Results 1,101-1,120 of 15,555 for speaker:Eoghan Murphy

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I move amendment No. 3: In page 8, to delete lines 24 to 32 and substitute the following: “ “constitution” means the rules, in writing, that govern the administration and control of an AHB and regulate its activities, and includes- (a) in the case of a company, the constitution (within the meaning of section 2 of the Act of 2014) of the company, (b) in the case...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I move amendment No. 4: In page 12, lines 3 and 4, to delete “An tÚdarás Rialála na gComhlachtaí Tithíochta Faomhaithe” and substitute “An tÚdarás Rialála Comhlachtaí Tithíochta Ceadaithe”. These are technical amendments to correct the Irish language names of approved housing bodies, AHBs, and the AHB regulator....

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I move amendment No. 5: In page 12, line 8, to delete “Rialtóir na gComhlachtaí Tithíochta Faomhaithe” and substitute “Rialálaí na gComhlachtaí Tithíochta Ceadaithe”.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I move amendment No. 6: In page 12, to delete lines 20 and 21 and substitute the following: “(f) under Part 6, protect tenants and AHBs and cancel the registration of AHBs,”. This amendment proposes to reword section 9(1)(f) to better reflect the fact the regulator would not be involved in the day-to-day running and management of AHBs but, rather, that one of its...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I will try to be helpful to see if we can come to common ground on this. I want to be clear that we do not intend for the regulator to be self-financing. We are not trying to use the section as some sort of back door for the regulator to start imposing fees on housing bodies to try to cover all of their costs. There are things that the regulator might want to charge fees for, even in...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: Can I go back?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: My understanding is that what the amendment seeks is covered in subsections (2), (3) and (4). Subsections (2) and (3) provide for the holding of the competition by the PAS and refers to a recommendation of not more than three persons. Subsection (4) allows for the appointment of the CEO designate by the Minister rather than by the regulator if the competition is held before the office is...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I am informed that the power would only exist before the establishment of the regulator and then after that, it would have to be done through the PAS system. What we are talking about is the interim period in terms of appointing a CEO designate before a regulator is put in place, but once the regulator is appointed, future appointments will go through the official system as per standard...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: This is only relevant to the period prior to the establishment of the regulator. It would be possible before the establishment of the regulator but subsections (2) and (3) provide for the holding of the competition and section 12(4) allows for the CEO to be appointed without the regulator being in place. The fear expressed by the Deputy cannot arise once the regulator is in place. It...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: It is standard practice. The same applies to the Charities Regulator as well. We looked at other regulatory offices when establishing this office to see what the practice is. There is nothing to prevent the person having other employment provided that consent is given by the Minister. We are just following that practice. I am not sure of the implications in terms of employment law if we...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I do not believe there is. It comes down to the views of the regulator, which in this case is a board, and the views of the Minister on whether they envisage a conflict of interest. Of course it is a matter for the committee as well. I am sure the CEO would appear before the committee in the future if that were to arise. If the committee thought there was a conflict, the CEO would be able...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: It is important that we have looked at similar provisions in the Charities Act, the Personal Insolvency Act and the Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Act. We have looked at a number of Acts in which this language is standard. However, it is also about the remit of the Committee of Public Accounts. Its terms of reference state it "shall refrain from inquiring into the merits of a...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: As a former member, the benefit of the Committee of Public Accounts is that it does not get into political debates on policy. It looks at the money and asks whether public money was spent appropriately and if value for money was achieved. It has been the long-standing practice for the committee to take off the policy and political hats to have a proper interrogation of the finances. While...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: No, I am not aware of any other. Even if there was an unintended gap in legislation, the rules of the Committee of Public Accounts would not allow it to speak about policy matters.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I am afraid that I cannot accept the amendments as worded, but that is not to say that on Report Stage we might not be able to get at what the Deputy would like to achieve. As worded, the amendment would, in effect, makes this committee a statutory consultee. That is not best practice and we have fears about how it might undermine the independence of the regulator. I do not refer to the...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: There will be nothing to prevent the committee from inviting the regulator, but my advice is that it would not be good practice to insert the provision in the legislation and that if we were to do so, there might be a risk to its independence.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: That cuts to the core of making the committee a statutory consultee, on which we do disagree. I do not know if the language used on Report Stage will bridge the gap in that regard.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: This amendment is a little different. It is about requiring the regulator to present the annual report to the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government within one month of submitting it to the Minister. The standard practice in the code of governance is that normally when an annual report is received from a body, it is given to the Minister who takes it to the Cabinet to be...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputies for tabling the amendment. Both the sentiment and the wording of the amendment are strong. That is generally what AHBs do and in many instances it is a big part of the reason for their establishment. Section 26, as drafted, deals with the eligibility criteria in making an application to register. It sets out the requirements a body must meet in that regard. It does...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I might have accepted them.