Results 41-60 of 8,310 for speaker:James Browne

Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Revised)
Vote 23 - An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Revised)
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Revised) (15 Jul 2025)

James Browne: I welcome the opportunity to discuss with the committee my Department’s Estimate for 2025, as well as the Votes for Tailte Éireann and An Coimisiún Toghcháin, which are also under the aegis of my Department. I am joined by officials from my Department and a briefing has been provided to the committee in advance, so I will keep these remarks brief, focusing on critical...

Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Revised)
Vote 23 - An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Revised)
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Revised) (15 Jul 2025)

James Browne: Discussions on the national development plan are ongoing and will be finalised over the coming week. I do not want to get too much into it but, obviously, we have a programme for Government. We have to deliver on social and affordable housing. There are a huge number of areas, including the URDF, vacancy, dereliction, voids, requirements under climate change, defective concrete blocks,...

Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Revised)
Vote 23 - An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Revised)
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Revised) (15 Jul 2025)

James Browne: The Cabinet committee on housing recently agreed to an expanded role for the Land Development Agency. In addition, a memo was brought to Cabinet and got approval there. The Government has ensured the LDA has the resources needed to continue its essential work. Its capital has increased in recent times from €2.5 billion, when the LDA Act was first passed, to €6.25 billion....

Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Revised)
Vote 23 - An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Revised)
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Revised) (15 Jul 2025)

James Browne: Affordable housing is providing very important housing solutions for people. Since Housing for All was launched, 14,500 affordable housing solutions have been delivered via approved housing bodies, local authorities, the LDA, the first home scheme and a number of other schemes. We have exceeded our target for this year, which is important. Affordable housing forms a very important mix in...

Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Revised)
Vote 23 - An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Revised)
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Revised) (15 Jul 2025)

James Browne: We are acutely aware that the greater Dublin drainage, GDD, will require very significant capital. I am confident the Government will make that funding available without impacting on Uisce Éireann's strategy budget and will also ensure we secure the additional funding that will be ring-fenced for housing delivery. Ensuring we have water and wastewater capacity is essential in...

Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Revised)
Vote 23 - An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Revised)
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Revised) (15 Jul 2025)

James Browne: Subhead D12 provides funding for additional planning staff in local authorities, which the Deputy alluded to. Local authorities are looking for more ring-fenced staff. I met with all the CEOs, and directors and senior planners, recently in Dublin. We certainly had some important discussions on that. We will continue to engage with local authorities to identify what else we can do to...

Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Revised)
Vote 23 - An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Revised)
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Revised) (15 Jul 2025)

James Browne: It does.

Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Revised)
Vote 23 - An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Revised)
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Revised) (15 Jul 2025)

James Browne: It includes the €715 million.

Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Revised)
Vote 23 - An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Revised)
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Revised) (15 Jul 2025)

James Browne: As the Deputy rightly pointed out, outturn last year versus where we are at this year in the middle of July are not directly comparable. We will continue to spend as significantly as we can. We are already ahead in expenditure at this stage of the year versus where we were last year.

Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Revised)
Vote 23 - An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Revised)
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Revised) (15 Jul 2025)

James Browne: We will always continue to engage with the Department of public expenditure and reform but-----

Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Revised)
Vote 23 - An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Revised)
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Revised) (15 Jul 2025)

James Browne: No, I do not necessarily accept that. We are only in the month of July. We will understand and be able to compare one outturn with another when we get to the end of this outturn. That is the fairer comparable. So far this year, €1.7 billion has been spent or drawn down on social housing from January to July. That is well ahead of where we were last year.

Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Revised)
Vote 23 - An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Revised)
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Revised) (15 Jul 2025)

James Browne: The figure I have is that at the end of 2024 it was €434.995 million and the allocation for 2025 is €595.3 million, which is a significant increase. With affordable housing, expenditure at the end of 2024 was €94.4 million, whereas the allocation for 2025 is €155 million. Again, this is an increase in terms of allocation. With the Department's funding of housing...

Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Revised)
Vote 23 - An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Revised)
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Revised) (15 Jul 2025)

James Browne: We have an agreed programme for Government that has been published and over the next-----

Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Revised)
Vote 23 - An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Revised)
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Revised) (15 Jul 2025)

James Browne: When we complete the national development plan and we work through our housing plan we will set out all of those particular targets in more detail and how we will focus on them.

Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Revised)
Vote 23 - An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Revised)
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Revised) (15 Jul 2025)

James Browne: Once we have the national development plan completed. It is common sense that we cannot complete the housing plan until the national development plan is completed.

Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Revised)
Vote 23 - An Coimisiún Toghcháin (Revised)
Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Revised) (15 Jul 2025)

James Browne: We will do it as quickly as possible thereafter.