Results 9,461-9,480 of 15,555 for speaker:Eoghan Murphy

Priority Questions: Housing Issues (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy for the question. Project Ireland 2040 signals a significant policy shift towards securing more compact and sustainable urban and rural development, which requires significantly more effective land management in key development areas. Against that background, it is proposed to establish a national regeneration and development agency to assist in ensuring a more effective...

Priority Questions: Housing Issues (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: A lot of consideration has gone into this initiative by the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform and me. One of the key principles in Project Ireland 2040 is compact growth, which means that 40% of the 1 million extra population will be in the cores of our villages, towns and city centres. With regard to strategic land banks in our main cities such as the north quays in...

Priority Questions: Housing Issues (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: Rebuilding Ireland has yielded results. The figures for 2017 show that the number of homes that came into the social housing stock was far greater than anticipated over the course of 2017. The figures also show a significant ramp up in the commencements of building homes and the applications for planning permissions. Each of those headline figures tells us that Rebuilding Ireland is...

Priority Questions: Rental Sector (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: Under action 18 of the strategy for the rental sector, my Department established a working group in June 2017 with representatives of all major public stakeholders with a policy interest in short-term lettings to develop guidance on planning applications and changes of use relating to short-term lettings and to examine the need for new regulatory arrangements. The proposals under...

Priority Questions: Rental Sector (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: Following the issuing of a circular by my Department to local authorities last year, we are very close to a set of recommendations coming to me in approximately six weeks or by mid-April. At the same time, Dublin City Council is carrying out a study on short-term letting and we are reviewing the proposals from the joint committee's report. I have read those proposals and support many of...

Priority Questions: Rental Sector (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: It is probably worth noting that legislation will more than likely be required. When that legislation is ready, we can move with it as quickly as possible in this House because both the Deputy and I support the objective of home sharing and the shared economy with the great benefit it brings our tourism industry, cultural exchange and people who let their home while on holidays themselves to...

Priority Questions: Construction Costs (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy for the question. Under the Government's Rebuilding Ireland action plan, my Department committed to undertaking a detailed analysis, in conjunction with the construction sector, to benchmark housing delivery input costs in Ireland in order to facilitate an increased level of housing output. To advance this work, a working group, chaired by my Department, was...

Priority Questions: Construction Costs (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The Department's work in this area has been led by our independent study of construction costs. I have seen early drafts we have received in the past few months. We hope to have the Housing Agency's report on international cost comparisons next week. I anticipate that will show that we are not wildly out of line with other close countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany. ...

Priority Questions: Construction Costs (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: Nothing is delaying the report's publication. I intend to get it finalised and published as quickly as possible. I hope both reports will be available next week, but the Deputy might bear in mind that the Department is working on responding to this week's weather event, which is taking most of my attention this week.

Other Questions: Homeless Persons Data (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 36 and 73 together. My Department publishes monthly reports on homelessness and the report in respect of January was published today and is available on the Department's website. These reports are based on data provided by housing authorities and produced through the pathway accommodation and support system, PASS. The reports capture details of individuals...

Other Questions: Homeless Persons Data (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: Babies in hotels not reaching developmental goals was one of the first things brought to my attention upon being appointed to this office, to make sure that we could find a policy solution that would ensure adequate play spaces, cooking facilities and wraparound supports that families need were in place when they experience this crisis in their lives. That is what the family hub, initiated...

Other Questions: Homeless Persons Data (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The vast majority of families who have been placed in family hubs spend less than six months in that family hub accommodation. We get in there as quickly as possible with our care supports to get them either into social housing or one of the social housing supports that we have. This is why we have expanded the placefinder service which is there to help families to source accommodation,...

Other Questions: Homeless Persons Data (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: It is important to note the huge amount of work that has gone on in 2017 between my Department, local authorities, the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive and the NGO sector. As I stated in my previous reply, more than 1,200 families exited hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation in 2017. Of course it is still a huge challenge for Government and society, with 700 families still in hotels...

Other Questions: Homeless Persons Data (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputies for their questions. To respond to the questions asked by Deputy Dessie Ellis, people are still presenting to the homeless services. We are putting a huge amount of work into prevention and there will be a big focus in the coming year on trying to use supports such as the homeless housing assistance payment to prevent people from having to enter emergency accommodation....

Other Questions: Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The first call for proposals under the local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF, was issued to all local authorities in August 2016 and 34 projects received preliminary approval in March 2017. Westmeath County Council submitted two projects for consideration under LIHAF and funding in the amount of €1.83 million was approved for an access road on Brawny Road, Athlone....

Other Questions: Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: Some 74 proposals were submitted under LIHAF 1 by 21 local authorities in October 2016, with 34 projects across 15 local authorities receiving preliminary approval in March 2017. To date, grant agreements on 30 of these projects have been signed between the Department and local authorities. The total cost of the projects is €195.71 million, of which €146.69 million will be...

Other Questions: Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: Funding was not necessarily the problem when it came to a number of projects under the local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF 1. LIHAF can be a complicated way of achieving what is a very important goal because it requires the local authority to work with the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and in some instances to also work with a number of different owners...

Other Questions: Housing Provision (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The delivery of affordable homes to buy or rent is a major priority for the Government, with a particular emphasis on Dublin, Cork and Galway, where people face the greatest affordability challenge. To deliver more affordable homes, the State must develop the full potential of its residential landbank. I stressed this point to local authority chief executives at the second housing summit on...

Other Questions: Housing Provision (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: One of the main aims of Rebuilding Ireland was the construction of 50,000 social housing homes and their addition to the social housing stock over the period of the five-year plan. The additional funding secured at the time of the last budget for the five-year capital plan we have for Rebuilding Ireland means that we can now meet the joint committee's recommendation that 50,000 new homes be...

Other Questions: Housing Provision (27 Feb 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: We did not abandon the need for an affordable housing scheme. The Deputy's party did so when it abandoned the economy. House prices crashed and people fell into serious negative equity. The affordability of housing was not an issue in 2011. There were difficulties with ghost estates and knocking down houses that had not been completed.