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RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Move to halt project to build social homes 'a setback', says minister
The Government has been forced to defend the decision to stop a public-private partnership project that would have built thousands of new homes in Dublin city and surrounding counties. Speaking on RTÉ's The Week in Politics, Minister of State Christopher O'Sullivan said the decision was "a setback in terms of the number of homes that would have been delivered" but the Government also had to be responsible with taxpayers' money. The delivery of almost 3,000 social homes across the country, 2,000 of which are in Dublin City was delayed after the minister for housing pulled the plug on funding for a number of projects that were about to begin construction because of value for money concerns. The Construction Industry Federation yesterday said the move could threaten the public private partnership model and have implications for projects such as Metro North. Three weeks ago the Department of Housing decided not to proceed with almost 500 social homes in Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Sligo that were due be delivered by a consortium under the public private partnership model due to value for moony concerns It's understood the cost of each of the units was more than €1 million and that figure had almost doubled compared to similar units that were delivered in 2020. "Yes we have an absolute duty of care to the people of Ireland to end homelessness," Mr O'Sullivan said, "but we also have a duty of care to the taxpayers and when we are talking about figures in excess of €1m per unit, there has to be a point where we shout stop and look for that value for money." Speaking on the same programme, Sinn Féin TD Claire Kerrane said there is a need now to go back to local authorities for housing delivery. "We need to go back to the local authorities. Obviously we do, when are we going to start doing it? We're 14 or 15 years now in to the housing crisis. She said housing needs to be declared an emergency. "It hasn't been declared an emergency so we don't have the emergency powers," she said, adding that builders cannot get credit, and local authorities are not building to the scale they should. "It is getting worse and what is making it worse again is the Government continuing to say the housing plan working. It isn't working," she added. On ending public-private partnerships, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said there is a duty to the taxpayer, but the taxpayer is paying anyway for emergency accommodation that is affecting children negatively. "Those children living in in hotel accommodation, they are being paid for by the taxpayer and the impacts that is having on their lives, the lifelong consequences that will also be funded by the taxpayer." "The state has not declared this an emergency, we need to be zoning land that is affordable, to have the State getting back building in a massive, significant way. "We also need to understand the impact that these living conditions are having on children." He said local authorities need to be given emergency funds to get vacant homes up quickly, adding that an emergency response requires an emergency investment. Mr O'Sullivan agreed the Government is willing to give funds to local authorities to provide homes, and also said there is a need for a standardised design to cut costs in delivering homes to simplify things.
The Journal
15-06-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Motion to stop sale of Israeli bonds expected to return to the Dáil as Minister rejects 'complicity'
SOCIAL DEMOCRATS TD Jennifer Whitmore said that she expects her party's motion to disallow the Irish Central Bank's facilitating of the sale of Israeli bonds to return to the Dáil floor 'very very soon'. Whitmore made the comments on RTÉ's The Week in Politics this afternoon. The motion, which was put forward by the Social Democrats and backed by Sinn Fein, People Before Profit, and the Labour Party, was voted down on Wednesday , 85 to 71 in the government's favour. It followed a similar motion by Sinn Féin some weeks earlier, which had also narrowly been voted down. Government had refused Opposition calls to allow a free 'vote of conscience' on the matter, which would have allowed its TDs to vote how they wished rather than with their party. Today, Whitmore said, 'I think [the motion] will be on the Dáil floor very, very soon. I mean, this is a huge issue for people.' She said she was unaware if the Labour Party would propose the motion once more. Advertisement Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Trade, Fianna Fáil TD Thomas Byrne, was also present on the programme today. When it was put to him that Government has been accused of being 'complicit' in Israel's actions in Gaza, he denied the claim. 'I utterly reject this allegation of complicity. I think it's disgraceful,' Byrne said. He listed a number of Government actions taken to attempt to alleviate some of the suffering in Gaza, and highlighted that the Taoiseach and Tánaiste have both denounced Israel's actions in Gaza as a 'genocide'. 'There'll be vote after vote in the Dáil, not designed to help the people of Gaza, but rather to create division and sow confusion and cause chaos in our democracy,' Byrne said on the programme. 'It's that they [the Opposition] have no interest in what's going on in Gaza. The government has been really, really consistent. You're just to cause division in the Dáil, and that's why words are complicit are thrown around. It's division. It's division.' Whitmore refuted this and said that she and her party simply want to see the Government take further action. Later in the programme when the Occupied Territories Bill was raised, Byrne said that he hoped to see it passed before the end of the summer. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
RTÉ News
15-06-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Govt expected to approve rent legislation this week
