Results 11,221-11,240 of 26,791 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I will not be accepting amendment No. 1.

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I thank the Senator for tabling the amendment. To be very clear again, it will be based on scientific research. The relevant research was sought and is being carried out. I understand why people want that. The process will take time. If the research, which is independent of me and my Department, indicates that there is a problem, that problem will be rectified. If there is a problem...

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I thank the Senators for tabling the amendment. To follow on from what Senator Blaney said, that is fundamentally the issue. There are homes that are ready now to be remediated in the coming weeks and months and many homeowners will want to move that forward. The review is really important. Senator Boyhan's amendment proposes that the Minister request the National Standards Authority of...

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Cuirim fíor fháilte roimh na haíonna. Section 11 provides for an increase or a decrease in the overall caps by way of a Government order. The reason for doing this is because it means we can change the amount by up to 10% for the first three years by regulation, thereby allowing the Minister flexibility which means he or she does not have to come before the Dáil or...

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I thank Senator Gavan for the amendment and thank Senators for their contributions. There is mention in the very first section that the damage category ratings and thresholds exist to ensure that we can prioritise the worst homes first. We need to do that because, potentially, thousands of homes are affected so this scheme will be with us for quite some time. Also, we want people to apply...

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Yes, with the new evidence. We are not going to insist people stick with a remediation option that is not going to work. I will explain what is required in that instance. An independent engineer will have conducted an assessment and a remediation option will have been chosen. However, because of the passage of time or whatever, it is found that another remediation option is more...

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I assure Senator Flynn that I am not setting the thresholds of what damage should look like or the minimum threshold. That has been informed by the expert group, which comprises experts such as scientists and people qualified in the appropriate areas. There was reference to the 1.5 mm threshold and it is a recommendation from the expert group. We will set the threshold on the basis of...

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I have not purposely compared the pyrite remediation scheme for the east coast and this Bill. They are very different schemes. There are additional items in this scheme, particularly in respect of second properties, second grant options registered with the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, increased costs and grant amounts. It is therefore a substantially better scheme than the east coast...

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I think we should be able to deal with multi-unit developments and apartments and the exceptional circumstances clause through regulation. If that requires a small amendment to an Act, which it may, we will do that. We have not bottomed that out, but I am putting on record here, as I did in the Dáil, that it is my absolute intention that both those elements be dealt with. We just have...

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I will now address amendment No. 37. Retrospective application of benefits of the enhanced scheme will apply to applicants under the current scheme. Retrospectively including homes which were remediated before the grant scheme and the IS 465 standard would, if it was introduced, be extremely complex. It is genuinely not clear how many such homes are in this situation. In the absence of...

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I thank the Senators for their contributions and for the amendment. All present recognise the massive leap forward being made with this scheme. That has been acknowledged by homeowners, as well as by all parties and Independents. It is a scheme that is vastly different from the one in place from January 2020 - unrecognisably so. Fundamentally, it gives 100% redress based on independent...

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Yes, that is the intention. There is no downsizing penalty. The scheme is fair and appropriate. Fundamentally, we are doing this because we want to help people to rebuild their homes and get their lives back on track. We need to be honest with people. This scheme will work. It will probably cost at least €2.7 billion of Exchequer funding, and rightly so.All of the people affected...

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I do not want to go back and forth because there has been a pretty constructive debate but that is incorrect. It is totally and utterly incorrect. It might suit to make the charge to create an issue. There is not an issue. The rates have been set independently. Dealing with inflation is built in by way of the review. I have already quoted the specific rates that are there. They are set...

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Is there an intervention from the Public Gallery?

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Deputy Mac Lochlainn has not been allowed to speak all week for other reasons. We have a responsibility to people to be very honest with them and get behind the scheme to make it work for them. Anyone who looks at this in a fair and clear way will see the financial commitment behind the scheme is extremely robust. I said to Senators earlier, and I said to Deputies in the other House, that...

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I have made my point. I have tried to address the amendment tabled. The debate heretofore has been very constructive and respectful. The most recent intervention moved away from that. Our job is to get a new scheme in place that will fix people's homes and get their lives back on track. This is absolutely the basis to do this. I will not accept the amendment.

Seanad: Remediation of Dwellings Damaged By the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Bill 2022: Committee Stage (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: There are a lot of dates and so on specified in the legislation but the situation is exactly as Senator Cummins outlined. Once an applicant is approved, he or she has 78 weeks from the date of approval to commence the work. We should not forget these are urgent works. Should an applicant need another 24 weeks on top of that to commence the work, he or she will get it. That basically gives...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Heritage Schemes (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 229 and 230 together. Under my Department’s renewal or repair of thatched roof grant scheme, in general a grant of up to €3,810, or two thirds of the approved cost, whichever is the lesser, may be payable in respect of necessary works to renew or repair the thatched roofs of houses. In the case of medical card holders, a grant of up to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homeless Accommodation (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: As provided for in Housing for All, the National Homeless Action Committee (NHAC) was established in Q4 2021. The overarching objective of NHAC is to ensure that a renewed emphasis is brought to collaborating across Government to implement actions in Housing for All, along with bringing better coherence and coordination of homeless-related services in delivering policy measures...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (13 Jul 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme. The scheme is governed by the Housing (Sale of Local Authority Houses) Regulations 2015. These regulations provide for specified classes of houses to be excluded from sale, including those provided to local authorities under...