Results 18,021-18,040 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney
- Seanad: Waste Disposal Charges: Statements (30 Jun 2016)
Simon Coveney: -----but there is no requirement on them not to offer pay-by-weight either. Many companies have been collecting on the basis of pay-by-weight for years. Approximately 20% of households pay by weight. They are happy to do it, and it works very well. They segregate their waste and so on. We are not asking those companies to offer some kind of standing charge system without pay-by-weight in...
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: I congratulate the Chairman on her appointment. I hope and think it will be a very busy committee. We have made no secret of the fact that housing is a major priority if not the biggest priority for Government and we want to work with everyone on the committee to solve the multilayered and complex problems around housing. A number of members of this committee were also members of the...
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: On the spend so far, it was something I faced when in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, namely, much of the capital spend to get projects ready in Departments is drawn down in the second half of the year rather than the first. To give an indication of the sense of urgency to get things done this year versus where we were last year, at this point in 2016, taking Exchequer...
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: Yes.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: I take the Deputy’s point. If we were not rolling on with the continued expenditure programme, if we stopped it now, then that money would be lost. However, we are rolling on from year to year. The reason we are not building enough social housing is not necessarily because of money. Money and funding are part of the issue. Building the number of social housing units the housing...
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: For this year, it will depend on progress and how successful it is. I suspect there is more money allocated than is being drawn down. I will get an exact figure for the Deputy but it will be more accurate at the end of the year. All of these figures need to come with a health warning to a certain extent. We are planning to launch an action plan for housing in two weeks’ time, which...
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: There were some very relevant questions. To respond to Deputy O'Dowd's questions first, we introduced some incentives for landlords to rent to HAP tenants in the last budget. If they take on a tenant for more than three years, they get preferential tax treatment. This is to incentivise an end to what Deputy O'Dowd rightly referred to as a bias that some landlords certainly have against...
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: Yes, but they were given a far more sustainable solution for the houses in which they are currently living.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: It is a separate issue - I accept that.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: Sorry, I meant to answer the question on Traveller accommodation. The increase in the Estimate from last year to this in respect of Traveller accommodation is significant. It is an increase of approximately €1.5 million starting from a rather low base. The percentage increase is approximately 17%. It is important to put this into context because the actual figure in the Estimate is...
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: It is, I think.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: I will start at the end, because it was the most recent question. We will support group water schemes. We met with the federation that represents those schemes. We had a good discussion and reassured it that we will return to the level of support for group water schemes before the introduction of the water conservation grant. The federation seemed happy with that. Generally, the...
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: On Deputy Ó Broin's questions, any underspend in regard to the metering programme will be reallocated within water infrastructure. My understanding is that it will be prioritised for water connections and water access for new housing and such like. The money will not be lost.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: Exactly. That is my understanding.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: I do not have an exact figure on that.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: I can.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: The target spend under the Estimate was €539 million excluding VAT. The revised target is €410 million excluding VAT, which means there is an underspend of up to €148 million which has the potential to be reallocated. My understanding is that it is not tied up in terms of having to be paid on the contract.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: No. In terms of what is meant by "equity" and what is meant by "debt", equity is capital input. Equity is €184 million from the Minister for Finance in 2016 and the balance is from debt and other revenue charges. That is debt that has been raised by Irish Water from various sources. Within the charges, there is an Irish Water subvention of €479 million and a working capital...
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: That is current.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (30 Jun 2016) Simon Coveney: Of that figure, €184 million comes from the Minister for Finance and the rest is financed through debt and charges.