Results 3,921-3,940 of 20,793 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Water Charges: Motion [Private Members] (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: Irish Water will lift the boil water notices on 17,000 homes in the coming months. This is what the Opposition, in many cases, wants to abandon. Irish Water is identifying and fixing leaks and finding where lead is in our water system. It is a major public health issue that the Opposition sees fit to ignore. Irish Water has 385 capital projects under way throughout the country at present....

Water Charges: Motion [Private Members] (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: I encourage those to whom I refer to visit the Lissycasey group scheme in order to discover what will be the reaction of the people who live there. What about the myth that is continually trotted out with regard to double taxation? The State provides transport services, yet people pay for train tickets. The State builds libraries, yet people pay to take books out on loan.

Water Charges: Motion [Private Members] (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: The State builds houses, yet people pay subsidised rents. If water is a human right, then surely food and housing are also human rights. However, the Opposition seem to be amenable to people making a contribution towards the costs relating to both. I have not seen any protest at a bus stop in respect of double taxation. Of course, the Opposition believes that nobody should ever be obliged...

Water Charges: Motion [Private Members] (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: They sell the absolute lie that people can have everything they want for absolutely nothing. The citizens of Ireland know full well that this is not the case. Have those in opposition considered the fact that virtually all social-democratic, left-wing governments throughout Europe have some form of water payment? Even countries such as Cuba have water charges. I am quite sure that...

Water Charges: Motion [Private Members] (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: I welcome the opportunity provided by some of those in the Technical Group to debate again this important issue of the future funding of public water services and the management and operation of our water and sewage networks by Irish Water. The Government has invested considerable time, energy and resources in the water sector reform programme. We have established a single national utility...

Water Charges: Motion [Private Members] (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: I wonder what will happen in Northern Ireland, where a metering programme is being put in place. Our colleagues from Sinn Féin are not here to debate that matter. As part of our review of the water charging system and water sector reform programme, the Government responded to people's concerns about issues of Irish Water's governance and the customer experience. A single unitary...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Mortgage to Rent Scheme Administration (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: Under the Approved Housing Body (AHB) Mortgage to Rent Scheme (AHB-mortgage-to-rent) an AHB can acquire ownership of a property with an unsustainable private mortgage, enabling the household to remain in their home as a social housing tenant. To be eligible for the Approved Housing Body (AHB) -mortgage-to-rent scheme a household must have had their mortgage position deemed unsustainable...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Quality (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: The selection of appropriate water treatments to ensure the quality of the drinking water is made by water suppliers on an individual supply by supply basis, based on a number of factors including assessment of catchment and source risks with respect to the clarity, organic content, and the likely risk of pathogenic micro-organisms in the source water. Under the European Union (Drinking...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Non-Principal Private Residence Charge Exemptions (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: The Local Government (Charges) Act 2009, as amended, broadened the revenue base of local authorities by introducing a charge on non-principal private residences. The Non Principal Private Residence (NPPR) Charge is set at €200 and liability for it falls, in the main, on owners of rental, holiday and vacant or additional properties that are not an individual's principal private...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Eligibility (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: The Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 introduced a new standard procedure for assessing applicants for social housing in every housing authority. The Regulations include 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...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (24 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 targets the delivery of 35,000 new social housing units over the period to 2020. Up to the end of 2017 the Strategy targets the delivery of almost 7,500 new social housing units via capital construction and acquisition programmes...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Data (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: All new dwelling units, including social housing units must comply with the legally enforceable minimum performance standards set out in the second schedule to the Building Regulations. In addition my Department has produced design guidelines for local authorities in the form of Quality Housing for Sustainable Communities, which seeks to promote quality and value for money in publicly funded...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (24 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 at: The General Scheme provides that, in future, the focus...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Expenditure (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: Social housing is a key priority for Government, as evidenced by the additional €2.2billion in funding announced for social housing in Budget 2015, which will assist in increasing social housing delivery, including newly built units, in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Pillar 1 of the Social Housing Strategy targets the delivery of 35,000 new social housing units over the period to 2020. The cost...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 849 and 920 together. My Department is working closely with NAMA, the Housing Agency, local authorities and approved housing bodies in relation to the delivery of social housing. NAMA has made significant numbers of housing units available through the Housing Agency to local authorities and approved housing bodies for social housing. Information in relation to...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Applications (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: Section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 set down a standard procedure for assessing applicants for social housing support. A household may apply for support to one housing authority only. The authority may be the authority for the area in which the household normally resides, with which it has a local connection, or any...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: The Social Housing Strategy 2020builds on the provisions contained in Budget 2015 and sets out clear, measurable actions and targets to increase the supply of social housing. The total targeted provision of over 110,000 social housing units, through the delivery of 35,000 new social housing units and meeting the housing needs of some 75,000 households through the Housing Assistance Payment...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Applications (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: While I have no function regarding the Central Bank regulations pertaining to first time buyers, my Department, when estimating the demand for social housing, considers all the relevant factors to ensure that to the greatest extent possible, every household in Ireland will have access to secure, good quality housing which is suited to its needs, comes at an affordable price and is located in...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: My Department has produced considerable policy and technical guidance documents to assist local authorities in promoting Sustainable Communities. The local authority development plan process is a key instrument in putting the policies in place in this regard. In considering any new social housing delivery initiatives local authorities must take account of the overall development concerned...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (24 Mar 2015)

Alan Kelly: Social housing is a key priority for the Government, evidenced by the additional €2.2 billion in funding announced for it in Budget 2015. Accordingly, the Social Housing Strategy 2020, published in November 2014, sets ambitious targets for supply and reform of the sector. Given the scale of the challenge in the Dublin area, a key early action of the Strategy was the establishment of a...