Results 101-120 of 329 for long speaker:Dessie Ellis

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Dessie Ellis: ...to the possession of drugs for personal use. The Oireachtas justice committee also recommended decriminalisation of small amounts of drugs for personal use. A review is badly needed and long overdue. Can the Taoiseach outline when this working group will meet? What are the criteria for selecting the group and does he envisage that legislation will be required? Currently, possession is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Vacant Housing (Refurbishment) Bill 2017: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Dessie Ellis: I thank Deputy Cowen for bringing forward the Bill. We have long been due some sort of joined-up approach in this regard and I have always felt there has been an awful disjoint when it comes to housing, particularly vacant units. I have raised the issue over the years and I keep getting the figure of approximately 4,000 over-shop units, and we have 200,000 or so vacant housing units across...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Vacant Housing (Refurbishment) Bill 2017: Discussion (23 Nov 2017)

Dessie Ellis: .... There are many old schools and other buildings that have been left lying idle in Dublin city centre and we could look at converting them for use. We are in the middle of a housing crisis. How long does Deputy Cowen envisage it would take for such a Bill to be enacted by the Oireachtas? Will the process take six months or longer?

Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Second Stage [Private Members] (8 Nov 2017)

Dessie Ellis: ...when applying for a job or going for a job interview. Many people from my constituency, Dublin North-West, have come to me and told me about such discrimination. It has probably got worse during the long years of austerity. In fact, it has almost certainly increased the amount of inequality. This Bill, which amends the equality legislation, will help to break down the barriers to...

Private Rental Sector Standards: Motion [Private Members] (7 Nov 2017)

Dessie Ellis: ...is a massive percentage. A number of years ago, there was a survey of a large number of dwellings in Phibsborough. The results were absolutely appalling. Warning shots have been fired across the bow for a long time so we need to act and we need the Government and Opposition to support our motion.

Finance Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Oct 2017)

Dessie Ellis: ...and economic amenities in parallel with any new housing. This Government and previous Governments have placed far too much reliance on the private sector. This has led to increased rents and a shortage of long-term rental accommodation. People are finding it increasingly difficult to find rental property and when they do, the rents are often exorbitant. We hear stories each day of...

Water Services Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (17 Oct 2017)

Dessie Ellis: Ba mhaith liom a rá go bhfuilimid i gcoinne an Bhille seo. This legislation is another debacle in the long and sorry water charges saga. As we all remember and Fianna Fáil would like us to forget, the water charges fiasco began with it and its inability to stand up to the troika. It accepted almost every ridiculous, divisive and debilitating demand from it. It agreed to impose...

Vacant Housing Refurbishment Bill 2017: Second Stage [Private Members] (4 Oct 2017)

Dessie Ellis: ...important to have an accurate figure for vacant shops throughout the country. We also need a register to deal with that. During the so-called Celtic tiger period thousands of shops were built, along with houses and apartments. To this day, ten or more yers later, they are still unoccupied throughout the country. They can be seen across the country, from Ballymun, Kildare, Limerick,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (Resumed) (28 Sep 2017)

Dessie Ellis: ...onto the table. I feel somewhat tetchy about it. Dublin City County used to make contributions to senior citizens complexes. It stopped those contributions and has not been making them for a long time. We have a large number of bedsits in different areas, such as Finglas, Ballymun and Whitehall which are empty and we were supposed to convert two into one. Now we are returning to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing Report: Dr. Mary Murphy and Dr. Rory Hearne, NUI Maynooth (20 Sep 2017)

Dessie Ellis: I thank Dr. Hearne and Dr. Murphy for their contributions. We have been speaking of the points they raised for a long time. I believe, and we have always said, there should be a rights-based approach to housing and we totally agree that people should have a right to a home. Dr. Hearne gave some statistics about 2015 during which 65 social houses were built, and it is quite clear where this...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and Dublin Regional Homless Executive (20 Sep 2017)

Dessie Ellis: ...has set up 12,000 to date. How many more extras has the target taken into account? In terms of hubs, we all accept that a hub is better than a hotel. I am interested in hearing about the long-term effects of hubs. How many more hubs are planned? Is there a deadline for moving people out of hotels? Has a new realistic deadline been set? Ms Hurley has stated that 3,800 social...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Review of Housing and Homelessness Policies and Initiatives: Local Authorities (13 Jul 2017)

Dessie Ellis: ...on it. The former Minister should have been stopped in his tracks instead of engaging in a public relations exercise by putting out the message that all homeless people, families in particular, would no longer be living in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation by July. Obviously, it is better for people to live in hubs than in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation but the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Review of Housing and Homelessness Policies and Initiatives: Local Authorities (13 Jul 2017)

Dessie Ellis: .... I believe the private sector is just holding on to a lot of land in many cases to up the prices before they start building. If we build more affordable housing, it will level out prices and rents in the long term. I am curious whether the witnesses could tell me what is the big hold-up. Where are the real obstacles?

Quarterly Report on Housing: Statements (6 Jul 2017)

Dessie Ellis: .... The much-discussed mortgage-to-rent scheme has delivered very little. This is another issue that needs to be looked at more carefully as this scheme needs to deliver more than it has. NAMA's remit should have been changed a long time ago to prevent the selling-off of large portfolios of properties. This has, no doubt, contributed to the homeless crisis and to the housing waiting...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing and Rental Market: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Jun 2017)

Dessie Ellis: ...accommodation over shops. One of the biggest issues I have had is with shops which have been left idle for many years. With a change of planning they could be used, whether for short-term or long-term lettings, and they could be renovated. The whole country is littered with such shops. They are in towns and villages in every area. They are everywhere in my own area of Finglas,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness: Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (22 Jun 2017)

Dessie Ellis: ...out of it for saying so. I do not have a problem with hubs if we put in proper, decent accommodation that is well controlled and properly dealt with. Crucially, we cannot afford to allow rapid build units to become long-term accommodation. We must be in a position to move people on. That is the only way I can see rapid builds working. We must be honest with ourselves about the waiting...

Report on Recognition of Traveller Ethnicity: Motion (1 Jun 2017)

Dessie Ellis: ...the so-called settled community. I do not like the word "settled" but it is often used. I thank Deputy Ó Caoláin, the committee and all who supported this cause over the past number of years. This has been a long time coming. I recall this matter being raised ten and 15 years ago and speaking to the Traveller community about it. However, there is still a large amount of...

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 (Resumed) (30 Mar 2017)

Dessie Ellis: I have some concerns about the public private partnerships, PPPs. My party has done a fair amount of research on this and Deputy Ó Broin alluded to some of the problems. On the long-term value for money, it is debatable whether that is a good road to take. I have to be a little parochial in this case. I support social housing but 71 units are planned for Scribblestown, which is an...

Questions on Promised Legislation (30 Mar 2017)

Dessie Ellis: ...this issue, get to the bottom of how and why there are so many vacant units and discover whether any of these can be utilised. In light of the fact that urgent action is needed, when will this long-overdue report be issued?

Mother and Baby Homes: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2017)

Dessie Ellis: ...obtain the truth for survivors. Neither has it provided a suitable forum that would allow the full story of the institutions and the system that underpinned them to be made public. Considering the long line of failure in regard to the institutions we are introducing this Private Members' motion calling for a truth commission to be established to allow the State to break the cycle of...