Results 6,941-6,960 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (14 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: As the Deputy stated, the NCSE will report to the Minister very shortly, and I am sure his information must be accurate and it will be on Friday. It will then be in the public arena and I hope parents in particular and Deputies will have an opportunity to comment on the report. It is a statutorily appointed body, the role of which is to provide advice in this area to the Minister. He will...

Topical Issue Debate: Ambulance Service Provision (14 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I thank the Deputies for raising this issue, to which I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Health. I join with the Deputies in extending my sympathies to the bereaved family and all those involved. The death of a child in any circumstances is a tragedy for all concerned and, in speaking about this matter, I am conscious of their terrible loss. Nothing we can say can make it any...

Topical Issue Debate: Ambulance Service Provision (14 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I will ensure that the Minister of Health, Deputy Reilly, is made aware of all the Deputies' questions and concerns. I did indicate that the preliminary report would be produced as a matter of urgency and would then be followed by a full report. I note that the Deputies have also requested a review of the whole service and not just this specific incident.

Topical Issue Debate: Ambulance Service Provision (14 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Deputy Stanton asked a number of questions about average response times and the number of calls. I will convey those queries to the Minister. I agree with all the Deputies that it is important that people have confidence in the ambulance service. I have no doubt that I speak for the Minister, Deputy Reilly, when I say that it is a major concern. I will ask that the information sought by...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Adaptation Grants Funding (14 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The difficulties facing the State’s finances and the necessity to reduce public expenditure to sustainable levels are impacting on capital programmes all across the public service, including my Department’s housing capital programme. The level of capital funding available has decreased significantly in recent years along the lines highlighted in the Medium Term Exchequer...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (14 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: There is no limit specified in planning legislation in relation to the distance between a petrol station and a school.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Adaptation Grants Funding (14 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: On 22 February 2013, I announced capital allocations to local authorities under the suite of Grants for Older People and People with a Disability amounting to €42.750 million. In allocating the available funding across all 34 city and county councils I did so in as transparent and as fair a way as possible. In framing the 2013 allocations, my Department wrote to each local authority...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing for People with Disabilities (14 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Housing Strategy for People with a Disability 2011-2016 provides for Government policy in relation to the deinstitutionalisation of people with physical, intellectual and mental health disabilities. The Strategy forms part of a coherent framework, in conjunction with the Government's mental health policy, A Vision for Change and the Report of the HSE Working Group on Congregated Settings,...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Loans (14 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: While the Government's housing policy statement acknowledges that home ownership is the preferred tenure option for the majority of households it also recognises that there are other households who either do not want or may not ever be in a position to own their home. Housing policy is therefore predicated on meeting need at a point in time based on household circumstances and not on...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (14 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: An Bord Pleanála has a statutory objective to determine appeals and referrals within 18 weeks. The compliance rate with the statutory objective time period for normal planning appeals stood at 55% as of April 2013 and the average time taken was 21.8 weeks. To take account of the backlog of cases that had built up in the Board, I appointed 2 additional temporary Board Members for a 12...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (14 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: In line with the recommendation contained in the Final Report of the Mahon Tribunal, the Government approved proposals for the preparation of a new Planning and Development Bill at its meeting on 7 May 2013 to establish a new Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR).The primary function of the OPR, which will be established as an independent corporate identity, will be to carry out...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Derelict Sites (14 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Detailed information regarding individual properties listed on the Derelict Sites Registers of specific local authorities is not available in my Department. Under the Derelict Sites Act 1990, local authorities are required to maintain a derelict sites register, which includes the name and address of each owner and occupier, where these can be ascertained by reasonable enquiry, of any land...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Provision (14 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: TheImprovement Works in Lieu (IWIL) scheme allows local authorities to improve or extend privately owned accommodation which is occupied or intended to be occupied by an applicant approved for social housing as an alternative to the provision of social housing. Under my Department's Social Housing Investment Programme, capital funding is provided to housing authorities in respect of the IWIL...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (14 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Section 10(2)(b) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, requires a development plan to include objectives for the provision or facilitation of the provision of infrastructure including, inter alia, communication facilities. This requirement ensures that planning authorities' development plans can provide policies, for example, to facilitate the delivery and roll-out of...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Mortgages (14 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Government is acutely conscious of the difficulties many households are facing in terms of mortgage arrears. Where any borrower, either from a local authority or from a private financial institution, is facing difficulties in meeting mortgage repayments, they should engage proactively and constructively with the lender to seek to achieve an agreed solution. The services of the Money...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Rental Accommodation Scheme Criteria (15 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The 18 month threshold, as referred to, is employed as a 'rule of thumb' to try to distinguish between persons who are seeking a short term income support and those who have a long term housing need. While in general a household must be in receipt of rent supplement for 18 months or more in order to qualify for RAS, housing authorities do, on occasion, accept households on to RAS where they...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Property Taxation Exemptions (15 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: An exemption from the local property tax applies to developments listed in the schedule to the Finance (Local Property Tax) Regulations 2013. The list of unfinished housing developments eligible for the exemption was compiled by local authorities utilising the categorisation employed for the purposes of the National Housing Survey 2012. The Survey was carried out over the course of summer...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Private Residential Tenancies Board Staff (15 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 192 and 193 together. I have no function in the operational matters of the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), an independent statutory body established on 1 September 2004 under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 and, consequently, my Department does not collate the information requested. The Act regulates the tenant-landlord relationship in the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Issues (15 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: To qualify for social housing support a household must meet the eligibility and need criteria set down in the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011. This includes households who were on the social housing list prior to the introduction of the Regulations in 2011. The issue of qualification for rent supplement is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection. When a...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Issues (15 May 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Housing rents are set in accordance with a rent scheme adopted by each local authority. The making and amending of rent schemes is the responsibility of housing authorities as an integral part of their housing management functions. The current arrangements for determining local authority rents will be substantially replaced on the coming into force over the next year of provisions of...