Results 7,641-7,660 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Project Ireland 2040: Statements (Resumed) (21 Feb 2018)

Damien English: I assure the Deputy it definitely will not.

Project Ireland 2040: Statements (Resumed) (21 Feb 2018)

Damien English: There is, yes.

Project Ireland 2040: Statements (Resumed) (21 Feb 2018)

Damien English: I had to answer the questions.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Foreshore Issues (21 Feb 2018)

Damien English: The persons named have made an offer to purchase an area of reclaimed foreshore occupied by them for many years without consent. However, my Department has informed them that the nature of the offer made could not be recommended for approval by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.  

Seanad: Services for People with Disabilities: Motion (21 Feb 2018)

Damien English: I thank the Fine Gael Senators who tabled this important motion relating to services for people with a disability generally and the accessibility of towns and villages for people with a disability. I am conscious that we have said that we will have a debate on housing for people with disabilities in the near future so I will not deal with that particular issue today but will be happy to...

Competition and Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2018: First Stage (22 Feb 2018)

Damien English: No.

Maternity Protection (Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas) Bill 2018: First Stage (22 Feb 2018)

Damien English: No.

Topical Issue Debate: Housing Assistance Payment (22 Feb 2018)

Damien English: I would like to thank Deputy Fitzpatrick for raising this issue with me today. One of the key commitments in Rebuilding Ireland is to help homeless families and children exit homelessness and move into independent tenancies. The housing assistance payment forms a key element of the Government's response to achieving this. HAP is a flexible and immediate form of social housing support,...

Topical Issue Debate: Housing Assistance Payment (22 Feb 2018)

Damien English: Deputy Fitzpatrick raises two very important issues. The first of these is this family and their circumstances. It is so important that we find them a home as quickly as possible. As a Government and as taxpayers, we do not want to see anybody in emergency accommodation. It is not a place to raise a family and it is not a place in which to be. It does not provide value for taxpayers'...

Topical Issue Debate: DEIS Applications (22 Feb 2018)

Damien English: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and apologise on behalf of the Minister who cannot be present. I discussed the issue with him earlier and he is very much aware of it from the correspondence he has received from the Deputy. He is sorry he cannot be present, but I will make sure to convey to him the additional information provided by the Deputy. DEIS is the main policy...

Topical Issue Debate: DEIS Applications (22 Feb 2018)

Damien English: I acknowledge the Deputy's integrity and genuineness in bringing forward this issue which I know is close to its heart. I recognise the work principals do with boards of management, parents associations and the local community to fight for resources for their schools. The Deputy is correct that they generally do so only when they know that they need them. The new process in place will...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Urban Development (22 Feb 2018)

Damien English: I propose to take Questions Nos. 226, 230, 232 and 234 together. The National Planning Frameworksets out an ambitious high-level, national vision for Ireland for 2040, and provides the framework and principles to manage future population and economic growth over the next 20 years (catering for around 1 million extra people, 660,000 extra jobs and 550,000 extra homes). The National Planning...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Regeneration Projects Expenditure (22 Feb 2018)

Damien English: Spending specific and exclusive to an “urban regeneration” heading did not take place in my Department during the years in question. However, I have set out below the expenditure incurred under the National Regeneration Programme which operates under my Department’s Social Housing Capital Investment Programme. My Department currently supports a programme of large-scale...

Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing (27 Feb 2018)

Damien English: I remind the Deputy that Rebuilding Ireland is a five-year document. We all want it to work in week one, but it will probably take four or five years to deliver on its promise. I think it is on track to do so and the report launched by the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, in January showed all of the headings under which it was delivering housing. Overall, it is way ahead of target and...

Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing (27 Feb 2018)

Damien English: I had not finished my answer. We meet credit unions and both the Minister and I are conscious of their ability to invest. We always say access to cash is not restricting the provision of housing, but we welcome the involvement of credit unions through investment and providing loans. Six approved housing bodies applied to draw down funding and a sum of €104,000 was drawn down to...

Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing (27 Feb 2018)

Damien English: The changes have been made by the Central Bank and kicked in in January, but it will only be on 1 March, at the end of this week, that the mechanism to allow the credit union movement to invest in housing projects will apply. My officials are meeting both credit union bodies today and we are moving as quickly as we can. We have engaged a lot with the credit union movement because we believe...

Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Eligibility (27 Feb 2018)

Damien English: The Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 prescribe maximum net income limits for eligibility for social housing support for each local authority in different bands according to the area, with income being defined and assessed according to a standard household means policy published by my Department. The income bands and the authority area assigned to each band are based on an...

Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Eligibility (27 Feb 2018)

Damien English: The case referred to by the Deputy is in Limerick. I am surprised. I know Limerick is in band 2 where the limit is about €30,000 plus percentage allowances for each child, so that person should qualify for social housing in Limerick with an income of €32,000. The figures we have are for net income, so that generally results in a rate of about €48,000 gross pay, so I...

Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Eligibility (27 Feb 2018)

Damien English: There is a range of schemes designed to help people on different income brackets. Naturally in the first year of Rebuilding Ireland the main focus was to get the housing construction back up and to get local authorities back in a position of building houses, which they had not been doing for many years - probably even before the recession - because policy decisions were made to restrict...

Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Waiting Lists (27 Feb 2018)

Damien English: I propose to take Questions Nos. 41 and 80 together. Implementation of the Government's Rebuilding Ireland action plan is well under way and making significant progress. This was evident in the social housing output indicative figures published last month, which showed that nearly 26,000 households had their social housing needs met in 2017. In 2017 some 85,799 households in the country...