Latest news with #TDs
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
'Undercapitalised' developers struggle to scale up house building, TDs to hear
Developers have struggled to scale up housebuilding due to many being 'undercapitalised' since the financial crisis, the Housing Agency will tell TDs today, Tuesday. The Oireachtas housing committee is due to host the Housing Agency and the Land Development Agency during its meeting on Tuesday afternoon, with both due to highlight challenges to housebuilding. In his opening statement, Housing Agency CEO Martin Whelan will tell TDs that ongoing capacity constraints within the construction sector are 'significant barriers to delivery'. These constraints include a shortage of zoned, serviced land as well as the current structure of the Irish development and construction sector, Mr Whelan will say. 'On the private side, few housebuilders outside the largest and institutionally-backed entities have a good pipeline of ready-to-go sites, and even when they acquire land that is zoned and with planning, infrastructure shortcomings and blockages can impede delivery,' Mr Whelan will tell the committee. 'Undercapitalised since financial crisis' On the capacity of the construction sector, Mr Whelan is due to say that most developers have 'remained undercapitalised since the financial crisis'. 'This significantly limits their ability to scale up development activity, with many operating on a project-by-project basis rather than on a programme of concurrent development projects,' Mr Whelan will say. 'On the construction side, where we appear to be at, or close to, full capacity, the challenge is one of productivity — how can the industry do more with existing resources?' In particular, Mr Whelan will cite the need to further adopt the use of modern methods of construction. The Housing Agency chief is also due to call for an increase in the number of staff in local authorities and approved housing bodies to deal with the rise in the number of social homes. This is to support 'good estate management and tenant services', Mr Whelan will say. CEO John Coleman is expected to tell the Oireachtas housing committee about challenges facing the Land Development Agency, including a lack of zoned, serviced land, the cost of delivering apartments, and legal challenges to planning permissions. Picture: Mike Shaughnessy He will tell TDs the Housing Agency has been working with an 'industry consortium' to develop a social and affordable housing apprenticeship, which aims to address the skill shortage in the area. It is expected apprentices will begin enrolling next year, he will add. On capital investments, Mr Whelan will tell TDs and senators that to reach 50,000 houses a year, there will need to be approximately €20.4bn worth of finance allocated to housing, of which €8.2bn must be equity. More apartments needed In particular, he will say this requires more apartments to be built, which require more equity to be provided. He will cite research from the Central Bank, which says equity finance fell from an average of €2.5bn in 2021 and 2022, compared with €450m in 2023 and 2024. 'The availability of this type of equity financing is particularly important for meeting supply targets for residential development over the medium term,' he will say. The CEO of the Land Development Agency (LDA), John Coleman, is expected to tell the committee there are a number of challenges facing the agency, including a lack of availability of zoned, serviced land, the cost of delivering apartments, and legal challenges to planning permissions. He will also highlight 'a lack of investment in the rental sector', as well as viability challenges to unlocking brownfield sites for development due to remediations costs associated.
Irish Times
7 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
TDs and senators question if €7m Dáil broadcasting contract is value for money
A cross-party group of 125 TDs and senators, including a Government Minister, has called for a review of the estimated €7 million contract for audio and video coverage of Oireachtas proceedings, with questions around its value for money. In a letter to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, which runs Leinster House, the public representatives, including Minister of State Jerry Buttimer , said there is a 'compelling case' for the commission to directly employ the 10 full-time and 20 part-time professional broadcast workers providing the coverage, 'given the extremely concerning working conditions and pay issues'. They allege 'precarious and uncertain working hours, withdrawal of pay during Oireachtas recess periods – including Christmas – lack of pension entitlements, pay that is significantly below the industry norm, lack of any retainer payment and a culture of criticism from management'. 'These workers are left to rely on social welfare for periods when the Oireachtas is not in session.' READ MORE The letter also says 'it is difficult to see what a contract with a private company adds to the services they provide given that all the skilled work is carried out by these workers and their equipment is provided by the Oireachtas itself'. The first five-year contract was issued in 2011 for €7 million. TDs and senators are attempting to establish the current value of the contract 'and how this money is spent'. Pi Communications, the current contractor, which provides a similar service to the Northern Ireland Assembly , has said the contract operates on a 'pay per public minute model'. Based on the 2011 contract, this meant €250 an hour for each hour of broadcast, as well as an overall contract fee. The employees broadcast the live feeds of the Dáil, Seanad and committees. They also oversee the archiving of all feeds. The company said the workers have a guaranteed fixed amount of work 'each full sitting week', with 'certainty of income for their contracted work'. However, one employee, who did not want to be named, said most of the employees are on 'casual part-time contracts' with 'only one day a week guaranteed, which is very precarious'. Some workers have no guaranteed days and are only brought in occasionally, the employee said. In response, Pi Communications said: 'We are surprised and disappointed that some who have commented on our operations did not first fact-check the accuracy and veracity of ill-founded claims.' The company said the employees earn substantially more than the national living wage, with attractive bonus arrangements and receive paid leave and sick leave. Employees 'are free to work on other projects or for other employers, as is the norm in our industry'. It said salaries are regularly benchmarked and commensurate with roles, skills, experience and responsibilities. Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide, who co-ordinated the TDs. and senators' letter, said public representatives question 'the value for money' the contract provides. They believe it would be cheaper for the Oireachtas to pay the workers directly. He said the 'only overheads in the contract would seem to be the employees' pay', as the equipment is supplied by the Oireachtas. The issue has been referred to the Public Accounts Committee and to the Oireachtas Media Committee. The letter says the contract is due for renewal this year. It adds that any review should include an in-depth investigation into the issues raised by the broadcast workers, which they have previously attempted to resolve through industrial relations mechanisms. Included in the group of 125 calling for the review is Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, Labour leader Ivana Bacik, Social Democrats acting leader Cian O'Callaghan, and former journalists Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Fine Gael) and Alison Comyn (Fianna Fáil), both of whom are senators. The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission has said the workers and Pi Communications are in dialogue at the Workplace Relations Commission and it would not be appropriate 'to undermine the industrial relations process'.
