Results 1,421-1,440 of 5,580 for speaker:Paul McAuliffe

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (8 Nov 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: 8. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [47661/23]

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Passport Services (7 Nov 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: 99. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if a passport will be expedited for a person (details supplied). [47429/23]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Parking Provision (7 Nov 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: 245. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if local authorities adhere to standards (details supplied) when installing disabled parking bays; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48030/23]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Schemes (7 Nov 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: 597. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he plans to review the housing assistance payment in order that weekly tenant contributions are calculated as a percentage of gross earnings of the household as per Revenue Commissioner filings, on the same basis throughout the country, and for the basis of calculations to be transparent to the public [47299/23]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Eligibility (7 Nov 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: 705. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if those who receive a half-rate Increase for a qualified child payment will get the full €100 bonus announced in Budget 2024; if not, how the €100 bonus will be paid; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47304/23]

Road Safety: Statements (26 Oct 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: I will be sharing my time with Deputy Flaherty. We will take seven and four minutes, respectively. Deputy Flaherty can take over whenever I run out of issues for the Minister. I want to first deal with the Road Traffic Act, as it is now, having been passed and signed by the President over the summer. It contains many initiatives and measures to improve the safety of people on our roads...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (26 Oct 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: I raise with the Tánaiste the issue of the public counter of the Probate Office having been closed since Covid. As he is aware, the death of a family member and the processing of probate can be a difficult experience for many families. It is not acceptable that a public counter is not available. Delays are being created because people have to put documents into a drop box and wait for...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (26 Oct 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: Hear, hear.

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: We have a large array of witness before us. I hope they can assist us in getting to the bottom of some of our questions. I will return to an issue I have raised many times, namely, the HAP and RAS. I have characterised these as accounting for one of the largest spends being left in the hands of some of the least equipped and most vulnerable people. The target and output for 2022 was...

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: This means well over €600 million of procurement by the State of housing supply was negotiated by recipients with their landlords on an individual basis. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: Again, with RAS the individual relationship is set up between the landlord and the tenant.

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: Sorry, I am referring to the price and the arrangement to secure the particular property.

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: I will not get bogged down in that differentiation but I appreciate the difference. This is a monumental amount of public money that appears to have very little value for money at its core. Taking HAP, €500 million was spent without any effort to leverage the total spend against value for money. If the Department entered the market with a budget of €500 million, it would be...

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: That is my point. There are 40,000 individual landlords who are being allowed to extract the maximum value for them. Who is representing the State on the other side? Often, it is very vulnerable people who have to secure those properties. We do not in any way support people to negotiate and they are often in very vulnerable circumstances. They could be leaving emergency accommodation....

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: It is incredibly limited but, again, for those key workers, it about securing the place and not in any way about identifying value for money. It is very clear that HAP and RAS are bad value for money overall. They are a necessary solution but bad value for money. I will turn now to the tenant in situ scheme which has been rolled out. I understand that by the end of this year, approximately...

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: It is a really important safety net to protect the 2,300 people who have received an eviction notice and now have a local authority home. Regardless of where they were on the waiting list, they have been protected from homelessness. I know there was a huge political battle about that at the time of the ending of the eviction ban but it is important to say that, under that scheme, 2,300...

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: Of course.

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: Yes, it is 2,300 units. This also highlights the criticism I just made of the HAP system. On all of those 2,300 homes, we are no longer making monthly payments and we are no longer susceptible to increasing rents in the market. We are not having an impact on the rental market by taking those 2,300 units and all those housing applicants are now housed. Those units are already being used...

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: Would it be fair to say that the difference in that case was that the units being acquired were new units coming on to the market and by acquiring them, the State was competing with first-time buyers and others? These are people's homes.

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023)

Paul McAuliffe: These are already people's homes. The Department has every intention of continuing to procure them next year, the year after and the year after that. In all likelihood, that person could continue to rent it for ten or 15 years. The landlord could continue to use it within the HAP or RAS system for ten, 15 or 20 years. Why is the Department not proactively approaching landlords, offering...