Results 19,601-19,620 of 26,685 for speaker:David Cullinane

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: I ask the witness to deal with the question of de-risk before the other question.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: In plain English, does that mean sharing the risk?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Does the witness see it as sharing?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: I have other topics, but to be fair to the other members I will come back in later.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: I want to come back to a number of issues I raised earlier and put a different slant or angle on some of the issues. We spoke earlier about funding for housing provision and it was more in the context of trying to speed up the procurement process and the allocation of funds from the Department or housing agency to local authorities. We have dealt with that. Obviously, a substantial issue...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: To whenever Mr. McCarthy can.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: There has been an increase but it is coming from a very low base.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: We now have the housing action plan in which there are a number of proposals. I am trying to establish whether they are being utilised, the level of support there is for them in the Department and the level of uptake in local authorities. There was a proposal that local authorities could borrow to build or acquire properties. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Was there a proposal in the action plan that they might be able to borrow?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Is Mr. McCarthy sure?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: There is a proposal to have a non-Government borrowing fund. For example, it would be money from-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: This would have come from the Oireachtas committee on housing which also published its own report. Under the non-Government borrowing fund, they could have utilised money from credit unions or long-term pension funds and so on.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Is that in place or is the Department looking at putting such a fund in place?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: In terms of acquisitions, I come back to this issue of vacant properties. Does the Department have a register, or even a vague understanding, of how many vacant residential properties exist in the State? Would Mr. McCarthy have even a rough figure?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: There are 200,000 vacant properties.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: I am looking at the two schemes, the repair and leasing scheme and the Housing Agency acquisition programme. What percentage of the 200,000 vacant properties is the Department seeking to bring into public ownership for social housing over the time period covered by the Government plans for housing?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: I have established that there is a number of initiatives. It is quite a precise question on the percentage and number of houses that the Department seeks to bring into public ownership vis-à-visthe 200,000 which are vacant.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: How many people are in emergency accommodation at the moment?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Just over 7,000. How many people are on local authority waiting lists for housing?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Environment, Community and Local Government (2 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Some 91,000 and we have 200,000 vacant properties. That tells its own story. Is the Department looking at making greater use of compulsory purchase orders in respect of vacant residential properties?