Results 4,921-4,940 of 15,555 for speaker:Eoghan Murphy

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: No, we are not. In a way we became more proactive and, therefore, more regular meetings occurred but with different arrangements. The committee will meet again, which is one of the recommendations made by the inter-agency group. I believe that I have answered the first set of questions asked by the Deputy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The purpose of this engagement is to hear the views of the committee members as to what they think, as a committee or individual representatives, is the best way forward based on the information in the reports. I wrote to local authority chief executives, in advance of the next housing summit, to inform them about the dual focus of the summit, one of which will be these reports. What I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I do not have the numbers in front of me. I believe that the majority of HAP tenancies have lasted well beyond 12 months. The way that HAP is structured allows flexibility, which people prefer and they believe the provision meets their housing needs in the longer term. The provision does not prevent them being on the transfer list and then getting into a permanent social housing home in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The publication of these two reports allows Members to scrutinise much of the work that has happened in this area because they contain a huge amount of new information.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I will come to the Deputy's question. The last point that he made is completely unacceptable in light of the fact that I sought the two reports, I have published them and I am here to discuss them, never mind the fact that he wanted us to meet as a committee before the reports were published and accused of me of not making myself available to meet the committee. I was quite clear that we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: No. A survey is being carried on behalf of the executive committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I ask Deputy Ó Broin to allow me to finish my point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I hoped that this piece work would be finished in time to roll into the DRHE report but it was not. We had already agreed to the meeting, I did not want to delay same and so we are here to discuss two reports. The work on the recategorisation or the miscategorisation error that occurred is continuing. It will be completed, it will be made public and we can discuss it then. The Deputy has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The Deputy is completely misconstruing my position and I have to wonder what his motivation is in doing so. Why is he continuing to turn his focus and attention on me? We are trying to solve a serious problem that our society is facing. I have been very clear on what we have been trying to do. I ask the Deputy not to pretend that if I had said to the committee that I was not ready, he...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy for his questions. It is not true to say there is nothing new in the reports.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I disagree. There is important information in the reports. They do not focus exclusively on the HAP scheme, although there are some important things coming out of them on it. There is some very good and detailed information in them. Those involved spent a lot of time in putting them together to try to give the public a clear picture on some of the challenges we faced.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I did not write the reports. They were written by experts who work on the front line. If the Deputy wants to challenge their credibility, that is a completely separate conversation. It would be completely out of line to do so. The line in the inter-agency report that has been mentioned has been misinterpreted. I do not know why that has occurred. The report was produced independently of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I did not write the report. It is good that we are having this engagement because it allows the Deputy to put such suggestions on the table.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The reports contain various useful bits of information and a number of good recommendations. If the Deputy believes they do not cover everything, that is exactly why we are having this engagement. It is for the same reason I will be having an engagement with the local authorities at the next housing summit. When there was some talk about non-EU nationals a few months ago, some unhelpful...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Senators for their questions. I absolutely agree with Senator Boyhan that the numbers in hotels are very disappointing. It is unacceptable. Putting a family in a hotel is not the appropriate first response and that is why we have moved to the hubs programme. It is important to have targets in order to drive policy but when it comes to families, the issues are far more complex...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: On the number of staff who have been sanctioned by the Department in the last number of years to help in address of the housing issue, the allocation of housing resources within the local authorities is a matter for the local authorities. The Senator also mentioned local authority homeless clinics. If a need for them is identified, we will put funding in place for them. In terms of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank Deputy Barry for his questions and the points he made. On the recategorisation issue, some people are obsessed with the wrong subject matter. It is not about the numbers and the list, rather about the solutions. Having 10,000 families and people in emergency accommodation, such as hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation, is not politically sensitive for me. I find it morally...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: .A lot of people are doing a lot of work to put this together. They understand its importance. It is not as simple as the Deputy thinks it might be. People have spent some time on this and have communicated with all local authorities. We are starting to get returns which we want to collate in order to provide an accurate picture because we know that certain people will do their best to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I will have it when I have it. When I have it, I will get it to the committee as quickly as possible.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Homeless Figures: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (20 Jun 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy for his questions and for acknowledging the hard work that has happened over the last year or more. I talk a lot with the front-line staff and know that people can sometimes feel that nothing is happening. A huge amount of work is going on and it is important to acknowledge that, and that we need to do more, and always recognise that the work does not stop. Presentations...