Results 1,441-1,460 of 4,773 for speaker:Paudie Coffey

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Deputy Coppinger must have a blind spot for the social housing strategy.

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I oppose the amendment. It is unnecessary. The existing provisions in the Bill allow for what the Deputy is proposing. Section 23 outlines how the proceeds of the vacant site levy are to be used by the planning authority. It essentially ring-fences the proceeds to be used solely on the provision of housing on residential land or for the development and renewal of regeneration land. ...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I am perplexed to hear for the first time a levy being called an incentive. A levy is a levy. That is clear to anyone. We are opposing amendments Nos. 20 and 23, which amend section 16 by removing the provision that a reduced or zero rate of levy should apply in certain circumstances. We recognise that some sites are in negative equity and that loans attach to same. In the interests of a...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The Government's objective is to achieve a normalised construction sector following a large economic crash that affected every sector, but none more so than the construction sector, with an impact on housing provision and so on. The Bill is just one mechanism for addressing regeneration and housing provision in urban areas. As to the wider debate on housing, local authorities are being...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I oppose amendment No. 17, which seeks to amend the provisions in section 14, which provide the criteria by which the planning authority or tribunal may deem that a vacant site has a zero market value. The amendment proposes to delete the following criteria:(a) no market exists for the site, or (b) the site is situated on contaminated lands and the estimated costs of remedial works...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I recognise Deputy Ellis's concerns, but this exemption only applies where a market exists for a site and the remediation costs exceed the market value. If the remediation costs are way below the value of the site, there is nothing stopping the authority from designating the site and applying a levy. It is only where the market value is exceeded that this would apply.

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: To delete these sections of the Bill would, in effect, remove the appeal mechanism open to an owner on the designation of a vacant site. I have gone to great lengths to outline that it is important with respect to property rights in the Constitution that we have recognition of due process and fair and transparent procedures. The process as outlined in the Bill is clear with the criteria as...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: What Deputy Wallace proposes does not compare like with like. He compared the local property tax with the vacant site levy. To be clear, self-registration was an option for the local property tax because everyone was liable for the tax, whereas not everybody will be liable for the vacant site levy; it will only apply in certain cases, and selective criteria will apply. To expect everybody...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I have no doubt the Deputies are genuine in the concerns they have raised. I wish to make crystal clear, however, that the mechanisms and provisions set out in this Bill are concerned with targeting the urban regeneration of city and town centres where vacant sites are a blight on streetscapes and are not being utilised to their full potential. We all know where they are in our own towns or...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I am opposing amendments Nos. 9, 12, 15, 16, 18 and 19 as collectively they propose to bring the implementation of the vacant site levy forward by one year. Deputies have asked me to explain the reason for the timeframe set out in the Bill and I am happy to clarify it. There has been extensive engagement between officials of my Department and the Attorney General's office in developing...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I will respond briefly. The primary objective of this Bill is to stimulate activity on sites that are of high potential in areas of high demand. The objective, essentially, is not to put levies on sites but to stimulate activity. It is a carrot and stick approach, and this is the stick element. I believe it is fair and reasonable that due process be allowed for any owners of sites. We...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: On Deputy Boyd Barrett's point about the potential to seize houses that are not being utilised, the Constitution provides for property rights and we must be careful not to impinge on them. The Bill provides for due process and identifies clear criteria for designating a site as vacant. The statutory responsibility for this process lies with local authorities, which, as Deputy Wallace noted,...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: To be helpful to Deputy Cowen, the site must be zoned in a local area plan. The revised site size will be 500 sq. m, which equates to two or three houses in a streetscape.

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I am opposing amendment No. 4, which proposes the removal of the requirement for a vacant site on residential land to be "in an area in which there is a need for housing". This proposal would weaken the criteria to be used by a planning authority when determining whether a site is a vacant site in the case of such land. Amendment No. 5 proposes the removal of the requirement for a vacant...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: That is not true.

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Deputy Ellis stated that no funding has been allocated for homelessness in Dublin. I want to make it clear that there is a 20% increase in the allocation of funds to address homelessness for Dublin. In 2015, an allocation of €37.16 million was provided. What is identified in the projections of Dublin City Council is that increased funding will be required. The Minister, Deputy...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Deputy Cowen had just finished yesterday.

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Yes, it is my first contribution on the amendment. Yesterday evening we had quite a wide-ranging debate. Much of it went well beyond the amendment, but it was closely related to housing issues and regeneration. It is unfortunate that some Deputies are taking a cynical view of the Government's efforts with regard to the social housing strategy and the Construction 2020 strategy, of which...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Under Section 126 of the Planning and Development Act 2000-2014, An Bord Pleanála has a statutory objective to determine appeals within 18 weeks. Where the Board does not consider it possible or appropriate to reach a decision within 18 weeks (e.g. because of delays arising from the holding of an oral hearing), it will inform the parties of the reasons for this, and will indicate when it...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (8 Jul 2015)

Paudie Coffey: My Department publishes a wide range of planning statistics, including data on the planning applications and decisions made by planning authorities. The most recent statistics are broken down by planning authority and are available on my Department’s website at: www.environ.ie/en/Publications/StatisticsandRegularPublicati ons/PlanningStatistics/FileDownLoad,41081,en.pdf While this data...