Results 8,301-8,320 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Housing Provision: Motion [Private Members] (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Has the Deputy nothing constructive to say?

Housing Provision: Motion [Private Members] (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I move amendment a1:To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following: “acknowledges that the economic downturn and contraction in construction activity since 2008 has created significant difficulties for many communities and individuals across Ireland; recognises the high priority which the Government has assigned to housing and...

Housing Provision: Motion [Private Members] (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Deputies opposite have accused me of interrupting. There was an unprecedented boom, and I quote a member of the Opposition, but there was very little housing construction during those years when large sums of money flowed around the country and when the housing estates referred to were being built in places where there was no demand for housing. That was because of totally inadequate...

Housing Provision: Motion [Private Members] (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: It is still unacceptable but it is down significantly. Since this Government came into office it has done its best to address the problems that developed at a time when the money was flowing through the country and terrible decisions were made. We have to clean up that mess with very little money. It is all very well to say we should be spending money and constructing houses and so on but...

Housing Provision: Motion [Private Members] (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Anybody who has been on a waiting list for nine or ten years was on it during the time when there was a great deal of money in the country and it was not being spent on building social housing. I completely reject what Deputy Halligan has said. His remarks have been extremely personal. He accused people of not caring and has suggested somehow or other that we do not know what is going on....

Housing Provision: Motion [Private Members] (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: It sounded very personal. For the past three years we have done our best with very constrained finances available to us to address the serious problems that exist. That is why the housing policy statement published shortly after the Government came into office in 2011 highlighted that meeting social housing need within the available resources for the future will necessitate smarter and...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Private Residential Tenancies Board Remit (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Residential Tenancies (Amendment)(No. 2) Bill 2012 is currently before the Oireachtas and will amend the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to provide for the inclusion of the Approved Housing Body (AHB) sector within the remit of the Residential Tenancies Act. The extension of the Residential Tenancies Act to AHB tenancies will provide greater security of tenure for AHB tenants, extend the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Anti-Social Behaviour (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: While action to deal with anti-social behaviour is primarily a matter for An Garda Síochána, local authority tenants who are subject to on-going harassment and intimidation from neighbours should contact the housing authority concerned in confidence, as the body responsible for estate management. Housing authorities have the power to seek a court order excluding a person engaged in...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 450 and 451 together. A local authority is required to carry out any development for which it has obtained approval from An Bord Pleanála under section 175 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 in accordance with the terms of that approval. Local authorities are fully expected to comply with this provision. Section 255 of the Planning and Development...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Application Numbers (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The results of the most recent statutory summary of social housing assessments, which was carried out in 2013, detail the number of households on all local authority waiting lists as at 7 May 2013. The results include details on the length of time spent by qualified households on waiting lists by each local authority and are available on my Department’s website at:. The 2013 figures...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Provision (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: In March 2014 I announced the approval of some 56 social housing construction projects with an overall value of €68 million under the Local Authority housing construction programme for 2014-2015. This new construction programme will deliver 449 new units of accommodation for people on the housing waiting list. In the case of Dublin City Council, some €7.9 million is being...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Foreshore Licence Applications (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Foreshore consent applications are processed strictly in accordance with a prioritisation framework focusing on major infrastructural projects e.g. wastewater treatment plants and offshore energy applications. Small scale seaweed harvesting falls within the lowest priority level and, accordingly, such applications may take longer to process. All applications for licences to harvest wild...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: For a household to qualify for social housing support a housing authority must carry out an assessment to establish whether the household is in need of housing and meets certain eligibility criteria, including income limits. As part of a concerted effort to deal with the issue of mortgage arrears, the Social Housing Assessment Regulations were amended in 2011 to provide that a household may...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Traveller Accommodation (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department understands from Offaly County Council that this issue relates to the placement of temporary dwellings on private land at the location referred to and represents an unauthorised development. The Council, as the Planning Authority, are currently addressing this matter in accordance with their powers under the Planning and Development Act 2000 as amended.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Emergency Accommodation Numbers (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department's role in relation to homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the role of housing authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation for homeless persons rests with the housing authorities. The purposes for which housing authorities may...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Rental Accommodation Scheme Data (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) commenced in 2005 and to the end of February 201 4 some 48,503 households have been transferred from Rent Supplement to RAS and other social housing options. Of this number 28,712 were housed directly under RAS and a further 19,791 were accommodated under other social housing options. It is not possible to give a definitive number of households in RAS...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department collates and publishes a wide range of housing statistics that inform the preparation and evaluation of housing policy. The full range of data compiled can be viewed on my Department's website, where data on Local Authority completions and acquisitions for the individual years, broken down by county, are displayed: . The published figures relate to house completions only....

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Up to the end of March 2014, 1,977 housing units sourced by local authorities and leased from private owners have been tenanted or are in the process of being tenanted under the Social Housing Leasing Initiative (SHLI). My Department is currently recouping funding to local authorities in respect of 1,929 of these housing units which are currently active. My Department does not hold...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The High Court made an Order in June 2013 quashing that part of my Department's planning review report of 2012 relating to planning issues concerning Donegal County Council following a settlement between my Department and another party who had brought judicial review proceedings in respect of that part of the report. In light of the High Court Order, I subsequently sought the advice of the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (30 Apr 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Question Nos. 478 and 515 together. I appointed MacCabe Durney Barnes Consultants to carry out an independent planning review in accordance with section 255 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. The Terms of Reference require the consultants to undertake a review of planning issues raised in respect of the six planning authorities concerned (Carlow, Cork, Galway...