Results 9,981-10,000 of 10,035 for speaker:Martin Cullen

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: I have brought more flexibility into the general operation of Part V. The position at present is that the 20%, or whatever is the agreed portion, must be on the specific land in development. This was giving rise to all sorts of problems. I have expanded the provision to include land swaps with local authorities and different sites. There is a final option which would cater for some areas in...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: I listened carefully to Senator O'Meara's contribution and it struck me that we have reached the same point. The best way to achieve what the Senator suggests, and for me to get what I ultimately want – if it were open to me to do so – would have been to allow all the permissions to wither.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: The Senator should bear with me. If these withered on 31 December and the applicants still wanted planning permission, they would have to renegotiate those permissions with the 20% provision. That would have been the fastest way to do it rather than obtaining the legal imprimatur, having it tested through the courts, etc., and then arriving at the point where the applicants would have to...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: Those involved would have had to do so because they would have had to have the 20% provision. They would have been obliged, one way or the other, to renegotiate with the local authorities. We are back to square one. Allowing them to wither would have achieved the same end as that to which the Senator referred. Another approach was to opt for supply and see if I could obtain a community gain...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: The two year provision was specifically related to the withering clause in the context of a gap in the period in which the Bill was introduced and the implementation of the housing strategy. We are returning to what was the normal position. The Deputy was correct to state that there were changes in respect of the duration period, but the normal position is five years. We will return to the...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: I am not the Minister for Finance.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: Senator O'Meara asked a good question. I was trying to create a balance between what I thought I could obtain fairly from the market and what I could deliver into the housing funds. I chose the house value figure of €270,000 because I did not want to disadvantage people in the Dublin area, where house prices are higher than the rest of the country. I took the average price of a house in...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: Every unit built under this scheme – in other words, all 80,000 units – is subject to the levy. A receipt will issue from a local authority for each house built within its area to ensure there is transparency and accountability in respect of the money collected on each unit. This is also important from the purchaser's point of view. I have no doubt that a purchaser's solicitor will check...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: It is collectable on the sale of a house. The Senator is correct in that the fund will require to be managed by local authorities, particularly those which have a large number of such planning permissions. I am optimistic in that I believe everyone knows the position, that builders will want to continue to build to increase housing stock and that the levy will be paid. Local authorities will...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: Amendment No. 5 inserts a new subsection (7) in section 96B to require local authorities to issue a receipt once the levy has been paid, a matter about which I have already spoken. This receipt is evidence for house purchasers and their solicitors that the levy has been paid and that the condition of the planning permission has been complied with. Solicitors should not allow their clients to...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: It is part of the law of the land which is the best guarantee I can give. Not alone have I set out in legislation the levy but this subsection has also been inserted. This goes beyond what we have done before and gives a double guarantee. As I stated, solicitors must be mindful of this and ensure they have a receipt from the local authority to make sure the levy has been paid.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: Amendment No. 9 inserts a new section in the Bill to amend section 97 of the 2000 Act. Section 97 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000, provides that an exemption certificate may be sought in relation to small housing developments – developments either consisting of four houses or less, or for housing on land of 0.2 hectares, that is, half an acre, or less. This exemption was included...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: Section 14 proposes to amend section 262(4) of the 2000 Act which provides that certain regulations made under the Act are subject to a requirement to get positive approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas. Regulations determining the types of development which are approved under the special procedure which applies for certain State developments, mostly security related, will continue to be...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: It is a technical amendment.

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: While I understand the Senator's concerns, I can confirm that all the substantive procedures will continue to be subject to the regulations. This is a technical amendment which sets out to differentiate between procedural and substantive changes. I gave the example of the current requirement to get the approval of the Houses for a proposal to change the scale of a map. All the changes as laid...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: I welcome the Senator's comments and I am certain other Senators will wish to contribute on this important aspect of the Bill which has been overlooked in favour of its other provisions. The impact of this section on the marketplace is potentially greater than the other changes in the Bill. I am sure Senators will have examined the recent statistics on housing and noted developments in the...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: I thank the Senators for their contributions as they raised interesting issues, of which all of us are aware. I have served on a local authority and I acknowledge the point raised by Senator O'Meara and others about losing the people with the greatest ability within a community to harness the energies of those around them in leading committees and encouraging social development. Not all of us...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (11 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: I thank all the Members for their most interesting contributions. As a principle, having dealt with much legislation over the years, it is not my preferred option to rush it. I have a healthy dislike of doing so. Unfortunately, there was a time limit on this Bill which was beyond my control. We had to deal with it in the way we did. Notwithstanding one or two reservations, we have had a very...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (10 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: I welcome the opportunity to appear before the Seanad today to discuss the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002, the primary purpose of which is to amend Part V of the Planning and Development Act, 2000, which deals with housing supply. The Bill will also make other miscellaneous amendments to the 2000 Act and certain amendments to the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Acts, 1992...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill, 2002: Second Stage. (10 Dec 2002)

Martin Cullen: Not at all. The Senator has misunderstood.