Results 181-200 of 1,122,320 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú OR speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Fergus O'Dowd OR speaker:Ivana Bacik OR speaker:Jennifer Murnane O'Connor OR speaker:Seán Fleming OR speaker:Michael Healy-Rae OR speaker:Gary Gannon OR speaker:Jim O'Callaghan OR speaker:Ossian Smyth OR speaker:Martin Kenny OR speaker:Paschal Donohoe OR speaker:Thomas Pringle OR speaker:Pauline Tully OR speaker:Pádraig O'Sullivan OR speaker:Steven Matthews OR speaker:Martin Heydon OR speaker:Alan Farrell OR speaker:Thomas Gould OR speaker:Michael Collins OR speaker:Helen McEntee OR speaker:Martin Browne OR speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice OR speaker:Dara Calleary OR speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh OR speaker:Stephen Donnelly)

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: As I was saying earlier on, an interim report will be coming to me in February. The Senator is perfectly entitled to challenge me. I fully accept that. The only challenge I would make back is that his party held the office of Minister for Health from 2011 to 2020 and it is only now that a HIQA review is being carried out. While I accept the urgency of this matter, with respect, the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I will provide a clarification. It is relevant to the question the Senator is asking. Deputy Shortall stated earlier that HIQA recommended another emergency department and model 3 hospital in 2022 or 2023.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: That has been checked and the advice I have been given is that HIQA did not make such a recommendation. It did not recommend a second emergency department. I mention that for clarity. If the advice I am getting is incorrect, that is absolutely fine, but that is the advice I have. My view is that there is a strong case for a second emergency department in the mid-west. That is why I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: It was both. They get agreed between the Department and HIQA.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: It was definitely me and my Department. I believe HIQA was looking for the same thing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: We will get a note to the Deputy on the matter if that would help.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Steven Matthews: The witnesses are welcome to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. We meet today to discuss the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024. I am delighted to welcome the following witnesses from the Irish Council for Social Housing: Dr. Donal McManus, chief executive officer; Ms Ailbhe McLoughlin, director of policy; and Ms Lyndsey Anderson,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Steven Matthews: Perfect. That is great. There is one hour and a quarter set aside for this meeting. I invite Ms McLoughlin to make the opening statement. We will then turn to members for questions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Steven Matthews: I thank Ms McLoughlin. For the witnesses' information, we waived pre-legislative scrutiny because we are fully aware of the time sensitivity of this legislation, as they outlined. However, we held a briefing with the Department, so we are familiar with aspects of it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: I thank the witnesses for attending. When I originally got into politics, I was not a big fan of AHBs. I believed they were doing the work local authorities should be doing. I just could not get my head around it. However, they do some fabulous work and I cannot understand why local authorities are unable to deliver what AHBs can. That might be down to funding or a number of other...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: Ms Anderson mentioned that the rent calculation was based on a length of time. Is that 20, 30 or 40 years?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: Could a longer period be considered to help reduce costs? There are people who do not qualify for social housing, cannot buy a house and cannot pay market rents. Many people are living in box bedrooms. There is an entire box bedroom generation. Maybe we need to tease out the question of the period more. Deputy Ó Broin will probably do so. Capacity is another issue. We could do...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: We know that there is definitely a need. A cost-rental scheme in Glanmire in Cork ran out of houses. I am not 100% sure about the figures, but I believe there were 1,200 applications for 36 properties.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: Ms Anderson touched on the standard of cost-rental accommodation. In Cork, it is of a very high quality and being managed properly. It is a place people want to live. I spoke to two young women who were sharing a property on Lancaster Quay. One worked in the hospital and the other worked in the city council. They were really positive about the accommodation. They spoke about a community...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Steven Matthews: Like Deputy Gould, I have learned more about AHBs at meetings of this committee in the past four or five years than I ever knew before. Therefore, it is really helpful that the guests come here and share their expertise with us. Could someone explain deemed-to-be-registered status to me. It is from the 2019 Act. Why have we reached a point that involves the possibility of losing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Steven Matthews: The description indicated the sole purpose of AHBs was the delivery or provision of housing, whereas many AHBs have ancillary activities. The ancillary activities were pushing AHBs out of deemed-to-be-registered status because their sole purpose was not purely to provide housing. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Steven Matthews: Yes. That verbatim description was set out in the 2019 Act. What change has there been? Has somebody suddenly noticed that some AHBs have activities other than the provision of housing and now fall foul of the Act? Is that generally where we are at?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Steven Matthews: It sounds like a sensible amendment to make to overcome the obstacle. I just wanted to be clear that that was Dr. McManus’s take as well. It is what we had in our briefing from the Department. We have been very much behind regarding cost-rental housing for many years. It has been central to Green Party housing policy for many years. We met our Austrian colleagues prior to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Steven Matthews: I agree with that. I have roughly totted up the figures and noted there are to be around 4,000 cost-rental homes produced in the next three years by the AHB sector. I am aware that the LDA also has set a target. The more we see, the more people will become aware that the option is available to them. The 40-year timeline is in the legislation, the Affordable Housing Act. Is the period...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Steven Matthews: Is 40 years a term in lending that cannot be gone beyond, even with mortgages for private property? If the period were extended to 45 years or 50 years, it would reduce the monthly rent, but would an extension of this kind add to the cost overall?