Irish Times
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Ireland's centrist dads (and mums) continue to be the dominant force in our politics
The Electoral Commission quietly published a fascinating piece of research last weekend. For years, academics who teach political science at Ireland's universities have been (rightly) crying out for a proper, regular election study. Now the commission has finally obliged; sure, it will give the pointy-heads something to do over during the summer holidays. There's a lot in it. But here are a few things that jumped out at me about the state of our politics today. 1: Our democracy is in reasonable shape, but we shouldn't get complacent An overwhelming majority of Irish people (about nine in 10) believe that elections are conducted in accordance with the law, are well-managed, and that election officials are fair. Nearly all voters believe it is easy to vote and say they understand the process. And when the pollsters tested the voters' knowledge of the system with a series of questions, large majorities answered them correctly. Asked whether they thought the election was conducted fairly, 83 per cent said it was, with just 9 per cent saying it was unfair. People believe their vote is valuable, and feel they have a stake in elections. There's a high degree of trust in institutions such as the judiciary and the Civil Service – and even, albeit to a lesser extent, in the Dáil and the Government. READ MORE Most people (70 per cent) believe their TDs are 'generally competent and hardworking', and they are strongly opposed to activities such as 'following politicians and recording videos of them to post on social media', and protesting outside their houses. [ Lack of interest among reasons people did not vote in general election Opens in new window ] This widespread trust in our democracy is incredibly precious. All around the world, democracy is being challenged, and the processes and institutions which ensure people can sack their leaders are being undermined. Liberals fear electorates will give the 'wrong' result; populists undermine protectors of the freedoms of the liberal state – the courts, the media, universities, civil society groups. So our Irish democracy needs to be protected and tended to. The extremes in Ireland are not numerous, but they are not negligible, either. There are a lot of people who believe some pretty mad things – on none of the popular conspiracy theories do a majority say they believe them, but substantial minorities do. For example, 35 per cent of people believe that 'a small secret group of people is responsible for making all major decisions in world politics'; 19 per cent of people believe that 'elected officials want to bring in obedient voters who will vote for them'. So there's still work to be done here. 2: Fianna Fáil is in pretty good shape Barely a decade and a half after its ultimate demise – or, at best, a slide into irrelevance – was being widely predicted, Fianna Fáil won a general election, and occupies the Taoiseach's office for the second time since then. That recovery is possibly an understudied phenomenon, but no less remarkable for that. The survey shows that among the four in 10 voters who feel 'close to a party', the largest proportion (34 per cent) feel close to Fianna Fáil, with Fine Gael trailing on 25 per cent and Sinn Féin on 22 per cent. This suggests the party has a cohort of loyal voters unlikely to desert it. Asked about the probability of voting for parties in the future, respondents indicated Fianna Fáil leading the pack, while the party also had the lowest number of people saying it was improbable that they would vote for it. Taoiseach Micheál Martin is the most liked, and the least disliked, among the major party leaders. [ The Irish Times view on the Irish election: in praise of the pencil and the long count Opens in new window ] Fianna Fáil also gets a decent spread of support from both disadvantaged and affluent voters, and all points in between. By contrast, both Labour and the Social Democrats ' support is both heavily skewed towards wealthier voters. Labour gets five and a half times more support from the most affluent voters than from the most deprived. Irish politics is, we know, highly volatile – but it looks less volatile for Fianna Fáil than for the other parties. 3: The land of moderates and centrists To my surprise, more people identified themselves as centre-right than centre-left. But it is clear that ours is a system dominated by moderates, who have a less negative view of politicians than you might think from our discourse, who trust traditional media more than new and social media, and who have a strong attachment to established norms and institutions. They are quite conservative on migration, pro-choice on abortion, and while on balance favouring a united Ireland, do not think it is remotely a priority when they vote in elections. There is another related point. More than half (51 per cent) of people said that in general 'the government' had done a good job since 2020, with 41 per cent saying it had done a bad job. For anyone looking at polls and observing our political and media discourse, this is a surprising finding. Our political debate tends to be dominated by issues presented as failures of the Government. Think about it this way: how many stories in the media are essentially presented as the need for Government to do something urgently to fix some abject failing in public services? Quite a lot of them, right? There was a good example this week with the debates on the failures in disabilities and autism services. I'm not for a minute saying there is anything misplaced about any of this. But the context in an election appears to be slightly different. It seems that when, in an election campaign, people are asked to think about the Government and confronted with alternatives, they take a more rounded view. They are somewhat less negative than they might be in mid-term. That doesn't mean we should discount mid-term unpopularity of governments – just that we should fully appreciate the context, and understand that things may well change before polling day.
