Results 3,781-3,800 of 20,793 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Charges Yield (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: With effect from 1 January 2014, Irish Water is responsible for public water services. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that Irish Water shall collect charges from its customers in receipt of water services provided by it. Accordingly, the collection of water charges is now the statutory responsibility of Irish Water. Local authorities have continued to bill for non-domestic water...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Provision (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: Informed by a recent review of the provisions of Part V of the Planning and Development Acts, which included a public consultation process, proposed legislative changes have been set out in the General Scheme of the Planning and Development (No. 1) Bill which was published in November 2014 and is available on my Department’s website. The General Scheme provides that, in future, the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Wind Energy Guidelines (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: In December 2013, my Department published proposed “draft” revisions to the noise, setback distance and shadow flicker aspects of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines. These draft revisions proposed: - The setting of a more stringent day and night noise limit of 40 decibels for future wind energy developments, - A mandatory minimum setback of 500 metres between a wind...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Charges Administration (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: Since 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. It is the occupier of a property that is liable to pay domestic water charges and legislation provides that the owner is the occupier unless the contrary is proven. Irish Water is providing landlords with the opportunity...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Waiting Lists (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: My Department provides funding to local authorities for various social housing supports, including for adaptations and extensions to the social housing stock to meet needs of local authority tenants with a disability or to address serious overcrowding. Funding provided by my Department meets 90% of the cost of such works, with each local authority providing the remaining 10%. My Department...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Wind Energy Generation (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: It is not possible to provide the Deputy with a precise measurement of the carbon footprint of any individual 3 MW wind turbine, taking into account the transport, materials and installation process involved as this is dependent on a number of factors including the sourcing of the turbine, the nature of the development site and access to it. I would refer the Deputy to the website of the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Provision (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: Social housing is a key priority for the Government, evidenced by the additional €2.2 billion in funding announced for social housing in Budget 2015 and the publication of the Social Housing Strategy 2020in November 2014. The total targeted provision of over 110,000 social housing units, through the delivery of 35,000 new social housing units, at a projected cost of €3.8...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Irish Water Administration (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: On 14 January 2015 I signed an order under section 12 of the Water Services (No 2) Act 2013. This order was not connected with the transfer of development contributions; rather, it provided for the transfer to Irish Water of all underground water services assets previously vested in the local authorities. To date, this is the only order that has been made under section 12. Information on...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Irish Water Establishment (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: The Programme for Government sets out a commitment to create Irish Water, a new State owned utility, to take over responsibility for Ireland’s public water infrastructure and accelerate the planned investments needed to upgrade the State’s water network. Since 1 January 2014 Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Charges Administration (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: With effect from 1 January 2014, Irish Water is responsible for public water services. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that Irish Water shall collect charges from its customers in receipt of water services provided by it in accordance with a water charges plan to be approved by the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER). The Act also provides that responsibility for the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Funding (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: Local authorities have three main sources of funding - grants from Central Government, commercial rates and other locally-raised charges. In recognition of the fact that certain local authorities have fewer opportunities to raise income locally, Central Government has provided much higher levels of funding to support the efforts of these authorities to provide an adequate level of public...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Wind Energy Guidelines (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: In December 2013, my Department published proposed “draft” revisions to the noise, setback distance and shadow flicker aspects of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines. These draft revisions proposed: - The setting of a more stringent day and night noise limit of 40 decibels for future wind energy developments, - A mandatory minimum setback of 500 metres between a...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Ministerial Meetings (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: Since 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. To manage the transition process a number of governance structures have been put in place by the Department which the Managing Director of Irish Water attends. A Water Sector Reform Steering Group, representative of local...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Functions (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: The power contained in section 75(4) of the Local Government Act 2001 allowing the Minister to issue directions to local authorities in relation to twinning is discretionary. To date, no such directions have issued.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: Social housing is a key priority for Government, as evidenced by the increased provision made for the area in Budget 2015. The Social Housing Strategy 2020: Support, Supply and Reformbuilds on the provisions contained in Budget 2015 and sets out clear, measurable actions and targets to increase the supply of social housing, reform delivery arrangements and meet the housing needs of all...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Homeless Accommodation Provision (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: On 4 December 2014, I hosted a special Summit on Homelessness to reaffirm the Government's commitment to end involuntary long-term homelessness by the end of 2016. A number of actions arising from the Summit were considered at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Social Policy and Public Service Reform on 8 December and were then formalised into an Action Plan to Address Homelessnesswhich...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Disposal (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: A Study of Pay-by-use Systems for Maximising Waste Reduction Behaviour in Ireland, published by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2011, indicates that pay-by-weight on a per kilogram basis is the most effective Pay-by-use (PBU) system in terms of waste prevention, waste recycling and diversion of waste from landfill. In this regard and as part of the development of a comprehensive...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Pollution (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: Enforcement in relation to illegal diesel laundering activities is primarily a matter for the Revenue Commissioners from the point of view of avoiding loss of revenue to the Exchequer. My Department assists local authorities in carrying out their role as competent authorities under waste legislation, which involves taking the necessary measures, on behalf of the State, to ensure that any...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: Under the existing Part V provisions, developers are required to ensure that up to 20% of land zoned for residential, and other uses, shall be reserved for social or affordable housing. However, with the substantial fall off in private construction, very little social housing is currently being provided under Part V. Informed by a recent review of the Part V provisions, which included a...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Severe Weather Events Response (4 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: The Government decided on 11 February 2014 to allocate funding of up to €69.5 million to local authorities in the areas worst affected by the first phase of severe weather in respect of the damage caused between 13 December 2013 and 6 January 2014. This was intended to support communities by restoring roads, coastal protection, amenities/facilities and other public infrastructure which...