Results 16,721-16,740 of 26,924 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Terrorism (17 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 41. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has had any discussions with British Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron, in relation to British military action in Syria; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44827/15]

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It built zero council houses last year.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: No, it is a fact. I have given the Minister of State a concrete example. Why did his Department contact Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and tell it to remove the passive house ---

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I am not getting carried away at all. The best way to have minimum standards is for the State to build the houses. In that way, there is a floor below which one does not go. The provision of local authority housing by the State itself, as opposed to outsourcing it through Part V and so forth, is the way to have the best minimum standards.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Again, however, the Government is moving in the opposite direction. It is saying that the State is not going to deliver social housing but will rely on the private sector to do so. It is intent on incentivising private developers and removing any obstacles they claim are getting in the way of the delivery of that housing but all the developers are trying to do is figure out how they can...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: As I stated on Second Stage, this Bill deals with the most fundamental, urgent and important issue facing the country. It is particularly the case now but it is arguably the case at any time. The issue is the provision of housing and putting roofs over the heads of our citizens. It concerns the delivery of the volume of housing needed but also ensuring the housing is of a quality that will...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is on the amendment. The privatisation of housing has resulted in an enormous crisis. The thinking behind this Bill is to say, in response, that we must dilute standards in order to incentivise private developers. Standards are to be diluted and the Government is to be given the power to override local authorities attempting to uphold standards. Talk about compounding a disastrous...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: This is relevant to the amendment because we were talking about housing. The delegates said that the pleas of the developers, claiming it is currently not viable to build housing anywhere in Ireland, are false. The delegates said building houses is viable but the reason the developers are not building is the profit to be made is not enough for them. In other words, the reason is greed....

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: No heckling.

International Protection Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The right to work, as the Minister of State is well aware, is a fundamental demand made by asylum seekers and those who support and advocate for them. It has been for a long time. The indignity of not being allowed to work and simultaneously being accused of somehow sponging off the system, becoming a target for all sorts of racist abuse by a certain element of society, is utterly...

International Protection Bill 2015 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: This amendment is essential if we are to protect the rights of children. The Government is committed to Children First. The idea that children would be wrongly assessed as adults is completely unacceptable and, therefore, any self-declaration by children that they are children should be accepted unless there is evidence to the contrary. The word of the children should be accepted unless...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of NAMA: Discussion (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: No charge was made.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of NAMA: Discussion (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I am neutral in this. I am just saying I did not hear any charges being made. Questions were being asked.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of NAMA: Discussion (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Can the delegation tell me the following? With all the residential portfolios that NAMA has sold, either built residential units or land for residential development, what is the total amount it has got back in the residential area? What was the original value of those residential units?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of NAMA: Discussion (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Between 5,000 and 6,000 units.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of NAMA: Discussion (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: But Mr. McDonagh cannot tell me what NAMA got back for them and what the original value was.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of NAMA: Discussion (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of NAMA: Discussion (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I will outline why I have asked for that information. First, one can look at the fact that property prices are now back almost to 2007-2008 levels or heading in that direction.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of NAMA: Discussion (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: They are climbing pretty fast in Dublin. I accept that that is the case in other parts of the country, and rents in some cases are back to what they were.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of NAMA: Discussion (16 Dec 2015)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I question the rationale behind selling off all this residential property when its value is appreciating at its current rate. I wonder whether we got the best value for money. I wonder whether the vulture funds that have bought residential property from NAMA will be the beneficiaries. I wonder whether the sale will end up being a very bad deal for the public who paid for all of this stuff.