Results 1-20 of 1,202 for speaker:Mary Fitzpatrick

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the witnesses for being here today and for their submissions on this legislation. I will just clarify something because the discussion of social housing versus homeless emergency accommodation is often conflated and we should not contribute to that confusion. I presume the witnesses all agree that social housing should be long-term, permanent secure homes and that the emergency...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Will Mercy Law comment on the groups referenced by Ms O'Reilly?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: My apologies.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Which of the 27 European member states do not require residency to access social housing?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Is that the only one?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: In reality, all of the member states have residency as a requirement to access social housing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Exactly.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: We agree that it should be a requirement, there should be criteria and it should be in primary legislation. Moving on from that, I think we all agree that we should decouple social housing from the emergency accommodation situation. The emergency accommodation response should not be dependent on a person qualifying for permanent long-term social housing. I acknowledge that my experience is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank all the officials from the Department. I am not sure if they got to hear the earlier session, but there is broad acceptance and support for primary legislation. There is not any dispute on that. It is recognised that legislation is required and that social housing should be provided on a long-term, permanent basis and that emergency accommodation and shelter must be provided to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I am sorry but the concern is that local authorities, in practice, connect both. They say if you are not on the social housing list, you do not get housing assistance. That is how it works in practice. While I appreciate that the legislation itself may not say that, how can that be addressed? It will have a real practical impact. I do not know if I mentioned it but currently there is not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: My last question was about the data.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: How many applicants are currently on the local authority housing lists? How many of them do not meet the residency requirement? My supplementary question was about the fact that there is no appeals process within local authorities if a person is refused an application for social housing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: FLAC and Mercy Law Resource Centre.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: Yes, please. As we continue our work as a committee, it might be useful for us to have a separate briefing on the emergency accommodation legislation in order to complete this picture. We all share a general concern regarding the need to ensure that whatever we do with this legislation will not have the unintended consequence of a negative impact on the people who are trying to seek and...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: It is a new day, we have a new Taoiseach and a new task force has been announced for Dublin's inner city. I welcome the Taoiseach's interest in the inner city and any support and resource he can bring to making it safer and more livable for all. I welcome his call for recommendations and suggestions but do not really believe we need any more recommendations or suggestions for the inner...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Healthcare Infrastructure Provision (11 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister of State for attending. My Commencement matter seeks clarity from the Department of Health on its commitment to capital funding for a permanent national rehabilitative day centre for people who have a severe acquired brain injury, and specifically to making that funding available to Teach an Saol, the most amazing service and facility, which is in operation in Santry,...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Healthcare Infrastructure Provision (11 Apr 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I welcome the commitment from not just the Department but also the HSE to supporting the project in progressing to access capital funding. Teach an Saol was created from nothing by people who had no resources or expertise in this space, and what it has achieved in the four years can be replicated as a capital project. I urge the Department to...