Results 9,601-9,620 of 25,999 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homeless Persons Supports (8 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: 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. Under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 a Homeless Consultative Forum exists for each region and it is the role of the Management Group of each of these fora to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (8 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: Mayo County Council submitted applications for funding support for two projects under Call 2 of the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund. The final date for the submission of applications under Call 2 was 29 May. A large number of proposals were received, with every local authority submitting at least one application for URDF support. Because of the nature of the URDF programme the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (8 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: With effect from 1 August 2020, the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020 introduces protections for those tenants who are facing rent arrears and, as a result, are at risk of losing their tenancy. If a tenant’s ability to pay rent has been impacted by Covid-19 and the tenant meets specific criteria, new procedures and protections apply. Tenants who follow these procedures...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Undefined (8 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: There are a range of funding and delivery mechanisms available to local authorities to deliver social housing supports in partnership with Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs). The funding is provided directly to local authorities, who in turn, advance the funding to AHBs, as appropriate. Sue Ryder Homes are provided by the Sue Ryder Foundation, which receives funding from local authorities, as...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Fuel Poverty (8 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 437 and 438 together. My Department has operated an Energy Efficiency Retrofitting Programme for local authority social housing since 2013, under which over 72,000 social homes have been insulated to date with funding support of some €151 million. The programme improves the insulation standards and overall energy performance of local authority...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wind Energy Guidelines (8 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department is currently undertaking a focused review of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines in line with the “preferred draft approach” which was announced in June 2017 by the then Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, in conjunction with the then Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment. The review is addressing a number of key...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Offices (8 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The civil service accommodation facilities allocated to my Department outside of Dublin City are situated at office locations in Wexford, Ballina and Cork. In addition, Met Éireann has weather stations located throughout the country. The number of vacant desk spaces available in accommodation allocated to my Department in civil service accommodation outside of Dublin City is set out...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (8 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: Louth County Council submitted applications for funding support for two projects under Call 2 of the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund. The final date for the submission of applications under Call 2 was 29 May. A large number of proposals were received, with every local authority submitting at least one application for URDF support. Because of the nature of the URDF programme the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Ministerial Advisers (8 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 443 and 447 together. The recently published guidance issued by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on Ministerial Appointments allow for 2 Special Advisers to be appointed to each Minister by Government, in accordance with overall staffing limits. At this stage, no Special Advisers have been formally appointed, either directly or by...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing (8 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: Delivery of social housing is achieved using a range of different delivery programmes and financing arrangements. This includes supporting both local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) to engage with contractors for the construction of new social housing homes. In recent years, the main source of funding to AHBs for social housing delivery, including turnkey projects, is through...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Rates (8 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The levying and collection of rates are legally matters for each individual local authority. Local authorities are under a statutory obligation to levy rates on any property used for commercial purposes. An initial three-month waiver of rates for businesses forced to close business due to COVID-19, was announced in early May. In order to enhance the supports available for enterprise, and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (8 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The 2020 target for additional Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) set-ups is 15,750 and at the end of Q2 2020, 7,825 HAP tenancies had been set up (49%). My Department is not aware that the increase in people working from home is impacting on the HAP scheme. Under the HAP scheme, in order to secure appropriate accommodation for a household that requires it, each local authority has...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Residential Tenancies Board (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department does not hold or collate the information referred to in the Question. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) which was established as an independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2020, operates a national tenancy registration system and to facilitate the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants. The Clerk of the Dáil requested that...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Tenant Purchase Scheme (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme which came into operation on 1 January 2016 is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme. To be eligible, tenants must meet certain criteria, including having a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum and having been in receipt of social housing support for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Data (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 125 and 126 together. Cost information on the delivery of social homes through the local authority construction and turnkey programmes is collated by my Department at development level rather than at granular individual housing unit level. Disaggregating such development level information into individual unit costs, across all of the various types of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Approved Housing Bodies (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 127 and 128 together. Following engagement with the Credit Union sector on proposals for credit unions to provide funding for the provision of social housing, the Central Bank undertook a review of the relevant investment framework in 2017. On foot of this review, revised Regulations commenced on 1 March 2018. The revised Regulations included the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Approved Housing Bodies (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: In April 2018 the Department of Finance published the Stability Programme Update for 2018 which was the first set of fiscal projections produced by that Department to incorporate the CSO decision to reclassify the majority of Tier 3 Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) as part of the local government sector. This was an important first step in the Government's assessment as to the impact of the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Irish Water (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The Programme for Government provides that the Government will retain Irish Water in public ownership as a national, standalone, regulated utility. In this context, in September 2018, the Director General of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) reported on a process of engagement, undertaken with the parties involved in the water sector transformation programme, including ICTU and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homeless Persons Data (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: Tragically, there were a number of deaths during the summer involving people accessing homeless services. Our sympathies go to the families who have lost loved ones in this way and indeed to the dedicated service providers that have also suffered the loss. Supporting households experiencing homelessness is a priority for this Government. The Programme for Government recognises that many...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homelessness Strategy (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: I have established a Homelessness Task Force, to provide a forum for engagement with key organisations working to address homelessness and to provide input on the implementation of the commitments on homelessness in the Programme for Government. The Group met on three occasions in July, with the next meeting scheduled for 14 September. Notes of the meetings can be provided on request.