Results 201-220 of 1,926 for speaker:Pat Casey

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Review of Building Regulations, Building Controls and Consumer Protection: Discussion (5 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: I welcome, Ms Deirdre Ní Fhloinn and Mr. Eamon O'Boyle and from the Construction Industry Federation, Mr. Mel O'Reilly, Mr. Brian McKeon and Mr. Hubert Fitzpatrick. We begin today with the review of building regulations, building control and consumer protection. I draw the attention of witnesses to the fact that by virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Review of Building Regulations, Building Controls and Consumer Protection: Discussion (5 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: We will now go back and get some answers before we go to the next round of questions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Review of Building Regulations, Building Controls and Consumer Protection: Discussion (5 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: Before we go on to the next speaker I will explain that the BCAR is the building controls amendment regulations. We would appreciate if witnesses could avoid using acronyms. I invite Mr. O'Boyle.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Review of Building Regulations, Building Controls and Consumer Protection: Discussion (5 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: I thank the Deputy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Review of Building Regulations, Building Controls and Consumer Protection: Discussion (5 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: I thank the Deputy. I might add a few questions as well. I am interested in this whole area of building control regulation and I believe we should be taking it entirely back into local authorities and should have an independent review and inspection regime. I would like a comprehensive inspection regime of all the different stages of construction. I still have concerns that the current...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Review of Building Regulations, Building Controls and Consumer Protection: Discussion (5 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: I think Mr. O'Reilly has to leave.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Review of Building Regulations, Building Controls and Consumer Protection: Discussion (5 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: I thank Mr. O'Reilly for attending and for his time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Review of Building Regulations, Building Controls and Consumer Protection: Discussion (5 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: I have a few final comments. We are all concerned because we are heading into another significant increase in property construction, but we are doing so with a lack of skills. There is a significant skills shortage at present. The practical operation of the BCAR system is that if I am the owner of the property that is being developed, I am paying the assigned certifier and the auxiliary...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Review of Building Regulations, Building Controls and Consumer Protection: Discussion (5 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: I thank our guests for their contributions, which I am sure will lead into a further debate, and for attending. This is the first of our meetings on this topic. The committee will meet with other relevant stakeholders next week to resume our considerations on the issue.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Funding (6 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: I ask the Minister to outline his Department's engagement with the European Strategic Investment Fund on social housing PPP investment and his views on whether the finance of the planned 2,500 social homes submitted to the Department of Finance task force can be obtained through this source of funding.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Funding (6 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: I thank the Minister for his reply. I am acutely aware of the significant public infrastructure deficit across the country, the lack of capital investment over the past number of years and how economic productivity has been held back as a result. The most important area is housing, an area where there is a crisis. It is immoral that the State is leaving millions of euro on the table for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Funding (6 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: I thank the Minister. My belief and that of my party is that we should build social houses and that we are constrained by the fiscal rules. Housing is the social and economic issue of our generation, and housing provision should be a right rather than a requirement. I was present in the House earlier when Seán Lemass was mentioned, and a Member suggested what he would have done about...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Commercial Rates (6 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: I ask the Minister to outline his plans to reform the commercial rates and the valuation system in local authorities, the details of the progress being made and the rates and alleviation measures mentioned in the rural action plan.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Commercial Rates (6 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: I thank the Minister for his response. I have a certain interest in the matter, and as a rate payer myself I have an understanding of it. It must be the most archaic form of tax in terms of the way it is calculated. It is not fit for the modern world we live in. One specific aspect of commercial rates and the revaluation that is taking place in a number of counties around the country...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Commercial Rates (6 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: I thank the Minister for his reply. We all know the importance of businesses especially in towns and villages and how hard hit they are in terms of commercial rates at a time when we are trying to revitalise local businesses. The Minister mentioned the flexibility within the commercial rates system is very archaic. Even if local authorities wish to incentivise businesses to set up in...

Other Questions: Housing Policy (6 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: What is the progress being made on the Government's vacant housing strategy as well as the reason for the delays in forming the strategy? Will he make a statement on same?

Other Questions: Housing Policy (6 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: I thank the Minister of State for his reply. He referred to an "immense opportunity" and I agree, although I also believe a great opportunity has been lost. The latest census figures indicate there are 260,000 vacant properties in the State. This figure does not include properties above commercial properties which are not already residential. The overall figure, therefore, is...

Other Questions: Housing Policy (6 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: The Minister of State is correct but more support is required. The greatest opportunity available to us is in the area of vacant properties because they offer a win on all accounts, especially in respect of village and town renewal. Bringing vacant properties back into use brings life back into towns. We are failing to deliver the critical infrastructure needed to build new houses. Vacant...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Applications (6 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: 132. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the application by a school (details supplied) for major capital works; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17260/17]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Film Industry Tax Reliefs (11 Apr 2017)

Pat Casey: 156. To ask the Minister for Finance the number and detail of section 481 film industry relief applications by year since 2011, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18241/17]