Results 12,181-12,200 of 15,009 for speaker:Eoin Ó Broin

Social Housing Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: I apologise if that upset him. I also have to respond to the accusation that I was trying to bully the Minister. First, presenting a Bill and making a reasoned argument for it, even if the Minister disagrees, is not bullying.

Social Housing Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: I can be accused of many things, including being boring, irritating, a pain in the neck and getting things wrong. I do not believe that anyone who knows me or has witnessed my conduct in this Chamber and in committee would genuinely say that I am a bully. I might do things that really piss off the Minister - apologies for the language - but that is my political job as an Opposition...

Social Housing Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: -----the greatest of respect. Every single attack I have made in respect of the Minister has been on what I believe to be his track record. We can, however, deal with that as we go. What nobody can accuse me of is being a bully. Let me also correct the Minister. The Dáil Committee on Housing and Homelessness made a specific proposal. It suggested the building of 10,000 real social...

Social Housing Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: Vótáil.

Social Housing Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: I will respond briefly to each of the Deputies. To respond to Deputy Darragh O'Brien first, I have always thought that if Part V is to work well, it should be additional to the mainstream delivery of local authority and approved housing body-owned properties.

Social Housing Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: The intention of this Bill, therefore, is not to replace that delivery but to supplement it and give a greater quantum above and beyond the existing targets. I think on this we agree. I also wish to address the issue of rising costs. One of the big costs for many developers at present is finance, and one of the problems developers have with finance is the level of risk involved. If a...

Social Housing Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: That is one of the areas where there are outliers. I will share with the Deputy the figures the Department has given us. To respond to the Minister, I have always accepted that the State is spending more than it was spending before. My criticism is that it is not spending enough to meet the need that is there. The Minister tells us, for example, that 120,000 social homes will be delivered...

Social Housing Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." Before I get into the short Bill before us I want to ask a couple of sincere questions. How many real social houses do we actually need to meet the level of demand that is out there at the moment? I use the words "real social houses" deliberately, partly because that is what the Joint Committee on Housing and Homelessness spoke about in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Student Rents, Rights and Protections) Bill 2018: Discussion (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: I will be very brief, because this is short legislation. The intention behind the Bill is to clarify the standing of student-specific accommodation with respect to the powers of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, with particular regard to the issues of rent reviews, rent pressure zones and access to dispute resolution at the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB. Sinn Féin takes the view...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Student Rents, Rights and Protections) Bill 2018: Discussion (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: There are about 33,000 units of student-specific accommodation in the State at the moment. Some 11,000 of those are on-campus or run by education institutions and about 20,000 are private. Our view is that we cannot have a scenario in which one set of tenancy rights applies to one group of students and not to another group. Our preference is that all student-specific accommodation is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Student Rents, Rights and Protections) Bill 2018: Discussion (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: Our preference is that all student-specific accommodation would be included. For this reason, the clarifying amendment from Fianna Fáil would be helpful. We do not seek to rush this legislation through. We proposed the Bill some time ago and in fairness to the Minister he met us. The delay in his legislation is not connected with this issue but with other issues. The sooner we have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Student Rents, Rights and Protections) Bill 2018: Discussion (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: I thank the officials for their presentations and presence. I will make a number of introductory comments before asking my questions. The intention behind the Bill relates to a concern shared by all committee members, namely, that student rents, particularly in the purpose-built private sector, are rising too rapidly. Many of us share the view expressed by the Residential Tenancies Board,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Student Rents, Rights and Protections) Bill 2018: Discussion (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: Everything Mr. Dunne said is incredibly encouraging. If the amendments on Committee Stage of the Minister's Bill are the route to go, we will have no difficulty, subject to our seeing the detail. That the Department is giving a commitment that there will be equality between students in the public and private sectors is welcome. My party and a number of others have made clear that while we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Student Rents, Rights and Protections) Bill 2018: Discussion (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: I appreciate that completely. It is a budgetary matter for the Government. Apart from the impact of the fiscal rules, is there an additional barrier to the institutes of technology making proposals to borrow, as opposed to the universities which can at least make such proposals and try to pursue them with the Department? If there is, what has been done to remove it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Student Rents, Rights and Protections) Bill 2018: Discussion (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: I thank Ms Byrne for her presentation. I start by acknowledging the very important role the USI and its constituent members have been playing, both in forcing this matter on to the political agenda here and with the various protests in north County Dublin and Galway, which spurred many of us into action. It has played a very important role in the housing and homeless coalition and Raise the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Student Rents, Rights and Protections) Bill 2018: Discussion (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: I thank Ms Carroll for her presentation. In our session earlier this morning, Deputy Funchion and I commented on how helpful Ms Carroll's submission was. First, it was helpful because we agree with the Residential Tenancies Board's interpretation of the Act as it applies to student accommodation licences in the private sector. It is also important for us because we take our role seriously...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Student Rents, Rights and Protections) Bill 2018: Discussion (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: Yes. To pick up on Deputy Barry's point and talk about a real case because sometimes talking about hypothetical cases makes it more difficult, there was an important decision by the Residential Tenancies Board in August, following on from the rent increases in Cúirt na Coiribe, in Galway. While ultimately the case was unsuccessful because the student was not taking up a new licence in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Residential Tenancies (Student Rents, Rights and Protections) Bill 2018: Discussion (22 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: Apologies, Chairman. In terms of the reason it is pertinent, in the last session we put the question directly to the two Departments whether they agreed with the Residential Tenancies Board that the existing legislation applied to student tenancies. In fairness to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, it seemed to suggest that the problem was the confusion and if the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Cyber Security Policy (21 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: 155. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the progress he has made in implementing recommendations 15, 16, 17 and 18 of the Report on Cyber Security for Children and Young Adults published by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs in March 2018. [48617/18]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Approved Housing Bodies (21 Nov 2018)

Eoin Ó Broin: 243. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the rules will be amended for the granting of the capital advance leasing facility, CALF, for approved housing bodies to include the provision of cost rental accommodation. [48534/18]