Results 1-20 of 206 for long speaker:Michael Finneran

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed). (29 Jan 2011)

Michael Finneran: ..., in spite of all reasonable efforts by the Revenue, have not engaged seriously in respect of the payment of tax and have substantial tax liabilities unpaid, can effectively ignore Revenue for very long periods. Given the need to ensure that all tax legally due to the Exchequer is collected in order to maximise tax revenues, I consider it only right that the Revenue Commissioners have the...

Seanad: Finance Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Committee Stage (Resumed). (29 Jan 2011)

Michael Finneran: ...issues involved. It must be noted that what we are talking about here is a means of last resort. We are talking about people who have evaded or attempted to evade to pay their taxes over a long period. They have adequate income but they have attempted to evade paying their taxes. That is the purpose of this measure. I wish to make a number of other points, in particular the one raised...

Water Utilities: Motion (13 Jan 2011)

Michael Finneran: ...expressions of gratitude of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government yesterday for local authority staff and contractors who responded quickly and willingly and who worked long hours in difficult conditions to ensure a return to normal service as quickly as possible. The more than €6 billion invested in water and waste water services since 2000 has made significant...

Written Answers — Strategy on Homelessness: Strategy on Homelessness (15 Dec 2010)

Michael Finneran: I refer to the reply to Question No. 242 of 30 November 2010 which sets out the position on meeting the target for tackling long term homelessness. The costs associated with The Way Home 2008-2013 were €27,135.95.

Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)

Michael Finneran: ...only tells half of the story. If we measure success by how much money we throw at a problem, social housing some tough years ahead, because the moneys that were available in recent years will no longer be available for the construction and acquisition programmes to which we have become accustomed. Fortunately however, long in advance of the downturn in the public finances that gave rise...

Local Government (Mayor and Regional Authority of Dublin) Bill 2010: Second Stage (Resumed) (2 Dec 2010)

Michael Finneran: ...was a good idea, but took issue with the legislation which, again, seems to reflect misunderstandings. I cannot see any merit in his proposal to defer the legislation. There has been far too much long-fingering of local government reform over the years and indeed decades. As the Minister said in his opening speech, there is a need for innovation in local government, and in other...

Written Answers — Homelessness Strategy: Homelessness Strategy (2 Dec 2010)

Michael Finneran: ..., compared with 1,361 in 2005. While this was a numerical increase of around 5%, the position relative to overall population was unchanged. A further 708 households were recorded as residing in long-term or transitional accommodation; however, it would not be correct to regard all of these as homeless, particularly where, for example, households were resident in suitable accommodation...

Written Answers — Homelessness Strategy: Homelessness Strategy (30 Nov 2010)

Michael Finneran: ...persons. I have put in place a comprehensive range of measures to underpin the role of housing authorities and approved housing bodies towards achieving the ambitious objective of eliminating long term homelessness and the need to sleep rough, including an enhanced programme for procurement of accommodation. A new tenancy support system to help such persons live independently has also...

Written Answers — Rental Accommodation Scheme: Rental Accommodation Scheme (25 Nov 2010)

Michael Finneran: ...under other social housing options. The current qualifying criteria for RAS are that a household must be in receipt of rent supplement, in general for a period of 18 months or more, and have a long term housing need. RAS tenants are charged rents based on a housing authority's differential rent scheme and the rent payable is calculated mainly by reference to household income. The...

Written Answers — Departmental Schemes: Departmental Schemes (16 Nov 2010)

Michael Finneran: The core objectives of the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) are to reform the approach towards providing accommodation within the private rented sector for long-term dependents on rent supplement and to enhance the response of housing authorities to meeting long-term housing need. Funding for the RAS is provided by a transfer of monies from the Department of Social Protection's (DSP) Vote...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (11 Nov 2010)

Michael Finneran: ...social housing investment programme has been undergoing a significant restructuring to shift the focus increasingly towards more flexible delivery mechanisms, including through the introduction of long term leasing arrangements, with a lesser reliance on construction and acquisition. This is in line with the reform agenda clearly set out under the Government's housing policy statement,...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (11 Nov 2010)

Michael Finneran: ...a reduction in the provision for the main traditional local authority programme I anticipate that, through more flexible market based delivery mechanisms such as the Rental Accommodation Scheme and long term leasing, as well as the significant increase in funding available under the Capital Assistance Scheme in 2010 to €145m, and the availability, shortly, of a direct lending facility...

Mental Health Services (3 Nov 2010)

Michael Finneran: ...a new admission facility for north-west Dublin mental health services in Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, in September 2010. Construction on a 54-bed unit to replace the current facilities for long stay patients at St. Brendan's Hospital is due to begin later this year. It is also worth noting that plans for the transfer of acute inpatient admissions from St. Ita's Hospital, Portrane,...

Macroeconomic and Fiscal Outlook: Statements (Resumed) (28 Oct 2010)

Michael Finneran: ...reform programme is a restructuring of investment in social housing away from bricks and mortar solutions towards a more flexible system, where measures such as the rental accommodation scheme and long-term leasing play an increasingly prominent role in meeting social housing need. Over time this will have a number of major implications. Such a system will be based on the fundamental...

Written Answers — Rental Accommodation Scheme: Rental Accommodation Scheme (28 Oct 2010)

Michael Finneran: The Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) is designed to cater for the accommodation needs of persons in receipt of rent supplement who have a long-term housing need. It is a collaborative project between my Department, local authorities, the Department of Social Protection and the Health Service Executive. In general a household must be in receipt of rent supplement for 18 months or more in...

Seanad: National Housing Development Survey Report: Statements (27 Oct 2010)

Michael Finneran: ...propose to do with those that are vacant and available for use. For some time now, I have been pursuing a multi-stranded approach to obtain vacant unsold stock for use as social housing through a long-term leasing initiative. What this involves is a fairly straightforward matching up of oversupply with rising demand. This will be the central plank of social housing supply in the coming...

Strategy on Homelessness (19 Oct 2010)

Michael Finneran: ...persons. I have put in place a comprehensive range of measures to underpin the role of housing authorities and approved housing bodies towards achieving the ambitious objective of eliminating long-term homelessness and the need to sleep rough, including an enhanced programme for procurement of accommodation. A new tenancy support system to help such persons live independently has also...

Strategy on Homelessness (19 Oct 2010)

Michael Finneran: ...focus of the strategy is, of course, on that category to ensure that nobody would be obliged to sleep rough. It also focuses on the other category, people who are in temporary accommodation for a long time, ranging from six months to seven or eight years. There is another category of people whom it is probably unfair to categorise as homeless, that is, people who are in assisted living...

Strategy on Homelessness (19 Oct 2010)

Michael Finneran: It is important to identify the categories of homeless and long-term homeless. There will be homelessness and nobody can prevent that. It is happening on an ongoing basis for many reasons. I will not go through them in detail but Members will be aware that it arises as a result of family disputes, health problems, substance abuse and so forth. We are focusing on people who are more than...

Seanad: National Spatial Strategy Report: Statements (14 Oct 2010)

Michael Finneran: ...report 2010. The national spatial strategy was published in November 2002 as a high-level 20-year national planning framework to guide the achievements of more balanced regional development to long-term planning and infrastructural investment. Implementation of the national spatial strategy takes place at three levels: nationally, by informing and influencing other national plans and...