Results 581-600 of 1,052,463 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Ciarán Cuffe OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Jim O'Callaghan OR speaker:Niamh Smyth OR speaker:Aindrias Moynihan OR speaker:Verona Murphy)

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: From the Seanad (23 Oct 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I appreciate the Minister of State is reading the briefing notes in front of him but I want to repeat the point. The Land Development Agency does not have €6.25 billion.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: From the Seanad (23 Oct 2024)

Alan Dillon: I clarified that. It has access.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: From the Seanad (23 Oct 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: It does not have €6.25 billion. It currently has €3.75 billion between funds that have been spent, allocated and what is proposed today. To say it has access to the remainder of the funds is the most liberal use of the word “access” I have heard in some time. It is important we understand why. In theory, the LDA can go and borrow on the markets, but the LDA is...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: From the Seanad (23 Oct 2024)

Alan Dillon: I thank the Deputy for his response. I do not have the information to hand but I will provide it to him after this session. The purpose of today’s discussion on the amendment is to increase, from €1.25 to €2.25 billion, the amount the Minister for Finance may direct the National Treasury Management Agency to pay to the Land Development Agency for the proceeds of the...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: From the Seanad (23 Oct 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: We are putting all these extra billions into the LDA and it is just to deliver the existing plan. Is that what the Minister of State is telling us? It is for the existing plan. This is not linked to what everybody knows has to happen and which the Government itself knows has to happen, which is a dramatic upscaling of the targets necessary, which inevitably means a dramatic upscaling of...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: From the Seanad (23 Oct 2024)

Ivana Bacik: This Bill and the amendments from the Seanad give us an opportunity to address that bigger issue of the Land Development Agency. We in the Labour Party certainly supported the Land Development Agency in principle. We think it is a vital vehicle to deliver homes at scale, affordable homes that we badly need. However, as Deputies Ó Broin and Boyd Barrett have pointed out, there are real...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: From the Seanad (23 Oct 2024)

Cian O'Callaghan: The Social Democrats certainly will not be opposing these amendments. On the Land Development Agency, there is a massive gap between the initial promise put forward by Fine Gael's then Minister for housing, Eoghan Murphy, for what the Land Development Agency would deliver in terms of housing and what has transpired in the six years since then. I invite the Minister of State to speak about...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: From the Seanad (23 Oct 2024)

Alan Dillon: I thank the Deputies for their contributions. I am glad there is no dissent or opposition to the amendments being brought forward. The additional funds will secure the delivery of the LDA's 2024-28 business plan, under which there is projected delivery of up to 12,900 homes by 2028. A large pipeline of further direct delivery homes is being developed for completion in the period from...

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: From the Seanad (23 Oct 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I am happy enough to support this extra capital going towards the LDA, but I would rather that the LDA were something other than what it is. We have argued for some time it should be a fully fledged State construction company. That is the only way we will reach the level of output of social and affordable housing necessary to address the absolutely dire housing crisis we are facing. The...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Business of Select Committee (23 Oct 2024)

Aindrias Moynihan: We have received apologies from Deputies Steven Matthews and Ged Nash. I propose that the committee go into private session to deal with some housekeeping matters. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Aindrias Moynihan: This evening's engagement is with representatives of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council. On behalf of the committee, I welcome Mr. Seamus Coffey, chairman of the council, and Dr. Eddie Casey, chief economist. It is always great to have them here. We are looking forward to a discussion on the EU's fiscal rules and the State's medium-term fiscal and structural plan, which was published last...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Aindrias Moynihan: As a vote has been called in the Dáil, I propose that we suspend until it has concluded.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Aindrias Moynihan: 2 o’clock I thank Mr. Coffey for his opening statement. I open the floor, following the normal rota, and call Deputy Conway-Walsh.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Aindrias Moynihan: We will move on. I will give Deputies a chance to come back in again later.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Aindrias Moynihan: I have one or two questions myself. I understand the kind of enforcement or pushback that would be put into execution by the European Commission in the event of rules being broken is unclear. Is that unique to Ireland, or is it across all EU countries?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Aindrias Moynihan: What kind of enforcement does Mr. Coffey envisage?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Aindrias Moynihan: Mr. Coffey had mentioned flexibility. It was also referenced with regard to the 2024 budget and the setting aside of the two funds. What is the council's take on the capacity of those to give that kind of flexibility?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Ireland's Medium-Term Fiscal and Structural Plan: Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (23 Oct 2024)

Aindrias Moynihan: Does Deputy Canney have any further questions? No. Okay, they were pretty much the questions the members and I had. I thank the witnesses for their input and their patience with the votes and everything. That concludes our session. I thank the witnesses for participating.

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: From the Seanad (23 Oct 2024)

Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: From the Seanad (23 Oct 2024)

The Dáil went into Committee to consider amendments from the Seanad.