Irish Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Could ‘Skortgate' saga finally end in time for Munster final? We'll see
By Wednesday evening the folks at the Camogie Association were, you'd imagine, feeling a touch on the frazzled and besieged side as skortgate escalated at a rate of knots. From making headlines left, right and centre, to a group of TDs and Senators pottering around Leinster House in their shorts, in solidarity with their camogie sisters, it might have had them ruing the day they ever went down the sports administration route. The acts of defiance were mounting up, Dublin camogie instructing its referees to take no action against players if they refused to wear skorts and turned up for match duty in shorts instead. The big one, though, was the joint statement from the Cork and Waterford panels which said that they would be 'togged out wearing shorts' for their Munster final on Saturday. READ MORE That left the prospect of either the referee enforcing the skorts rule and abandoning the game, which would have been a truly mortifying spectacle, or it not being enforced and player power winning out. At which point the Camogie Association would have had the look of a body that had lost control of its sport. Neither a good look, then. So, after keeping shtum on Wednesday, out came its statement on Thursday morning. Instead of putting off another vote on the issue until 2027, it will be addressed, 'having listened to player feedback', at a special congress on May 22nd. Last year, delegates rejected two skorts-related motions put to them: 64 per cent said no to a proposal that 'skirt/skort/divided skirt' be replaced by 'shorts' in the rule book, and 55 per cent rejected giving players the option to wear skorts or shorts. And it was those 64 and 55 per cent cohorts who chose to ignore the wishes of the vast majority of players by upholding an archaic rule. The association will, you'd imagine, be on bended knee praying for at least a six-point swing in that 55 per cent vote so that the issue can finally be put to bed, because there's a laughing-stock vibe to how it is being viewed this weather. The association did, though, round off its statement by saying that while it wants to ensure that 'the game evolves in a way that reflects the needs and voices of its players', it remains committed to 'respecting the democratic process in all decisions that affect all of our members'. If the 64 and 55 per cents dig their heels in, then, nothing will change. That, you'd have to assume, is unlikely, given the derision that would come pouring down all over them. But we'll see. And what of Cork and Waterford on Saturday? Will they call off their protest, tog out in skorts, and wait for the outcome of the special congress vote? Or will they stand their ground, wear shorts, and give the referee the mother, auntie and granny of all headaches? We'll see. Sport is no stranger to producing farcical sagas, but this interminable one might just take the biscuit.
