 2016)

Victor Boyhan: To recap, I made my argument for an independent review. Surely there would be no problem with having an independent review. The Minister has clearly said it is a temporary arrangement and we know that he has the power to extend the date. I am not trying to curtail his extension of the period to five years or whatever other period he would have in mind; I am simply suggesting there be an...