Results 4,361-4,380 of 20,797 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Library Services (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: There are currently 30 mobile libraries in operation, including one mobile shared cross-border between Donegal County Council and the library service in Northern Ireland. The determination of priorities for library development is a matter for each local authority. The April 2015 Library Development Programme Guidelines provide that each local authority’s library development...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Control of Dogs (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 934, 935 and 973 together. Consultations in relation to controls on dogs, including in relation to the breeds to be subject to restrictions, were conducted with the Director of Veterinary Services of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, the Irish Veterinary Association (IVA), the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) and the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Provision (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: Proposals for the acquisition of properties for social housing purposes are developed by local authorities and submitted to my Department on an ongoing basis, particularly where there are specific social housing needs they are seeking to address and where good value for money can be obtained. In their planned delivery of new social housing units out to 2017, Kildare County Council has...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Charges Administration (26 May 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 can collect charges from its customers in receipt of water services provided by it. The Act defines the customer as the occupier of the premises in respect of which the water services are provided. As such, people in sheltered housing,...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Staff Recruitment (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: Since 20 May 2014, my Department has received 26 staff sanction requests from Longford County Council. The status of these requests is set out in the table below. Date of Staffing Request Title of Post(s) Number of Post(s) Outcome 09/07/2014 Civil Defence Water Safety Officer 1 Approved 09/07/2014 Civil Defence Water Safety Officer 1 Approved 15/07/2014 General Services...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Mortgage to Rent Scheme Applications (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: On foot of the recommendations of the Keane Report on mortgage arrears and a successful pilot scheme, my Department launched a national Mortgage to Rent (MTR) scheme for borrowers with mortgages from private institutions in June 2012. The scheme targets low income families whose mortgage situation is unsustainable and where there is little or no prospect of a significant change in...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Register of Electors Data (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: The number of additions to the supplementary register at the May 2015 polls reported to me by registration authorities is as set out in the following table. County Councils Number of Supplement Applications Approved Carlow 810 Cavan 482 Clare 1,646 Cork 4,784 Donegal 1,264 Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown 5,308 Fingal 4,207 Galway 1,706 Kerry 1,049 Kildare 4,366 ...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Staff Data (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 944 and 985 together. In 2014, 688 employees retired from local authorities and ten employees retired from agencies under the auspices of my Department. 282 local authority employees availed of the voluntary redundancy scheme for local authorities in 2014. No staff from agencies under the auspices of my Department availed of voluntary redundancy in 2014. A...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Regeneration Projects Expenditure (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 946 and 947 together. Funding for this scheme has been provided in the main under my Department’s Capital Loan and Subsidy Scheme, whereby my Department recoups capital loan charges to local authorities in respect of borrowings from the Housing Finance Agency for projects undertaken by approved housing bodies. Costs incurred by Dublin City Council in...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Non-Principal Private Residence Charge Collection (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: The Local Government (Charges) Act 2009, as amended, provides the legislative basis for the Non Principal Private Residence (NPPR) Charge. The NPPR Charge of €200 per annum, which has since been discontinued, applied in the years 2009 to 2013 to any residential property in which the owner did not reside as their normal place of residence. Under the Act, it is a function of a local...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Energy Efficiency (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: The 2015 allocations in respect of energy efficiency upgrades for social houses are currently under consideration in my Department and will issue to local authorities shortly.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Adaptation Grant Funding (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: Exchequer funding of over €37 million was provided by my Department to local authorities in 2014 for the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability. Combined with an additional 20% contribution by individual local authorities, there was an overall spend last year of €46.3 million in this area. I am pleased to confirm that the 2015 amount will...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Drainage Schemes (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: Local authority drainage functions are performed under the Arterial Drainage Acts. The Office of Public Works, which operates under the aegis of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, is the main agency responsible for the development of policy on arterial drainage in Ireland. The Local Government Act 2001 (Section 231) Order 2014 provided for the dissolution of specified joint...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Charges Exemptions (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: A new water charging regime was announced by the Government on 19 November 2014. The capped annual charges will be €160 for single adult households and €260 for all other households until the end of 2018. All households now know what their capped bills will be until the end of 2018, which is particularly important for larger households or those with high usage due to medical...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Issues (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: Successfully tackling the current homelessness issue demands that a higher priority be afforded to homeless households in the allocation of housing. Accordingly, I issued a Direction to a number of key housing authorities on 27 January 2015 to prioritise homeless and other vulnerable households with regard to the allocation of tenancies under their control. The four Dublin local authorities...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water and Sewerage Schemes Provision (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: Since 1 January 2014 Irish Water is responsible for the public water and wastewater systems and infrastructure, including water supply pipes or drainage pipes extending from a waterworks or waste water works to the curtilage of a private dwelling. Irish Water has entered into service level agreements (SLA) with each of the local authorities for the provision of water services, as provided...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: On 1 April 2015, I announced provisional funding allocations totalling €1.5 billion for all local authorities, to meet an ambitious delivery target of 22,883 social housing units out to 2017 under the Social Housing Strategy, through a combination of building, buying and leasing schemes by local authorities. On 5 May, I announced a major social housing construction investment...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: I have considered what next steps need to be taken in respect of certain Donegal County Council planning matters taking account of advice from the Office of the Attorney General. My Department is finalising arrangements for the imminent appointment of a Senior Counsel, on a non-statutory basis, nominated by the Attorney General to prepare a report in relation to these matters in line with...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Ministerial Travel (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: I will be attending an Environment Council meeting in Luxembourg on 15 June 2015. On 2 July, I will attend a dinner hosted by HRH Prince of Wales and the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership in London to discuss sustainable development. I will also attend the United Nations High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York in July, the dates/duration of which...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: National Carers Strategy Status (26 May 2015)

Alan Kelly: Progress by my Department on actions within the National Carer’s Strategy is set out in the annual reports on progress published by the Department of Health. The second annual report (September 2013–September 2014) is available at the following link: .