Results 1,741-1,760 of 11,187 for speaker:Colm Burke
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I will start with the issue of vacant properties. This week saw an inquest in Cork, from which it appears that there had been a body in a boarded-up house for over 20 years. It appears that the person died in 2001 and remained undiscovered for a further 22 years. What more action can be taken to deal with the issue of vacant properties? One...
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: But we still have 180,000 properties-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: I am talking about assisting property owners. When the property owner or the person entitled to the property engaged with the local authority, the local authority would make a compulsory purchase order and sell the property back to that person at a cost. I have seen this approach being used effectively by Cork City Council. I am not necessarily saying that a local authority should take on...
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: Someone cannot get funding unless he or she has the title. No one will touch that application for funding.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: Ms Timmons must accept that, in this case, the house had been vacant for more than 22 years.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: This was at a time when there was a housing shortage. The other issue I want to deal with relates to whether the Department has had any engagement with the banks recently. I wrote to all of the banks about the vacant properties. Only two banks replied to me, Bank of Ireland and AIB. The latter confirmed that it has 87 vacant properties currently and is dealing with local authorities. I...
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: In fairness, AIB has said that it has offered over 2,000 properties to the Housing Agency. It has been engaging with the Housing Agency. I should acknowledge that AIB has done that. Has the Department engaged with the banks recently regarding properties that are vacant for long periods? There are four properties that I know of that are very good and that could be moved into tomorrow with...
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: These are properties that have been repossessed by the banks.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: They have been repossessed by the banks.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: In one particular case, the judgment mortgage was registered in 2012 and it has been vacant since. The person who is living in the house alongside it moved in there 13 years ago. That property has been vacant for the entire period since.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: I am asking if the engagement was recent. It appears that a large number of properties are still vacant.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: Maybe it might be worth-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: There is a large number of properties still not progressing which have been vacant for long periods and could be put into use. I want to move on to Irish Water. In the period 2000 to 2008, we allowed the developers to put in sewage treatment facilities. Many of those facilities are not up to scratch. My understanding is that in Cork County alone there are over 50. The total number for...
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: A lot of them are not There are over 500 that are not.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: Can we fast track a lot of that? In fairness, we did a huge amount of work in cities and towns with main drainage, making sure that there was no contamination of water. Then we built all of these facilities and there is still contamination of streams in rural areas as well. I am wondering if we fast track a lot of them.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: Is it possible to get a report on the extent of the challenge that Irish Water faces on that?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: It would be interesting to see county by county and local authority by local authority, what the challenges are and what needs to be done to see how we can improve that. I want to move on to the issue of outstanding rents in local authorities. Has the Department got a breakdown in relation to housing rents not paid? Are there challenges in some local authorities as regards making sure...
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: In fairness, the Department is providing the funding. If they are not doing their job collecting rents-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: What kind of money are we talking about that is owed to local authorities between commercial rents and finances?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 4: Accountability of the Central Funding of Local Authorities. (26 Oct 2023) Colm Burke: We are talking about over €350 million in real terms due to local authorities.