Results 23,761-23,780 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 293 and 294 together. Action 5.1 of the Government’s Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness undertakes to develop a National Vacant Housing Re-Use Strategy by early 2017. To this end, the Housing Agency, which has lead responsibility for co-ordinating the development of the Strategy, has established a working group to inform the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Departmental Funding (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: Full details of budget increases in respect of my Department are set out on page 57 (Reconciliation of 2017 Expenditure Ceiling) of Part II of the Expenditure Report 2017, published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and available online at . The increases outlined in the Expenditure Report 2017 are increases over the expenditure ceilings set out in the Mid-Year Expenditure...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Library Services Staff (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: My Department works closely with Sligo County Council in relation to the Council’s overall staffing requirements. However, under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, it is the Chief Executive of the Council who is responsible for staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority. My Department received a staff sanction...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Data (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: Of the 47,000 social housing units to be delivered under Rebuilding Ireland, an Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, it is estimated at this stage that approximately 26,000 will be constructed, while 11,000 will be acquired by local authorities and AHBs directly from the market or the Housing Agency, with a portion of these being newly built units. 10,000 units will be leased by local...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme (SHCEP) supports the delivery of social housing by providing financial support to local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) for the long term leasing of houses and apartments from private owners, developers and AHBs. Properties made available under the programme are used to accommodate households from local authority waiting lists....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Homeless Accommodation Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: I refer to the reply to Question No. 144 of 28 September 2016. The position is unchanged.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Social Housing Strategy 2020, published in November 2014, included a commitment to undertake summaries of social housing assessments (SSHA) on an annual basis from 2016. The aim of the process is to capture the total number of households across the country which are qualified for social housing support and whose housing need is not currently being met. This data will allow my Department...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing Assistance Payments Implementation (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: The roll-out of the HAP scheme brings together all the social housing services provided by the State under the single umbrella of the local government system and removes a barrier to employment by allowing households to continue to receive HAP support even if their income increases or they gain full-time employment. The scheme has been rolled out on an incremental basis and is currently...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Animal Welfare (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: The regulation of dog breeding establishments is a matter for local authorities in accordance with the Dog Breeding Establishment Act 2010. The local authority must maintain for public inspection a register of dog breeding establishments in its functional area, which must include the name and address of the applicant seeking entry onto the register, the address of the dog breeding...

Topical Issue Debate: Local Authority Funding (19 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to respond on this issue again. As he said, we will have an opportunity to discuss it next Thursday when we will meet to discuss these issues. I want to put on record a number of points. Nobody disputes that the financial challenges Sligo County Council faces are significant. That is the reason there is a financial plan in place to help Sligo County...

Topical Issue Debate: Local Authority Funding (19 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: We have already reviewed them in the context of the flexibility we have shown, but it is important to put on the record that Sligo County Council had been incurring revenue deficits for the years 2008 to 2014 resulting in a situation where the cumulative deficit now stands at just under €26 million, and long-term debt is in excess of €103 million. It is not a sustainable...

Topical Issue Debate: Local Authority Funding (19 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: The management in Cork county and Cork city have to manage their own affairs.

Topical Issue Debate: Local Authority Funding (19 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: They manage their own affairs. The responsibility to manage the financial affairs of local government is primarily with the executive team in each local authority and last December there was an agreement. The Deputy does not want to accept that but there was an agreement between the local authority and my Department in terms of a pathway back to financial sustainability for Sligo.

Topical Issue Debate: Local Authority Funding (19 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: It was not prescribed. It was signed off-----

Topical Issue Debate: Local Authority Funding (19 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy should stop grandstanding.

Topical Issue Debate: Local Authority Funding (19 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: What we have done is sat down on multiple occasions. The financial comptrollers in my Department have been negotiating with and talking to those in Sligo. That is where this needs to be resolved rather than the political grandstanding we are seeing.

Topical Issue Debate: Local Authority Funding (19 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy is not talking facts. It is just like the last time.

Topical Issue Debate: Local Authority Funding (19 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: The position is that we are working through what is a difficult situation. Sligo County Council is an exception to virtually all other counties. There is a financial plan in place for Donegal as well but outside of that, no other county is getting an extra €1 million to help it get out of a difficult financial hole.

Topical Issue Debate: Local Authority Funding (19 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy is a joke.

Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage (Resumed) (19 Oct 2016)

Simon Coveney: It is pretty accurate.