Results 16,441-16,460 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Social and Affordable Housing Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: I move amendment No. 1:To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following: “Dáil Éireann, while recognising the adverse social and economic impacts arising from significant rent increases and the need for a comprehensive response to these impacts and while acknowledging the merits of the Social and Affordable Housing Bill 2016 in the context of the...

Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Referral to Select Committee (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: I move:That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government pursuant to Standing Orders 84A(3)(a) and 141.

Estimates for Public Services 2016 (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: I move the following Supplementary Estimates: Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary) That a supplementary sum not exceeding €10,000,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2016, for the salaries and expenses of the Garda Síochána, including pensions, etc.; for the payment of...

Questions on Proposed Legislation (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: The important thing to recognise is that the European Investment Bank is not a retail bank. It operates through other banks or registered financial managers. There are a number of examples of this. For example, it funds social housing through the Housing Finance Agency and it has funded an interesting loan programme linked to the dairy industry through a structure that Glanbia set up. It...

Questions on Proposed Legislation (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: There are a lot of site works required for the O'Devaney Gardens project so I would not simply divide the money by the number of houses we are building and make deductions from that. It is a much broader project that will probably involve the expenditure of a couple of hundred million euro. There will be some 600 multi-use and mixed-development units, including mixed-tenure units, involving...

Questions on Proposed Legislation (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, and I are working on the wind energy guidelines and may be in a position to bring something to Cabinet next week. If we do, a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union now requires that we undertake an environmental impact assessment of any new guidelines, which will involve some consultation...

Questions on Proposed Legislation (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, is involved in ongoing work on the first issued raised by Deputy Troy. I will try to get detail on it for Deputy Troy.

Questions on Proposed Legislation (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Government has already given approval to draft the heads of a Bill. I understand the Taoiseach gave a commitment that the Bill would be brought before Cabinet and, subsequently, to the House in the first quarter of next year.

Questions on Proposed Legislation (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: I need to check the details of the scheme for the Deputy. My understanding is that the focus of these schemes is to try to help people back into employment. That is why they are of a temporary nature.

Questions on Proposed Legislation (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: I will get the detail for the Deputy and correspond with her.

Questions on Proposed Legislation (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: On the landbank issue, we have an audit under way not only of local authority lands, but of all State-owned lands whether in semi-State companies, State agencies or, indeed, local authorities. We need to get that full picture. I hope that we will then make decisions to transfer lands between agencies, in particular for some of the new social housing projects. Part of our rental strategy...

Questions on Proposed Legislation (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Bill is next week or the week after.

Questions on Proposed Legislation (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: Sorry, it is going to Cabinet next week or the week after. In fact, the Cabinet will be sitting on Christmas week, for the information of the House. The Bill will come to Cabinet next Tuesday or Tuesday week.

Questions on Proposed Legislation (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Minister for Social Protection met recently with the chairperson of the Pensions Authority and has asked the authority to report back to him with an assessment of the current overall position in regard to such schemes. I will certainly refer the Deputy to the Minister on that. He is looking at it. This is a private company and, as such, the Government needs to be wary of raising...

Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: In case I was misunderstood, I accept where the Deputy is coming from and can see how genuine and passionate he is about the issue. We have had many conversations on climate change and what needs to be done beyond what has been planned for. I agree with the vast majority of it. The programme for Government is very clear - it is in black and white - the Government's ambition is not to fudge...

Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: It will be part of the dialogue on a national planning framework. All of these matters - how we move around, where we live, how we work, how we heat and power our homes and how we drive our cars - are interlinked. There will be an extra 1 million people living in Ireland. There will probably be 8 million people living on this island between 2050 and 2060 and we need to plan for it now in...

Questions on Proposed Legislation (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: I will get the information for which the Deputy asked in the second question. I was very involved in the discussions on the part of the programme for Government that refers to Leader groups. The Government's view was that overall funding for Leader groups in the last round of funding should be reduced. There is a new structure in place with much more integration with local government in...

Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: In January we will publicly launch a plan for what Ireland should look like in 25 years' time, in 2040. We will take a long-term view and the plan will include an ambitious and proactive approach to our responsibilities on climate change. The Deputy spoke of people taking responsibility but there are many people in this House, the Deputy included, who had an opportunity to come in, be part...

Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: I take the point in terms of streamlined decision-making and in some cases it may well still be a barrier. Yesterday, I approved €18 million for 56 houses to be built as part of the redevelopment of O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin. This year we will see 4,240 new units in terms of new builds, acquisitions and voids coming back into the system. Do not forget that last year the number of...

Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2016)

Simon Coveney: There are a lot of comments and questions there. I first want to give a little bit of good news. We have a lot of work still to do to respond comprehensively to the homeless crisis we face in this city and in other parts of the State. Today we have the November figures on homelessness in Dublin and for the first time in a very long time the number of adults and families who are homeless in...