Results 521-540 of 5,844 for speaker:Alan Dillon

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (15 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: Amendment No. 17, as proposed by Senators Moynihan, Hoey, Sherlock and Wall, seeks to place a ban on material change-in-use permissions for recently developed student accommodation for a period of 15 years following completion. While I acknowledge the good intent behind this amendment, the planning system as it currently exists, as well as the system envisaged under the Bill, requires...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (15 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: Can I confirm that the Government amendments in the first group, namely, amendments Nos. 5, 7 and 8, were moved previously?

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (15 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: Amendment No. 8, too.

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (15 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: I previously addressed amendment No. 17, which deals with developed student accommodation. I propose now to speak to Opposition amendments Nos. 18 to 26, inclusive, and amendment No. 28. Amendments Nos. 18 to 20, inclusive, are all related to short-term letting and various Senators have made comments on that issue. We are awaiting the short-term letting Bill from the Department of tourism....

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (15 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: I thank the Senators for their contributions on sections 10 and 11. Section 10 deals with declarations on development and exempted development and section 11 provides that such declaration shall be conclusive evidence in relevant proceedings brought by an enforcement authority, a local authority or the DPP against a person who requested the declaration unless it is proved that the person...

Seanad: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (15 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: I will clarify some matters concerning exempted development declarations. The only answer to the question of whether a development is an exempted development is that this provision does not make the development exempted. This is important. A development will have to adhere to enforcement proceedings. Indeed, all planning decisions are on the planning register and publicly available. In...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation (Resumed): Department of House, Local Government and Heritage (11 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: I thank the Cathaoirleach and members of the committee for the invitation to be here this morning to address the Joint Committee on Key Issues Affecting the Traveller Community. I welcome the opportunity to provide an update on the delivery of accommodation for Travellers. I am joined by the following officials from my Department: Mr. David Kelly, assistant secretary with responsibility for...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation (Resumed): Department of House, Local Government and Heritage (11 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: We will take all the findings from the evaluation process into consideration to ensure, to the Deputy's point, that the scheme is fit for purpose. The figure of €40,000 was based on when the scheme was being put in place and being piloted. It has been successful in many ways but, to take the Deputy's point, cost considerations need to be factored into the new scheme and setting the...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation (Resumed): Department of House, Local Government and Heritage (11 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: It is important to have true and accurate information on where Travellers live and their accommodation preferences. The Department noted the findings of the 2022 annual estimates of accommodation of Traveller families, which indicted there were 12,183 Traveller households in the State, of which 79% were in standard accommodation and 21% were in Traveller-specific accommodation. I hope to...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation (Resumed): Department of House, Local Government and Heritage (11 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: Regarding the Senator’s question on the implementation of the Oireachtas joint committee recommendations but also regarding the expert group’s implementation, in March of this year, we supplied the most up-to-date positions on progress on the implementation report. We also published the programme board update in May of this year. We have presented two sets of updates on the...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation (Resumed): Department of House, Local Government and Heritage (11 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: Under the Traveller accommodation programme, it is important we have an on-the-ground assessment linked with the number of Traveller-specific households who require Traveller-specific accommodation, be it in group housing schemes or halting site bays, but also there is a preference for many Traveller families to be housed within social housing. We are providing support through Housing for...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation (Resumed): Department of House, Local Government and Heritage (11 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: I thank the Deputy for his line of questions. I will take his question on the recommendations for the national Traveller accommodation authority. I recognise that the programme board is actively considering the recommendation for the national Traveller accommodation authority. It is one of the key recommendations in the expert review group. I understand from my officials that there is work...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation (Resumed): Department of House, Local Government and Heritage (11 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: In terms of Traveller-specific accommodation, our Department is responsible for the delivery of halting site bays or group housing schemes. It is up to the local authority to design and deliver. Certainly, it is being considered as part of a delivery programme. With rising construction inflation, the cost of delivery of group housing schemes for Travellers has increased. Modern methods of...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation (Resumed): Department of House, Local Government and Heritage (11 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: It is really important that within local authorities, be it through social workers, the HSE or disability services, we have a consultative process to evaluate the needs of families who may be impacted by disabilities or special needs. The provision of suitable accommodation is really important within a housing-----

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation (Resumed): Department of House, Local Government and Heritage (11 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: Thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for your honesty with regard to some of the questions you have raised about Traveller-specific accommodation. As someone who has been within the Department for only the past 11 or 12 weeks, I have been trying to get to grips with what has been achieved. We did have challenges within local authorities in terms of their delivery, but I have seen huge progress over...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation (Resumed): Department of House, Local Government and Heritage (11 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: I will respond to Deputy Ó Cuív. He has re-emphasised the importance of needs analysis within local authorities to determine the level of demand. We issued guidelines in December 2023 relating to the preparation, adoption and implementation of the local authority TAP. The fifth round of the programme was adopted in 2019. That will run until the end of this year. What is really...

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation (Resumed): Department of House, Local Government and Heritage (11 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: We must build in both current and future demand into the projections for accommodation programmes in the next five years.

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Traveller Accommodation (Resumed): Department of House, Local Government and Heritage (11 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: I thank Deputy Ó Cuív. I acknowledge his passion and his commitment in the context of resolving issues for the Traveller community and accommodation-specific challenges. It is a complex issue and we are all aware of this. The good work of the committee is certainly shining a spotlight on how we need to move forward on this. We have made significant progress in this regard. We...

Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: On behalf of the Government, I thank all those involved in affording us the opportunity to pass this Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill. I thank Opposition and Government Deputies for their co-operation and for not tabling amendments to this urgent and important Bill. I also note that the Senators followed suit in this regard and the Seanad passed a motion to approve the early...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Derelict Sites (10 Jul 2024)

Alan Dillon: The Derelict Sites Act 1990 (the Act) imposes a general duty on every owner and occupier of land to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the land does not become, or continue to be, a derelict site. The Act also imposes a duty on local authorities to take all reasonable steps, including the exercise of appropriate statutory powers, to ensure that any land within their functional area does...