Results 1,701-1,720 of 2,015 for speaker:Pat Casey

Quarterly Report on Housing: Statements (6 Jul 2017)

Pat Casey: My approach is one of common decency and compassion. I firmly believe the State has the responsibility to provide housing for those in our communities who cannot access it on their own. The more housing the State provides, the less it must depend on private landlords to provide stop gap solutions. We all have to accept that there is a social right to a home. I am more convinced than ever...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Finance for Social Housing: Irish League of Credit Unions (Resumed) (5 Jul 2017)

Pat Casey: I will be very brief because I think Deputy Ó Broin has covered nearly everything we need to say about this issue. We are hugely frustrated regarding why it has taken so long to get this money into the market. As a State, we have clearly said that we are moving more towards approved housing bodies to deliver the social housing stock, yet there is capacity to give them more funds and we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Finance for Social Housing: Irish League of Credit Unions (Resumed) (5 Jul 2017)

Pat Casey: I would like to get a better understanding in respect of on and off-balance sheet funding. My understanding is that where approved housing bodies obtain a loan, these are considered off-balance sheet and are not considered State debt. In cases where the funding is from a local authority, however, the loan is considered a State debt and on balance sheet. Mr. Carville referred to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Finance for Social Housing: Irish League of Credit Unions (Resumed) (5 Jul 2017)

Pat Casey: It is an important point. In most European countries, social housing stock is off-balance sheet and there are various different ways of achieving that. Most of ours is on-balance sheet because the local authorities carry the debt. I am going back to the indirect vehicle we are talking about. What I am trying to understand is that it is the approved housing body that receives the money,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Finance for Social Housing: Irish League of Credit Unions (4 Jul 2017)

Pat Casey: I thank the gentlemen for their presentations and record my frustration that the issue has not been resolved. We were all aware of the role the credit unions could have played before Rebuilding Ireland was launched but almost a year later, we have made almost no progress. I focus today on approved housing bodies and the relationship with them. Is there enough governance in place in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Finance for Social Housing: Housing Supply Alliance (4 Jul 2017)

Pat Casey: I have a few brief questions and will commence by asking about finance and the application process. Can the organisations avail of different types or sources of funding? Have they experienced difficulties in accessing finance? Is there a criterion for approved housing bodies to categorise them as tier 3? Earlier Deputy Coppinger and I mentioned the regulation and governance of approved...

Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jun 2017)

Pat Casey: The separation of powers in any republic is a delicate and essential balance to ensure citizens can make laws and have the law judged in an independent manner. In the Irish context, the broad history of the Irish judicial system is one that merits great praise. Our judges have in the main been independent, fair and sometimes quite brilliant in interpreting the laws of our Republic. Many of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing and Rental Market: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Jun 2017)

Pat Casey: As an operator in the tourism industry, I acknowledge the important role short-term lettings platform play for the industry. Dr. Lyons referred to the housing crisis and the fact that these platforms are not having a huge impact relatively speaking. We are not going to solve the housing crisis with short-term lettings, but we are looking at whether it is having an effect on the homelessness...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing and Rental Market: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Jun 2017)

Pat Casey: Deputy Ó Broin has probably addressed most of the information I was looking for. Working in the tourism sector myself, I know the value of the traditional bed and breakfast in earlier times. What we are looking at here is the impact on housing and specifically on the homelessness crisis. Like Deputy Ó Broin, I am not after the person sharing a room or sharing his or her house...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing and Rental Market: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Jun 2017)

Pat Casey: Will the witness clarify the data that Airbnb shares with Revenue?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing and Rental Market: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Jun 2017)

Pat Casey: Is that all revenue?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing and Rental Market: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Jun 2017)

Pat Casey: I want to come back to the availability versus the booking issue. We need to get to the figures around availability because this would give the true indication of how often that property is actually available for short-term lettings. If I had a property registered with Airbnb tomorrow morning, can Airbnb track if I put my availability up or down at any stage, whether it is booked or not?...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing and Rental Market: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Jun 2017)

Pat Casey: Our problem, however, is that we are trying to identify the people who are short-term letting their premises on a long-term basis. That is where we need to get. Nobody here is concerned about genuine people who are just sharing their rooms or homes. We need to get to the properties that are let longer term. Mr. Robinson is telling the committee that this data is available. If the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing and Rental Market: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Jun 2017)

Pat Casey: It would tell them. It may then be up to the person to ensure they are only uploading the availability of the premises for when it is actually available.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing and Rental Market: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Jun 2017)

Pat Casey: I want to come back in again on this and give an example. Let us say we brought in regulation tomorrow morning that any entire property available on Airbnb's platform for 90 days or more requires a licence or planning permission and that is the rule. Could Airbnb then inform the Department of a property exceeding the 90 days?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (Resumed) (27 Jun 2017)

Pat Casey: I have a few quick questions. My interaction the last day was about the infrastructural fund and the logic around rolling that out over a four-year period instead of advance-funding it all at one time. Do fiscal rules prevent that €200 million from being rolled out? As I pointed out the last time, if we are not rolling the last €50 million out for another four years, it could...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (Resumed) (27 Jun 2017)

Pat Casey: I am coming back for the planning Bill. If I understood correctly, I think it will come into play on Monday and there is an information session on Wednesday. Have the developers had much engagement with the board on the fast-track planning process? I have a specific point, that I raised with the Department directly. During the passage of the fast-track planning legislation in the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: State Assets (27 Jun 2017)

Pat Casey: 139. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the status of the proposed sale of the State's 32% shareholding in a studio (details supplied); if she will consider cancelling the sale, transferring the shareholding to the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and investing in the growth of the film industry; and if she will make a statement on the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Wind Energy Guidelines (27 Jun 2017)

Pat Casey: 586. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will review the onshore wind farm policies in terms of minimum distances, in view of the planning applications of large industrial wind farms in south County Wicklow and the large opposition to these developments by local residents and communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29725/17]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Pat Casey: Deputy Cowen focused on Pillar 1 so I will focus on Pillar 2, and specifically the social housing construction programme. I wish to state that committee members were delighted to get all of the data in the open format and Excel format. They have made it a lot easier to follow what is happening. Is it possible to provide each project with a unique identification number? I make the...