Results 11,381-11,400 of 25,999 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: In 2020, Kerry County Council received funding of some €1.5m in relation to 88 units remediated. My Department will continue to support local authorities in their work remediating vacant social housing properties in 2021. In preparation for this year’s programme correspondence issued to all local authorities requesting they provide figures on the total number of vacant units...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Housing (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 675 and 676 together. Dublin City Council applied for funding approval for improvement works at Canon Mooney Gardens under the Precinct Improvement Program (PIP) in 2010. The PIP was part of the Inner City Flat Complex program which ran from 1997-2012. The Cost Benefit Analysis and Capital Appraisal referred to by the Deputy were requested by my...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 677, 678 and 679 together. The Programme for Government, ‘Our Shared Future’, clearly lays out our commitment to putting affordability at the heart of the housing system. Government approved priority drafting of the Affordable Housing Bill 2020 on 22 December 2020, the General Scheme of which I published on the 20th of January last. The Bill...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Issues (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: There appears to be a misapprehension regarding the dates for registering rights of ways acquired by prescription on foot of amendments made by Parts 12 and 13 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 to the provisions relating to acquisition of easements and profits by prescription contained in Part 8 of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009. I understand from the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: In relation to the Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme, applicants must demonstrate that they have an income that is long-term and sustainable in nature. This ensures that the tenant purchasing the house is in a financial position, as the owner, to maintain and insure the property for the duration of the charged period, in compliance with the conditions of the order transferring the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Commercial Rates (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Commissioner of Valuation is independent in the exercise of his duties under the Valuation Acts 2001 to 2020 and the making of valuations for rating purposes is his sole responsibility. As Minister, I have no function in decisions in this regard. Local authorities are under a statutory obligation to levy rates on any property used for commercial purposes in accordance with the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Commercial Rates (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The making of valuations for rating purposes is the sole responsibility of the Commissioner of Valuation who is independent in the exercise of his functions under the Valuation Acts 2001-2020. I, as Minister, have no function in decisions in this regard. Local authorities are under a statutory obligation to levy rates on any property used for commercial purposes in accordance with the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Building Regulations (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: In general, the regulation of professions is in the first instance a matter for industry representatives working in consultation with relevant industry stakeholders. My Department is engaging with the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT) in relation to the registration of Architectural Technologists. In this regard, CIAT has identified that its preferred route is to set...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: In line with the commitment to put affordability at the heart of the housing system in the Programme for Government, ‘Our Shared Future’, Government approved the priority drafting of the Affordable Housing Bill 2020 on 22 December 2020, the General Scheme of which I published on 20 January last. The Bill includes provisions to underpin three schemes delivering on the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Disability Services Provision (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides funding to local authorities in respect of the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability, to assist eligible people in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The suite of grants include the Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability (max grant €30,000), the Mobility Aids Grant (max grant...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Data (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: A range of work is ongoing to deliver Cost Rental housing, with State support, through a number of avenues. My Department is utilising the expertise of Local Authorities, the Land Development Agency (LDA), and the Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) to deliver projects in a variety of ways, in order to prove the concept of this new sector. This is in conjunction with the policy development for the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Covid-19 Pandemic (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Government announced that additional public health restrictions would apply under Level 5 of the Plan for Living with COVID-19 on 6 January 2021. The additional restrictions required all construction activity to cease from 6pm on Friday 8 January, with a number of exceptions. These measures are set out in The Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 10)...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: A number of measures can help address the housing needs of persons who have experienced a relationship breakdown, which I have detailed below. Under Section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and Regulation 22(1) of the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, a household shall be ineligible for social housing support if it has alternative accommodation that the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Assistance Payment (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Since 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning and delivery. Irish Water's charging policies, including in relation to connection charges, are subject to approval by the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU), in its statutory role as the independent economic regulator of Irish Water. Part V of the Water Services (No. 2)...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Land Transfers (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: In relation to any specific cases with the Property Registration Authority (PRA), arrangements have been put in place to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. Further information in relation to the specific case referred to may be obtained by contacting the dedicated e-mail address in respect of the PRA at reps@prai.ie.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Data (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 694 and 743 together. Details on the number of households qualified for social housing support in each local authority administrative area are provided in the annual statutory Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA). The most recent summary, conducted in November 2020, shows that 61,880 households were assessed as qualified for and being in need of social...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water and Sewerage Schemes (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: In 2019 Mayo County Council bid under the Multi-annual Rural Water Programme 2019-2021 for the proposed Community Water Connection (“the project”) in the details supplied. The bid was based on participation by 17 houses and at an estimated cost of €229,500 or €13,500 per house. The Expert Panel that examined the bids under the Programme did not recommend any...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: EU Directives (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 700, 701 and 702 together. The EU Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy) establishes a common framework for the protection of inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater. The overall aim of the Directive is to maintain high...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Data (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides Exchequer funding to local authorities to support the Housing Adaptation Grants for People with a Disability in private houses. These grants are available to assist in the carrying out of works which are reasonably necessary for the purposes of rendering a house more suitable for the accommodation of a person with a disability who has an enduring physical, sensory,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Employment Data (21 Apr 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: As the State bodies and other service providers, such as the local authorities, under the aegis of my Department are employing organisations in their own right, responsibility for their employment practices rests, in the first instance, with themselves, in accordance with employment law. This is supplemented by the State's industrial relations machinery, including the Workplace Relations...