Results 9,301-9,320 of 25,880 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Confidence in Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Motion (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: It is an important issue. I and my Government colleagues are acutely aware of the challenge the country has in tackling and solving the housing crisis. All of us in this House, whether Government or Opposition and whether some like it or not, have a responsibility to help resolve it, not to capitalise on it, manipulate it, sow division, block, delay or use any tactic to avoid supporting...

Confidence in Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Motion (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: That might be a first. I stand to be corrected and will check the council records. There is a very serious-----

Confidence in Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Motion (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: There is a very serious thing this Government is engaging in, namely, providing housing for all. That is why all three parties of the Government have put together a comprehensive plan that is detailed and clear for anyone who wants to read it. It sets out the actions across Government that need to be taken to improve the situation for our citizens. No one on the Opposition benches has put...

Confidence in Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Motion (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The public knows that too. Let us show some respect to voters. That respect should extend to the fact that when Members bring forward alternatives, they should stack up and be implementable. If you support social housing across this country, do not object to it. Do not let your councillors object time after time or find any reason to object. Do not vote against legislation that will...

Confidence in Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Motion (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: There are only 15 members in the Government.

Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy. (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: For all of us, Bobby was a true friend. I was a disrupter in the group as a Dub. The one thing Bobby could never understand is when he discussed hurling, I would discuss cricket. It was one thing he could never agree with me about. We travelled a bit and went to weddings in Kinsale. Everywhere you went, people loved Bobby. He was gregarious and his personality was infectious. As every...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Emergency Accommodation (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department has continued to work with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth around the Emergency Refurbishment (Ukraine) project and supporting the specific accommodation needs, particularly in respect of multi-occupancy vacant properties that may be suitable and available for use as accommodation, subject to refurbishment being carried out. To that...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019 specify requirements in relation to a range of matters, such as structural repair, sanitary facilities, heating, ventilation, natural light, fire safety and the safety of gas, oil and electrical installations. All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with these regulations. Responsibility for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Policies (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The Programme for Government, Our Shared Future, is the foundation for my Department's main policy initiatives. My Department has commitments across 10 of the 12 Missions in the Programme. My Department's Statement of Strategy for the period 2021-2025 was published in April 2021 and sets out our strategic goals, objectives and actions for the period ahead. It is available on my...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Under Housing for All, the Government will deliver 54,000 affordable homes between by 2030, to be facilitated by local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), the Land Development Agency (LDA) and through a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks. In implementing the key objectives under Housing for All, each local authority has prepared and published a Housing Delivery...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Projects (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Details of the studies, reviews and research projects undertaken or commissioned by my Department and currently underway, are set out in the attached table, together with the scheduled completion date. Information in relation to recently published reports is available on the homepage of my Department's website at: www.gov.ie/en/organisation/department-of-housing-local-gover...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Total spend to end Q3 2022 relating to long-term leasing, the Housing Assistant Payments (HAP) and Rental Accommodation Scheme are attached. In respect of the provision of HAP funding, Limerick City and County Council provides a highly effective HAP transactional shared service on behalf of all local authorities. This HAP Shared Services Centre (SSC) manages all HAP related rental...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Expenditure (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Capital expenditure in 2022 progressed slower than profiled as a result of construction, and consequently expenditure on construction related activities, being significantly impacted as a result of ongoing economic issues including the restricted operating environment under Covid-19 health and safety protocols that prevailed up to early 2022. This was coupled with the significant level of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Fire Safety (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 296, 310 and 311 together. The Programme for Government sets out a commitment to examine defects in housing, having regard to the recommendations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing’s report Safe as Houses?,and to assist owners of latent defect properties by identifying options for those impacted by defects, to access low-cost, long-term...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 297 and 308 together. Housing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. This includes an average of 10,000 new build social homes each year in the period to 2030. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn per annum, through an overall...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Social housing tenancies are typically governed by the tenancy agreement between the social housing tenant and the relevant local authority. The terms of such agreements are matters for each individual local authority as part of their day-to-day management of the social housing system. While there is no legislative provision to deal with such matters, generally joint tenancies can be...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Domestic Violence (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: A barring order granted under the Domestic Violence Act 2018 requires the person accused of abusive behaviour, who can be either in an intimate relationship or a non-dependent child of the victim, to leave the home and prohibits that person from entering the home. Local authorities can remove a perpetrator of domestic violence from a tenancy agreement if they are subject to a barring...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The Local Authority Home Loan is a Government backed mortgage scheme for those on modest or low incomes who cannot get sufficient funding from commercial banks to purchase or build a home. It has been available nationwide from local authorities since 4 January 2022 for first-time buyers and fresh start applicants. The loan can be used both for new and second-hand properties, or to self-build....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The right of local authorities to set and collect rents on their dwellings is laid down in section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. The making or amending of rent schemes, including raising or reducing the rent charged to tenants is an executive function and my department has no role in this regard. Generally, the majority of the revenue raised by local authorities through the charging of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Services (13 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department’s Multi-annual Rural Water Programme, through Exchequer funding, delivers improvements to water services in areas of rural Ireland where there are no public water services. A working group – the Rural Water Working Group – is considering the composition of the measures for inclusion for funding under the upcoming multi-annual programme and I expect to...