Results 17,141-17,160 of 21,489 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: EU Directives (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: Under the Water Services Acts 2007-2013, Irish Water has statutory powers to request its customers and certain specified persons or bodies to provide it with information so that Irish Water can perform its functions under these Acts including the collection of data to develop its customer database. In particular, section 26 of the Water Services Act 2013 provides Irish Water with the power to...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Commercial Rates (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 466 to 468, inclusive, together. Local authorities are under a statutory obligation to levy rates on any property used for commercial purposes in accordance with the details entered in the valuation lists prepared by the independent Commissioner of Valuation under the Valuation Act 2001. The levying and collection of rates are matters for each individual local...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Commercial Rates Calculations (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: Local authorities are under a statutory obligation to levy rates on any property used for commercial purposes in accordance with the details entered in the valuation lists prepared by the independent Commissioner of Valuation under the Valuation Act 2001. The Commissioner of Valuation has sole responsibility for all valuation matters, including the method of valuation. The levying and...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Data (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 470, 471 and 474 together. General statistics on local authority housing stock, including vacant social housing units, are published annually by the Local Government Management Agency. The most recent statistics are the Service Indicators in Local Authorities 2013 which are available on the following website. The table below shows the number of units returned...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Private Rented Accommodation Costs and Controls (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: The Daft.ie Rental Report for Quarter 1 2015, which was published last week, reported that year-on-year inflation in rents continued to ease slightly in the first three months of 2015. It reported that rents nationally were 8.2% higher than in the first quarter of 2014, down from the 10.4% annual increase recorded in mid-2014. While the report recorded a slow-down in rent inflation in...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 473 and 483 together. While my Department collates and publishes a wide range o f housing and planning statistics, it does not collect information on the number of planning applications for new nursing homes nor applications for extensions to existing nursing homes.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Homelessness Strategy (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 475 and 476 together. The Government’s Homelessness Policy Statement, which was published in February 2013, outlines the Government's aim to end long-term homelessness by the end of 2016. The Statement also emphasises a housing-led approach which is about accessing permanent housing as the primary response to homelessness. Such an approach to...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Data (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 477 to 479, inclusive, together. On 5 May 2015, I announced a major social housing construction investment programme of €312 million, covering all 31 local authorities and with over 1,700 housing units to be built across some 100 separate projects. That announcement followed proposals made by local authorities on their planned delivery of new social...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 480 and 481 together. The Social Housing Strategy 2020, published in November 2014, sets out clear, measureable actions and targets to increase the supply of social housing, reform delivery arrangements and meet the housing needs of all households on the housing list. Under this Strategy a target of 3,000 units has been set for delivery in 2015 under the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Finance Agency (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: In November 2014 the Government approved the Social Housing Strategy 2020 which sets out a strategic framework for meeting the State’s social housing needs to the end of the decade.The Strategy includes acommitment tocommence work on a financial vehicle, to be known as the Strategic Housing Fund, to raise funding for the social housing sector. Work on the development of this new...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Flood Relief Schemes Expenditure (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: On 28 June 2012, severe flooding, as a result of heavy rain, affected the Cork area and caused damage to homes and businesses in a number of areas. While my Department co-ordinates the national level response to several types of severe weather emergencies, including flooding, it has no role in relation to the development, establishment or operation of any flood relief fund for households...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: Since the publication of the Social Housing Strategy, and indeed beforehand, my Department has engaged with local authorities, with a view to ensuring their capacity and preparedness for delivery of the ambitious targets to 2020. My Department works closely with all local authorities and all have been invited to submit staffing sanction requests to facilitate the delivery of the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Expenditure (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: My Department’s support to local authorities for their programmes of insulation retrofitting applies to local authority owned houses only and is not available in respect of private houses.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services Provision (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: With effect from 1 January 2014, Irish Water is responsible for public water services. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that Irish Water shall collect charges from its customers in receipt of water services provided by it in accordance with a water charges plan to be approved by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER). Section 22(5) of the Act provides that a water charges plan...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Electoral Reform (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: The categories of persons who may vote by post at elections and referendums has evolved incrementally in the context of electoral amendment legislation. As outlined in response to Parliamentary Question No. 587 of 12 May 2015, the Government, in responding to the recommendation of the Constitution on the Convention in their fourth report that there should be greater access to postal voting,...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Mortgage Arrears Proposals (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: Under the Approved Housing Body (AHB) Mortgage to Rent Scheme (AHB-mortgage-to-rent) an AHB can acquire ownership of a property with an unsustainable private mortgage, enabling the household to remain in their home as a social housing tenant. To be eligible for the Approved Housing Body (AHB) mortgage-to-rent scheme a household must have had their mortgage position deemed unsustainable under...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Funding (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: My Department has not received an application from Monaghan County Council, or the former Castleblayney Town Council, for funding for the Court House/Market House, Castleblayney, County Monaghan since 2009.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Charges Exemptions (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: A new water charging regime was announced by the Government on 19 November 2014. The capped annual charges will be €160 for single adult households and €260 for all other households until the end of 2018. All households will know what their capped bills will be until the end of 2018, which is particularly important for larger households or those with high usage due to medical...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Charges Exemptions (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: Under the European Union (Drinking Water) Regulations 2014, a copy of which is available in the Oireachtas Library, suppliers of drinking water are required to ensure that the water supplied complies with the chemical and microbiological parameters set out in the Regulations. Details of monitoring requirements along with the procedures to be followed and the roles of water suppliers, the EPA...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Environmental Protection Agency Funding (19 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a statutory role for the co-ordination of environmental research in Ireland, and receives an annual allocation from the Environment Fund for this purpose. The decision on the budget to be provided is made each year on the basis of balancing the indicative research requirements of the Agency, and the availability of funding.  For example, in...