Results 7,061-7,080 of 25,844 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Marine Protected Areas (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department has been working in close collaboration with Parliamentary drafters over the past months to develop the Marine Protected Area (MPA) Bill. I anticipate that the Bill will be published before the end of the year. The Government is committed to achieving 30% Marine Protected Area (MPA) coverage of Ireland's Maritime Area by 2030, in line with the Programme for Government, the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Legislative Measures (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Since the receipt of Government approval in January of this year, I have been working to progress the various programmes of work that are required to place the scheme to establish supports for the remediation of fire safety, structural safety and water ingress defects in purpose-built apartment buildings, including duplexes, constructed between 1991 and 2013 on a statutory footing. Key to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Correspondence (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I can confirm a reply issued to the constituent referred to on 2 October 2023.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Reports (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The report of the AHB Unencumbered Units Working Group will be published in the coming weeks.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Bodies (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The requested information for the time period in question in respect of the State bodies under the aegis of my Department, as extant on 3 October 2023, is as set out in the attached document. In respect of the non-commercial State bodies under the aegis of my Department, the appointment of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) is governed by the provisions of the Guidelines for Appointments of CEOs...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Data Protection (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force on 25 May 2018. In January 2018, my Department appointed a Data Protection Officer as required under Article 37 GDPR and subsequently established a Data Protection Unit. The table below sets out the number of data breaches recorded by my Department since the introduction of the GDPR. All breaches were dealt with in line with the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Funding (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department has not provided any capital or current funding to Dublin Zoo in either 2022 or to date in 2023. My Department has responsibility for the implementation of the European Communities (Licensing and Inspection of Zoos) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 440/2003) which deal with the inspection, licensing and regulation of zoos and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wildlife Protection (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: A public consultation of the Open Seasons Order (OSO) was carried out in early 2023, providing all interested stakeholders, and the general public with an opportunity to input their views on policy issues. NPWS subsequently engaged external expertise to review the c. 2,500 responses to the survey on the OSO, along with the outcome of the very productive stakeholder engagement meeting held in...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: National Parks and Wildlife Service (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department prioritises the ongoing management and eradication of invasive species as part of its conservation role, dedicating a significant level of its resources to these management activities each year. Staff at the NPWS have surveyed the area around the property in question and have attempted to contact the individual in question to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Seanad Elections (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: In a judgment earlier this year the Supreme Court determined that sections 6 and 7 of the Seanad Electoral (University Members) Act 1937, which sets out the current legislative provisions governing the election of university senators to Seanad Éireann, are unconstitutional because they are not consistent with Article 18.4.2 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court suspended its declaration...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: A range of supports are available for persons who wish to purchase their primary residences. These include examples such as the First Home Scheme which has recently been extended to people building their own homes, the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, and the National Home Upgrade Energy Scheme. These supports are not directed towards specific building types. All new dwellings must...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: National Parks and Wildlife Service (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department prioritises the ongoing management and eradication of invasive species as part of its conservation role, dedicating a significant level of its resources to these management activities each year. Monitoring of invasive species at Glen of the Downs Nature Reserve in County Wicklow continues throughout the year. There has been...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Ministerial Responsibilities (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I understand that my Department has been notified of potential legal proceedings. Accordingly, it would not be appropriate for me to comment at this time.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Housing for Allis the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing over the next decade. It includes unprecedented State investment of €4.5 billion per annum to facilitate the supply of housing at the substantial scale required to meet demand, including 54,000 affordable homes by 2030. Greater supply is key to meeting demand and facilitating access to affordable housing....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wastewater Treatment (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides financial support through the domestic waste water treatment system grant schemes to assist householders to carry out works to repair or upgrade defective septic tanks. I can confirm that a review of the grant schemes has been recently completed by my Department. As part of the review, there was extensive consultation with stakeholders, including convening a...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wastewater Treatment (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: In April 2022, I announced a new funding measure, as an advance stage of the upcoming Multi-annual Rural Water Programme, for the waste water collection and treatment needs of villages and settlements that do not have access to public waste water services. Funding of €50 million has been specifically allocated under the National Development Plan 2021-2030. The first round of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Legislative Measures (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department is currently finalising the drafting of the regulations to provide for consequential amendments to the Planning and Development Regulations regarding substitute consent procedures, following which the substitute consent and other relevant provisions of the Planning and Development, Maritime and Valuation (Amendment) Act 2022 will be commenced. The regulations are in the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Policies (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department does not use ChatGPT or any other Artificial Intelligence (AI) to conduct business. As with all new technologies, my Department is assessing the potential of AI in the delivery of services, in line with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) guidance on its usage in the public service, and works closely with the NCSC which encompasses the State's national/governmental...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Approved Housing Bodies (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: There are currently 450 AHBs registered with AHBRA. My Department does not hold information on organisations that may have registered as AHBs in the past but are no longer on the register. The Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act makes it an offence for a person, other than an AHB as defined in the Act, to describe themselves as or hold themselves out to indicate that they are,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Approved Housing Bodies (3 Oct 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: One of the functions of the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority (AHBRA) is to collect and publish information (including statistical information) concerning AHBs as it considers necessary and appropriate. AHBRA conducted its first monitoring programme in September 2022, the results of which have been published in its first Sectoral Analysis on 8 May 2023, and is available on their...