Results 23,181-23,200 of 26,565 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Housing for All commits to increasing the housing options available to older people to facilitate ageing in place with dignity and independence, including the development of a policy on rightsizing. The Housing for All policy objective to make more efficient use of existing housing stock includes tasking my Department with the development of a national policy on rightsizing and to explore...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 91 and 95 together. The recently published research by the ESRI on population growth and structural housing demand to 2040 provides a credible evidence-base for the development of revised housing targets by my department. Recognising the difficulty in accurately estimating population growth and future housing demand over the longer-term, the ESRI research...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Development Contributions (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: On 25 April 2023, the Government approved additional measures under the Housing for All Action Plan to incentivise the activation of increased housing supply and help reduce housing construction costs, including the introduction of temporary time-limited arrangements for the waiving of local authority “section 48” development contributions and the refunding of Uisce Éireann...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department monitors multiple aspects of the housing market on an ongoing basis, including the quantum of housing purchased by household and non-household purchasers. Suggestions institutional investors are 'snapping-up' houses is not supported by the data, sectoral commentary, or from feedback provided by the real estate sector to my Department. Indeed, available data and sectoral...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Funding approvals are now in place for the delivery of over 4,300 affordable purchase and cost rental homes by 21 local authorities with the support of the Affordable Housing Fund. The legislative framework and arrangements in place to support local authority affordable purchase schemes are proving effective. Louth County Council has already delivered their first local authority led...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Cost Rental housing represents a key element of affordable housing delivery under the Government's Housing For All strategy, which is being achieved through collaboration with a range of delivery partners including Local Authorities, Approved Housing Bodies, and the Land Development Agency. In relation to the O'Devaney Gardens and Oscar Traynor Road, my Department has approved funding for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Housing for All, the most ambitious housing plan in the history of our State, was published in September 2021. The Plan contains a suite of actions that has, and continues to increase the provision of housing through accelerating supply and increasing the affordability of homes for our citizens, including for those in Cavan and Monaghan. Reflecting the importance placed on Housing for All, a...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: 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 (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended. Decisions on the qualification of households for support, the awarding of medical priority, the most...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Services (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: There are a number of housing estates across the country that rely on developer provided infrastructure for their water services. These estates have not been taken-in-charge and their water services are not connected to the public (Uisce Éireann) network. The water services infrastructure, provided by the developer of such estates, is more commonly called DPI. My Departments’...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The Interim Remediation Scheme for the funding of eligible emergency fire safety defect works in apartments and duplexes has been in place since December 2023. The Scheme, which is being administered by the Housing Agency on a nationwide basis, is open to applications from apartment Owners’ Management Companies (OMC) via the Housing Agency’s website. In the period since the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: House Sales (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: In May 2021, conscious of the need to increase stock for home ownership, the Government introduced a series of measures designed to prevent the bulk buying of houses and duplexes. Apartments were not included in this measure. The Section 28 Guidelines for Planning Authorities “Regulation of Commercial Institutional Investment in Housing” aimed to prevent multiple housing and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established as quasi-judicial, independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2024 (RTA) to operate a national tenancy registration system and to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants. The RTB published the Q1 2024 Rent Index on 12 September 2024. The quarterly index tracks price developments in the Irish rental...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: House Sales (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Pathway 3 of Housing for All recognises that lack of viability is constraining the development of apartments for the purpose of sale rather than rent in the built-up areas of cities that are more suited to higher-density residential development. Per section 3.4 of the Plan, Government has established the Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Fund to support the delivery of residential apartments...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The social and affordable housing development at Shanganagh is being delivered in a partnership between Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and the Land Development Agency (LDA). In addition to social housing, the scheme will deliver 306 cost rental and 91 affordable purchase homes. In line with the Affordable Housing Act 2021, the administration of affordable housing schemes is a...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The allocation of local authority dwellings, including the prioritisation of certain categories of households, is a matter for the local authority concerned, in accordance with their allocation scheme made under section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and associated Regulations. This legislation requires all local authorities, as a reserved function, to make an...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: On 5 June I received Government approval for a Local Authority Purchase and Renovation Loan (LAPR), which is an expansion of local mortgage lending to support the purchase and/or renovation of homes which are eligible for the existing Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant. The introduction of the Local Authority Purchase and Renovation Loan significantly expands the number of homes eligible...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Vacant Properties (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Addressing vacancy and maximising the use of existing housing stock is a primary objective of this Government as reflected in Pathway 4 of Housing for All. The Vacant Homes Action Plan, which I published in January 2023, sets out the various actions that were being pursued to return vacant properties back into use as homes. Earlier this year, I published an update on the Action Plan which...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department is currently developing revised housing targets for the period 2025 onwards. This work is being undertaken with regard to, among other things, recently published research by the ESRI on population projections and structural housing demand. I expect it to be completed and revised targets to published later in the Autumn. The ESRI research presents 12 scenarios of housing...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: A cornerstone policy of both the existing and the proposed revised National Planning Framework (NPF) is the achievement of a greater regional balance in population and employment growth. The goal is to see a roughly 50:50 distribution of growth between the Eastern and Midland region, and the respective Southern, and Northern and Western Regions, with 75% of the growth to take place outside...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wastewater Treatment (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department is providing significant investment in rural water and wastewater infrastructure to support the development of our rural towns and villages. Uisce Éireann, through its Small Towns and Villages Growth Programme is providing water and waste water growth capacity for smaller settlements across the country drawing on expenditure provided for this purpose. My...