Results 7,821-7,840 of 15,555 for speaker:Eoghan Murphy

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: While I absolutely understand the point Deputy Ó Broin makes as to why he has tabled amendment No. 11, the difficulty with it is that in the action plan launched last summer, a commitment was given to people for whom permission would expire between the intention as stated in the action plan and the actual enactment of the legislation and the commencement of the order. They would be...

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: This is a very specific amendment in and of itself. It fulfils the intention of the House in an Act that was previously passed but could not be commenced because of a technical drafting error. The risk in accepting these amendments is to open it up wider than was the original intention of the section when it was enacted and it risks turning an extension of a duration process into a whole...

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: We have to divorce the first and second parts of section 28, which is difficult given its construction. In the second part, we are talking about original permissions that did not require an EIA at the time. This is a technical extension to that permission. The intention of this Bill is not to open up a second consent process, which is what the amendment could do, and if we were to accept...

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: The Deputy is absolutely right that the two things are not disconnected in terms of allowing and facilitating developers to construct their buildings and having homes for people to move into and to live in. When we address this measure, we are not just doing so for one part of this equation but for everyone involved, so houses can be built and finished and people can move in and live in...

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: The purpose of a second extension of duration is to provide certainty to those people who are currently building to make sure they can finish those builds, be they developments of 20, 30, 40, 100 or 200 houses, the completion of some of which, even though they are substantially developed already, will still take a number of years. I cannot accept this amendment because the extension of...

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: My advice is that this would create too much uncertainty in what was meant to be a technical extension process to allow developments that have already been substantially built to be completed, and to get that second extension as per the original planning permission, however that might have been phased. It is to have that certainty element. We are not just talking about getting 20 more...

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: The Deputy spoke to amendment No. 5. It provides for home builders in the application for an extension of duration to set out reasons the development cannot be completed as envisaged. I will accept that amendment if the Deputy believes it will add value to the process because it is a good amendment. I will speak to amendments Nos. 6 to 8, inclusive, together. This is the idea of the...

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: I would not have combined some of the amendments as they have been combined. If we consider a separate amendment that has been tabled, I believe, by Deputy Ryan, it appears to open up a possibility of a third extension, which we do not want to allow for in this Bill. We want people to go to their local authorities to seek a second extension, the local authority to make a judgment call on...

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: Due to the drafting and construction of section 28 with the two separate provisions, it is not possible to specifically commence the second provision without also commencing the first. That is the mistake that is there, I suppose, in legislation. It was always the intention to commence them separately in a staggered way but because of how they were originally drafted in the Bill and then...

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: It is important to note that section 28(1) makes a permanent change to section 42. When it is commenced, that permanent change takes place. It actually places quite a significant burden on stakeholders in the industry because of what it requires, which is that extension of the duration would no longer apply where an environmental impact assessment or an AA was required in respect of the...

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017: Committee and Remaining Stages (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: The risk is that the legal challenge might be to us, were we not to give enough time to people in this situation to be aware of the changes that were coming meaning that they would then need new permission in that circumstance.

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017: Second Stage (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: I will speak directly to the purpose of the Bill in front of us. I will not go into the wider issues people have raised because time is an issue and because we will have oral questions on a number of the issues during Question Time later this evening or early tomorrow morning, depending on how things go. The amendments process will give me a chance to speak in more detail on some particular...

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017: Order for Second Stage (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: I move: "That Second Stage be taken now."

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017: Second Stage (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." Obtaining planning permission is one of the key steps in enabling housing providers to produce the homes we all need. The process of obtaining planning permission takes time, reflecting the importance of getting the location and design of new development right. Once permission is granted, it normally lasts for five years to enable the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing Assistance Payments (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: The flexibility of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) as a social housing support is one of the scheme’s key characteristics and was one of the primary benefits envisaged at the outset of the scheme. The new arrangements for movement between local authorities, introduced in April 2017, have increased equality of access by allowing households eligible for social housing support to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Mortgage Applications Approvals (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: My Department does not hold detailed information on the numbers of households that have been refused mortgages by financial institutions or by local authorities. However, I am currently examining the Home Choice Loan Scheme and am also considering how local authority mortgages can be better publicised to ensure that credit worthy households who may be unable to source adequate loan...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: In May 2016, the Government designated Poolbeg West as a Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) because of its potential to deliver a large proportion of the extra homes needed in the centre of Dublin. The next step in realising the potential of the SDZ was the publication for consultation by Dublin City Council of a detailed planning scheme for the area.  The...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: The cost of housing, and its affordability for a particular household, is a key issue and one that has been the subject of considerable focus in many countries. While there is no universally ideal price/rent to income ratio or minimum residual income requirement there is broad agreement that ideally households should be spending no more than a third of their income on...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing Issues (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: On 27 April 2017, details of some 1,500 hectares of land in local authority and housing agency ownership were published on the Rebuilding Ireland Housing Land Map, with the potential to deliver 37,500 homes nationally. All local authorities have been requested to prepare Strategic Development and Management Plans for the earliest possible development of their lands. I...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Fire Safety Regulations (13 Jul 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: In July 2015, the then Minister directed that a review be undertaken by an independent fire expert to develop a framework for general application, in the interest of supporting owners and residents living in developments where concerns regarding non-compliance with fire safety requirements arise. A Steering Group was convened to oversee the review. The terms of reference of the Steering...