Results 15,001-15,020 of 26,245 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Home Loan Scheme (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan Scheme enables credit-worthy first-time buyers to access sustainable mortgage lending to purchase new or second-hand properties in a suitable price range, where they cannot obtain sufficient mortgage finance from a commercial lender. As with the previous local authority loan offerings, the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan is available to first-time buyers only....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 611 to 613, inclusive, together. ‘Our Shared Future’, the Programme for Government, commits to putting affordability at the heart of the housing system. The €75 allocation in Budget 2021 for the Affordable Purchase Shared Equity Scheme is one measure to deliver on this commitment, with the three-fold objectives of (1) improving access...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: To date, my Department has issued two formal Serviced Sites Fund (SSF) calls for proposals to local authorities. Funding of almost €188 million has been approved in principle in support of 38 infrastructure projects in 14 local authority areas, which will assist in the delivery of almost 4,000 more affordable homes. Under proposals as they stand, approximately 3,300 of these homes...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Private Rented Accommodation (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Programme for Government - 'Our Shared Future', commits to improve the security of tenure for tenants, through legislating for tenancies of indefinite duration, increasing Residential Tenancies Board enforcement and examining incentives for long-term leasing. Proposals for further amendments to the Residential Tenancies Acts are currently being developed, for inclusion in the General...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Housing (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 619 and 703 together. The Programme for Government commits to bringing forward a package of social housing reforms, which includes standardising the differential rents regime across the country to ensure fairness. Work on the review of the current rent schemes has been ongoing and I have asked my Department to prepare recommendations regarding the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Housing (24 Mar 2021)

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 such schemes is an executive function and is subject to broad principles set out by the Department, including that rent levels should be based on income and reflect tenants’ ability to pay. Some local authorities retained the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Care of the Elderly (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: There are a number of key principles underpinning Government policy on housing for older people. These include putting in place measures to ensure that sustainable housing is provided in the right location to enable people to age in the community; to design housing and the environment in accordance with the principles of sustainable lifetime housing; to promote the use of assistive technology...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on a quarterly basis on social housing delivery activity. The data is available to the end of Quarter 4 2020. This data is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website, at the following link: In addition to the statistical overview of activity in each local authority, the Social Housing Construction...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department does not hold the information as requested by the Deputy with respect to the number of social housing applicants that were refused due to being in receipt of pandemic unemployment payment. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Housing (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Responsibility for the management and maintenance of the local authority housing stock rests with each local authority under section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. My Department does however provide funding support to local authorities to assist with management and maintenance of their stock under a number of funding programmes, which includes the Energy Retrofit Programme. The 2021 Energy...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Housing (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department did not receive a request from Donegal County Council regarding the acquisition of the property to which the Deputy refers. However, I understand from the Council that they have put in place a long term housing solution for the tenants concerned. The delivery of housing supports is a key priority of Government and this is reflected in the Programme for Government commitment...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homeless Persons Supports (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 628 and 629 together. My Department's role in relation to homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the role of housing authorities in addressing homelessness at a local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of homeless services rests with individual housing authorities....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Land Ownership (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I am informed by the Property Registration Authority (PRA) that its folio and map records are available through its online service landdirect.ie. This service can be accessed with a business account or as a guest user. I am further informed that to search for a property, it is simply a question of browsing the map or clicking on the “Search” menu and various searching options...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Regeneration Projects (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) was launched in 2018 to support more compact and sustainable development. The URDF is one of four funds established under the National Development Plan 2018-2027 and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has responsibility for its implementation. The Fund is providing part-funding for applicant led projects that will...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Staff (24 Mar 2021)

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: Local Authority Housing (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Section 12 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 deals with District Court proceedings for possession by a local authority where there has been a breach of a tenancy agreement or rent-related obligation.  The tenancy agreement includes a term relating to anti-social behaviour.  Anti-social behaviour is defined in section 1 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Schemes (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I understand that the schemes in question are non-statutory and are a matter for the individual local authorities and, as such, information in relation to them should be sought from each local authority directly.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homelessness Strategy (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Residential Tenancies Act 2020 was enacted and came into operation on 24 October 2020. The Act aims to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on tenants and to support the Government's efforts to restrict the movement of people in order to suppress the spread of this virus. The Act modifies the operation of the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2020 to prevent any notices of termination...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homeless Persons Supports (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department's role in relation to homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the role of housing authorities in addressing homelessness at a local level.  Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of homeless services rests with individual housing authorities. Section 10 of the Housing Act 1988 sets out the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Housing (24 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on a quarterly basis on social housing delivery activity. This data is available to the end of 2020 and is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website, at the following link: This data provides a breakdown of social housing delivery across a range of delivery mechanisms. Further details on the delivery of...