Room to Improve (v2)

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636621#Comment_121636621

I'm guessing you are around long enough to know that there's always someone getting something that noone else got around to asking for.

It's not preferential, it's just being in the right place at the right time and using your initiative.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636651#Comment_121636651

When is his new series on? Have you confirmed he hasn’t been in touch?

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636658#Comment_121636658

It's still wrong for a government department to give preferential treatment to a private business.

JVince

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/111501856#Comment_111501856

Take your racist dirt elsewhere

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636665#Comment_121636665

Now we ARE going round in circles.

It's not up to him to get in touch. It's up to the Department to provide a fair opportunity to all players.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636680#Comment_121636680

Where does it say that?

That isn’t the way things work. The info is there for all architects. If your architect is not on top of what grants are available find another.

The dept concern is to get the info to the home seekers and builder. Johnny in his office in Carndonagh busy doing domestic homes in a rural area isn’t of much use. Horses for courses

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636671#Comment_121636671

It's not preferential treatment.

Assuming that they just responded to his request for a meeting to discuss matters relating to their remit there is no onus on them to go looking for others who may want the same.

It's not like a tender that needs to be advertised.

mickdw

Every small architectural / engineering business dealing with housing will be having multiple queries monthly re grants.

As an Engineer in that game I've personally attempted to contact the County Council regarding a few basic queries and I got no response yet Bannon has a private meeting with the department.

Why don't the department advertise these briefings 1 per week or something like that.

Presently, we are working blind and only giving clients basic advice.

These grants are proving more difficult to obtain than they really should be.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636883#Comment_121636883

It isn’t RTI’s fault the government is not doing it’s job.

Bannon asked and he got his meeting. If the dept and CC’s are failing in their remits thats a different issue.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636883#Comment_121636883

Are you a member of a professional body like Engineers Ireland ?

Maybe if such a body approached the Department something could be arranged.

It sounds like some sort of briefing is badly needed.

DB has opened the door.

mickdw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636940#Comment_121636940

Yes I am a member of Engineers Ireland. I would expect if approached by professional body that the government would facilitate that.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636727#Comment_121636727

If the info is there for all architects, why did Bannon need a briefing.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636751#Comment_121636751

It's not a tender but the Department still has an obligation to act fairly with all stakeholders. We all know that other architects wouldn't have got the meeting with the Minister's advisors.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121637087#Comment_121637087

Please leave me out of that "we all".

Thanks.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121637083#Comment_121637083

I don’t know. Do you?

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121637130#Comment_121637130

Me too.

Politics using TV to get their message our is pretty much the norm across the world.

Niall_76

The thread seems to be going around in circles the last few pages.. apart from one strange tangent that may have been posted in error?

I wonder what the next episode will throw up.

lmk123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121637179#Comment_121637179

The majority of it is the most stupid pointless rubbish you’d ever see. Constant repetition presented as fact.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121637130#Comment_121637130

So you reckon that any architect who rang up the Department with a query was invited in for a high level meeting? I've got a bridge to sell you, mate.

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121637166#Comment_121637166

What message did the Minister or his advisor get out? Information on the grants is widely available on government websites and from councils. When ordinary members of the public ask the council can they knock down half or most of a house to get the Refurbishment grant for Vacant and Derelict houses, they are told the house has to be vacant and derelict and even then, they must keep most of the structure: otherwise it would be a new build and that is not what the Refurbishment grant for Vacant and Derelict houses was set up for. For "enviromental reasons as well" (his exact words) , sez the man in the council.

So the message from the politician, who used tv to get out the message, is you are a special case if you have a private meeting with the minister or his advisor?

Extremely few other people around the country have got the grant and in some areas average waiting time for a pre-planning meeting with the council is 141 days....that is just to speak to someone in the council, not the minister's advisor.

Thank God what goes on here in Ireland is not the norm across the world, show me another country with the 99k grants farce on what Bannon's design team called "essentially a New-Build" (their exact words) on Room to Improve last weekend.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121637431#Comment_121637431

If you think that a few people stamping their feet about grants is gonna change how access works around the world, (not just here), you really should not be left alone with the telly remote.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121637841#Comment_121637841

Extremely few other people around the country have got the grant and in some areas average waiting time for a pre-planning meeting with the council is 141 days....that is just to speak to someone in the council, not the minister's advisor.

