Results 16,121-16,140 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: It is asking for ten people plus increased resources. It might be 12 people, but that is the type of number involved in order for it to work with the local authorities. We have granted an extra 500 staff across the local authorities, predominantly for planning, engineering and quantity surveying services because we are gearing up local authorities, mainly around the social housing build...
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: It is.
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: That is why we are spending €200 million on an infrastructure fund to be announced-----
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: I will brief in my response. This new system will have to prove itself but we know that the average length of time it took those 15 applications, to which I referred earlier, to go from initial consultation to decision was about 80 weeks and the new system can get through the process in about 26 weeks. I agree with Deputy Wallace that if we did not change anything, many more planning...
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: If one gets a planning decision through this new fast-track system one cannot get an extension; one has to move on with it.
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: I apologise if I am looking at Members and asking them to be concise and brief, but we had a long debate on this issue on Second Stage, Committee Stage and in the Seanad. What we are proposing to do, and it is a major part of the legislation, is to bring more certainty, a term that has been used a great deal today and last night, to the planning system. This is not bypassing local...
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: I served on the same one.
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: Unfortunately, we will be coming back on Monday.
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: I think so.
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: I am just trying to put this into context. We are ramping up the supports that are necessary. Ultimately, we need homes for people through social housing programmes rather than emergency beds. In the short term, we need to increase emergency facilities. We are also kitting out facilities for families. This will ensure families who find themselves homeless can make a proper transition...
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: I agree with many of the comments Deputy John Curran has just made. I understand exactly what is being asked for in this amendment. I think those Deputies who have got to know me as Opposition spokespeople will know that I have no problem talking about data, reports and assessments and setting targets and trying to meet them. However, to insert in the legislation a requirement for a...
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: We have just done that with three buildings.
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: It will be over 17,000.
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: We will be coming to the planning issue in the next amendment.
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: It is not a vacuum, and I will tell the Deputy why. We have to have a thresholds so that if it is passed in the future, an area qualifies. If we have the means of actually testing, it has to be a rolling threshold that can be implemented in one, two or three years' time. If we decide that we will only look at the picture as it is today, we are ignoring potential pressures that may develop...
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: That is how it will work, and that is why the commuter areas around Dublin, and Fianna Fáil was very strong on this aspect, are being prioritised, as are the cities of Waterford, Limerick and Galway, and the areas contiguous to Cork city because they are the areas that are likely to have rent pressure zones designated when we examine the more localised data. In terms of Deputy Howlin's...
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: Define "rent review"? I have a note on this here. On the Deputy's question on subsection (6) of my amendment, where notice has been served on a tenant before the zone is designated, the limit will not apply. This is also the case where a rent review is deemed to have commenced. This would be where negotiations between the landlord and tenant-----
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: -----have already taken place, although a formal notice has not been issued. In these cases the landlord would have to provide proof that the review had in fact commenced. When a tenant disagrees, they can refer the case to the RTB which will decide. We should remember that landlords can only start a review process two years after the last increase under the provisions introduced last...
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: -----we need to bear in mind that there is a general legal principle against retrospection in legislation. That clarifies most of the issues that have been raised.
- Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) (16 Dec 2016)
Simon Coveney: That is the retrospection piece that I am referring to here. I will check it and come back to the Deputy, but my understanding is that if a rent review has begun before the designation takes place, I think we have clarity on that.