Results 5,521-5,540 of 20,817 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (10 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: I have received similar correspondence and a submission from the Irish League of Credit Unions which contains a proposal setting out a means by which funding could be provided to Approved Housing Bodies by credit unions for the development of social housing. I welcome the willingness of credit unions to actively seek a role in financing the delivery of social housing. The submission is...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Management (10 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 525 to 527, inclusive, 531 and 549 together. We have a serious problem with waste tyres in Ireland. In discussions prior to the adoption of the 2007 Tyre Regulations, it was made clear that this was the last opportunity for the tyre industry to embrace environmental compliance and take responsibility for the waste it produces. If the required improvement...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (10 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: I have received correspondence in relation to a number of complaints regarding certain matters in County Wicklow which is being considered. A reply will be issued in due course.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Eligibility (10 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: In order for a household to qualify for social housing support a housing authority must carry out an assessment to establish whether the household meets specified eligibility requirements and has a housing need. Regulation 22 of the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 provides that a household is ineligible for social housing support where a household member owns accommodation...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Data (10 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: My Department provides capital funding to local authorities to increase their supply of social housing stock through the construction and acquisition of houses and apartments. This is one of the methods for the delivery of social housing by both local authorities and by approved housing bodies. The Exchequer funding drawn down by local authorities in the delivery of new social housing units...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (10 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: Arising from opportunities offered by the Social Housing Strategy 2020, a wide variety of developers, investors, financiers, Approved Housing Bodies and others expressed an interest in being involved in the provision or financing of social housing across the country. A structured, formal process was put in place to facilitate engagement with these bodies. This was set out in the Clearing...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Mortgages (10 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: My Department publishes a range of data relating to local authority mortgage lending and arrears, including the number of loans in arrears for more than 90 days. These are available on the Department’s website at the following link: . More detailed arrears information is being compiled and validated by my Department and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible. A detailed...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Development Contributions (10 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: Development contributions are levied by planning authorities on the basis of a development contribution scheme approved by the elected members which sets out how contributions are to be applied in their respective functional areas. The level of contribution, and the types of development to which development contributions should apply, is therefore determined at local authority level in...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (10 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: Under the Social Housing Strategy, there are substantial targets and funding resources for the delivery by local authorities of social housing, including by the two Galway authorities. In April last, I issued social housing t argets and provisional funding allocations to all local authorities, to be invested in a combination of building, buying and leasing schemes designed to accommodate 25%...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Mortgages (10 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: The local authority mortgage protection insurance (MPI) scheme is overseen by the Mortgage Protection Committee which is a sub-committee of the County and City Management Association (CCMA) and is representative of the CCMA, local authorities, the Housing Finance Agency and my Department. One of the conditions of the scheme, which is a group policy, is that it is obligatory for all local...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Environmental Regulations (10 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: The Oslo Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping from Ships and Aircraft 1972, now the OSPAR Convention, deals with the dumping of munitions in the sea. The OSPAR Convention applies to the waters of the north east Atlantic and Ireland is a party to the Convention. The 2010 report contains a map of historic dumpsites as reported to OSPAR by contracting parties in the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Departmental Investigations (10 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: I understand that Cavan County Council has carried out investigations at this location on a number of occasions and they have concluded that the discharge is gypsum, a naturally occurring substance, and that there is no threat to health or the environment arising.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Charges Exemptions (10 Nov 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. The Act also provides that responsibility for the independent economic regulation of the water sector is assigned to the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER)...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Register of Electors Administration (10 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: I have no immediate plans to introduce automatic registration of voters at 18 years of age. However, one of the issues being considered in the context of the establishment of an Electoral Commission is the role that the Commission might play in respect of the register of electors. I await the report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht following their...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Waste Disposal (10 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: During the period in which local authorities were directly involved in the collection of household waste, a minority of individual Councils offered different levels of discount to selected households, based on different qualification criteria. As local authorities exited the waste collection market, some required the private operators which took on the Councils’ customers to provide a...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Functions (10 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: Local authorities are, subject to law, independent in the performance of their functions. In this connection, section 28 of the Pl anning and Development Act 2000 requires planning authorities to have regard , in discharging their functions, to Development Management Guidelines issued by the Minister . The Guidelines are intended to assist authorities in adhering to statutory requirements...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Tax Collection (10 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: While the operation of the motor tax system is kept under regular review, I have no plans currently to raise the threshold below which vehicles must be taxed annually. The current threshold is €119.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Public Investment Projects (11 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: My Department has a wide and diverse business agenda, including protecting the environment, providing necessary housing supports and fostering community and rural development in partnership with local government and other local development bodies. In order to deliver on this broad business agenda, my Department allocates significant resources to a wide range of organisations, including local...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Voluntary Housing Sector (11 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: Section 6(6) of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 makes provision to grant approved housing body (AHB) status to housing associations. AHBs consist mainly of voluntary or co-operative organisations limited by guarantee and registered under the Companies Acts; societies registered under the Industrial & Provident Societies Acts; and/or Trusts incorporated under the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Tax Collection (11 Nov 2015)

Alan Kelly: Goods vehicles are taxed based on the unladen weight of the vehicle, and I am assuming the Deputy is referring to vehicles not over 3,000 kg, unladen. In order to qualify to be taxed as a goods vehicle, a vehicle has to be constructed or adapted for use as a goods vehicle and used solely in the course of trade or business. Where a vehicle is being used in a manner that would attract a higher...