Results 14,461-14,480 of 27,055 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Housing Agency has been provided with direct capital funding to facilitate the acquisition of suitable portfolios of vacant properties for social housing from financial institutions and investors.  An Acquisitions Fund of €70m was established with effect from 1 January 2017, with the objective of acquiring some 1,600 homes over the period to 2021, for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: As the Deputy will be aware, Budget 2021 allocated €35m for a new Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL) scheme, under which Government is making loans to Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) on favourable terms for up to 30% of the capital cost of new homes for Cost Rental. Following a Call for Proposals from AHBs in December 2020, a rigorous assessment process was undertaken by my Department and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: To date, my Department has issued two broad-based Serviced Sites Fund (SSF) calls for proposals to local authorities. Funding of almost €200 million has been approved in principle in support of 40 infrastructure projects in 14 local authority areas across 9 counties, which will assist in the delivery of almost 4,200 affordable homes for purchase or for rent. Details of 35...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The level of expenditure to end 2020, was approximately €79.888m with circa €59.916m in Exchequer funds drawn down, matched by 25% local authority funding. A further €11.399m has been expended in 2021 on the same basis.  While drawdown to date has been in-line with expectations and budget profiling, at this time it is...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Housing First enables homeless individuals with high levels of complex needs to obtain permanent secure accommodation with the provision of intensive housing and health supports to help them maintain their tenancies. At the end of March 2021, a total of 539 individuals were being housed under the Housing First programme including 438 individuals who have been housed since the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Housing Agency provides a central support service which assesses applications for the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan on behalf of local authorities and makes recommendations to the authorities to approve or refuse applications. Each local authority must have in place a credit committee and it is a matter for the committee to make the decision on applications for loans, in accordance...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: European Court of Justice (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Following a judgment in March 2019 by the Court of Justice of the European Union on Ireland's non-compliance with the urban wastewater treatment directive, my Department, accompanied by Irish Water, met with European Commission officials in June 2019 and proposed a programme of measures to ensure that the findings in the judgment were addressed.  My Department is maintaining regular...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Grant Payments (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The table below sets out the amount of funding allocated by my Department each year since the introduction of the Lead Remediation Grant in 2016.  It also shows the number of households that have benefited from the grant and the amount of funding recouped by my Department to local authorities each year. The Lead Remediation Grant is a demand-led scheme. Year Funding...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Services (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: With effect from 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels for public water services. Given the role assigned to Irish Water, my Department does not compile the information that the Deputy has requested. However, for the information of the Deputy, the Programme for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Fire Service (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 645 and 646 together. The provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Services Act, 1981. My Department supports fire authorities through...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority, in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended. In order to qualify for social housing support and be placed on a housing list, an applicant must be...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Flood Risk Management (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: With effect from 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels for public water services, including the delivery of water services capital infrastructure, encompassing the management of urban waste water collection and treatment infrastructure.  Under section 7 of the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides funding under the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability, to assist people in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs.  The grants include the Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability, the Mobility Aids Grant and the Housing Aid for Older People, which are...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 659 and 660 together. The Mortgage Allowance scheme provides for an allowance of up to €11,450 payable over a 5 year period, to tenants or tenant purchasers of local authority housing, to assist them to purchase or have a private house built with a mortgage.  New applications are still being accepted by local authorities under the scheme, and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Fire Service (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The provision of a fire service and the assessment of the requirements arising, including the nature of the fire hazards and the probable incidence and extent of fires, in its functional area is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under Section 10 of the Fire Services Act 1981.  Despite the best efforts of communities, wildland fires can occur in certain...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Choice Based Letting (CBL) is a method whereby available social housing stock is let by being openly advertised by local authorities to persons on the social housing waiting list. This allows qualified applicants to 'register an interest' in available homes. Applicants can act on their own initiative to respond to adverts and express an interest in dwellings that they would like to live...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: National Asset Management Agency (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: There has been an ongoing engagement between my Department, the Housing Agency and the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) since 2011 to identify properties from the NAMA loan portfolio that would be suitable for social housing. In 2011, a Steering Group was established to identify properties that would be suitable for social housing.  Once demand was confirmed, NAMA facilitated...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Bodies (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies (Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, 2016) provides a framework for the application of best practice in corporate governance by both commercial and non-commercial State bodies. Section 9 of the Code requires that State bodies publish in their annual report the salary of the Chief Executive Officer. All State bodies...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Quality (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 674, 675, 677 and 678 together. I note the report from the Environmental Protection Agency, which highlights that the main risk to water quality continues to be excess nutrients in our rivers, lakes and coastal areas. Nutrient concentrations are too high and the trends in some areas are going in the wrong direction. The oversupply of nutrients is coming from...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Residential Tenancies (No. 2) Act 2021 was signed into law on 9 July 2021 and limits, in respect of tenancies created on or after 9 August 2021, the amount of rent in advance (maximum of 1 month’s rent) and/or a deposit (maximum of 1 month’s rent) that a landlord can ask anyone, including a student, to pay to secure a tenancy Accordingly, the maximum...