Results 1,061-1,080 of 2,180 for speaker:John Cummins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Jan 2023)

John Cummins: What is the turnaround time from a property becoming vacant to re-letting?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Jan 2023)

John Cummins: That is in the higher percentile. What about Longford?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Jan 2023)

John Cummins: Okay. It is not to hone in but I am just trying to understand, with a framework in place, how it is so long because frameworks have worked well in reducing it in other local authorities. What I saw in the past was the difficulty in getting people to tender. When the local authorities went out with a bundle of properties they might get a single tender and then they would have to go back out...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Jan 2023)

John Cummins: I still do not understand how the average could be so high with a framework in place. Is it that no timelines are attached to the frameworks? Is there no penalty in place for non-compliance? If someone on the framework takes 69 weeks to turn around a property, clearly he or she should not be on the framework.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Jan 2023)

John Cummins: So that is what has been happening essentially. X contractor had multiple properties and was doing them piecemeal, which essentially defeated the purpose of the framework and that is now being addressed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Jan 2023)

John Cummins: How is it being addressed?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Jan 2023)

John Cummins: That is okay, I thank Mr. Brannigan.

Seanad: Election of Cathaoirleach (16 Dec 2022)

John Cummins: I will start by acknowledging Senator Boyhan for putting himself forward for election. I work very well with him on the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. However, today is, of course, the Cathaoirleach's day. I am absolutely thrilled to be in a position to be here. Some people will know that I was sick most of the week, but I really wanted to be here today to see...

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

John Cummins: There are 57 amendments today, so do not start giving out about that later.

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

John Cummins: I, too, welcome the visitors to the Gallery. It is great to have them here. On Senator Higgins's comments, I am sure the picture she is trying to present of this legislation having an impact in terms of the environment is well meaning but it is not grounded in fact. I am sure the Minister of State will confirm that in his comments. The Bill specifically says the Minister may appoint over...

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

John Cummins: Using language such as "power grab" is unhelpful. The Minister of the day is accountable to the Seanad and Dáil and it is here he or she is held to account. We had a debate on this matter at the joint committee and there were differing views on it. My opinion is that the Dáil appoints the Minister, he or she has responsibilities and we Oireachtas Members hold him or her to...

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Dec 2022)

John Cummins: Does Senator Higgins not believe the Minister?

Seanad: Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (7 Dec 2022)

John Cummins: I will be brief. On my behalf, but more particularly on behalf of my dad, Maurice Cummins, who served with Terry from 2011 to 2016 and was a great friend of Terry’s over many years, I want to express my deepest sympathy to the Brennan family on such a sad loss.We should not be on our phones, I know, but I was texting my dad during the tributes and pretty much everything everybody has...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2022)

John Cummins: Senator Warfield referenced a rent freeze, which Sinn Féin often does, but as I have said before, we do not have to look too far away from here to Berlin, where a left-wing government introduced a rent freeze. What did that result in? It resulted in a 50% reduction in the private rental stock available on the market. Not only that but it was struck down by the Federal Constitutional...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2022)

John Cummins: I thank the Minister in particular for the measures introduced as part of the Finance Bill on the living city initiative. It is one of the areas that I would have engaged with him on. The fact that it has been extended from the end of this calendar year to the end of 2027 is hugely welcome. I looked at some of the statistics earlier this year for Waterford and 76 properties had availed of...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2022)

John Cummins: What about the map?

Seanad: Finance Bill 2022: Committee Stage (7 Dec 2022)

John Cummins: I re-emphasise Senator Burke's point. It is an issue a number of farmers in my area, Waterford, have brought to my attention. They are interested in making their landholdings available for solar farms, but there is the fact that their payments are lost in that context. It is a big leap for them, obviously, to commit to leases of 25 or 30 years on their lands, given the fact that once their...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (6 Dec 2022)

John Cummins: Fine Gael and this Government understand that businesses as well as people are facing difficult and uncertain times with their energy bills. That is why we introduced the three cycles of a universal energy credit of €200 in budget 2023 and why we introduced the temporary business energy support scheme, which is now open for applications. It is one of the biggest measures introduced...

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Order for Second Stage (6 Dec 2022)

John Cummins: I move: "That Second Stage be taken now."

Seanad: Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (6 Dec 2022)

John Cummins: I welcome the Minister and thank him for choosing Seanad Éireann as the venue for the introduction of this very important legislation. The Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill provides for the efficient discharge of business of An Bord Pleanála; I will touch on that shortly. It also makes some minor amendments to the Foreshore Act 1933 to ensure that the body of...