Results 8,821-8,840 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Seanad: Housing: Statements (26 Sep 2019)

Damien English: There is no co-living units being built this year.

Seanad: Housing: Statements (26 Sep 2019)

Damien English: Yes, and this is the Senator's perception.

Seanad: Housing: Statements (26 Sep 2019)

Damien English: The Commencement notices and planning permission been granted for apartments in the past two years show that not all new builds are co-living spaces. The Senator should check the facts.

Seanad: Housing: Statements (26 Sep 2019)

Damien English: It is not every case. The Senator mentioned the fair deal scheme, which was introduced by the former Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney. At that time, the scheme was not fair because applicants who owned a property were penalised. It is fairer now and it is open to everybody, irrespective of whether people have an asset. A home or asset is factored into the cost and one pays a...

Seanad: Housing: Statements (26 Sep 2019)

Damien English: I am sure many people do but the worldwide trend is that fewer people want to own a house because people's lives change.

Seanad: Housing: Statements (26 Sep 2019)

Damien English: I agree with the Senator. That is what we are doing.

Seanad: Housing: Statements (26 Sep 2019)

Damien English: Senator Mulherin is not here so I will not go into the issues she raised, which were mainly local issues concerning pyrite and mica in Mayo. I hope the scheme to which she referred will be over the line very soon. As part of the budget it was announced that a scheme would be designed. All of that work has been done. Officials from my Department have met representatives of Mayo County...

Seanad: Housing: Statements (26 Sep 2019)

Damien English: I sneaked out.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Oct 2019)

Damien English: I sent a letter to Deputy McConalogue today on this matter so I will give him a short answer now. We agreed last year to allocate money in order to show our commitment to addressing this issue, to be fair to all of the homeowners affected. We did that, even though the scheme was not fully worked out at that stage. That work has been ongoing since then. As the Deputy knows, there have been...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Foreshore Issues (1 Oct 2019)

Damien English: There is no record of an application by the local authority in question along the lines detailed in the question. 

Financial Resolutions - Budget Statement 2020 (8 Oct 2019)

Damien English: BusConnects. Is that not a big project?

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Fire Stations Upgrade (8 Oct 2019)

Damien English: The provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Service Act, 1981. My Department supports fire authorities through setting general policy, providing a central training...

Financial Resolutions 2019 - Financial Resolution No. 9: General (Resumed) (9 Oct 2019)

Damien English: I commend the budget to the House. It is a prudent and wise budget and is the right budget at the right time. We have made real progress in recent years, and it is important that our country makes the right decisions to protect that progress for the future. As a Fine Gael-led Government, we are concerned with protecting that future. The plans we have been investing in for the past couple...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Emergency Services (9 Oct 2019)

Damien English: The provision of fire services is a statutory function of fire authorities under the provisions of the Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003. The receipt of calls from the public for assistance by the fire service is provided on a 'shared service' basis by three Regional Communications Centres (RCCs) at Limerick, Castlebar and Dublin. I have no role in relation to legislation, policy,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Traveller Accommodation (10 Oct 2019)

Damien English: In accordance with the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, housing authorities have statutory responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller Accommodation Programmes (TAPs) in their areas.  My Department’s role is to ensure that there are adequate structures and supports...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Legislative Programme (15 Oct 2019)

Damien English: Government approved a General Scheme of the Marine Planning and Development Management Bill in July 2019. Further policy work continues on development of certain aspects of the proposed regime with a view to incorporating these elements at a future stage. In addition to the policy development work, my Department is continuing to work with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Foreshore Licence Applications (15 Oct 2019)

Damien English: Two Foreshore Leases have been granted in respect of applications for offshore wind farms, the Arklow Bank Wind Farm and Codling I Bank Wind Park Farm, off the Wicklow coast, in 2002 and 2005. These leases were issued by the then Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources who had responsibility for foreshore functions at that time. My Department has the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (15 Oct 2019)

Damien English: Last year, the Government agreed in principle to introduce a scheme to support affected homeowners in the counties of Donegal and Mayo to carry out the necessary remediation works to dwellings that have been significantly damaged due to defective concrete blocks. Budget 2020 provides funding of €40 million to fund  the operation  of the Pyrite remediation scheme...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Vacant Sites (16 Oct 2019)

Damien English: I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter relating to housing and community development in Celbridge, the wider Kildare region and other areas. I am from Meath and many in the Chamber today are from Kildare, so we all understand the pressures being felt in our counties. We also know how a lack of master plans led to developments that were not exactly what we wanted in many cases,...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Vacant Sites (16 Oct 2019)

Damien English: To be clear, the Department supports logical and sequential planning, as well as master plans for areas. The process exists where a local authority can appoint a planner to work with a team of people to develop a master plan that can maximise resources. It is something we certainly encourage. We have no problem corresponding with Kildare County Council in offering that support but we...