Results 1-20 of 131 for long speaker:Mary Fitzpatrick

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (2 May 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: ...capital city and our country. It is home to Bohemian F.C., but it is so much more to those of us locally. I want Dublin City Council to make an application for that funding. It has been talked about for a long time. It has secured planning permission. There is a great design in place. The project is shovel ready. The council should move ahead and make an application and I urge the...

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

Mary Fitzpatrick: ...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 homeless accommodation should be just that - emergency and short-term for those who have an immediate need. My understanding is that what the...

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 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 focused on Dublin city. Dublin City Council is the largest local authority and it responds to the greatest demand for 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: ...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 those who need it, based on their need. I think we have a common understanding of all of that. In...

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

Mary Fitzpatrick: ...The 31 local authorities are independent and have significant latitude to apply their schemes, etc. In Dublin city, a person’s ability to secure housing assistance payment and support to secure long-term accommodation is dependent on that person having a valid application for social housing from Dublin City Council. Dublin City Council also operates the DRHE and the emergency...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: National Monuments (7 Mar 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: ...governmental perspective, it is one of the country’s oldest trading streets. It is one that has a rich history of commerce and trade. It is a street that has been sadly neglected for far too long, primarily by the local authority but also by those who own properties privately. It is a great shame to this city that Moore Street is so neglected and derelict looking and lacks the...

Seanad: Private Rental Sector: Motion (6 Mar 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: ...the Government introduced a series of measures designed to prohibit the bulk buying of houses and duplexes, including section 28 guidelines which aim to provide an ‘owner-occupier’ guarantee by ensuring that new ‘own-door’ houses and duplex units in housing developments can no longer be bulk-purchased by institutional investors; - a 10 percent stamp duty levy...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Update on Homelessness: Discussion (5 Mar 2024)

Mary Fitzpatrick: ...vacant or derelict properties. Let us face it, there is underoccupancy. We all accept and recognise this is the case in the north inner city. If these properties were being turned into long-term homes as opposed to short-term, temporary emergency accommodation, it would not solve the whole problem but it would certainly go much further in doing so than what is being done. From the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Scrutiny of Homeless Prevention Bill 2020, Tenancy Protection Bill 2023 and Dereliction and Building Regeneration Bill 2022: Private Members' Bills (14 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: ...cost rental is completely new and unprecedented, which means there is a massive cultural and mental shift for everyone involved, it is working as well as anything. Buying or selling a house is a long, protracted and drawn-out process at the best of times. Cost rental is introducing a bit more certainty and it is certainly relieving a lot of stress for tenants because it provides them...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Scrutiny of Homeless Prevention Bill 2020, Tenancy Protection Bill 2023 and Dereliction and Building Regeneration Bill 2022: Private Members' Bills (14 Dec 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: ...an issue around making local authorities do something. If this Bill was strengthened to say the local authority "shall" commence the process of acquiring compulsorily the property, it would go a long way to focusing minds and generating action. I have a small grammatical question on Part 2. I do not know if this is intentional but it states in the definition in Part 2 that it is "......

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: I thank the witnesses for the work they have done to get the legislation through. This has been far too long coming so it is good we are having this discussion. It is an enormous responsibility. All around the world democracy is being rivalled by autocracy. Here, our democracy is under attack on a daily basis. I do not think any of us should be blasé about this. We need to take the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion (28 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: ..., qualified people with plenty of experience. Within each polling station, there are multiple tables and officers. Traditionally, political parties put people in - this tradition ended quite a long time ago - which meant there was some level of independent, or quasi-independent observation of what was going on in a polling station. I can say from my experience in Dublin that this no...

Seanad: Vacant and Derelict Buildings: Motion [Private Members] (15 Nov 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: ...if not its specifics. I do not believe any Government, certainly in recent history, has done more to address vacancy and dereliction than this Government. I say this as somebody who has spent a long time on Dublin City Council. Senator Sherlock mentioned Nos. 19 to 21 Connaught Street. I dedicated the best part of my time on Dublin City Council to getting it to put them on the derelict...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Housing Provision (26 Oct 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: ...up to Dorset Street and has been home to the Dominick Street flats for many decades. In 2008, Dublin City Council first spoke about the regeneration of the flats. It took the council far too long but, thankfully, in the last 12 months we have seen 72 new, world-class homes being built. They have world-class design standards and quality. This is a very welcome development and I...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Housing Provision (26 Oct 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: ...very admirable. However, I wonder at the time being spent developing bespoke and lofty proposals like this as there is a real urgency. I do not understand what has taken the feasibility study so long or why this work was not being done in parallel with the construction of new properties on the east side of the street. As the Minister of State, the misuse or under-use of built homes is...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Housing Provision (11 Oct 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: ...that has already taken place and the progress being made.There are a couple of words that really ring an alarm bell for me, which are, "Dublin City Council advises that this project is part of a long-term strategy." We cannot wait for long-term strategies in Dublin city anymore. We just cannot wait for the council's long-term strategies. The council really needs to realise more ambition...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Analysis of Private Rental Sector Discrepancies: Discussion (10 Oct 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: ..., look at the availability and look at the effectiveness on the mediation, the adjudication and the tribunals. I appreciate it is only anecdotal but the feedback I get is that it is taking far too long and it is far too ineffective. I get that from both parties. I appreciate that these are people who are stressed and in very difficult situations but it would be really helpful for this...

Seanad: Crime and Policing: Motion (27 Sep 2023)

Mary Fitzpatrick: ...policing. Gardaí are being taken, and I know this for a fact, from Cabra and Phibsborough through the Bridewell and Mountjoy into the inner city to create this high-visibility policing. That serves a purpose but in the long term, it will not work. What it does is take gardaí out of Cabra, Phibsborough and the surrounding areas. The Minister has our support to have effective...