Results 12,421-12,440 of 26,184 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Seanad: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I banned co-living.

Seanad: Land Development Agency Bill 2021: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I thank the Senators for their contributions. Many different points were raised, all of which are valid. With regard to plans for local authorities and what their SPCs do, I have always been at pains to say that I firmly believe in rebalancing the power between local elected members and the executive in local authorities. We need to empower our councillors and we are certainly trying to do...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The cracking of external walls of dwellings in Donegal and Mayo, due to the crumbling of concrete blockwork, came to light in 2013. An Expert Panel was established in 2016 to investigate the matter. It was chaired by Mr. Denis McCarthy and it included representatives nominated by the National Standards Authority of Ireland, Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland, and the Institute of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Construction Products Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 (CPR) sets out rules for the marketing of construction products in the EU. Under the European Union (Construction Products) Regulations 2013 each of the building control authorities (local authorities) have been designated as the principal market surveillance authorities for construction products that fall within the scope of the CPR,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: In order to be eligible for HAP support, a household must first qualify for social housing support and be placed on a housing list. Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority, in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Reviews (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is an analytical framework that is designed to examine the demographic profile of public services users, and how they are impacted by budgetary policy decisions.  As a tool predominantly used to assess the impact of certain tax and welfare policy measures, SIAs have been conducted in the main by departments responsible for such functions. Traditionally,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department operates the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan, which is targeted at first time buyers who wish to own their own home, have access to an adequate deposit and have the capacity to repay a mortgage, but who are unable to access a mortgage sufficient for them to purchase their first home. The loan enables credit worthy first time buyers to access sustainable mortgage lending to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides both capital and current funding to local authorities across a range of funding initiatives to assist them in providing homes for families and individuals on their social housing waiting lists.  To provide transparency on the new social housing projects being advanced, each quarter my Department publishes a Social Housing Construction Status Report and updated...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department is currently considering a funding application for a housing project, comprising 104 high-quality homes for social housing use, at the location referred to that is being progressed by the approved housing body (AHB), Clúid Housing, working in partnership with Dublin City Council (DCC). This project has an indicative completion date of December 2023. As with...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Area Plans (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Social Housing Public Private Partnership (PPP) Programme consists of 3 Bundles of sites that will deliver in the region of 1,500 social homes. Bundle 3 consists of six sites including Shangan Road in Ballymun. My Department and the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) are currently working with the relevant Local Authorities including Dublin City Council as Lead...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 334 and 333 together. Funding allocations for 2021 under the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability Scheme, for private houses, were issued to all local authorities on 1 March and are publicly available on my Department’s website at the following links:  . The detailed administration of the grants...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Fire Service (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he or she is responsible. My Department oversees workforce planning for the local government sector, including the monitoring of local government sector employment levels. To this...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Repair and Leasing Scheme (RLS) was developed to assist private property owners and local authorities or approved housing bodies (AHBs) to harness the accommodation potential that exists in vacant dwellings across Ireland. Subject to the suitability of the dwelling for social housing, the cost of the necessary repairs will be met upfront by the local authority or an AHB with the cost...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2021, to operate a national tenancy registration system and to facilitate the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants.A dispute may be referred to the RTB under Part 6 of the Acts - please see www.rtb.ie for information on the RTB's dispute...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wastewater Treatment (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 338, 340 and 341 together. With effect from 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels for public water services, including the delivery of water services capital infrastructure, encompassing the management of urban waste water collection and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wastewater Treatment (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: With effect from 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels for public water services, including the delivery of water services capital infrastructure, encompassing the management of urban waste water collection and treatment infrastructure. In terms of the construction of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The cracking of external walls of dwellings in Donegal and Mayo, due to the crumbling of concrete blockwork, came to light in 2013. An Expert Panel was established in 2016 to investigate the matter. It was chaired by Mr. Denis McCarthy and it included representatives nominated by the National Standards Authority of Ireland, Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland, and the Institute of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 343 and 345 together. My Department received correspondence from Clare County Council in October 2020, requesting the extension of the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant scheme to County Clare. A comprehensive reply was subsequently issued to the Council in November 2020. My Department informed the Council that before any extension of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 344, 346 and 347 together. Donegal and Mayo are currently the only local authority areas within the scope of the Defective Concrete Blocks grant scheme.  The proposed LPT exemption being formulated by the Department of Finance is intended to only apply to  homes which have received a Stage 1 approval – Confirmation of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Registration of Title (13 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 352 to 354, inclusive, together. The following figures represent the number of staff working in the Property Registration Authority, the statutory body responsible for controlling and managing both the Land Registry and the Registry of Deeds.   Year  Headcount Full-Time Equivalents  2016 526 ...