It is expected that emergency legislation to extend rent controls nationwide will be approved by Cabinet this week and will then be debated in the Dáil. Currently, Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) cover around 83% of the country. There had been fears that those outside rent controls could face rent hikes ahead of broader reforms of the sector coming into force from March next year. The Government indicated that emergency legislation would be brought forward ahead of the summer recess to address the problem. However, the opposition had pounced on the fact that the proposed law was not listed on the Dáil schedule for the coming week. It is now understood that the emergency legislation will go to the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Once approved by the Government, it will be added to the Dáil order paper to be debated this week and passed quickly. Sinn Féin has accused the Government of scrambling around to produce legislation. Government's rent plan 'not botched' - Byrne The Government's rent reform plan is "not botched", Minister of State Thomas Byrne has said, adding that legislation to extend RPZs will be introduced "very quickly". However, Mr Byrne added: "The vast majority of tenancies around the country and certainly in high-pressure areas are already under Rent Pressure Zones and they're not going to be affected." Speaking on RTÉ's The Week in Politics, he added that for such individuals, the RPZ "basically continues indefinitely while they're in the tenancy". "There's no point worrying," he said and added "the vast majority of people don't have to worry". Mr Byrne said there is a need to ensure that private sector investment in conjunction with State investment "has a path forward". Speaking on the same programme, Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said "rents are going to go up" for the 20% of people renting outside of RPZ areas. "There's a risk that they'll be put out of their tenancies and their rents could go up," she said. "We need this legislation very, very quickly," she added. Sinn Féin TD Conor McGuinness told The Week in Politics the Government's policy has "changed every day over the last six (days)". "We have an absolute shambles here," he said, adding the plan has been marked by "confusion, U-turns, backtracking". He also noted that the legislation was to be brought forward next week, adding "we don't even know if that's the case".
RTÉ News
18-05-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Opposition TDs say Lowry 'calling shots in Government'
Opposition TDs have rounded on comments made by Independent TD Michael Lowry as evidence that he is "calling the shots in Government". The Tipperary TD told the Sunday Times newspaper that senior Cabinet ministers gave his Regional Independent Group weekly briefings. He said he had a rota of ministers attending, including Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon, who had already briefed them, while Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan and Minister of State Colm Brophy were expected to attend to talk about immigration. Labour TD Marie Sherlock said his remarks reflected the reality of "who is calling the shots in Government". She told RTÉ's The Week in Politics that it was not clear that backbenchers were getting the same access. Sinn Féin TD Claire Kerrane said it was clear that Mr Lowry was hugely influential. "He was the kingmaker in putting this Government together and the Government have been falling over each other to be very clear to say, no deals done and no side deals," she said. However, she added it was clear that Mr Lowry and his group were getting exclusive one-on-one meetings with ministers. Also speaking on The Week in Politics, Minister of State at the Department of Finance Robert Troy said Mr Lowry was playing "to his audience back home that he is hugely influential and that he has an opportunity to meet Cabinet ministers". He downplayed the significance of Mr Lowry's access to ministers, pointing out that ministers would also attend parliamentary party meetings to answer questions. A Government source also said that any minister meeting the Regional Independent Group would not share any information that would not be available to other Government backbenchers.
Irish Examiner
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
O'Gorman: Government 'kicking the down the road' with Occupied Territories Bill
The Government is using claims of legal issues with banning services from illegal Israeli settlements to delay the passing of the Occupied Territories Bill, Roderic O'Gorman has said. The Green Party leader said the distinction which is being raised by the Government between products and services is a new issue that "has been brought in subsequent to the general election". The attempt to create a distinction between goods and services is concerning, Mr O'Gorman said. The Government are seeking to kick the can down the road after having made extensive promises about passing the bill during the election campaign, he said. "The Attorney General provided, last July, a very detailed assessment of Senator Frances Black's bill, raised some issues — some legitimate issues that can be addressed by amendments — there was no reference to an issue around services in his very detailed legal advice," Mr O'Gorman told RTÉ One's The Week in Politics. There is no disagreement that amendments need to be made to the bill, he said, but there is no reason why the bill cannot be passed ahead of the Dáil summer recess "if there was the will". At a time when the world has been put on notice that Israel intends to ethnically cleanse Gaza, Ireland has the opportunity to act, Mr O'Gorman said but instead the Government has only said it would publish a draft of the bill before the summer break, not pass it. The passing of the bill would reverberate internationally, the Dublin TD said, and it would mark a significant change in approach. Speaking on the same programme, Sinn Féin TD John Brady called on the Government to publish the Attorney General's advice to allow people to see for themselves whether or not there was a legal issue raised in terms of banning services from the occupied territories. Speaking at the annual James Connolly Commemoration at Arbour Hill on Sunday, Labour leader Ivana Bacik said there is going to be a concerted attempt across the opposition parties to push the Government "even harder" to pass it as soon as possible. Ms Bacik said she would like to see the bill passed before the autumn saying "we have waited long enough". "The outgoing Government last year and indeed, Simon Harris, seemed to commit himself to passage of the bill so we will be pressing to have some further progress before the summer," she said.
