Results 1,881-1,900 of 2,163 for speaker:John Cummins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: It appears from that response that PPS numbers are not linked to the system to enable names to be removed when somebody passes away. Without that, we will have that ambiguity. At times when there is uncertainty, the easy thing to do is leave the person on the register because we do not want to disenfranchise anybody. However, we must have certainty. I ask that this is fed into the data...

Seanad: Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2021: Second Stage (18 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: I welcome the Minister to the House and thank him and his officials for engaging with members of the Oireachtas joint committee on this Bill.I agree with the Minister that this Bill is urgent, that it is important that it is put through both Houses without delay and that we have a motion for earlier signature. I will focus on sections 2 to 6, inclusive, of the Bill, which deal with the...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (18 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: I appreciate what Senator Higgins seeks to achieve with the amendment but it is not necessary to include it in this section or in primary legislation because this is something that happens anyway. Local authorities that are engaged in Part 8 processes to develop units must consider everything that is listed in the amendment. The local authorities, the LDA and all of these of organisations...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (18 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: I disagree wholeheartedly with this amendment. A person who has been allocated a social house does not care whether it is built by a local authority, a private developer, the LDA or an approved housing body. Saying that we must build houses, affordable houses in the case of this amendment, in a certain way is an ideological position. Some local authorities will be able to ramp up the...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (18 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: I have great respect for Senator Boyhan but I am surprised at his contribution. I am not suggesting he was attempting to mislead the House in his contribution but the figure of €450,000 relates to the ceilings for the shared equity scheme. What we are actually discussing here, in this section, is the local authority affordable purchase scheme. Thus, any references to or utterances...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (18 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: I will make one brief point which I mentioned on Committee Stage. What we are doing here is aligning the existing cost rental equity loan term, in terms of the finance and arrangement for the same, which is at 40 years. By moving from 30 years to 40 years, we have aligned the whole process. If we were moving to 50 years in terms of what has been proposed in this amendment, it would be out...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (18 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: I compliment Senator Higgins with regard to the original proposal on Committee Stage. The acceptance of the wording in this respect is further evidence that the Government takes very seriously the rents that will be charged at the outset under the cost rental model. It is our target to reduce the rents to the maximum possible, which is why we have spread the term over 40 years. That is why...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (18 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: This comes back to some of the arguments we made earlier regarding arbitrary figures and points. Cost rental is defined as the cost of building, financing and the necessary and appropriate management costs. This is defined. It is what it is and it does not change regardless of whether a person's income is X or Y. This is the definition of cost rental. If we were to include the provisions...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (18 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: I will be interested to hear what the Minister of State says. The points Senator Higgins has made are valid.The protection of the core price, the initial part, is not necessarily in the amendment being proposed, which is a flaw. Perhaps we can take account of what has been said in this Chamber, and that when this Bill is debated in the Dáil we ensure we protect the original core...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (18 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: I have listened to Senator Warfield and Sinn Féin talk about the shared equity scheme, prior to the Bill even being published. They had written off this scheme and said it would do X, Y and Z, before the Bill was even published. We keep hearing the references to the London School of Economics. What one will not hear Senator Warfield referring to is the UK's audit office, the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: I would.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: As someone fortunate enough to have been elected to Waterford City Council when I was 21 - some 12 years ago now - I count myself lucky to have been one of those young people who did get involved in politics and made a change at local level. Younger people have been represented quite well across the party political spectrum in Waterford, but women not so much. I echo some of the earlier...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: That is exactly it.

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: Will the Senator clarify the question he is asking, for my information?

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: I asked the Senator to clarify his question for the information of the House. I am not clear on what the Senator is asking.

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: To which amendment does the Senator's question refer?

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: He is referring to the entire section.

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: When the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, was in the House on Monday he responded to a separate but connected amendment and he gave some very good examples of how the 30%, 35% or 40% would not be the case in reality. That is on the record for anybody to read so I will not repeat his points. Reference has been made to the Government saying that houses costing €350,000 and...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: As a member of the committee in question, I know the Minister has never been afraid of engaging with the committee. We have had discussions on this particular issue. I know the Minister has also engaged with the County and City Management Association, CCMA, along with his officials.The Minister of State spoke in his last contribution on the 30% flexibility for local authorities, which will...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed) (4 Jun 2021)

John Cummins: I totally appreciate where Senator Moynihan is coming from with this amendment. It is very important that we look not only at couples who have children but also to individuals and single people. However, I think that is achieved by the house types the local authority will commit to building. If the local authority commits to building a one-bedroom apartment, as referred to by Senator...