Irish Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Miriam Lord: Skorts the order of the day as SF women make co-ordinated fashion statement
Camogie women, know your place! Stick to the skorts . What would have happened if some of the cardinals turned up for work on Wednesday wearing trousers? But they didn't, because they abide by the rules. READ MORE The cardinals wore Frousers for their big fixture in the Vatican . Frocks with integrated trousers. And very nice they looked, too. Now here come the politicians sticking their oar in. Siding with the camogie women and their desire to wear comfortable gear when playing their chosen sport. At this rate, these girleens will want to be priests next. It's a slippery slope from skorts to women priests, which is why the men who wear the Frousers will be keeping a key eye on developments in the camogie world once they are released from their incarceration in the Vatican. At least, Deo gratias, they were locked away in conclave when the women of Sinn Féin paraded into the Dáil and Seanad Éireann wearing shorts with not one modesty panel of distracting material between them and their hazardous haunches. In fairness, they got a lovely day for it, thank God. Still, it was unusual to see a couple of TDs in the chamber wearing shorts. In times past, the annual arrival of former Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan in his Man from Del Monte jacket signalled the official start of the Dáil Summer. It seems the new intake have a different way of doing things. Oh, wait. It's more than two. Here's another pair of shorts, and another, and another. This looks like a co-ordinated sporting fashion statement – which it was. [ Opposition parties rally around camogie players favouring shorts over skorts Opens in new window ] In fact, at least half a dozen Sinn Féin TDs wore shorts in the chamber when the Dáil resumed after the May bank holiday break. And more of them in the Seanad. All of them women. Which was disappointing. If a few Sinn Féin men couldn't tog out in shorts to support the camogie playing women of Ireland, surely they could have managed a few solidarity skorts. Perhaps the lads were afraid. Whatever about the sunny weather outside, it's always quite chilly in the Dáil chamber. And maybe the Sinn Féin men just didn't want to get their knees out. TDs returned to Kildare Street on a sun-soaked Wednesday at 2pm. It's a tough week for them – they have to wait until around teatime on Thursday (although most of the rural-based deputies will have cleared off home by then) for the weekend to kick in. Before business got under way, Opposition parties held their weekly press briefings on the plinth. And the issue that has gripped the nation was similarly exercising the TDs. Skorts. It's a safe bet to say that when people were pondering what the hot topics of the new Dáil's first term might be, the match-day kit worn by camogie players wouldn't have figured on too many lists. But if politicians reflect the thoughts of the people, perhaps it wasn't that surprising to see them running on with this particular ball. They knew they were on to a winner here. It's daft, in this day and age, that women playing camogie at elite level must wear hybrid shorts disguised as skirts when lining out for their counties. But it's the rules, as reconfirmed by their governing organisation as recently as last year. The vast majority of players don't like wearing them, and for many, the skort inhibits their performance on the field. When the Dublin and Kilkenny teams dared to run on to the pitch wearing shorts last weekend, they were forced to change into skorts or their Leinster semi-final fixture would be abandoned. And the resulting outcry took the matter from the pitch to the plinth and ultimately on to the floor of the Dáil. [ Rebellion against 'outdated' camogie skorts rule gathering pace Opens in new window ] Sinn Féin Senator Maria McCormack, and her colleague Nicole Ryan, also wore shorts during the Seanad sitting. On the plinth, Laois-based Maria said camogie players from her county would be visiting the Oireachtas and she would be raising the skort matter in the Upper House. 'It should be about the sport, not about the skort,' she said, calling on the Camogie Association to change the rule now. She encouraged players in this weekend's Munster camogie final to wear shorts '100 per cent'. It later emerged that the Cork and Waterford teams had already decided to do just that. Social Democrats TD Sinéad Gibney welcomed the announcement that there might be a change in the rule in two years' time, but hoped there could be a derogation until then. 'The fact that we are talking about women wearing shorts to perform at the height of their athletic capability is really quite shocking when we have so much else to deal with,' she said. Noel O'Flynn, Independent Ireland TD for Cork North Central, pointed out that 'the most important thing here is the sport'. 'And we should be moving with the times. If the players dictate that this is more comfortable, this is what they feel better, we should be accommodating that.' This pressing issue finally reached the floor of the Dáil around the same time as the fully frousered cardinals were getting down to business in Rome. Joe Neville, Fine Gael TD for Kildare North, wanted to know if the Government would stand by the players in their efforts to get the skort rule scrapped. He cited a recent survey that found 83 per cent of camogie players want the rule requiring them to wear skorts to be scrapped. [ Miriam Lord: Shades of an Oasis love-in as Lucinda rolls with Fine Gael's Gallagher brothers Opens in new window ] Joe said he asked the question 'because participation of women in sports is so important, and for these people to take the stance they did, I think they should ultimately be supported by the Government'. Former minister for agriculture and now Minister of State Charlie McConalogue launched into a McMonologue of an answer. Speaking on behalf of the Government, he seemed to back the protesting camogie players' cause. He had a script. 'The Government – and we've seen in the country . . . massive progress made in relation to participation and equal participation for women in all sports and our national governing bodies have made massive strides in that regard as well." Blah, blah, blah... 'Very much aware of the issue . . . really important that players engage with the Camogie Association . . . I have had engagement with the Camogie Association as well.' Blah, blah, blah… 'It is important that they come together to find a resolution that is comfortable for everyone.' Really, Charlie? Do the decision-making delegates have to wear tight-fitting skorts at their big meetings and gruelling dinners? If only he had adopted a more skorts earth approach and declared the rule ridiculous, outdated and patronising and said it's about time the camogie hierarchy ditched it. That's one way to get back into the Government first team, Charlie.
