Results 1-20 of 25 for construction industry council speaker:Mattie McGrath

Rent Certainty Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (14 Jun 2016)

Mattie McGrath: ...in recent years, but I remind the House that local authorities were able to build thousands of houses in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and even into the 1980s and 1990s. There was very little construction equipment in the 1950s and 1960s. There was a reliance on manual labour because cranes and modern forms of technology, such as the modern means of excavation and construction, were not...

Accountability of Government Agencies and Companies: Motion (Resumed) (11 Nov 2009)

Mattie McGrath: Deputy Dooley is well able to speak on his own behalf. I appreciate that some fascinating, imaginative and constructive work has been done in many road projects. The M50 upgrade is a case in point, while the Red Cow interchange is a fine example of well designed infrastructure that works well. Many of those who drove past the construction site in the past two and a half years did not...

Finance Bill 2017: Report Stage (Resumed) (22 Nov 2017)

Mattie McGrath: I support this important amendment. Our flagship industry is the agricultural economy. I am now old enough to remember a number of recessions and each time it was the farming sector that took us through. When the farmers are doing well, they spend money locally. They spend it with local suppliers and on local equipment. We cannot just pay lip service to the problem of income volatility...

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages (22 Nov 2023)

Mattie McGrath: ...cannot keep up with them. I am not saying it is devoid of ideas but it certainly needs to do an impact assessment on many of the schemes it has brought out. I welcome many of the schemes, but the councils do not have the staff to deal with them. The flow of information back and forward is too slow and untimely. On the proposal for renters, the cost of rent is outrageous. If we...

Quarterly Report on Housing: Statements (6 Jul 2017)

Mattie McGrath: ...but now they cannot build anything. Is it all too complex? It requires endless consultations, reports and reviews. A report goes up to the Department, we wait six months, and it goes back down to the council, and then it goes back up six months later. It is a game that is being played and it is not delivering houses. Those involved should be ashamed of themselves. Local authorities,...

Housing (Sale of Local Authority Housing) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (20 Jul 2016)

Mattie McGrath: .... We will be housed out of it before we are finished, pardon the pun, but that will not give any houses to the homeless. I remember when Part V was introduced. I was a member of a county council in south Tipperary and was a big supporter of it because the boom was going strong and we needed to get a grip and get some houses for local authorities. I remember being involved with a lot of...

Local Government (Rates and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (21 Nov 2014)

Mattie McGrath: ...them any leeway and there are also the health and safety requirements, which is part of modern Ireland. Health and safety regulations were badly needed in this country but they have gone over the top. It has become an industry. Some of the people involved were self-employed and they moved on as they saw they could have a better living and became health and safety inspectors and more...

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (20 Jan 2010)

Mattie McGrath: ...to a very important Bill. The Bill makes a number of amendments to issues surrounding compliance with planning permission. As Deputy O'Connor indicated, many of us have been members of local councils and we understand issues surrounding planning, the granting process and the importance of adhering to conditions laid down. Section 20, for example, provides that a planning authority may...

Construction Contracts Bill 2010 [Seanad]: Second Stage (3 May 2012)

Mattie McGrath: ...for thousands of small companies, it has been introduced years too late. I condemn the previous Government for not advancing it when Senator Feargal Quinn introduced it. We thought the construction industry was great, but inside that greatness there was a cancerous rot. I compliment all speakers but especially Deputy Arthur Spring who brought his financial expertise gained in a former...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Quarterly Progress Report Strategy for Rented Sector: Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (18 Jan 2017)

Mattie McGrath: ...for smaller projects, but there are still too many stages. He also said the Department wanted to consider having a common internal layout. We have screaming for this for years. Every time my council in County Tipperary wanted to build four houses in any village, it had to tender for architects to engage in design and procurement. Surely we can have designs for one-bedroom, two-bedroom,...

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Financial Resolution No. 2: General (Resumed) (12 Oct 2016)

Mattie McGrath: On the rejuvenation of rural Ireland, I spoke earlier about the many derelict sites in our towns. There are also derelict sites in our villages. Under a new initiative, the county councils can acquire derelict sites and sell them on. Whatever is done to remove these blights from our landscape must be supported. The post office is the hub of every village and community yet there is...

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2017: Second Stage (13 Jul 2017)

Mattie McGrath: ...that I am weary of all the talk about rebuilding Ireland and providing houses. The debate is going around in circles and getting nowhere. I declare an interest to the extent that I am involved in the construction industry through my business, although I supply services rather than build houses. While I do not know what is wrong with the housing sector, I fully support the amendment...

Public Private Partnership on Capital Infrastructure: Statements (26 Apr 2018)

Mattie McGrath: ...was not spotted on time. This resulted in significant costs, upset and upheaval for consumers and is a matter of concern. Who is monitoring the scheme for flaws? Irish Water and Tipperary County Council deserve praise for their diligence and hard work in trying to get the scheme back into operation. The Health Service Executive was also involved. Public private partnerships operate...

Future of School Education: Motion [Private Members] (28 Jul 2020)

Mattie McGrath: ...we are spending on class sizes. Teachers have been lobbying as have Ms Nóirín Ní Mhaoldhomhnaigh and many principals to get supports. There are huge stresses on the schools' boards of management, parents' councils, teaching staff and parents. We need those supports but we need to cut out the bureaucracy as well. I referred to class sizes and the facilities. Some of the...

Local Government (Charges) Bill 2009 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (9 Jul 2009)

Mattie McGrath: ...October's budget decision. The €200 charge proposed in the Bill will apply to the owners of residential rental property, holiday homes and vacant properties, unless the vacant property is newly constructed but unsold. It is estimated that the new charge will provide some €40 million in revenue to county and city councils each year and that the charges will be collected and retained by...

North-South Interconnector: Motion [Private Members] (14 Feb 2017)

Mattie McGrath: ...see it? I asked the Taoiseach earlier if he could not hear. There are none so blind as those who do not want to see. It is big business, with people moving from An Bord Pleanála. In the first instance, they left the county councils for An Bord Pleanála and then moved again - without any two-year moratorium - straight into EirGrid. They know every nook and cranny, including...

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (Resumed) (26 May 2011)

Mattie McGrath: ...zealous legislation and the official application of same removed. There is a great downturn in the economy, yet there is a myriad of teams of inspectors who have nothing else to do now because the construction industry has stopped. They are just making a nuisance of themselves. I do not condone law breaking or any undermining of people's work conditions but inspectors are making a...

Financial Provisions (Covid-19) Bill 2020: Second Stage (14 Jul 2020)

Mattie McGrath: .... On the other hand, we have the sectoral agreements, in respect of which there is a clamouring every day to revisit the court decision. Those sectoral agreements were made with the big financial people - the Construction Industry Federation, or whatever - but things are different for small employers. I know I am straying a small bit from the legislation but this is a very important...

Flood Prevention Policies: Motion [Private Members] (4 Nov 2020)

Mattie McGrath: ...with canoes and kayaking. One cannot go down the river, however. It is like a treasure hunt to get around the trees as they are blocked. It is silly. I want to salute the work of Tipperary County Council, under Walter Doherty and his team. When we had huge floods in Ardfinnan, they were out working might and main with families to keep the water out of houses. I salute our newly...

Home Building Finance Ireland Bill 2018: Second Stage (Resumed) (5 Jul 2018)

Mattie McGrath: .... Perhaps too many people in the Department had no work to do. It is once more again a cumbersome process involving three, four or five sections. A huge amount of paperwork to the Department by county councils. The council has to wait six months for a reply and the reply then requests X, Y and Z and takes another five or six months to go back up the line. It is time wasting, which is...