Results 25,141-25,160 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Staff (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: 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, including the Dog Warden service, of the local authorities for which he or she is responsible. Therefore, the matter raised in relation to providing resources to dog wardens is a matter for each Chief Executive.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: Local authorities require a range of flexible options to meet the variety of housing needs of the households on their social housing waiting lists. Similarly, there are a range of delivery mechanisms and programmes available to local authorities that make the most of the opportunities in the private rental market, in the approved housing body sector and the housing construction sector...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Brexit Issues (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: As the Deputy will be aware, the Government has adopted a whole-of-Government approach to the challenges posed by Brexit, led by the Cabinet Committee on Brexit, which is chaired by the Taoiseach. While the specific impact of Brexit will be determined by the nature of the new relationship between the EU and the UK, our objective to grow the number of jobs supported by the enterprise agencies...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Rent Pressure Zones (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 261 to 263, inclusive, together. The Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016 amends the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to provide that the Housing Agency, in consultation with housing authorities, may make a proposal to the Minister that an area should be considered as a Rent Pressure Z one. Following receipt of such a proposal,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Library Services (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: My Department has no role in relation to the procurement of book-stock for public libraries. The provision of public library services, including the procurement of books, is a matter for each local authority in its capacity as a library authority under the Local Government Act 2001. In this regard, a national tender for book stock procurement was run recently by the Local Government...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Rent Controls (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 265 to 267, inclusive, together. The reviewing of local authority housing rents and the collection of rents from tenants is a matter for individual local authorities and I, as Minister, have no function in the matter. Guidelines entitled “Rent Assessment, Collection, Accounting and Arrears Control” were published by the Housing Unit...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing Adaptation Grant Funding (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: Funding allocations to all local authorities, including Meath County Council, under the programme to support Housing Adaptations and Extensions to meet needs of Local Authority tenants with a disability will issue shortly.  As funding from my Department under this programme has been maintained or increased in many cases, there is no reason for a particular delay in processing...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Private Rented Accommodation (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: On 13 December 2016, Government approved the publication of a Strategy for the Rental Sector, which delivers on a commitment made under Pillar 4 of Rebuilding Ireland.The strategy is structured around 4 key areas: security, standards, supply and services. The measures under these four headings will be implemented through the 29 actions contained in the Strategy. In terms of supply, the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Water and Sewerage Schemes (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 270 and 271 together. Block grant based allocations by my Department in 2015 for new group sewerage schemes amounted to €1.908 million. The amount recouped by my Department for the year, based on the claims for payment by the local authorities, was €0.889 million. A multi-annual funding approach was introduced for the first time for the Rural...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Traveller Accommodation (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: In accordance with the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, housing authorities have statutory responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller Accommodation Programmes (TAPs) in their areas. My Department’s role is to ensure that there are adequate structures and supports in...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Wind Energy Guidelines (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: In December 2013, my Department published proposed draft revisions to the noise, setback distance and shadow flicker aspects of the 2006 WindEnergy Development Guidelines. These draft revisions proposed: - the setting of a more stringent day and night-time noise limit of 40 decibels for future wind energy developments, - a mandatory minimum setback distance of 500 metres between a wind...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Election Management System (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: Section 111 of the Electoral Act 1992 provides that only persons on the register of electors for a constituency are entitled to vote at an election in that constituency. Subsection (2)(b) provides that the Minister may make regulations in relation to specified documents that may be requested from any person applying for a ballot paper at a polling station at a Dáil general election,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: National Spatial Strategy (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 276 and 277 together. As the Deputy will be aware, a new National Planning Framework (NPF) is being prepared by my Department on behalf of Government and will address the issues raised in her questions. The NPF, titled Ireland 2040 – Our Plan will act as the successor to the National Spatial Strategy 2002 (NSS) and will be Government’s...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Mortgage to Rent Scheme (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: The Mortgage to Rent (MTR) scheme for borrowers of private commercial lending institutions introduced in 2012 is targeted at those households in arrears who are eligible for social housing support whose mortgage is unsustainable. An important aspect to the MTR scheme is that it targets only the most acute arrears cases where a mortgage is clearly unsustainable and the household has very...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: The purchase of the site concerned, including the amount the local authority paid for the site and the timeline for its intended use, are matters in the first place for the local authority. The most common approach in recent years for local authorities to acquire land, especially for housing purposes, was to obtain loan finance from the Housing Finance Agency. The process for a local...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Rent Controls (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 amended section 3 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 so that dwellings let by approved housing bodies (AHBs) to social housing tenants now come within the remit of the Act. The position of these tenants is significantly improved by the change, which commenced on 7 April 2016, as they now benefit from the following: - Increased security of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Water Services Funding (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: Since 2002, substantial funding has been provided under the Rural Water Programme. The main focus of the investment for a large part of this period has been on addressing issues which were highlighted in the 2002 Court of Justice ruling on drinking water. The objective of the new Multi-annual Rural Water Programme for 2016-2018 is to provide enhanced funding certainty for priority investment...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Eligibility (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: The Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 prescribe maximum net income limits for each housing authority, in different bands according to the area, with income being defined and assessed according to a standard Household Means Policy. The income bands and the authority area assigned to each band were based on an assessment of the income needed to provide for a household's basic needs...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Local Elections (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: The most recent review of local electoral areas was carried out from November 2012 to May 2013 by a Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee established under the Local Government Act 1991. The recommendations of that committee were implemented through 30 Statutory Instruments made in January 2014. Unlike the position for Dáil and European Parliament constituencies, there is no...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Mortgage to Rent Scheme Eligibility (7 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: The Mortgage to Rent (MTR) scheme for borrowers of private commercial lending institutions was introduced in 2012. The scheme is part of the overall suite of social housing options and is an important part of the mortgage arrears resolution process. Up to the end of December 2016, a total of 3,575 cases have been submitted under the MTR scheme. Of these, 2,723 were ineligible or terminated...