Results 121-140 of 2,319 for speaker:Dessie Ellis in 'Dáil debates'

National Retrofitting Scheme: Statements (17 Feb 2022)

Dessie Ellis: Like many urban constituencies, particularly in Dublin, mine, Dublin North-West, has a mixture of modern and newly built housing in addition to old stock built decades ago. Areas such as Ballymun, Santry, Whitehall, Glasnevin and Finglas have seen a huge growth in population and corresponding growth in the number of housing estates. A substantial number of these estates were built in the...

Tackling the Cost of Living - Institutional Investors in the Residential Property Market: Motion (15 Feb 2022)

Dessie Ellis: The Government's failure to adequately address the housing crisis, one of its own making, has meant that unsavoury actors have entered the housing market and they act with impunity. A classic example are the aptly named "vulture funds" which swoop into our distressed housing market to buy up housing stocks and portfolios. Investment funds have the advantage of not being subject to the same...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Departmental Schemes (10 Feb 2022)

Dessie Ellis: I thank the Minister of State very much. I must say that this scheme is very important and has been very successful. Dublin City Council has done a marvellous job in bringing it forward. More funding is obviously needed to enhance the scheme. I was glad to hear the Minister of State say that we will get a second visit. This has been a terrible bone of contention for many people, some of...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Departmental Schemes (10 Feb 2022)

Dessie Ellis: As the Minister knows, thousands of homes throughout the country are in urgent need of proper insulation to bring them up to an acceptable energy rating standard. Dublin City Council has been involved in an extensive programme to retrofit its housing stock and bring those homes to a reasonable energy rating. This has entailed insulating attics, fitting heat pumps, doing wrap-around...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Dessie Ellis: There are 5,000 homeless on the Taoiseach's watch.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Feb 2022)

Dessie Ellis: The Taoiseach is relying on the private sector; that is his problem.

National Minimum Wage: Motion [Private Members] (9 Feb 2022)

Dessie Ellis: I welcome this motion on the national minimum wage from Solidarity-People Before Profit and add my support to it. This is more than just a discussion on what represents a realistic minimum wage. It is also a discussion about low pay, poverty and workers and families struggling to make ends meet and living from week to week on the wages they receive. According to data from the OECD, Ireland...

Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures Bill 2022: Second Stage (3 Feb 2022)

Dessie Ellis: My constituency has a varied demographic, particularly with regard to age. We have areas with a high percentage of elderly people and other areas that have a young population, with young families, single parents and so on. The constituency also has areas of economic disadvantage with high unemployment rates and families struggling to put food on the table for their children. There are also...

Youth Mental Health: Statements (26 Jan 2022)

Dessie Ellis: Mental ill health can have a considerable impact on those who experience a mental disorder and can result in destructive and damaging relationships between the individual and their friends and families. Before Covid, the mental health services for young people were a major problem. Now they are beyond crisis point. Expert evidence shows that the onset of mental disorders peaks during the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Jan 2022)

Dessie Ellis: You could buy a few houses for that.

National Maternity Hospital: Motion [Private Members] (20 Jan 2022)

Dessie Ellis: There appears to be an endless saga with the new national maternity hospital as it continues its long, involved journey to completion. It has been beset by a series of incidents from its conception almost ten years ago, when it was planned to relocate the hospital from its current location on the Holles Street campus to a new site. The story of the National Maternity Hospital is one of a...

Gender-based Violence: Motion [Private Members] (19 Jan 2022)

Dessie Ellis: The whole country was shocked by the terrible murder of Ashling Murphy, a talented young woman who accomplished so much in her short life and touched the lives of everyone she met. The tragedy of her murder is compounded by the lost potential of this gifted and popular teacher and musician. My heart goes out to her grieving parents, boyfriend, family and friends. My own constituency...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (15 Dec 2021)

Dessie Ellis: Will the Minister outline what progress has been made with regard to the support for Irish survivors of thalidomide Bill, which puts the provision of health and personal social supports on a statutory basis for Irish thalidomide survivors? Will he outline a timeframe for these legislative proposals?

Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (Extension of Notice Periods) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (14 Dec 2021)

Dessie Ellis: It is a terrible indictment of the Government's housing policies in general that so many people are living a hair's breadth from being made homeless. People's lives are so finely balanced that it would not take much to tip them into homelessness. In the rental sector this has become even more prevalent with so many landlords leaving the market at present. Recent data from the Residential...

Dublin Fire Brigade: Motion [Private Members] (7 Dec 2021)

Dessie Ellis: I welcome this motion on Dublin Fire Brigade. I also wish to commend my colleague, Deputy Paul Donnelly, on bringing it forward. My constituency of Dublin North-West has a large and growing population. It is served by Finglas fire station, which is known as No. 5 station within Dublin Fire Brigade. I cannot but give the highest of praise to all those who serve in Finglas and in the...

Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Second Stage (3 Dec 2021)

Dessie Ellis: In today's housing crisis it is clear that many people, as things stand, will probably never be in a position to own their own home. House prices have risen so high that many people find it difficult even to put together a deposit. I hear regularly in my constituency office how a professional couple earning what would otherwise be regarded as good incomes are struggling even to get a...

Employment Support Services: Motion [Private Members] (30 Nov 2021)

Dessie Ellis: The Government's proposal to consolidate the community-based local employment services into regional employment services will have a devastating impact on existing local services. In my constituency of Dublin North-West, local employment services are provided by the Ballymun Job Centre and similar services are also provided by the Dublin North West Area Partnership in Rosehill House in...

Planning and Development (Amendment) (Large-scale Residential Development) Bill 2021 [Seanad]: Second Stage (25 Nov 2021)

Dessie Ellis: The introduction of strategic housing developments was a cause of major concern and anger in the community. Local authorities have been bypassed in the planning process for large-scale developments of 100 or more units and also with large-scale student accommodation. This has led to a less than democratic decision making process in large-scale planning applications, with local residents...

Mother and Baby Homes Redress Scheme: Motion [Private Members] (23 Nov 2021)

Dessie Ellis: It is impossible to calculate the trauma experienced by those who resided in many of the mother and baby homes across the country. To understand the emotional, psychological and physical distress the survivors still experience is something that can only be comprehended by those who lived through the awful experience. We can only attempt to grasp their suffering by listening to their...