Results 9,561-9,580 of 40,550 for speaker:Joan Burton

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: It would be helpful if the Deputies in the Opposition whose parties have members on the various local authorities would ask their members to co-operate to get the social housing programme under way, to get voids reopened and to use the substantial amount of funding that has been made available to the local authorities.

Order of Business (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: It is proposed to take No. 37, Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015 - Report and Final Stages (resumed); No. 1, Statute Law Revision Bill 2015 - amendments from the Seanad; No. 39, Gender Recognition Bill 2014 [Seanad]- Order for Report, Report and Final Stages; No. 12a, National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill 2015 – instruction to committee; No. 38, National Minimum Wage...

Order of Business (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: I am glad the Deputy is supportive of the Bill, which is incredibly important to people on low pay. As Tánaiste, I am delighted that I have focused particularly in the House on the establishment of the Low Pay Commission and getting the work on precarious hours up and running. We expect the Low Pay Commission report and the report of the University of Limerick on precarious pay and...

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: Some 6,000 families and individuals have been housed through the rent supplement scheme in the first six months of this year. This is a significant number and a further 2,000 protocol arrangements have been reached to prevent homelessness by renegotiating tenancy arrangements for families at risk of losing their homes. This is also significant. The community welfare service is available to...

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: We have given substantial funding to open up all these voided properties. Significant funding has been provided to open up unfinished estates in different areas, including Tipperary. We need to get every available house and apartment available for people with a housing need.

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: In the meantime, as Deputy Murphy is aware, the Government has made the largest ever capital funding allocation for a housing programme, including social housing.

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: I feel terribly sorry, as I am sure everyone does, for anybody who finds themselves in Alan and Kelly's position consequent to the crash in construction, banking and everything else we have worked to resolve in the past four years. The suggestion I made to Deputy Murphy to help Alan and Kelly, which he carefully avoided answering, was that in cases such as those of Alan and Kelly, whom he...

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: -----we are helping individuals and families on a case-by-case basis through the community welfare service. Deputy Murphy carefully avoided stating whether he is prepared to-----

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: Organisations such as Threshold and the Simon Community are using the structures of the community welfare service. The Deputy asks for flexibility on rent supplement. The way to do this is on a case-by-case basis through the community welfare service.

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: I am suggesting that the Deputy have another conversation with Alan and Kelly to find out if they have approached the community welfare service. I am not certain from the Deputy's answer if that is the case.

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: Perhaps the community welfare service could be of assistance.

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: It would also be helpful if the Deputy would provide the couple's details and we will try to find out to what extent they can be assisted. Many rent supplement payments are being negotiated and I have provided the relevant figures. As I also stated, we have negotiated in 1,200 cases where people were at risk of losing their homes for some of the reasons the Deputy describes. That is a...

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: The reason for that is the decision by the previous Government to stop building social housing. This Government has begun the process of building social housing.

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: The solution is to build more houses. That is why the Government has allocated €3.5 billion of funding to this.

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: I would be grateful if the Deputy would give us the data on the multiple cases to which he refers. To my knowledge, what happened in Clerys and the way the company behaved in such a predatory fashion to workers is, thankfully, rather unusual among Irish companies and employers.

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: The Deputy should send me the details. He said there were multiple examples. I know of a couple of examples but the Deputy has spoken about multiples. I do not know what that means to the Deputy, but it sounds like many cases to me.

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: I would like to have the details of the many cases. The liquidators in this case have been appointed and I understand they met on 8 July. As the Deputy knows, there will be a committee to deal with the liquidation. When the liquidation gets under way, at that point the liquidators will have identified the due entitlements of the workers under redundancy and insolvency legislation, which...

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: At that point the Department of Social Protection will do a couple of things. First, it will become a preferred creditor because it will be shelling out, on behalf of taxpayers-----

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: -----the payments for redundancy. As for cleaning up the problem, these are human beings who have lost out after 40 years-----

Leaders' Questions (9 Jul 2015)

Joan Burton: No, my job as Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection is to ensure that those workers get their money, which is fully provided for under current insolvency and redundancy legislation.