Results 9,241-9,260 of 15,555 for speaker:Eoghan Murphy

Other Questions: Rental Sector Strategy (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The cost rental model makes up almost half the rental market in some European countries. There are huge gains for Irish society if we can move to a cost rental model because of the security it will give to people who are not able to own a home or who want to rent and have security in that choice. I want it to be a major part of our housing market but it will take time to get us there. That...

Other Questions: Rental Sector Strategy (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: As regards build, acquisition and lease and everything else, those targets will not necessarily contain a detailed breakdown of where the cost rental will be.

Other Questions: Rental Sector Strategy (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: As regards the cost rental model, one must consider the different affordability measures we are trying to progress. For example, we wanted to have a cost rental model on the O'Devaney Gardens site but when we ran the numbers it transpired that affordable purchase was a better way to go, so we prioritised affordable purchase as part of a mix of social and private housing on the site. People...

Other Questions: Housing Provision (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 64, 65, 75, 87, 90, 94, 98, 114 and 120 together. The new affordable purchase scheme will be governed by the relevant provisions of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, which will soon be commenced. It will be targeted at households with annual gross income of below €50,000 for a single applicant or €75,000 for joint...

Other Questions: Housing Provision (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The overall scale of delivery, and timescales, will be informed by these responses. In addition, I am providing funding of €25 million over 2018 and 2019 for a targeted programme whereby local authorities will make low-cost serviced sites available to approved housing bodies or co-operative housing associations in specific areas. This approach has worked well in certain...

Other Questions: Housing Provision (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy for welcoming the initiatives. People were hit very badly by the economic crash that occurred following the bank bailout in 2008 and the intervention from the IMF and ECB in 2010. What we saw was a collapse in property prices across the country of somewhere in the region of 54% from a very high peak. As we look at escalating property prices now, year on year, prices are...

Other Questions: Housing Provision (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy. It is important he acknowledges that there are people who want to rent and that it is a choice that people want to make because it suits their particular lifestyle. Too often, when we have this debate, speakers do not acknowledge that cohort of people. I am glad the Deputy recognises them. When I talked about the peaks in 2007 and how we are off the peak in terms of...

Other Questions: Housing Provision (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: Every time we talk about numbers and statistics, behind that are individuals and families. When we talk about HAP, the Deputy will mention an individual who is having a difficulty with HAP, and I understand that and we try to work to resolve those difficulties. When I talk about 32,000 families and individuals who are in HAP, those are families and individuals for whom HAP is working. I...

Other Questions: Housing Provision (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: These statistics are important because they tell us something about our policies and whether we are moving in the right direction, and that is why I give them. It is also important that we talk about individual cases - hard cases as well as good cases, because we have both. The hard cases will help us make sure we have more good cases, which is why it is important we talk about them.

Other Questions: Housing Provision (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The median house price up to the end of October last year was around €340,000 to €350,000 in Dublin. Under our Rebuilding Ireland home loan, where a couple is earning less than €75,000, they will be able to buy a house at about €320,000, and it is capped at that. To take first-time buyers last year in Dublin, Galway and Cork, 67% of homes were sold for less than...

Other Questions: Housing Provision (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: -----so people are able to afford to buy homes and apartments in Dublin. The figures tell us that people can afford to buy homes in Dublin and they did last year, which is what is happening. I will give the Deputy the figures around affordability on Cherrywood, as I committed in the Oireachtas committee, when I have finalised the Adamstown agreement. LIHAF 1 will then be finished on 30...

Other Questions: Housing Provision (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I restate that the rent pressure zones, RPZs, are new. It is important with any new policy that we keep it under review. We try to keep it under review almost constantly. I have had a number of engagements with the CEO of the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, to keep talking about what exactly is happening in the RPZs. If we look at the change from quarter 2 of last year to quarter 3, we...

Other Questions: Housing Provision (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: Under the affordable purchase scheme, we have already identified land and finance for at least 3,000 homes. At the housing summit we had with local authorities last Monday, I talked about our ambition for reaching 10,000 under the affordable purchase scheme, which is achievable because of the way it has been set up. By taking an equity stake, when the home is sold or part of the equity is...

Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: Since the publication of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan, the Government’s attention has been firmly focused on delivery. The implementation of the plan is overseen by the Cabinet committee on infrastructure, housing and climate change, chaired by An Taoiseach. Within my Department, implementation is driven at ministerial level and led at official level by the Secretary General...

Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy and his colleagues for the very kind welcome to Limerick. I very much appreciated the band; that was a nice touch. Delivery is key in everything that we do. Rebuilding Ireland is our plan but it has to be delivered. We do not just release a policy and step back from it. That is why we started this housing summit model to bring the local authority chief executives...

Questions on Promised Legislation (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputies for their questions. In the last quarter of last year, the Oireachtas joint committee decided that it did not need to undergo legislative scrutiny. The Bill is currently being drafted. It is priority legislation for this term. We will proceed with it as quickly as possible.

Overcrowded Housing Bill 2018: First Stage (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: No.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 69, 100 and 107 together. Up to 34 infrastructure projects, at a total cost of €226 million, received preliminary approval for funding in March 2017 under the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF). Local authorities were allowed to proceed to design phase on all of these projects, pending final approval and sign-off of a grant...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: Local authorities already have powers to make low-cost sites available to individuals, who are qualified for social housing support, and collectively, to voluntary or co-operative not-for-profit housing associations. Separately, I am providing funding of €25 million, over 2018 and 2019, for a targeted programme, where the local authority...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Deposit Protection Scheme Establishment (31 Jan 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 provides for, among other things, the establishment of a tenancy deposit protection scheme to be operated by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). The Government is fully committed to the principle of ensuring effective protection of deposits.  I have asked my Department, in consultation with the RTB, to undertake a detailed...