Results 1,321-1,340 of 1,350 for speaker:Mary Fitzpatrick

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (6 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Have we finished with Deputy Ó Broin's item? We have not touched on the homeless one.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (6 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Deputy for the proposal, which I am happy to support. I would like the committee to examine homelessness from the perspective of Dublin city. I raised homeless deaths in the Seanad in July. In one week, there were five homeless deaths in Dublin city. It is a very serious issue and one the committee should consider. The phasing out of dormitory-type accommodation is welcome,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (6 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: There are two elements to it: the homeless accommodation provided by private operators - this is often provided by private security firms - and the over-concentration of homeless facilities in small geographic areas in Dublin's inner city.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (6 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: These are all issues in which we are all interested. They will all be covered when the Minister gives us an update on his programme for housing because they are all included in the programme for Government.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (6 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I was going to suggest that we bring in the board. An SHD is an SHD and it is what it is, but our general concern is the question of how the board is dealing with them. Let us invite the board to attend.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (6 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: It is in the programme for Government.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (6 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I proposed that we consider the same issue but merely from a financial perspective. The State is using many different models to deliver homes, ranging from emergency accommodation to the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, the housing assistance payment, HAP, homeless HAP, public private partnerships, PPPs, turnkey and long-term leases. From my experience, we always look back and ask whether...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (6 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: It feels like we are moving all of the time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (6 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: It is a valid point but if this committee does not deal with the Moorhead report, no other committee will. I speak as a former city councillor. Genuinely, it is the weakest link in our democracy that we have people democratically elected to represent their communities who are massively undermined and under-resourced to do the job properly. I think we need to do it. Covid could be our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (6 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: We want the Minister for two reasons. We want him for the LDA but we also want him on his housing programme, affordable housing and affordable rent.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (6 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: That is Rebuilding Ireland.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (6 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: That is what we need the Minister to tell us.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (6 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: The LDA and the Minister, because the Minister should have published his legislation by then.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (6 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: We are leaving.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (6 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Will the Chair clarify that he intends to resume discussion on the work programme from where we left off, and to complete it, at our next public meeting?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (6 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Chair.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 Sep 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Today is the last day of September, but since August residential communities right across Dublin city have been tormented and terrorised by the sound and the sight of illegal fireworks. This is not limited to any one part of the city; it is taking place right across the city and, I am sure, in other residential areas around the country. The fireworks are illegal. It is illegal to purchase...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Sep 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I call on the Leader to use her office to call on the Minister for Finance, who has publicly said he is engaging with the banks, to engage on behalf of borrowers and mortgage holders, whether holders of home mortgages or business borrowers. When the Covid-19 pandemic broke it was welcome that the banks supported borrowers. However, the deadline for applications to mortgage breaks is 30...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (18 Sep 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I support the comments of the leader of the Green Party in the Seanad, Senator Pauline O'Reilly. It would be helpful if the Leader wrote to the President of the European Commission and emphasised the importance and urgency of a progressive migration programme for the European Union. Europe should be leading on this. It has been far too slow. We should call on the President of the European...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jul 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I would like to draw the attention of the House to the wonderful State-sponsored free amenity that is the Royal Canal. It runs all the way from the Liffey, at Spencer Dock in my constituency, to Longford, a distance of almost 150 km. During the pandemic it has been an amazing amenity for the people of the north inner city, providing a space for walking, cycling and picnicking. It has taken...