Results 5,241-5,260 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (14 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department does not hold information on the number of households on local authorities' waiting lists. This figure continuously fluctuates as households are allocated housing and new households apply for housing support. Detailed information on the latest statutory assessment of housing need carried out in March 2011, including a breakdown by housing authority, is available on my...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (14 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: The draft Guidelines for Planning Authorities on Retail Planning which issued for public consultation on 21 November 2011 are aimed at: · ensuring that the planning system plays a key role in supporting competitiveness in the retail sector; · advancing choice for the consumer while promoting and supporting the vitality and viability of city and town centres; and, · contributing to...

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (15 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 195, 197 and 198 together. The responsibility for the planning of cities, towns and urban areas is a matter for local authorities. The regeneration of urban areas has been a priority of my Department for some time, and a number of initiatives and programmes have been used to promote regeneration. A wide range of property-based tax relief schemes were...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (15 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: 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 on 1 September 2004. While the PRTB received Exchequer funding for a number of years, it has operated on a self-financing basis since 2010. Details of the Board's income and expenditure are published in its annual...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (15 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: The voluntary and co-operative housing sector are valued partners in the delivery of social housing solutions for low-income families and persons with specific categories of housing need, including older people, persons with a physical, intellectual or mental health disability, homeless persons and elderly returning emigrants. Some 700 voluntary and co-operative bodies have been granted...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (15 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: To the end of December 2011, 21 approved housing bodies have been issued approval by the Department to proceed with leasing projects, which encompass over 1,200 housing units. A breakdown of these units by body is shown in the following table. In addition, 1,546 unsold affordable units have been included in the leasing scheme and are being managed by approved housing bodies. AHB/Status...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (15 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: Under the terms of the Incremental Purchase scheme introduced in June 2010, new houses provided by approved voluntary and co-operative housing bodies and designated under the scheme may be purchased by their tenants. As regards the sale to tenants of existing houses provided by approved bodies, my Department is currently examining, in consultation with the relevant bodies, the future funding...

Written Answers — Local Authority Charges: Local Authority Charges (15 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: The information requested is not available in my Department. Local authorities are under a statutory obligation to levy rates on any property used for commercial purposes in accordance with the details entered in the valuation lists prepared by the independent Commissioner for Valuation under the Valuation Act 2001. The Commissioner for Valuation has sole responsibility for all valuation...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (16 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: There are no proposals currently to introduce a 'rent to buy' scheme for tenant purchase of local authority dwellings.

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (16 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: Part 3 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provision) Act, 2009 provides for an incremental purchase scheme in respect of newly – built houses reserved by housing authorities for the purpose. Regulations to implement the Incremental Purchase Scheme for new homes were made in June 2010. The scheme is available to all housing authorities. It is acknowledged that the current economic climate,...

Written Answers — National Drugs Strategy: National Drugs Strategy (16 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 156 and 157 together. As part of the Government's Comprehensive Review of Expenditure and the 2012 estimates process, difficult decisions have had to be taken in relation to prioritising funding for core services in all programme areas. The project in question is one of 5 drugs projects mainstreamed to my Department's Housing programme and, in 2011, funding...

Written Answers — Building Regulations: Building Regulations (16 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: The information sought in the question is not available to my Department.

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (16 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 168 and 169 together. My Department issued comprehensive guidance to local authorities on the treatment of mortgage arrears, including local authority mortgages for shared ownership transactions, in March 2010. That guidance was closely based on the Central Bank's first statutory Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears to ensure that cases of local authority...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (16 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department collects information on the total number of accommodation units rented under the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) but this is not broken down by type of accommodation. Since the scheme was introduced in late 2005, some 37,757 households have been transferred by local authorities from Rent Supplement to RAS and other social housing options. Of this figure 21,892 were housed...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (21 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 427 and 433 together. I refer to the replies to Questions Nos. 175 and 191 of 2 February 2012, which set out my Department's funding for a range of programmes related to social inclusion activities. As part of the Government's Comprehensive Review of Expenditure and the 2012 estimates process, difficult decisions have had to be taken in relation to...

Written Answers — Departmental Programmes: Departmental Programmes (21 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 428 and 467 together. Under my Department's Social Housing Investment Programme, local authorities are allocated capital funding each year in respect of a range of measures to improve the standard and overall quality of their social housing stock. The programme includes a retrofitting measure aimed at improving the energy efficiency of older apartments and...

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (21 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: I refer to the reply to Question No. 140 of 26 January, 2012. The rezoning of the lands referred to was included in the proposed amendments to the Draft Galway City Development Plan 2011-2017 which was adopted on 25 January 2011 and which came into effect on 21 February 2011. In my role as a statutory consultee on the draft City Development Plan, my Department raised a number of concerns...

Written Answers — Local Authority Allotments: Local Authority Allotments (21 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: Local objectives or policies in relation to allotments are a matter for the local authority concerned and I have no function in this context.

Written Answers — National Spatial Strategy: National Spatial Strategy (21 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: The 2002 National Spatial Strategy (NSS) is a twenty-year planning framework which was designed to achieve a better balance of social, economic and physical development and population growth between regions, and which designated nine gateways and nine hubs, including Tuam, with the capacity to grow sustainably and act as drivers of growth for their hinterland and wider regions. Among the...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (21 Feb 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: On 16 June 2011 the Government's new housing policy statement was launched by my predecessor, Mr. W Penrose, as Minister for Housing. This now serves as a framework for a substantial housing policy reform programme that places specific emphasis on: · choice; · equity across housing tenures; and · delivering quality outcomes for the resources invested. The policy statement also...