Results 1,021-1,040 of 4,773 for speaker:Paudie Coffey

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The published Bill provides that sections 19 to 22, inclusive, and 139 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 will not apply to approved housing body tenancies. Approved housing bodies generally use a differential rent scheme as applied by local authorities to determine the rents of their dwellings. Under this system the amount of rent to be paid by a tenant is based on the income of the...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Amendments Nos. 16, 17, 20 and 26 are related. Under Part 4 of the 2004 Act, security of tenure is based on rolling four-year tenancy cycles. A landlord may not serve a notice of termination except in very clearly defined circumstances, such as a failure by the tenant to comply with his or her obligations in relation to the tenancy. As I am sure members are aware, many AHB tenants rely on...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The Government will not be accepting the amendment. Essentially, it means a landlord would be responsible for managing the waste of his tenants. Considering the fundamental polluter pays policy and the responsibilities that go with it, I see no reason to accept the amendment. Essentially, tenants are responsible for their waste. I acknowledge the part of the amendment that refers to the...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The Bill provides for the registration fees that approved housing bodies will pay to register their tenancies with the PRTB and the timeframe within which tenancies must be registered. Where the tenancy is registered within the first year after the commencement of these provisions, the fee to be paid by approved housing bodies will be €45 for a single tenancy and €187.50 for...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: While I appreciate the intention behind the amendment, I believe it is important we do not lose sight of the core functions of the PRTB. Its primary role is to register tenancies and resolve disputes between landlords and tenants. It is not the role of the PRTB to collect revenue; it is the role of the Revenue Commissioners to ensure citizens pay their tax. However, the PRTB can take and...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The list of amendments referred to by the Acting Chairman shows the complexity of the Bill. Essentially, the section and the amendments deal with deposit protection, which has been called for by many Senators from all sides of the House for a long time. My amendments in the group concern putting in place the structural changes necessary to support the introduction of the deposit protection...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Senator for withdrawing the amendments. The Government amendments are a significant part of the Bill and were commitments in the programme for Government. It is welcome that they are now being introduced. These measures will, in another way, aid tenancy sustainment. As public representatives we often hear that people are having difficulties getting their deposits back from one...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: This is a technical amendment to the general regulation making power in section 8 of the Act to provide for incidental and supplementary provisions, where necessary.

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: In summary, this group of amendments provides for changes to termination provisions and for improved security of tenure. Amendment No. 55 is a technical amendment which clarifies that when terminating a Part IV tenancy a landlord must comply with Parts IV and V of the Act. The 2004 Act specifies the grounds upon which the landlord may terminate a tenancy. A landlord may not serve a notice...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I acknowledge this is a substantial group of amendments. All of these measures are enforcement related measures. The group of amendments includes a number of measures to enable the PRTB to deal effectively with tenants who do not comply with their obligations, including the obligation to pay rent. The published Bill provides for a new procedure to deal with tenants who do not comply with...

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: These are technical drafting amendments to correct minor errors in the published Bill.

Seanad: Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: This amendment relates to anti-social behaviour. The Residential Tenancies Act prohibits a tenant in a private residential tenancy from engaging in anti-social behaviour in or, in the vicinity of, a dwelling to which the Act applies. It also provides that a landlord may terminate any tenancy where the tenant is engaging in or allowing others to engage in such behaviour. Section 77 of the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Rents (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I propose to take Questions Nos. 549 and 552 together. Each housing authority is responsible, under section 58 of the Housing Act 1966, for determining the rent for its dwellings, subject to complying with broad principles laid down by my Department and the guidance issued in 2001 setting out good practice for the management of their rent assessment, accounting and collection functions....

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Upgrade of Public Amenities (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Insofar as my Department is concerned, the contracting authority for any work of this nature would typically be a local authority and the specific information sought is, therefore, not available within my Department. In general terms the cost of upgrading public amenities to provide for accessible toilets will be influenced by a range of factors including the geographic location or...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Private Rented Accommodation Provision (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 regulates the landlord-tenant relationship in the private rented residential sector and sets out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants relating to, inter alia, security of tenure and the termination of tenancies. The Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Act to operate a national...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Foreshore Licence Applications (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Rent reviews generally fall due every 5 or 7 years, depending on the particular rent review clause included in a foreshore lease or licence. During the period in question, the Valuation Office did not have the capacity to provide a service to my Department in respect of rent reviews. These circumstances would have resulted in potential significant costs for my Department, if external...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Tenant Purchase Scheme Administration (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I propose to take Questions Nos. 583 and 591 together. My colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government has signed the Housing (Sale of Local Authority Houses) Regulations 2015 (S.I. No. 484 of 2015) to enable the new scheme for the tenant purchase of existing local authority houses along incremental purchase lines to come into operation on 1 January 2016. The...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Private Residential Tenancies Board Staff (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) was established in September 2004 under the Residential Tenancies Act. For the first six years the PRTB was in receipt of Exchequer funding towards operational costs but has operated on a self-financing basis since 2010. The PRTB’s funding is derived primarily from a proportion of the fee income accruing from tenancy registrations, as set...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Private Residential Tenancies Board Staff (17 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. The primary functions of the Board are to operate a national tenancy registration system and to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants in the private rented residential sector. Section 159 of the Act provides for a Dispute Resolution Committee...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (12 Nov 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Section 54 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 , as amended, provides for the deletion by a planning authority of a protected structure from the Record of Protected Structures (RPS) included in the authority’s development plan where the protection of the structure is no longer warranted. Section 55 of the Act provides that, where a planning authority proposes a deletion from the...