Results 2,061-2,080 of 4,700 for speaker:Noel Ahern

House Prices. (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: The Deputy should not be scared of them. However, the first-time buyer is still a major player in the market. Although prices have risen, it is a question of affordability. The real test concerns the percentage of one's take home pay which one spends on one's mortgage. If one reviewed the position that obtained 20 or 30 years ago, one would probably find that in many cases, it was not...

House Prices. (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: They do not appear to be overly deprived and seem to manage. I accept that expectations are higher. The potential problem with mortgages concerns future increases in interest rates. This is where real concerns may arise. Financial institutions are supposed to conduct stress tests. However, I have heard rumours — I do not have the facts — that they do not perform stress tests as thoroughly...

House Prices. (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: In the main, Question No. 7 pertains to affordable houses. My understanding is that Deputy Finian McGrath has attempted to raise the issue of social housing. This year's budget for social housing is €1.4 billion, which constitutes a significant sum of money. The output for local authority houses last year was the highest for 20 years. The number on the waiting list was down 10%, and if we...

Local Authority Housing. (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 100 together. Under the rental accommodation scheme, or RAS, local authorities are providing accommodation for certain recipients of SWA rent supplement who have been assessed as having a long-term housing need. The RAS is an additional housing option and eligible persons can indicate their preference to be accommodated by local authorities under the RAS...

Local Authority Housing. (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: There is no problem with the budget. It is not a case of resources if many local authorities are not using the money.

Local Authority Housing. (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: The scheme has been started by 19 local authorities.

Local Authority Housing. (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: I gave the figures. There are about 60,000 people on rent supplement. There are about 33,000 of those who are over the 18-month waiting period. About 1,000 people have moved so far. This will be a very slow process, and to date it is slower than we expected. One has to negotiate case by case with each landlord. Much of the accommodation for which people were receiving rent allowance is very...

Local Authority Housing. (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: No. We are trying to deal with 33,000 people.

Written Answers — Private Rented Accommodation: Private Rented Accommodation (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: My Department maintains close ongoing contact with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) regarding progress on the implementation generally of the provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. An update on the number of registration applications processed by the PRTB is provided to my Department generally on a monthly basis.

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 and 92 together. The preparation of the National Development Plan 2007-2013 (NDP) is being coordinated by the Department of Finance and a high level steering group, chaired by that Department and comprising senior officials of other relevant Departments, has been established to oversee drafting. The housing material of the NDP is being drafted by my...

Written Answers — House Prices: House Prices (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: I refer to the reply by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to Question No. 1128 of 25 January 2006. Any legislative action to address the issue of gazumping would involve changes to the Law of Contract. The report of the Auctioneering and Estate Agency Review Group to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in July 2005 recommended, in order to protect buyers, that...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: Proposals from local authorities in relation to the construction of social and affordable housing that may involve the provision of additional energy efficiency measures, will be examined by my Department on their merits from the point of view of efficacy and value for money/cost benefit considerations. Social housing design guidelines outline a range of issues to be taken into account...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: Housing statistics are available on my Department's website at www.environ.ie. Under the Tenant Purchase Scheme, local authorities completed 1738 sales in 2005.

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 71 together. The management, maintenance and improvements to their rented dwellings is the responsibility of each local authority and the funding of such works is provided by local authorities from their own resources as part of their ongoing maintenance programmes. My Department does, however, provide capital funding for substantial major refurbishment...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: Galway County Council were contacted in this matter and advise that the houses in question are priced at €152,000, which is the construction cost of the units less a subsidy from my Department. The price of each house is based on costs at final account stage. Galway County Council have confirmed that at no time were the applicants in Tynagh advised of any price other than the sale price...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: The impact of this Government's commitment to strong social and affordable housing programmes can be seen in the results of the 2005 Housing Needs Assessment which showed a decrease of almost 10% when compared to the 2002 results. Indeed the strength of existing programmes can be gauged from the fact that work was in progress on over 10,000 social housing units at the end of last year. Since...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: It is a key Government objective to maximise access to affordable housing. In situations where the demand exceeds the supply for particular developments, it is a matter for the relevant local authority to draw up a scheme of allocation priorities based on broad criteria set out in legislation. The making of a scheme or amendment to any such scheme is a reserved function of the Council.

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: My Department recoups to local authorities 90% of their expenditure on the provision of accommodation and related services for homeless persons, including those in move-on accommodation. In 2005, recoupment was made in respect of 779 move-on units, which represented an increase of almost 33% over the previous year when recoupment was made in respect of 586 units. Funding available from my...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: An objective and comprehensive assessment of a person or family's need is an essential first step in putting in place a modern system of housing supports. Under the Housing Policy Framework — Building Sustainable Communities, there is a commitment to develop new means of assessing housing need. As part of the new arrangements I anticipate that future assessments of housing need will be...

Written Answers — Private Rented Accommodation: Private Rented Accommodation (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: I intend to review the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 1993 as soon as the demands involved in bedding down the new tenancy legislative regime permit. I expect that work on the review of the Regulations will commence later this year. In the meantime action is being taken on a number of fronts, as indicated in my reply to Questions Nos. 12, 61, 63, 103, 104 and 114 on 8 March...