Results 7,861-7,880 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Shared Ownership Scheme (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 435 and 476 together. As Minister, it is not appropriate for me to comment on individual cases but I can confirm that the Government’s 2011 Housing Policy Statement announced the standing down of all affordable housing schemes, including the shared ownership scheme, in the context of a full review of Part V of the Planning and Development Acts...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Tenant Purchase Scheme Administration (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Government, on 17 December 2013, approved priority drafting of a Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill that will, among other things, underpin a new tenant purchase scheme for existing local authority houses along incremental purchase lines.  I expect that the Bill will be enacted this year, following which I will prescribe in regulations the commencement date and the detailed...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Assistance Payments Eligibility (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 448 to 450, inclusive, together. The changes recently notified to Local Authorities apply to new applications received after 1 January 2014. Any person who applied for a grant prior to January 2014 will have their application processed in accordance with the guidelines in place at that time. These applicants will not be affected by the changes to the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Foreshore Licences Applications (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Foreshore consent applications are processed strictly in accordance with a prioritisation framework focusing on major infrastructural projects e.g. local authority wastewater treatment plants and offshore energy applications. Both projects referred to fall within the lowest priority level. The current position on these applications is set out below. The public and statutory consultation...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Deposit Protection Scheme Establishment (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Programme for Government 2011 contains a commitment to establish a tenancy deposit protection scheme. On foot of this commitment I asked the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) to commission research on such a scheme and to report back to me with recommendations in that regard. The subsequent report assessed a number of different options for delivery of a deposit protection...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Adaptation Grants Expenditure (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 477 to 479, inclusive, together. Details of the allocations to local authorities in respect the suite of Grants for Older People and People with a Disability over the period 2009 to 2014 are set out in the table below. There are three distinct measures under this scheme, the Housing Adaptation Grants for People with a Disability, the Housing Aid for Older...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Funding (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Last year the budget allocation for the suite of Grants for Older People and People with a Disability was €34.2 million. I am pleased to be in a position to increase that funding by some 12% in 2014 to €38.4 million. Every local authority will have increased funding for grants compared to the initial allocation for 2013. Grants were allocated on the basis of the level of...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 25 - Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I, too, thank the committee for providing this opportunity to discuss the Estimates, in my case for the 2014 housing programme. I am pleased that 2014 will see a significant level of new investment in housing across a range of measures which will increase the supply of homes to be made available and enhance quality of life for families. In 2014, almost 70% of the budget for the Department...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 25 - Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to respond to the housing issues raised by Deputy Catherine Murphy. I absolutely share her concern about the number of people waiting on housing waiting lists. This is the reason that for the first time, the Government has introduced a mainstream construction programme through local authorities. The Government was unable to do it heretofore. It was not because it did not wish to do...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 25 - Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Deputies Corcoran Kennedy and Flanagan both raised the issue of unfinished estates. We are making good progress on this issue. The initial funding was for dealing with public safety issues, but a further €10 million was announced in the budget by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. This money is specifically for unfinished estates with public realm issues that can be...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 25 - Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I am just telling the Deputy about it.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 25 - Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Also, the local authority should have a site resolution plan for the estate so the Deputy might take the issue up with it. This is a positive story and we are making very steady progress in this regard. With regard to the issue of homelessness, we will maintain the same amount of funding this year, €45 million, so there is no reason to believe the midlands in particular should have...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 25 - Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I have several more questions to get through. Deputy Humphreys raised the issue of the shortage of RAS units. There is a difficulty, particularly in the Dublin area, with regard to the responsibility of the Minister for Social Protection for rent supplement accommodation and RAS. We will keep it under review. The intention is the funding we have this year will provide for a further 2,500...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 25 - Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: In some parts of the country it is very difficult-----

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 25 - Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: -----to get rented accommodation.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 25 - Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Deputy Humphreys also asked about RAPID. We will examine it to see whether there is an issue. It crosses between my responsibilities and those of the Minister, Deputy Hogan. The €15 million carryover about which Deputy Humphreys asked will go into the general construction programme. I stated there was €65 million for local authorities, with €35 million through the...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 25 - Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: There are very different patterns. Some local authorities turn over houses very quickly and others very slowly. If there is nothing to be done, the local authority should reallocate the house as quickly as possible. This fund is for houses which need a lot of work and where the local authorities tell us they simply do not have the money to do it. It is a separate €15 million which...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 25 - Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The shared ownership scheme has been an ongoing difficulty and I asked the Housing Agency to research how we might address it. It has come back with an interim report and we have issued a circular. There is more work to be done because it does not address all of the particular difficulties which arise under shared ownership. An issue which has been addressed is people on shared ownership...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 25 - Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I presume Kilkenny has a larger population than Laois.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 25 - Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (21 Jan 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: We used a fair formula based on the general population plus a weighting for our older population to allocate additional amounts to each local authority.