Results 5,941-5,960 of 7,163 for speaker:Cian O'Callaghan

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: I move amendment No. 39: In page 9, to delete lines 4 to 7.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: I wish to move amendments Nos. 39 and 90, and Deputy Pringle asked me to move amendment No. 93 in his name.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: The amendment is in this grouping. That is why I was-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: Should I address amendment No. 93 now or later on?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: Regarding amendments Nos. 39 and 90, Deputy Ó Broin has put forward quite well the case as to how if public land is ceded to private developers, it increases its cost. The latter means that fewer people can access housing that is affordable for either rent or purchase and that obviously locks them out in terms of affordability. It also creates a housing supply issue because if we rely...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: On Deputy Pringle's amendment No. 93, the Minister's response was that there is a requirement for ministerial consent for homes to be sold on. While that is better than not having a ministerial safeguard, it is not a safeguard in terms of investment funds. It is the case that the Minister has been a strong backer of several projects of housing being built on public lands where the sites...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: Amendment No. 220 calls for a definition of affordability that is not based on a price just below the prevailing market price or rent but based on the income of the purchaser or tenant. I fear, in respect of rents and prices just below the market value, that affordability would be defined based on small discounts on the full market price. Deputy Boyd Barrett is entirely correct in stating...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: The issue I have with the Minister's response regards alignment with the Affordable Housing Bill. That Bill does not define "affordability" in terms of income and ability to pay. Instead, it re-envisages affordable housing as a percentage discount off a full market price for a home or rent. The fundamental issue is we have to have housing available that is affordable, not something that is...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (1 Jun 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: I am speaking to my amendment No. 224. I agree with Deputy Boyd Barrett. I will be supporting his amendment and I hope it passes. These references should be taken out. If his amendment does not pass, the one I am proposing should be considered. It says that, in terms of setting a price, the Minister shall have regard to income, ability to pay and affordability. It is quite incredible...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Housing Issues (27 May 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: 136. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will consider prohibiting the use of funds allocated through the Irish Strategic Investment Fund and Home Building Finance Ireland for the construction of homes that are then sold onto investment funds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29002/21]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (27 May 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: 163. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the plans to improve regulation of short-term lets that are under consideration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28999/21]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Issues (27 May 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: 162. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if any independent analysis of the cost of home building in Ireland has been carried out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28998/21]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Vacant Properties (27 May 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: 164. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government his plans that are under consideration to tackle vacancies in the housing stock; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29000/21]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homeless Persons Supports (27 May 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: 165. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the action that has been taken to urgently address the number of persons who have become homeless and who have died since the beginning of 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29001/21]

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 May 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: I wish to raise one matter first, if that is okay.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 May 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: If a division is called, can sufficient time be given for all of us to get back to our offices to be able to participate in the discussion? I need about five minutes to get to Agriculture House. I have booked a room in the Leinster House 2000 building to avoid the problem but I do not have a working Internet connection from there. I hope it will be working from next week. I am requesting...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 May 2021)

Cian O'Callaghan: This is the bit I do not understand. The case has not been made, and no rationale has been offered, as to the reason we would want to build homes at full market price on public land, or what the advantage is of doing that. We have a huge demand and crisis in terms of housing affordability. We need to be using public land to deliver affordable and social housing. That is abundantly clear,...