Results 1-20 of 25,343 for speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (24 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The International Court of Justice, ICJ, concluded earlier this year that Israel was plausibly committing genocide against the people of Gaza. Yesterday the Government of the United States of America made a decision to give €13 billion to a State that is plausibly - and in my opinion undoubtedly - guilty of genocide. Thousands more people have died since the ICJ ruling. Does the...

Support for Carers: Motion [Private Members] (24 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I think Deputy Smith is not coming in. I thank the Regional Group for bringing forward this important motion. People Before Profit strongly believes we should abolish the means test for carer's allowance. Indeed, we are against means testing full stop. I will talk a bit more about that. In the case of carers, it is completely unacceptable. Hundreds of thousands of people in this...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (23 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Yes.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (23 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: We are dealing with a housing emergency. Most people recognise that. I hope the Government does. We need to dramatically increase the amount of housing we build, in particular social and affordable housing. Recently, Goodbody Stockbrokers produced a report showing that there are only five builders in this country capable of building more than 500 houses per year while the majority of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (23 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: No, I am not suspicious. I can just see the facts for myself, as can everyone else, including the builders. Even they are saying this. We cannot deliver the necessary housing. Cairn Homes has said it. Goodbody Stockbrokers have said it. Builders do not have the capacity. By the way, they are not in the business of producing subsidised housing. They do not do that. What they are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (23 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The Minister stated that local authorities are delivering more housing. No, they are not. They are not building anything at all. They are commissioning private construction. I accept that is better than doing nothing when we do not have the capacity, but they are not actually building anything themselves, given that the State does not have any capacity. I wish the Minister would not...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (23 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: No. I said they were not building.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (23 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: They contract people to do it.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (23 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I just said it was better than nothing.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (23 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 49. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform whether the Government has adequately considered the growing problem of labour and skills shortages in multiple sectors of the society and economy, including construction, healthcare, education, childcare and more, in the context of the National Development Plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17862/24]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (23 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 54. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he is aware of the issues raised by the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, in respect of the national development plan (details supplied), particularly in terms of capacity and resource constraints to deliver public housing, elder-care facilities and childcare and increase the number of hospital beds; his plans to address...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (23 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: These questions follow on from our earlier discussion and relate to what the Government is doing to build up our labour and skills capacity to deliver housing, in particular, but also some of the other key infrastructure we need. My point, given the Minister said he did not understand it, is not that everything the private sector does is wrong but that it simply does not have the capacity...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Development Plan (23 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is still not enough. We have record numbers in homelessness, huge numbers on housing lists and a particular failure to deliver social and affordable housing. Even properties that are built are too expensive. They are completely out of the reach of the vast majority of people. It is clearly not enough. The Minister raised the issue of capacity. The NDP says that the Government will...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Development Plan (23 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is a matter of recruiting and training.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Development Plan (23 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: 45. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he is planning further updates to the national development plan in light of the growing consensus that Ireland’s housing demand will significantly exceed current projections and plans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18088/24]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Development Plan (23 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Some of us thought the Housing for All targets were inadequate to begin with. The housing crisis, ever worsening, is testimony to the fact that is the case. There is now a growing consensus that we need to dramatically increase our targets. The Housing for All targets of 33,000 per average year are not enough and we are not delivering on the social and affordable targets in any event. Is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Development Plan (23 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: The ESRI has already indicated that target of 33,000 in Housing for All is inadequate. There is a general consensus that we need at least 50,000 a year. When the Housing for All targets were first set, in my local authority we did the maths and it was clear that the failure to take into account those who will join the housing list meant that at the end of Housing for All, and this was a few...

Acknowledgement and Apology to the Families and to the Victims of the Stardust Tragedy: Statements (23 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Much has been said today. I hope that, for the families of those who lost their loved ones and for the survivors, the State apology and the words spoken here today can do something to provide the solace, truth and justice they have fought for and long deserved. I am very conscious that I am not qualified to know or understand the pain, loss, injustice, trauma and hardship you have endured...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: All those statistics are cold comfort to Amy and her husband, who were in my office this week. Amy is out of work on illness benefit at the moment and her husband is a bus driver. Their net income after tax is €48,000. They are facing homelessness because of an eviction on grounds of sale. The only accommodation available costs €3,000 in rent per month. Because they are...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It could not be worse than it is.