Results 1,661-1,680 of 4,672 for speaker:Dessie Ellis

Leaders' Questions (8 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: Will the Government provide people with houses?

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

Dessie Ellis: On the revised threshold for designating vacant sites, to what does the new size equate? Will it cover in-fill sites on housing estates, for example? Will the Minister of State clearly define the revised site size?

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

Dessie Ellis: I would like him to respond because this change is causing confusion.

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

Dessie Ellis: I understand but I would be grateful if the Minister of State would provide a clear definition of the revised size because it is unclear.

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

Dessie Ellis: With regard to a site that is situated in an area where there is a need for housing, that is true for many areas. I believe it is unnecessary. We have seen what the local authorities determine to be a vacant site. That definition has been in place for a long time, rather than simply referring to a site in an area that is in need of housing. There are many such sites in areas that are in...

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

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 4:In page 6, to delete line 33.I have tabled this amendment because I am not very happy with the definition of "a vacant site" in this Bill. My amendment proposes the deletion of section 5(1)(a)(i) of the Bill, which defines such a site as one "situated in an area in which there is a need for housing". One could say there is a need for housing in many places. I believe...

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

Dessie Ellis: There was a meeting the other day and all the councillors and officials agreed. The Minister of State mentioned the voids that have been returned. There is no funding to return more voids in Dublin City Council. I have spoken to the officials. We might have got so many returned but those would have been in a natural progression anyway had they been dealt with and the housing budget not...

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

Dessie Ellis: I am glad to hear the Minister of State will provide more funding for the homeless. It is taking a long time and the situation is getting worse. There is chaos at present. The amount of people being reported as homeless is crazy at this stage. The amendment is straightforward. It identifies a problem and the Minister of State should accept it. The local authorities should not be...

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

Dessie Ellis: It is unfortunate that the Minister of State does not see the problems we see in terms of local authority sites, housing bodies and publicly-owned sites. There is a huge problem in terms of funding. 11 o’clock Dublin City Council has not been given its budget to deal with homelessness and there is a major crisis.

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

Dessie Ellis: 228. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he is aware of the difficulties in getting a connection to the Electricity Supply Board power grid by those behind the Clare Lane, Dublin, development and other social housing initiatives; the delays this is causing in delivering this housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27843/15]

Central Bank (Variable Rate Mortgages) Bill 2015: Second Stage [Private Members] (7 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: Last month, my colleague, Deputy Pearse Doherty, introduced a Bill to deal with this very issue. It is timely that we are again debating these matters just as another deadline has passed without any satisfactory move to change interest rates. The banks agreed to review their rates and products by the beginning of July, but that did not happen. Our Bill, like the one we are debating this...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: I move amendment No. 2:In page 6, line 29, after "land" where it secondly occurs to insert "not owned by a local authority or publicly owned housing body".The purpose of the amendment is that local authority sites and publicly owned sites should not be the subject of a vacant levy. Although all efforts should be made to use such lands for social housing, this is not possible due to the lack...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: In my first contribution, I focused on the amendment without dealing with the broader issues. I want to say a couple of things about NAMA. It has been a disaster and will prove to be one of the scandals of the country in the future. There are a lot of questions to be answered. When it was set up we could not get answers to from it about anything that was going on, no matter what...

Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015: Report Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: I do not see the point of the amendment because NAMA will not be in existence for much longer. This would create extra cost. We are adding an extra cost on in terms of NAMA and the properties that are there, in particular when it comes to the levies. As such, I do not see the purpose of the amendment and will oppose it.

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: I remind Deputy Catherine Byrne about her history in the council. When she and her Fine Gael colleagues voted to privatise the waste charges in Dublin City Council, they promised senior citizens would be protected. It did not last very long.

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: I have not paid them and I will not. The Minister of State Deputy Ó Ríordáin, also voted for bin charges and where are we now? Where are the senior citizens the Government said it would protect?

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: Yes.

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: The campaign will continue in my area and throughout the country and the numbers on the streets will increase. This is what the Government fears. We have political policing as a result of the campaign.

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: No. The Deputy must be living in the past.

Civil Debt (Procedures) Bill 2015: Second Stage (3 Jul 2015)

Dessie Ellis: Young children have been pulled out of their homes in the mornings. People's homes were raided in places such as Tallaght and there was not a word from any of the Members.