Results 101-120 of 1,165,240 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Niall Collins OR speaker:Réada Cronin OR speaker:Eoin Ó Broin OR speaker:Fergus O'Dowd OR speaker:Heather Humphreys OR speaker:Aindrias Moynihan OR speaker:Leo Varadkar OR speaker:Brendan Smith OR speaker:Joe O'Brien OR speaker:Seán Haughey OR speaker:Steven Matthews OR speaker:Marc MacSharry OR speaker:Pat Buckley OR speaker:Brian Stanley OR speaker:Frank Feighan OR speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú OR speaker:Joe Flaherty OR speaker:Seán Fleming OR speaker:Pádraig O'Sullivan OR speaker:Emer Higgins OR speaker:Jackie Cahill OR speaker:Violet-Anne Wynne OR speaker:Michael Lowry OR speaker:Joe McHugh OR speaker:Jennifer Whitmore OR speaker:Thomas Gould OR speaker:Neale Richmond OR speaker:Gino Kenny OR speaker:Kieran O'Donnell OR speaker:Catherine Murphy OR speaker:Micheál Martin) in 'Committee meetings'

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?

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

Steven Matthews: Cost-rental eligibility is within an income bracket here. When I was talking to the Austrian Greens, they said it was a much wider income bracket, so there is a much greater mix of different occupations and people at different stages in their lives. Again, it is new and in the development stage. Obviously we can aspire to broader and greater production of cost rental. My time is up. I...

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

Eoin Ó Broin: I thank the witnesses for being here at short notice and for the opening statement. Part of the reason a number of committee members wanted to do this session is that, while we accepted there was a need for Part 2 to be introduced before the break for Christmas, some of us were surprised at the cost-rental elements coming in. It is not that we are against them in principle but some of these...

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

Eoin Ó Broin: I get that. My question is, since most AHBs have not amended their constitution, does it make any material difference that they do not have that wording in their constitution? Obviously, when the folks in the Department drafted the legislation, they had a reason for putting that in.

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

Eoin Ó Broin: The wording was too restrictive. It would have excluded non-housing-related activities and therefore not having it in means they can continue doing those non-housing activities.

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

Eoin Ó Broin: I am asking for the benefit of clarity. What would non-housing activities include?

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

Eoin Ó Broin: Anything beyond the bricks and mortar.

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

Eoin Ó Broin: Perfect. One of the other changes in Part 2 is the deletion of the alleviation of housing need. It is not that I have a problem with that but I think it is important there is public clarity. From Dr. McManus's point of view, what is the purpose or consequence of removing the alleviation of housing need from those sections of the existing legislation? What does that do or allow the AHBs to...

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

Eoin Ó Broin: That makes sense.

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

Eoin Ó Broin: I have a number of questions on Part 3. With respect to the change to the definition of household, did the AHB sector ask for this? I know there are different organisations here. What was the rationale for asking for this, from the witnesses' point of view? What from their experience of cost rental so far led them to think this was a good proposition?

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

Eoin Ó Broin: Is it Ms Cleary's understanding from reading the Bill that these separate households would solely be single-person households or could they be two-person households? Does she have a view as to whether it should only be a single-person household or a two-person household sharing? If there was a two-bedroom unit, for example, could it only be two singles, or could it or should it be possibly...