This is for the politics or CA forum.

But go on, what data have you got on the grants dispersal or is this someone who you met in the pub told you this?

The 'message' seems obvious to me anyway - look what you can do with government grants.

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121637880#Comment_121637880

The 'message' seems obvious to most people - " look what you can do with government grants " if you have the right connections.

You are right, its not what you know, it is who you know. Even if your property is genuinely vacant and much more derelict than that bungalow sold for 303k the previous year.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121637960#Comment_121637960

The insinuation/allegation you are making is: Bannon and RTE had a meeting with the Dept., the Dept then got on to Tipperary CoCo and told them and their officials to hand out 100,000 to a couple who did not qualify for it.

Then RTE Bannon and the Dept told the media about this 'meeting' then RTE broadcast a programme where the corruption was SO evident MOST people spotted it.

That about it?

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121637431#Comment_121637431

No I don't.

Not in the market for a bridge ATM but I built a few.

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121637989#Comment_121637989

No. We do not know what happened at the private meeting between Bannon/Irwin and the ministers's advisor. We do know that elsewhere in the country the local council was asked about the grant / to clarify the grant and the reply was that for the "Refurbishment grant for Vacant and Derelict houses" half or most of the house could NOT be demolished for the grant. "That is not what the grant was for", "for environmental reasons also" etc.

Also the house had to be genuinely vacant and derelict.

Bannon's team on Room to Improve called it "essentially a New-Build". Their words, not mine.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636936#Comment_121636936

LOL - what a hill to die on!

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638066#Comment_121638066

Seems to me Furze that after a week there seems to be only one group 'dying' - the conspiracy theorists. No traction at all from what I can see and I am long enough in the tooth to know how these things normally work.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121636446#Comment_121636446

Might be useful to others. There's at least two Facebook groups worth looking at

Irish Cottage and Farm Building Restoration - admin by a lime company in the business, based in Cork.

Derelict/vacant house restoration Ireland - admin is a chap in the business in Donegal I think.

Lots of repetitive queries and varying advice on both but well worth sifting through.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638064#Comment_121638064

No. We do not know what happened at the private meeting between Bannon/Irwin and the ministers's advisor.

Yes we do know.

Speaking at the RTÉ campus today, Bannon detailed that he and Irwin were briefed on “what the grants were all about”.

A spokesperson for the department told The Journal a briefing on the “mechanics of the scheme” was provided in the meeting.

If you think something else happened that is an allegation and a theory. Some would say...a conspiracy theory

We do know that elsewhere in the country the local council was asked about the grant / to clarify the grant and the reply was that for the "Refurbishment grant for Vacant and Derelict houses" half or most of the house could NOT be demolished for the grant. 

How do we know this?

And how does it impinge on other cases? Each case is different/.

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638152#Comment_121638152

Bannon and his Q.S. should not have needed to request with the Misinster's adviser just to find out “what the grants were all about”.

They were already building professionals, working in the field for many years and it was already their job to know “what the grants were all about”.

Do not treat the rest of us like fools.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638260#Comment_121638260

So you are alleging that something else happened at this meeting.

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638279#Comment_121638279

No, I said we do not know what went on or all that was discussed at the meeting. No transcripts on notes or anything were produced afaik. Others have said there needs to be a freedom of information request or something.

You said of the meeting with the Ministers's adviser "Bannon detailed that he and Irwin were briefed on “what the grants were all about”."

I replied : Bannon and his Q.S. should not have needed to request with the Misinster's adviser just to find out “what the grants were all about”.

They were already building professionals, working in the field for many years and it was already their job to know “what the grants were all about”.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638359#Comment_121638359

We do know because both Bannon and the dept have said what it was about.

If you don't accept that explanation then you are alleging that something else went on at the meeting.

At least be honest about what you are saying as another poster was.

What Bannon and his QS should know or not know is immaterial tbh.

