Results 1,541-1,560 of 4,773 for speaker:Paudie Coffey

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Deputies asked how local authorities would levy themselves. Local authorities already apply rates to themselves. That is a known fact under our current rating system and, therefore, any liabilities that would result from a designation are identified and shown on the local authority books. It is my hope - this is the reason we are bringing in this legislation - that we would not get to that...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I will address Deputy Mulherin's concerns first. There are several strict criteria that must be adhered to for any designation to happen. This will be in the control of the local authority. One of the criteria is that a project must be economically viable. I assure the Deputy that no penal imposition will happen as a result of this Bill, as there are enough checks and balances within the...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I will make a very clear distinction between what is categorised as a derelict site and a vacant site. As we all know, there are shortcomings with the Derelict Sites Act and people may get frustrated within communities because of them. Essentially, if there is window dressing in the form of paint or nice boarding on a site, the issue can be seen as resolved. The criteria in this Bill go...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: That is correct.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I move amendment No. 6:In page 7, line 10, to delete "0.1 hectares" and substitute "0.05 hectares". I thank the Deputies for their contributions, the support for the amendment and for withdrawing their own amendments. Deputy Wallace is not the only Deputy with a background in construction. A few more of us have that also. The Government listens as do I. Deputy Wallace...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I am happy to clarify for the Deputy that the definition of "home" in the section he refers to refers to a dwelling where a person ordinarily resides or lives. Essentially, he is right that we do not want to target a home where somebody is living. The Deputy made some points regarding other jurisdictions where there are vacant houses in which no one is living. I know where he is coming...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: There is no doubt that it is an interesting debate and discussion. I have already outlined the situation with regard to the Constitution. Deputy Catherine Murphy makes a good point regarding the common good at which the Bill, in essence, is targeted. It is aimed at the common good of providing houses where there is a high demand and where services exist. Deputy Dowds referred to the CPO...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I am opposing amendments Nos. 8 and 14 to 17, inclusive, whose collective purpose is to bring the implementation of the vacant site levy forward by one year. While in certain circumstances the Constitution allows the State to delimit the property rights of individuals in the interest of the common good, such restrictions on landowners’ property rights must be reasonable and...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I am opposing amendment No. 9, which proposes to remove section 6(4), which provides the specific criteria to be used by a planning authority, or An Bord Pleanála on appeal, in determining whether there is a need for housing in an area, with reference to the following: housing strategy and the core strategy of the planning authority; house prices and the costs of renting houses in the...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I am opposing amendment No. 10, which places a duty on the owner of a vacant site to register with the local authority by 1 January 2016 or face a fine. Deputy Wallace also mentioned this earlier. Such a proposal would be in contravention of the principle of fair procedures and administration for such measures, which I have already referred to. The provisions of the Bill were drafted...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I am talking about the criteria in the Bill.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I am opposing amendments Nos. 11, 12 and 13 because, collectively, these amendments remove the provisions in section 9(2), (3) and (4) which outline the mechanism open to a site owner to appeal to An Bord Pleanála the entry of his or her site on the register. It is important in a measure such as this that clear and fair appeals mechanisms are in place. In this case, the proposed...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Amendment No. 18 relates to the levy and how it applies.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: We oppose the amendment.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I move amendment No. 20:In page 16, line 20, to delete “the residential land on which the site is situated” and substitute “residential land in the vicinity of the site”. Section 23 outlines how the proceeds of the vacant site levy are to be used by the planning authority. It ring-fences the proceeds to be solely used for the provision of housing on the...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I move amendment No. 21:In page 16, line 22, to delete “the regeneration land on which the site is situated” and substitute “regeneration land in the vicinity of the site”.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Is it not correct?

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The Deputy knows it is correct.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I do not propose to accept amendment No. 23. We cannot meet the housing demand by direct build only, as put forward by Deputy Boyd Barrett. I can guarantee that should he be appointed Minister in the morning, and with the best of intentions which I know he has, he would not deliver the number of houses we need to meet the current demand with direct build on local authority lands. We are...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Committee Stage (30 Jun 2015)

Paudie Coffey: How would it be possible to get out of the obligation to provide 10% public housing?