Results 1,061-1,080 of 2,015 for speaker:Pat Casey

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: I will be brief. I welcome Deputy O'Sullivan and her Bill, as well as Deputy Barry and his Bill. My party also has a Bill on this issue, as does Sinn Féin, and the Government has its Bill on the way too. There is a fair emphasis to try to resolve this issue regarding landlords and tenants. We had a fairly productive meeting with the Minister in private session of this committee last...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: It is important that we get the balance right in this sector and that we do not end up with unintended consequences. I have a few specific questions to ask of the witnesses from the Irish Property Owners Association. I am fully aware there is a significant number of good landlords and tenants out there. We all know there are also bad landlords and tenants. We need to make sure we have a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: I wish to make the committee aware we still have another session to go through. We have to be out of here by 1.30 p.m. In the final wrap-up, I will ask members to restrict themselves to about two minutes, please, and I will start with Mr. O'Brien.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: I am concerned that we need to move on so I will move to Threshold and either Mr. McCafferty or Ms O'Reilly can make their final statement on its behalf.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: I thank the witnesses for attending today. It was definitely lively if nothing else. I propose that we suspend the meeting for a few moments to allow our next set of witnesses to take their seats.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: We are now in public session. On the request of broadcasting and recording services, members and visitors in the Public Gallery are requested to ensure that their mobile phones are turned off completely or switched to flight mode for the duration of the meeting. It is not sufficient to put phones on silent mode as this will maintain a level of interference with the broadcasting system....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: I thank Ms Walsh. I forgot to apologise for holding up the witnesses outside for so long this morning. I call Deputy Barry who will be followed by Deputy Jan O'Sullivan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Greater Security of Tenure and Rent Certainty) Bill 2018 and Anti-Evictions Bill 2018: Discussion (20 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: I thank everybody for their contributions today, including Deputies Jan O'Sullivan and Mick Barry, who attended the meeting in respect of their own Bill. I thank the witnesses from the RTB for coming before us for a second time in a fortnight. If the Minister has his way, they might be in again in a fortnight or three weeks' time. This is an area of significant concern to everybody around...

Homelessness: Motion [Private Members] (14 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: Over several previous contributions on homelessness in our Republic, I have pleaded with this Fine Gael Government to declare homelessness to be a national emergency and I have asked that it do this now. Our homelessness national emergency needs a whole-of-Government response, with monthly targets and delivery reports. We must declare today that the common good of the people dictates that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Developments in the Water Sector: Discussion (14 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: Most of my questions are for Irish Water. I thank our guests for their submissions. I wish to refer to a few points that were not touched upon, some of which are outside the delegates' control. I will start off with the commercial harmonisation of rates. The CRU has still not published the information, which is disappointing. Irish Water has now been established for six years and we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Developments in the Water Sector: Discussion (14 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: We will start with Mr. Gallen.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Developments in the Water Sector: Discussion (14 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: We could not facilitate Ms Walshe because of the restrictions of the seats.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Developments in the Water Sector: Discussion (14 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: There are only eight seats at the table.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Developments in the Water Sector: Discussion (14 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: Does Irish Water care to swap one of its speakers?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Developments in the Water Sector: Discussion (14 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: Does anyone else wish to comment?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Developments in the Water Sector: Discussion (14 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: I have a few follow-up questions, most specifically for the Department. What significant issues remain outstanding before any Council text is agreed? Can the Department inform the committee as to the position of other member states on this proposal? Is there a divergence of views among the other states?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Developments in the Water Sector: Discussion (14 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: Yes. I have a few more questions so I will put them first. Have the EU institutions modified their proposals based on the subsidiary concerns raised in the national assembly? What is the new anticipated timeline for the progression of a dossier and is there any indication of an implementation date? Is it likely that this proposal will still have a substantial impact on Ireland?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Developments in the Water Sector: Discussion (14 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: Does the EPA have any statistics on the extent of unsustainable drinking water and contamination and illness caused by that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Developments in the Water Sector: Discussion (14 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: My next questions are for both Irish Water and the Department. I understand that for public group water schemes there are a few connections that take the water from a public source and distribute it through a network of piping. Where does responsibility lie in that scenario?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Developments in the Water Sector: Discussion (14 Feb 2019)

Pat Casey: To follow up on the point made by Senator Conway about rural towns and villages, the only source of funding for them is LIHAF or the town and village renewal scheme. There is no policy in Irish Water such that it will start investing directly in the smaller towns and villages.