Results 8,101-8,120 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan
- Other Questions: NAMA Social Housing Provision (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: We will be starting a debate on social housing after these questions. My Department, the Housing Agency and NAMA continue to work together with housing authorities and approved housing bodies in identifying suitable NAMA housing units and bringing them into social housing use. By the end of December 2013, of the 4,374 units identified by NAMA as being potentially suitable, 2,055 units have...
- Other Questions: NAMA Social Housing Provision (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: The Deputy asked for the figures.
- Other Questions: NAMA Social Housing Provision (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: We have got 2,000.
- Other Questions: NAMA Social Housing Provision (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: The NAMA properties are by no means all housing. There is a big portfolio of NAMA properties. The Government committed to delivering 2,000 units from NAMA for social housing. NAMA identified over 4,000 properties as potentially suitable but the local authorities deemed only just over 2,000 of those to be suitable. There is no point taking a house from NAMA that is situated in a place where...
- Other Questions: NAMA Social Housing Provision (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: We have no evidence that NAMA is not identifying the suitable properties. I have figures for this part of the world. In Deputy Boyd Barrett's constituency 114 properties were available for consideration and 58 of those have been completed or contracted. In Dublin city there were 247 and 115 have been completed or contracted; in South Dublin 42 were available and 40 have been completed or...
- Other Questions: Wind Energy Guidelines (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: I have undertaken a public consultation, which began on 11 December 2013, on proposed draft revisions to the existing 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines focussing specifically on the issues of noise, setback and shadow flicker. The draft revisions propose setting a more stringent absolute noise limit, day and night, of 40 decibels, dB, for future wind energy developments. This limit...
- Other Questions: Wind Energy Guidelines (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: There are wind guidelines currently and these are quite detailed. They will apply until the new guidelines are adopted. That is the answer to the first question. On the second question with regard to minimum distance, the 500 m minimum distance is not statutory and we propose to make it statutory in the revised guidelines. Effectively, we propose to eliminate shadow flicker in the new...
- Other Questions: Wind Energy Guidelines (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: I suppose the issue of community gain is one that is being considered across Government as something that should be part of the discussions in all of this, but Deputy Rabbitte's Department would have some of the responsibility in this area as well. With regard to compensation, that would not come into the area of responsibility under our Department in so far as it is the planning element of...
- Other Questions: Wind Energy Guidelines (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: It is a matter for the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, and, I presume, for the agencies under his Department, rather than for ours.
- Other Questions: Wind Energy Guidelines (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: As I stated, for example, we will be strengthening the distance.
- Other Questions: Wind Energy Guidelines (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: When something is a statutory guideline, they must have regard to it.
- Other Questions: Private Rented Accommodation Rental Costs and Controls (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 38 together. The Government’s housing policy statement recognises that a balanced housing sector needs a strong and well-regulated private rented sector. In recent years improvements have been made, for example, in regard to security of tenure and the resolution of disputes. The Government recently approved the drafting of amendments to the...
- Other Questions: Private Rented Accommodation Rental Costs and Controls (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: I agree that we need to learn from our neighbouring European countries. They have long-established stable private rental markets that make up a large percentage of their housing. We are not really at that stage yet but the amount of people living in rented accommodation is rising and I want to see that being stable for people. This is why I have opened the debate. The supply issue is...
- Other Questions: Private Rented Accommodation Rental Costs and Controls (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: I did announce a €58 million mainstream local authority housing programme yesterday. I agree with the Deputy that we need to ramp that up but I do not agree with him that this will solve the problem of rents in the private sector. We will always have a certain number of people who live in private rented accommodation and get support from the State but the problem is that other people...
- Other Questions: Private Rented Accommodation Rental Costs and Controls (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: I must agree with all the Deputies that I want to spend more money on social housing but we could not do it over the past five years. It was cut significantly during the lifetime of the previous Government and we had to cut it because of the deal with the troika which said that our capital budget was cut every year. There was nothing I could do about that. We have turned the corner. I...
- Social Housing and Homelessness Policy: Statements (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: I welcome the opportunity to open this important and timely debate on social housing supply and in particular I will focus my remarks on homelessness and the Government's firm ambition to eliminate long-term homelessness and rough sleeping by 2016. Deputies do not need to be reminded of the human and personal tragedy that the threat or reality of homelessness can trigger in a person's life....
- Social Housing and Homelessness Policy: Statements (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: It is a pity we did not have such a database when the Deputy's party was in power.
- Social Housing and Homelessness Policy: Statements (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: We still have work to do to address the deficiencies left by the previous Government.
- Social Housing and Homelessness Policy: Statements (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: Some of the Deputy's proposals are good but he should remember who caused the current problems.
- Social Housing and Homelessness Policy: Statements (12 Mar 2014)
Jan O'Sullivan: It is a bit much-----