Results 19,521-19,540 of 21,489 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Charges Yield (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 532 and 545 together. The Water Services (No.2) Act 2013 provides for the transfer of water services functions from local authorities to Irish Water and provides for local authorities to act as agents for Irish Water. Local authorities have continued billing, collections and billing/metering query functions in relation to non-domestic customers on behalf of...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: EU Directives (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: My Department is currently finalising draft regulations to give further and better effect to the transposition of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive in Irish law. I hope to sign the regulations into law in the near future.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Applications (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: My Department provides funding to local authorities for various social housing supports, including for adaptations and extensions to the social housing stock to meet needs of tenants with a disability or to address serious overcrowding. My Department gave approval in this case to Sligo County Council on 31 July 2014 and it is now a matter for the Council to advance the project.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Charges Administration (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 535, 544 and 566 together. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides Irish Water with the power to charge customers in respect of the services provided. The Act also provides that responsibility for the independent economic regulation of the water sector is assigned to the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) and the CER has been given statutory...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Charges Exemptions (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 536, 538 and 542 together. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides Irish Water with the power to charge customers in respect of the services provided by it. The Act also provides that responsibility for the independent economic regulation of the water sector is assigned to the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) which has been given statutory...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Charges Administration (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 537, 550 and 561 together. Under the Water Services Acts 2007-2013, Irish Water may request its customers and certain specified persons or bodies, including the Minister for Social Protection, to provide it with information so that it can perform its functions under these Acts. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that Irish Water is responsible for...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Charges Administration (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: 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. There is currently no database of customers connected to the public water system and Irish Water is in the process of developing such a database. They have recently sent over 2 million customer validation packs to homes for...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Rural Development Programme Funding (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: In line with the ‘bottom-up’ approach to rural development under the LEADER elements of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013, the Local Action Groups (LAGs) are the principal decision-makers in relation to the allocation of project funding. Such decisions are made in the context of the local development strategy of the individual groups and in line with the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Irish Water Funding (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: Domestic water charges commenced with effect from 1 October 2014 and Irish Water will issue the first bills to domestic customers from January 2015. The approach to charging was outlined by Irish Water in a Water Charges Plan (WCP) submitted to the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) in line with the provisions of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013. Following a recent consultation...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Supply (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: 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. Irish Water has advised that the majority of leaks are underground on both public mains and on customers’ supply pipes, requiring significant effort and specialist technology to find them. Water usage is monitored...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Departmental Expenditure (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: The provisions of my Department’s Vote for next year are under consideration at present in the context of work leading to Budget 2015 on 14 October 2014 .

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 547 to 549, inclusive, together. I refer to the reply to Question No. 570 of 30 September 2014 which sets out the position on this matter. The preparation of the Planning Review Report 2012 was undertaken in house by departmental staff, therefore the only costs were the salary and associated costs of the officials engaged in preparing the report. The...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Grant Payments (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: My Department provides funding towards a range of housing supports, all of which are delivered through local authorities. For example, the Housing Aid for Older People Scheme provides grants of up to € 8,000 to assist older people living in poor housing conditions to have necessary repairs or improvements carried out. The detailed administration of these schemes, including the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Security of the Elderly (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 552 and 555 together. As Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, I am responsible for setting the terms and conditions of the Seniors Alert Scheme, which are designed to guide its operation, to ensure optimum outcomes and to ensure that public funds are properly applied. My Department manages the Scheme which encourages community...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Departmental Funding (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: On 18 July 2014, I announced the allocation of bridging funding of some €1.4 million to a number of previously funded health, disability and other organisations, including the Irish Deaf Society, for a twelve month period, pending the carrying out of a review of the public funding of national organisations in the health and disability sector. The review, which is being undertaken in...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Septic Tank Grants (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: The Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems (Financial Assistance) Regulations 2013, a copy of which are available in the Oireachtas library, brought into operation a grants scheme to assist with the cost of remediation of septic tanks and domestic waste water treatment systems which are deemed, following inspection under the EPA’s National Inspection Plan and the subsequent issue of an...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Charges Administration (7 Oct 2014)

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 can collect charges from its customers in receipt of water services provided by it. The Act also provides that responsibility for the independent economic regulation of the water sector is assigned to the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER)...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Departmental Websites (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: The links referred to in the reply to Question No. 181 of 24 September 2014 are not password protected. A visual form of the information requested is not available.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Departmental Websites (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: My Department’s website, , was developed to ensure compliance with accessibility guidelines and standards. While it has not been independently assessed, it is viewed as a critical communications channel for providing information to the public. As such, a project is currently underway to modernise it, improve the search functionality and make it more accessible and user friendly.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Dormant Accounts Fund Grants (7 Oct 2014)

Alan Kelly: The Dormant Accounts Act 2001, together with the Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Act 2003 and the Dormant Accounts (Amendment) Acts 2005-2012, provide a framework for the administration of unclaimed accounts in credit institutions (i.e. banks, building societies and An Post) and unclaimed life assurance policies in insurance undertakings. The legislation introduced a scheme for the...