Results 12,161-12,180 of 27,055 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Expenditure (18 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Capital funding has been used to advance capital investment across a range of programme areas within my Department’s remit, local authority housing, voluntary housing, estate regeneration, energy efficiency retrofitting, housing grants, rural water schemes, urban regeneration, peatlands conservation and restoration, national parks & wildlife services and fire services. Details...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (18 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) has been an important contributor to social housing supply since its introduction in 2005 and has placed responsibility on local authorities to meet the accommodation needs of people in receipt of Rent Supplement for 18 months or longer, and who are assessed as having a long-term housing need. The scheme is delivered by local authorities who source...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (18 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Supporting home ownership is a key objective for this Government. In Housing for All, our new Plan for housing in Ireland we committed to introducing a reformed Local Authority Home Loan scheme to further support access to home ownership for creditworthy home buyers who otherwise find it difficult to access sufficient finance. This is the successor to the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan. The new...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (18 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides funding to local authorities for the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability Scheme. These schemes assist eligible applicants living in privately owned homes to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. Funding of €81.25 million is available nationally in 2022 which is an increase of €6.25 million on the 2021...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (18 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I have signed two sets of Regulations which underpin the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme, made under the provisions of the Affordable Housing Act 2021, which came into effect on 13 April 2022. The Regulations provide the basis for the making available of affordable purchase homes by local authorities and the administration of sales. The Affordable Housing Regulations 2022 deal...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Vacant Properties (18 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: 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 strategy sets out, over four pathways, a broad suite of...

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

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 283 and 284 together. My Department issues a conditional licence to the Irish Coursing Club under Section 34 of the Wildlife Acts (as amended) to capture live hares. Conditions 13 and 14 of this licence to net hares relate to the release of hares and state: 13. All hares must be released back into the wild during daylight hours at the conclusion of the...

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

Darragh O'Brien: My Department fully supports the Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Act 2022 and will comply with all necessary policies and protocols resulting from this legislation. My Department currently utilises computer hardware until it reaches end of life in line with financial policies. End of life computer hardware is disposed of in line with WEEE...

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

Darragh O'Brien: My Department does not hold information along the lines set out in the question. Since 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. The scope, prioritisation and progression of individual projects is a matter for Irish Water, and is approved through its own internal...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (17 May 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 287 and 331 together. The decision regarding to whom the COVID-19 payment should be made does not rest with my Department. In recognition of the efforts of the general public, volunteers and all workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and in remembrance of people who lost their lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government made decisions earlier...

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

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides funding to local authorities in respect of the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability, to assist eligible people in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The suite of grants include the Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability (max grant €30,000), the Mobility Aids Grant (max grant...

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

Darragh O'Brien: Dublin City Council is currently progressing plans for the redevelopment of the 6.1 hectare site at the location referred to which includes the Abigail Women’s Centre and Tús Núa facility with a view to constructing 166 homes, a Men’s Shed and a Crèche. On receipt of a Stage 1 Capital Appraisal my Department issued Stage 1 Approval-in-Principle in May 2020 for...

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

Darragh O'Brien: The options in relation to vacant or derelict housing are addressed in Pathway 4 of Housing for All which notes that at a time of such high housing need, we have to ensure that the houses we already have are being fully used. Under Housing For All, there are a suite of measures to address vacancy and dereliction through efficient use of existing stock including the Croí...

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

Darragh O'Brien: 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 strategy sets out, over four pathways, a broad suite of...

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

Darragh O'Brien: Since 2013, Exchequer funding has been provided through my Department's Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme (EERP) to support local authorities with the retrofit of local authority owned homes requiring insulation and energy upgrade works. Since the programme commenced in 2013 over 75,000 homes have been retrofitted with a total exchequer spend of €184 million under the scheme. In...

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

Darragh O'Brien: My Department meets all of obligations for reasonable accommodation under the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015. The Employment Equality Acts oblige employers to make reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities. An employer must take ‘appropriate measures’ to meet the needs of disabled people in the workforce. This means they must make arrangements that will enable a...

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...