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638391#Comment_121638391

What Bannon and his QS should know is very material. They should have known about the grants before that requested meeting, as they were already well seasoned and experienced professionals in the field. If they did not know about of or about the property grants then, it would not say much about them. Of course they already knew about the grants. They should not have needed a private meeting with a Minister's advisor just to find out “what the grants were all about”, as is claimed. If I or anyone else asked to find out what the grants were all about, I'd be told to look at the government website or ask the local council. I'd say they talked about other things too. Maybe even the weather.;)

lmk123

Could Francie and Francis start a separate tread (or just private message) where ye can just go over and back all day long repeating everything to each other constantly and leave the rest of us out of it.

Francis McM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638560#Comment_121638560

Grand, I will not post about last Sunday's house in Cashel on this thread again. I think everything has been said about that anyway.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638541#Comment_121638541

I admire people who can admit they are not expert or have a full grasp of the detail.

As said previously, Bannon's status and show was beneficial to a Dept wanting to get the existence of grants (which have not, by your own admission been taken up as they should) out there.

Promoting the grants and demonstrating what can be done with them (an advertised feature of this season) was the focus of the series. So being on top of the detail was beneficial to RTE and Bannon. Believing that you could get two grants (First Time Buyers and Vacancy) could easily have been cut out of the show but Bannon does seem to have little problem with showing the mistakes he makes and the fact that he is fallible like us all.

Trampas

Bannon never does a how about this and it’s tens of thousands under budget. He’s always pushing the budget. Money saved on grants is just spent and not you’ve got some money back. Never see him saying let’s go to IKEA for a kitchen or something else

Field east

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638595#Comment_121638595

Francis, your third paragraph, I cannot believe it. If the presentation’s’ main/major focus was the highlighting of grants available, well he made a right ‘dog’s dinner’ of it and the whole thing was very misleading re the derilect not lived in for two years element

. And being falable in he dealing with the core elements of the prog - mainly budget, grants available and grant conditions to be met. Come on. Are these not very much part of the bread and butter of his trade and in relation to the nature of the prog he is presenting? Do’nt tell me that RTE has, indirectly, another Ryan Tubridy type on it ‘s books

freshpopcorn

Donal Skehan has something to do with it.

chooseusername

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121643449#Comment_121643449

When the builder anted up to get the build finished I wonder was he aware that the derelict grant was dependent on retention planning being granted?

I'm surprised they didn't go for 'Help To Buy' grant for their "New Build" as well

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121643449#Comment_121643449

How so?

He and his QS talked about the available grants and what had been applied for and the show moved on.

The 'confusion' has arisen because people will not take on board what they are being told. Namely - you cannot use your own definitions of the terms,

The confusion is self inflicted.

Tow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121643854#Comment_121643854

Other groups do that as standard. It is said they cost difference between getting solar panels installed using a proper roofer and electrician and an approved SEAI installer is the cost of the grant.

lmk123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121643854#Comment_121643854

Ya they do, same with agricultural buildings and equipment. Anything there is a grant available for goes through the roof

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121643854#Comment_121643854

Sorry for your trouble.

That was sharp practice on the undertaker's part.

He should have stuck to his price.

touts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121643667#Comment_121643667

Maybe after the scandal this week he is taking over from Dermot as the resident architect on the show.

And yes he may know nothing about architecture and have no experience in it but that never stopped him switching careers in the past. All the experienced qualified chefs whose recipes he is "heavily influenced by" in his cook books, will point out that he knew nothing about cooking and had no experience in it before he stopped being a member of a boy band and became a celebrity chef.

downtheroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121638260#Comment_121638260

A professional who doesn't know how the Help to Buy scheme works.

the_pen_turner

only got time to watch it this morning

lovely house but i wouldnt like the kitchen and hate the stairs. i must drive over that way some day and have a look.

fair play to them if they can afford to buy a house for 303k and then put 300k into it plus 100k grants. i wonder what its valued at. i cannot see it worth 700k.

i dont know why they didnt buy a wreck of a house and build a new build there for50k and have 550k for the house

this grand situation is getting out of hand. somone needs to come out and clarify whats happening. either the grant scheme is set up wrong or people are taking advantage of it.

Furze99

Presumably the final two episodes have been very carefully reviewed in light of comments on the initial ones. Expect that they'll have been edited to be vague around grants and criteria, what was sought and what was achieved. And will focus on the great value than Bannon brings to the gig.