Results 14,481-14,500 of 20,797 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: I agree with the Deputy.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: Of course.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: In response to Deputy Funchion's last question on property rights, that touches on Article 43. I have a degree of sympathy with her question but we also need real data and there are specific questions in the census, which will come through in a few months and will help with this. Working with local authorities we will be able to zone in on empty, derelict properties. We might be able to...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: As for the number of houses, there are 435 in Carlow and 686 in Kilkenny. There is a lot of information in that document which I am putting out there to inform people. Local authorities can acquire private property and have done so under a range of other measures. I want to ensure that I get to a number of the questions. I am going to hop between questions because there is overlap. Deputy...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: Wait a second. It is.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: I will answer the question if I am allowed to do so. We are working in a spirit of co-operation. It is the largest amount announced in respect of a multi-annual plan for social housing. When the country was bursting at the seams with money, of course there were larger individual amounts every year. However, the spending at that time was not multi-annual in nature or planned over a...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: Primarily not, but let me just say this. It is very important.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: Yes, but here is the issue. Does the Deputy know what he needs to do there?

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: He needs to go back to his local authority and ask what other projects it is putting forward. He knows from this document----

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: The Deputy is well aware. Limerick City and County Council has just under €60 million to spend. By the way, it should decide the projects. I agree with Deputy Wallace; the more smaller projects are put forward, the better. I will come back to that. It is obvious that there is an information gap out there. If those 11 units are gone, and there may be other cases across the country...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: -----they can be replaced. Local authorities put forward the projects. The Department does not put them forward. That is the way it has to be.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: Of course. Local authorities make the decisions. We administer the approval process.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: No, the local authorities always put forward the projects. They have their funding, which I have outlined, for 2017. In the context of the issues for those on housing lists, the choice-based letting that happened in Cork is a good example. Choice-based letting should be rolled out across the country. Let me just say that out straight. It may need to be tweaked a little or whatever - I...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: That also goes for a few other people in the room. I find myself in agreement with a number of the Deputy's points, but not others. I agree with the Central Bank rules. They may need to be tweaked and definitely needed to be monitored but, in general, they are correct because the price of houses cannot rise to €500,000 and we cannot have people worrying about how they will pay for...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: That would give us a fuller picture. There may also be others who need to come in. I will respond to the other issues that were raised by Deputy Daly. I disagree with the Deputy on Beaumont. Human beings can object and that is their right and it is fine, but at times I find it absolutely incredible that public representatives of all hue and cry can, for political reasons, shout out...

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: Within that area, the acquirement of those houses meets both the intensity that is professed and good practice. One cannot, on the one hand, say that we need more social housing and that we need to get as much as possible for people who obviously need it, many of whom are in difficult situations, and on the other hand say "not in my back yard" or that it does not meet a particular requirement

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: I am not talking about that.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: I am not talking about Deputy Daly now.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: I did not misunderstand.

Committee on Housing and Homelessness: Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government (28 Apr 2016)

Alan Kelly: I am not.