Results 3,761-3,780 of 7,024 for speaker:Willie Penrose

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: My Department approved a proposal by Sligo Borough Council to refurbish up to 53 local authority owned houses in the Cranmore estate at an estimated cost of €445,000. Expenditure this year will be met from the €2 million allocation for regeneration. So far, no proposal has been received from the Borough Council in relation to the improvement of privately owned houses in the estate. It...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: A statutory assessment of housing need is carried out every three years by all housing authorities. Data for the 2011 Assessment of Housing Need are currently being compiled by the Housing Agency and will be published as soon as possible. The last assessment took place in 2008 and indicated that there were 56,249 households in need of social housing support. Detailed information on this...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: Cork County Council envisages that over 40 housing units will be delivered under the social housing construction programme over the course of 2011, broken down as follows: Project Name Number of Social Housing Units Gooldshill – Phase 4, Mallow 16 units Shanagarry 6 Units Ballymacoda 1 Unit Slip, Bantry 8 Units Knockaneroe, Castletownbere 1 Unit Droum, Castletownbere 6 Units...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: Information regarding to the number of applications received under the 2011 tenant purchase scheme is not yet available in my Department. However, statistics will be published in due course.

Written Answers — Flood Relief: Flood Relief (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: My Department is in discussions with Wicklow County Council regarding flooding problems at Glending Estate, Blessington, Co. Wicklow and is awaiting the Council's final proposal in relation to this issue. This proposal will then be examined by my Department's Housing Inspectorate. The Council has been assured by my Department that funding will be made available for urgent necessary works....

Written Answers — Local Authority Services: Local Authority Services (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: The Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability, introduced in November 2007, replaced the discontinued Disabled Persons Grant Scheme, the Essential Repairs Grant Scheme and the Special Housing Aid for the Elderly Scheme, administered by the Health Service Executive. The grant schemes are funded by 80% recoupment available from my Department together with a...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: The Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 provides for a new process of housing needs assessment for applicants for social housing support and empowers the Minister to make regulations setting out the criteria for determining the eligibility for such support. These criteria include, but are not limited to, income levels and the availability of alternative accommodation. Amended...

Written Answers — Voluntary Housing: Voluntary Housing (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: My Department's voluntary and co-operative housing programme is supported through two funding schemes, the Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS) and the Capital Loan and Subsidy Scheme (CLSS). The administration of both schemes is devolved to the local authority concerned, which assesses and approves each proposal prior to submission to my Department. In the case of the CAS, which provides capital...

Written Answers — Unauthorised Developments: Unauthorised Developments (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: My Department gathers aggregate data on enforcement activity from planning authorities, including data on the number of enforcement notices issued under sections 154 and 155 of the Planning Act and the number of prosecutions initiated on foot of these enforcement notices. The most recently available data are published in the 2009 Annual Planning Statistics, which are available on my...

Written Answers — National Housing Development Survey: National Housing Development Survey (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: I propose to take Questions Nos. 238 and 239 together. The National Housing Development Survey database, published in October 2010, established an authoritative baseline analysis of unfinished housing developments to assist in fully understanding the scale and extent of the issues involved. A total of 2,846 developments were inspected where construction had commenced but had not been...

Written Answers — Local Authority Funding: Local Authority Funding (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: My Department issued approval in principle to proceed with this project to Kildare County Council on 13 July 2011. It is now a matter for the local authority to submit a detailed project brief to my Department for examination, with a view to early progression of the project towards planning stage.

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (20 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: I have established the National Co-ordination Committee on Unfinished Housing Developments, which I am also chairing, to oversee implementation of the Report of the Advisory Group on Unfinished Housing Developments, entitled Resolving Ireland's Unfinished Housing Developments, together with the Government's response to the recommendations entitled Resolving Unfinished Housing Developments....

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: In September, 2006, my Department launched the programme Action on Private Rented Accommodation Standards. Arising out of this programme, on 1 February, 2009, new regulations prescribing minimum standards for rented housing, the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008) came into effect, with certain provisions being phased in for existing rental properties over a four year...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: I propose to take Questions Nos. 451 and 474 together. A person occupying a house under the shared ownership scheme has the right to buy out the local authority's share and acquire full ownership at any time. Alternatively, this may be done by purchasing, from time to time, additional shares of the authority's equity. For Shared Ownership transactions commenced from 1 January 2003, the...

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: The attaching of conditions to a grant of planning permission and the terms of such conditions are a matter for the planning authority concerned, having regard to statutory requirements, Government policy and Ministerial guidance, where appropriate. While my Department does not provide specific guidance to planning authorities as to the types of native trees that should be planted as part of...

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: I recently published draft Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2011, which include a new exemption for works consisting of the provision of a tank or tanks for the storage of rainwater collected from the roofs of agricultural buildings and any ancillary equipment to collect and distribute the rainwater. This proposed exemption is subject to the following conditions: ·...

Written Answers — Housing Grants: Housing Grants (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: Laois County Council have been allocated the following grants for social housing purposes in 2011, i.e., Local Authority Social Housing €1,000,000 Capital Assistance Scheme €100,000 Traveller Accommodation €200,000 Improvements/Remedial/ Energy Efficiency €600,000 The projected spend on the Social Housing Leasing Initiative, including the Rental Accommodation Scheme,...

Written Answers — Private Rented Accommodation: Private Rented Accommodation (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: I have no function in the operational matters of the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), an independent statutory body established under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. The Act makes provision for enforcement by the Courts of Determination Orders made by the PRTB. If the Board or a party mentioned in a Determination Order is satisfied that another party has failed to comply with...

Written Answers — Private Rented Accommodation: Private Rented Accommodation (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: The obligations of landlords and tenants in the private rented residential sector are set out in the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 which provides the main legislative framework for the sector and, in particular, for the operation of the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), the independent statutory body charged with the administration of the Act and the enforcement of those...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (21 Jul 2011)

Willie Penrose: Data on housing needs have historically been compiled on a triennial basis by my Department. However, with effect from the 2011 survey, the results of which will be published later this year, this exercise will be conducted on an annual basis. At present, the most recent data available are from 2008 and these are available on our website www.environ.ie. There is no differentiation between...