Results 11,121-11,140 of 25,999 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The Land Development Agency (LDA) submitted a planning application in March 2022 with a total application site area of c.9.6 ha, on lands at the Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum, Dublin 14. It is estimated that this site has the potential to provide 977 social and affordable housing units. As this site is currently at pre-development stage, the exact delivery potential will only be...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Exchequer investment from the National Development Plan, together with Housing Finance Agency lending and Land Development Agency (LDA) investment will mean that through the National Development Plan the Government is committed to investing over €4 bn per annum housing measures between 2021 and 2025. This funding commitment underpins the Government’s ‘Housing for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: National affordable housing delivery targets were published in Housing for All for 2022 – 2030. Overall targets to 2030 include 54,000 affordable housing units. Within that, the target for affordable purchase homes is 36,000 dwellings, with a further 18,000 to be cost rental units. From 2022 to 2026, over 28,000 affordable homes are targeted for delivery. Funding is made available...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Regeneration Projects (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides both capital and current funding to local authorities across a range of funding initiatives to assist them in providing homes for families and individuals on their social housing waiting lists. To provide transparency on the new social housing projects being advanced, each quarter my Department publishes a Social Housing Construction Status Report and updated Social...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Quality (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Hard water is safe to drink and meets the required drinking water standards, some households may choose to soften their water supply however, this is a matter of personal choice. The European Union (Drinking Water) Regulations 2014 require that any water supplied is wholesome and clean. Hardness and lime are not included as parameters in the Schedule to these Regulations. There are no...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: State Bodies (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department published the terms of reference (attached) for Senior Counsel Remy Farrells "Report into the management of conflicts of interest and relevant disclosures by the Deputy Chairperson of An Bord Pleanála in relation to certain Decisions of that Board and related matters"on 12 May 2022. While the purpose of the report is to provide an opinion from Senior Counsel on specific...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 308 and 313 together. Addressing the current housing shortage requires short, medium and long-term action to stimulate housing supply. The Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme, introduced in Housing for All, will help to activate construction-ready apartment supply in our cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. The Croí Cónaithe...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: State Bodies (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department published the terms of reference (attached) for the Report into the management of conflicts of interest and relevant disclosures by the Deputy Chairperson of An Bord Pleanála in relation to certain Decisions of that Board on the 12th of May 2022. In accordance with the terms of reference, Remy Farrell, Senior Counsel, is requested to provide a report to the Minister for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Addressing the current housing shortage requires short, medium and long-term action to stimulate housing supply. The Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme, introduced in Housing for All, will help to activate construction-ready apartment supply in our cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. The Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme is focused on delivering additional...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme, eligible households source their own accommodation in the private rented sector and the tenancy agreement is between the HAP recipient and their private landlord. The local authority does not have a role in the tenancy. The HAP application form comes in two parts: Section A to be completed by the applicant tenant and Section B to be...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The Ballincollig-Carrigaline Local Electoral Area (LEA) was designated a Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) on 27 January 2017 under section 24 of the Residential Tenancies Acts (2004-2021). New Local Electoral Areas and Municipal Districts were signed into law on 31 January 2019 for Cork City and County (which took into account the expanded Cork City boundary) for the May 2019 local elections....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Legislative Measures (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The Affordable Housing Regulations 2022 were signed and came into effect on 13 April 2022. Made with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, the regulations deal with the assessment of eligibility for purchasing a new home under the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme. These Regulations set out a household-specific and home-specific eligibility rule which...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Compulsory Purchase Orders (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 321 and 323 together. Housing for All (published in September 2021) provides a new housing plan for Ireland to 2030 with the overall objective that every citizen in the State should have access to good quality homes through a steady supply of housing in the right locations, with economic, social and environmental sustainability built into the system. The...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Compulsory Purchase Orders (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 321 and 323 together. Housing for All (published in September 2021) provides a new housing plan for Ireland to 2030 with the overall objective that every citizen in the State should have access to good quality homes through a steady supply of housing in the right locations, with economic, social and environmental sustainability built into the system. The...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Part IV of the Housing Act 1966 deals with overcrowding. It empowers local authorities to prohibit the use of an overcrowded dwelling, serve notice on an owner specifying the maximum number of persons that may occupy it without causing overcrowding, and require property owners to take appropriate action to alleviate such overcrowding. Housing for All, the Government's national housing plan,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2021 (RTA) regulates the landlord-tenant relationship in the rented residential sector and sets out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Acts to operate a national tenancy registration system and to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Reports (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 326 to 328, inclusive, together. The Programme for Government sets out a number of commitments in respect of the important policy area of addressing building defects. These include 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...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Fuel Inspections (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Under Section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he or she is responsible. My Department oversees workforce planning for the local government sector, including the monitoring of local government sector employment levels. To this...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Increasing the delivery of social housing is a priority for this Government. In this context, delivery mechanisms, including the repair and leasing scheme are kept under constant review. Action 20.9 of the Housing for All plan commits to support local authorities to drive expanded take-up of the enhanced repair and leasing scheme. Further information on enhancements to the scheme will be...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Ukraine War (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is leading the initial humanitarian response, including providing accommodation for persons arriving in Ireland from the conflict in Ukraine. Meanwhile, my Department is focusing on the longer-term accommodation challenges and is leading cross-government efforts through a Housing Taskforce established by the...