Results 20,241-20,260 of 26,350 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social Welfare Payments (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 334 and 335 together. The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a form of social housing support available for people who have a long-term housing need. Any household assessed as eligible for social housing is immediately eligible for HAP. Eligible households can source their own accommodation in the private rental sector which should be within the HAP rent...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homeless Accommodation (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 336 and 337 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 local authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation and related services for homeless persons...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Building Energy Rating (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 338 and 339 together. 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. Over the period 2013 to the end of 2023, local authorities received over €308 million in...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Land Issues (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Tailte Éireann is an independent Government agency under the aegis of my Department. Tailte Éireann provides a property registration system, property valuation service, and national mapping and surveying infrastructure for the State. Under Section 8(6) of the Tailte Éireann Act 2022, Tailte Éireann is independent in the performance of its functions. I understand from...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The Local Authority Home Loan is a Government-backed mortgage for creditworthy applicants who cannot get sufficient funding from commercial banks to purchase or build a home. It has been available nationwide from local authorities since 4 January 2022 for first-time buyers and fresh start applicants. The loan can be used both for new and second-hand properties, or to self-build. The...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Under Housing for All, the Government will deliver 47,600 new build social homes and 3,500 social homes through long-term leasing in the period 2022-2026. Our clear focus is to increase the stock of social housing through new build projects delivered by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs). Social Housing is delivered through a range of local authority and Approved Housing...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: In considering this matter it is in the first instance necessary to have regard to the relevant legislation to determine if the legislation makes adequate provisions for the issue at hand. In that regard, the Local Government Act 2001 (as amended) provides the elected members of a local authority with the statutory responsibility, power and functions to determine matters such as this. Under...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: State Bodies (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Tailte Éireann is an independent Government agency under the aegis of my Department. Tailte Éireann provides a property registration system, property valuation service, and national mapping and surveying infrastructure for the State. Under Section 8(6) of the Tailte Éireann Act 2022, Tailte Éireann is independent in the performance of its functions. I understand from...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Cost Rental is a form of rental tenure designed to assist a cohort of renters who face significant affordability challenges meeting high rents in the private sector and who are not eligible for social housing support. The core principle of Cost Rental is that the rents cover the development, management, and maintenance costs of the homes, so that the long-term future of the homes is...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Electoral law provides for postal voting for a number of different categories of people: whole-time members of the Defence Forcesmembers of An Garda SíochánaIrish diplomats serving abroad and their spouses/civil partnerselectors living at home who are unable to vote because of an illness or a disabilityelectors whose occupation, service or employment makes it likely that they will...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Housing for All is an agile plan and has an in-built flexibility to review measures to address the changing and complex needs of the housing system. The latest updated Action Plan, published in November 2023, continues to focus on activating and delivering housing at pace, enhancing affordability, whilst fundamentally reforming our housing system. The actions in the Plan are updated on an...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: I commenced the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (the Act) on 22 June 2023 which contains the enhanced grant scheme and adopted the related Regulations on 29 June 2023. Section 36 of the Act provides that the Government may make a further Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB) scheme for the purposes of enabling a designated local authority or an...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Waste Management (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department does not hold information on the number of Domestic Waste Water Treatment System (DWWTS) grants processed by each local authority. However, to be helpful, the table below sets out the number of DWWTS grants and the amount paid by my Department to each local authority in 2022 and 2023. County Number of grants paid in 2022 Amount paid in 2022 ...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social Welfare Benefits (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) is a social housing support that meets the needs of people in receipt of Rent Supplement for 18 months or longer and who are assessed as having a long-term housing need. Accommodation provided under RAS is governed by the terms of the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2021, as amended. RAS involves a three way contractual relationship between...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Land Issues (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 353 and 354 together. The Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT) is a new tax introduced in Finance Act 2021 which seeks to increase housing supply by encouraging the activation of development on lands which are suitably zoned and appropriately serviced. It aims to bring those lands which have benefitted from investment in services and are capable of being...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The administration of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme is a matter for the relevant local authority and HAP application processing times may vary across local authorities. Once a HAP application has been received and confirmed as valid by the relevant local authority, it is entered on the system by the local authority and then submitted for processing and payment by the HAP...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Waste Management (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The policy of providing grant funding for remedial work on domestic waste water treatment systems arises from the need to address damage being done to water quality in sensitive areas in particular. There are three grant schemes available to householders relating to DWWTS, commonly known as septic tank grants. The grants are focused on these areas of greatest environmental priority. ...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The Residential Tenancies Board, (RTB), was established as a quasi-judicial independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2022 to regulate the rental sector; provide information to tenants and landlords; maintain a national register of tenancies; resolve disputes between tenants and landlords; and conduct research and provide information to inform policy. Prior to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (20 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: I commenced the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (the Act) on 22 June 2023 which contains the enhanced grant scheme and adopted the related Regulations on 29 June 2023. The enhanced grant scheme facilitates the remediation of existing houses that have been damaged by the use of defective concrete blocks, but not the construction of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (20 Feb 2024)

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 end,...