Results 581-600 of 2,156 for speaker:John Cummins

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: Come on.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: That is fine. Ladies first.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: I support the comments of my colleague Senator Lombard on the issues around the knackeries dispute. It is a big challenge throughout rural Ireland at the moment. It urgently needs to be addressed. I have raised the large-scale sports infrastructure fund on the Order of Business and during a debate with the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, a couple of weeks ago in this Chamber. This...

Seanad: Local Government Matters and City and County Councillors: Motion [Private Members] (6 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I commend our colleagues on introducing this motion because it gives us the opportunity to address local government. As someone who was in 2009, at the age of 21, elected to Waterford City Council, now Waterford City and County Council, I agree with Senator Fitzpatrick that it is an absolute honour to be a local authority member and be elected...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: I support the points Senator Casey made about this. I made the case to the Ministers, Deputies Darragh O'Brien and Donohoe, about the changes we implemented this year relating to the interaction with the local authority affordable purchase scheme. Thankfully, those changes have now been made.To echo Senator Casey's point, the people we are talking about are a different cohort. You can...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: I move recommendation No. 5: In page 14, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following: “7.The Minister shall, within 3 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the operation of the Help-to-Buy Scheme since its introduction in 2017 and since its expansion in 2020.”. We have touched on the help-to-buy scheme. It...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: I intend to speak to both recommendations Nos. 6 and 7. We have made progress, as Senator Kyne has said. Only a couple of years ago, €36,800 was the standard cut-off point. We are now at €42,000 in budget 2024, which is to be greatly welcomed. However, the number of people paying that higher tax rate has increased, notwithstanding the fact we have more people in employment....

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: I wish to speak about both recommendations. Recommendation No. 8 is on the rent freeze.This sounds great in theory but in practice, where it was implemented by the left-wing government in Berlin, it was struck down by the supreme court within 12 months and it resulted in a 50% reduction in rental supply. Does Sinn Féin think that is somehow going to be different in Ireland as opposed...

Seanad: Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: There are some who like to pretend that you could have a properly functioning private rental market without landlords, but as the Minister well knows, that is impossible. The Government always strives to strike a balance in keeping landlords in the market. I do not accept that we should just throw our hands up in the air and say of those landlords who are leaving, “So be it”....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Right to Purchase) Bill: Discussion (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: I apologise for being late. I was in the Seanad Chamber with the Minister, Deputy McGrath, and there were some interactions on the Finance Bill in the context of landlords. I missed some of the meeting so I want to go back over some of the comments in the opening statements of both IPAV and the IPOA, such as that this will prompt some landlords to sell in advance of the legislation, that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Right to Purchase) Bill: Discussion (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: I will just put it to Mr. Deverell. He is involved in the auction process.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Right to Purchase) Bill: Discussion (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: There can be a reserve price at an auction. Mr. Deverell has a reserve price of €450,000, which is an offer that is on the table. If someone puts down an offer for €450,001, then that is the sale. Would Mr. Deverell accept that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Right to Purchase) Bill: Discussion (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: I will ask about the other comments by Mr. Davitt around the 90 days versus the 180 days. Six months is the minimum notice period for a Part 4 tenancy. There is nothing in this, as I see it and from my questioning of the officials on it, that will stop any landlord from going out to the market in that first 90 days to try to achieve the best price for his or her property.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Right to Purchase) Bill: Discussion (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: Okay, but that is the present scenario.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Right to Purchase) Bill: Discussion (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: The present scenario for what we are talking about here is that the tenant must be given at least six months' notice.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Right to Purchase) Bill: Discussion (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: Absolutely, but the minimum notice-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Right to Purchase) Bill: Discussion (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: Can I ask-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Right to Purchase) Bill: Discussion (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: To clarify, that it is not in the Bill. What the Bill actually says is that where the sale price is less than or equal to the price the tenant has offered within 90 days, then it has to be offered at that price. My point on that is that I do not know somebody who would sell a property for less.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Right to Purchase) Bill: Discussion (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: Okay, in the context of a cash buyer, but my point is that it could not happen within a 180-day period. What we are saying here is the best offer has to be put up within a 90-day period.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Right to Purchase) Bill: Discussion (5 Dec 2023)

John Cummins: I only mentioned the auction piece in passing.