Results 1,361-1,380 of 1,401 for speaker:Mary Fitzpatrick

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: It will be a private briefing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I do not see the homelessness issue as being Home for Good. Home for Good and a referendum on housing and the right to housing are tools that, it is to be hoped, would help to reduce the risk of homelessness. My understanding of what we were going to discuss in terms of homelessness was the operation and provision of homeless services - particularly from a Dublin perspective - the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Committee Work Programme: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: If we have them on Wednesdays or Thursdays-----

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Living City Initiative (8 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister of State for attending. This is my first time to speak in the Seanad Chamber. It is a great honour. Before the Minister of State came in, my colleagues very passionately articulated the stress and strain experienced by the hospitality and other sectors owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. I want to use my time to propose what might be part of a solution to a crisis faced...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Living City Initiative (8 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister of State for his response and I appreciate that his remit is on the financial and the tax side. However, the Government needs to recognise and accept that as well as dealing with Covid-19 we have a massive housing crisis. It has not gone away. We need to respond to that housing crisis and to the crisis faced by our independent small traders and inner city and rural...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Living City Initiative (8 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: It has not worked.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Living City Initiative (8 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Absolutely.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Living City Initiative (8 Oct 2020)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Go raibh maith agat.

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

Mary Fitzpatrick: It sounds a good idea. Did the previous committee agree terms of reference that could be circulated with the five reports?

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

Mary Fitzpatrick: We can consider them and agree that next week.

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...