Results 7,241-7,260 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Other Questions: Regeneration Projects Funding (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: This is a process we are engaged in with Dublin City Council and we can engage further with it around the percentages. I have said before that I think it is a key site for workers, given it is so close to the hospitals.

Other Questions: Regeneration Projects Funding (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: They can be afforded. This is a State-owned site. It is a key site and, if it is managed properly, it can deliver all the Deputy wants it to deliver. We have to try to make the best use of taxpayers' money. There is an opportunity to bring this forward, with a proper mixed tenure, which is part of a rejuvenation and regeneration of the area. As I said, it was signalled in the development...

Other Questions: Urban Renewal Schemes (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: The economic downturn had a significant negative impact on our urban centres. In recognition of this, A Programme for a Partnership Government set out an ambitious priority for urban renewal, with a view to breathing life back into our urban centres and helping to make them more attractive places in which to live and work. We recognise that some of these centres...

Other Questions: Urban Renewal Schemes (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: The funding allocated to urban regeneration projects follows the commitment in the programme for Government. My working group has had numerous meetings over the past year and before on the changes we need to make to get this money spent. The scheme is not finalised because the money was only allocated in the budget. We had not secured it until the weeks before the Budget Statement. It is...

Other Questions: Urban Renewal Schemes (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: The Deputy and many others complimented the scheme when we first rolled it out as one which could work. We recognise that we can make changes and we are going to do so. The Deputy keeps telling us to stop making announcements so we cannot tell him tonight about the changes to the scheme which will improve it. It has great potential which the Deputy and I can both see. He often refers to...

Topical Issue Debate: Vaccination Programme (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: On behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, I thank Deputies Burton and Kelleher for giving me the opportunity to update the House on this issue. The Minister sends his apologies for not being able to be here. As Deputies are aware influenza can be a serious illness for people in at-risk groups and can lead to hospitalisation and death. At-risk people include those aged...

Topical Issue Debate: Vaccination Programme (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I will ask the Minister for Health to contact Deputy Burton about the superbug because I do not have the data on the threats associated with it. Deputy Burton is correct about the communications plan. A stronger campaign is required. The campaign was launched on 2 October, with an initial focus on health care workers. The radio adverts, which will run for three weeks, commenced on 9...

Topical Issue Debate: Emergency Departments (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I thank Deputy Stanley for raising this matter and apologise on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, who could not be here tonight. I assure the Deputy that, as the Minister stated previously, the most important issue with regard to consideration of services at the Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise is that patient safety and outcomes must come first. The Minister is...

Topical Issue Debate: Emergency Departments (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I reiterate that the Minister was unable to be here tonight and I am not in a position to respond to the Deputy in detail.

Topical Issue Debate: Emergency Departments (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I will do so and I will also ask him to contact the Deputy to bring him up to speed on the matter. I make clear, however, that it is a draft plan on the Minister's desk.

Topical Issue Debate: Emergency Departments (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: It will be considered on the basis that it is a draft plan and a decision will be made after such consideration has been given. I emphasise the clear statement made by the Minister that patient and public requirements are paramount and have underpinned the Department's consideration of the draft plan. The Department and Minister will do what is right for patients. The Minister has been...

National Planning Framework: Statements (Resumed) (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I might as well take a stab at it. I thank all the Members of the House for their valuable, insightful contributions to the discussion. As many of them have acknowledged, this is one of the most important issues that this Chamber will consider. We will set down the vision, the ambition and the implementation plan as to how we see our country growing over the course of the next 20 years. I...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Nitrates Usage (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 53 together. The European Union (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2014, as amended, give legal effect in Ireland to the Nitrates Directive and to our Nitrates Action Programme (NAP). The Nitrates Directive requires all member states to define set periods when the land application of fertiliser, including slurry, is not...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Adaptation Grant Eligibility (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: For the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability, household income is calculated as the annual gross income in the previous tax year of all household members over 18, or over 23 if in full-time education, with the exclusion of Family Income Supplement, Domiciliary Care Allowance and Carer's Benefit or Carer's Allowance if paid in respect of the person to whom...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Expert Panel on Concrete Blocks (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: The Expert Panel on concrete blocks was established by my Department in 2016, to investigate problems that have emerged in the concrete blockwork of certain dwellings in Counties Donegal and Mayo. The panel had the following terms of reference: (i) To identify, insofar as it is possible, the numbers of private dwellings which appear to be affected by...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Traveller Accommodation (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: The Programme for a Partnership Government commits to establishing a special working group to audit the current delivery and implementation of local authorities' Traveller Accommodation Plans (TAPs), to consult with stakeholders on key areas of concern and to report on the delivery of safe, culturally appropriate accommodation. To support the advancement of this...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Traveller Accommodation (26 Oct 2017)

Damien English: In accordance with the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, housing authorities have statutory responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and also have responsibility for the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller Accommodation Programmes (TAPs) in their areas.  My Department’s role is to ensure that there are...

Topical Issue Debate: Housing Provision (7 Nov 2017)

Damien English: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue which concerns thousands of citizens not just in Cork, but throughout the country. The latest official figures available relating to local authority housing lists are those which were prepared on foot of the statutory summary of social housing assessments, SSHA, carried out in September 2016 by the Housing Agency. This identified 91,600...

Topical Issue Debate: Housing Provision (7 Nov 2017)

Damien English: We agree that we face unprecedented challenges regarding the supply of social housing. That has been the issue. Governments of different parties before the recession decided to withdraw local authorities from delivering housing and we are trying to put that capacity back into the system. We are asking local authorities, councillors such as those mentioned by the Deputy and the staff who...

Private Rental Sector Standards: Motion [Private Members] (7 Nov 2017)

Damien English: Anywhere there is a need.