Results 7,801-7,820 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Voluntary Housing Sector (12 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 144 and 145 together. The Government’s Housing Policy Statement of June 2011 acknowledged the capacity and track record of the voluntary and cooperative housing sector and placed approved housing bodies (AHBs) at the heart of its vision for social housing provision. In July 2013 Building for the Future, a voluntary regulation code, was published as...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Departmental Funding (12 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: In the table below I have set out a breakdown of the some €10 million advanced by my Department to date in respect of projects under the Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF), by housing authority and by the approved housing bodies that have progressed these CALF projects. To date 158 social housing units have been delivered with the assistance of CALF; the remaining 25 units, to...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (12 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Under section 54 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 , additions to and deletions from its record of protected structures are matter s for the planning authority concerned. I have no role in this matter.

Topical Issue Debate: Wind Energy Guidelines (17 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and the support of his party for renewable energy projects which he emphasised at the beginning of his contribution. It is important that I clarify two things. First, what I issued last week were not new guidelines on wind energy developments but proposed draft revisions to the existing 2006 wind energy development guidelines. They run to over 100...

Topical Issue Debate: Wind Energy Guidelines (17 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I want to separate what I am doing as Minister of State with responsibility for planning and what Deputy Pat Rabbitte is doing as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. These are planning guidelines and the economic side is not a matter for me or my Department. My first responsibility is to ensure we have sustainable planning guidelines and balance the needs of the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Issues (17 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: It is open to any person or household to apply to a housing authority for an assessment of their housing need. It is a matter solely for the housing authority concerned to determine whether an applicant for social housing support is eligible for and in need of that support in accordance with the provisions of section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, regulations made...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (17 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The law in relation to taking in charge of estates is set out in section 180 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 as amended. Planning authorities’ taking in charge policies should have been developed in accordance with recommendations made to local authorities in circular letter PD 1/08 which were later incorporated into Chapter 8.8 of the Sustainable Residential Development in...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Waiting Lists (17 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department does not hold the information sought. However details on the number of households on all local authority waiting lists as at 7 May 2013 will be available this week under the 2013 Summary of Housing Needs Assessment carried out in accordance with the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2009. The last summary assessment carried out, at 31 March, 2011, found that there were...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Regeneration Projects Expenditure (17 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Kildare County Council submitted a proposal to my Department in 2008 seeking funding approval for a Remedial Works Scheme at St. Patrick’s Park, Rathangan, Co. Kildare. Following a detailed examination of the proposal my Department provisionally approved funding of €6.8 million for the scheme in July 2011 on condition that 10% of the cost would be met by the Council. This...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (17 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Planning authorities may, when adopting the Development Plan for their areas, adopt policies to curtail an excessive concentration of takeaways in particular areas. Under planning legislation the change of use of any premises to a takeaway or fast food outlet would require planning permission. In deciding whether or not to grant permission for a development, the relevant planning authority...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (17 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: In relation to residential estates which have been completed to the satisfaction of the planning authority in accordance with the permission, section 180 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 provides that the planning authority must, if requested to do so by the developer or by the majority of the owners of the houses involved, initiate the procedures in section 11 of the Roads Act 1993...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Bonds (17 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Conditions attached to planning permissions for residential development must require the giving of sufficient security prior to commencement of development. The form of the bond, the amount and the terms attached are matters for the planning authority concerned and the arrangement entered into must enable the planning authority, without cost to itself, to complete the necessary services...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Bonds (17 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: While my Department does not gather regular statistical information on the management of development bonds by local authorities, the Unfinished Housing Development Survey 2013 Progress Report, which I published in November, provides an analysis of bonds and securities associated with housing developments. This report can be found on my Department’s website, . In order to ensure the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Maintenance (17 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: In January 2011, my Department approved a proposal by Dublin City Council to proceed to tender stage with an energy retrofitting project at Glovers Court. It is a matter for the City Council to determine the projects to be advanced to implementation stage and funded out of the capital allocations provided by my Department. In line with overall national policy which promotes a reduction in...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Unfinished Housing Developments (17 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Section 180(1) and (2) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, which refers to a planning authority being “requested” by a majority of the owners of the houses in an estate to take the estate in charge, does not make a reference to a request being in a particular form or template. The interpretation of the Act in this regard is a matter for the relevant planning...

Pyrite Resolution Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (18 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I know that the Minister was hoping to get back in time to reply to the debate, so I am not sure if it is in order for me to share my time with him if he gets back into the Chamber.

Pyrite Resolution Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (18 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: On behalf of the Minister, I thank everybody who has participated in the debate. There has been a wide and strong interest in this issue, particularly from Deputies on all sides of the House who know from their constituents of the awful trauma that has arisen for people who suffered from pyrite in their homes. I know that this problem has been continuing for a number of years. I also wish...

Planning and Development (Transparency and Consumer Confidence) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (18 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Like everybody else in the House I commend Deputy Catherine Murphy on bringing forward this Private Members' Bill. I reiterate the comments of the Minister, Deputy Hogan, last night in that the Government will not be opposing it. There was much agreement on all sides of the House about the importance of the issue despite, as Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan has noted, a lack of media interest....

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (18 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department collates and publishes a wide range of planning statistics that inform the preparation and evaluation of policy, and those data are available on my Department’s website. Data on the total numbers of extensions to planning permissions granted by the planning authorities on an annual basis are included in these data; however, statistics for the average period for such...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (18 Dec 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Much of the information provided by a planning applicant on a planning application form and, where relevant, in response to a further information request, is checked by the planning authority in the course of its consideration of the application. The giving of false information by a developer could lead to a permission granted being deemed invalid by the courts. I have no current...