Results 13,361-13,380 of 26,245 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Staff (24 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I am not aware of any staff in my Department having been removed from their position, transferred to another role or having their employment terminated from 2011 to date due to breaches of Departmental standards or professional misconduct or incompetence. Personnel in my Department operate to the standards outlined in the Civil Service Code of Standards and Behaviour. Breaches, should...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (25 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 231, 239, 240 and 243 together. The Mortgage to Rent (MTR) scheme introduced in 2012 is targeted at supporting households in mortgage arrears who have had their mortgage position deemed unsustainable by their lender under the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (MARP); agree to the voluntary surrender of their home and are deemed eligible for social housing...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (25 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I refer to Parliamentary Question 356 of 2 November 2021. The position is unchanged. It is my intention to review the position in relation to the filling of the post of the chief executive of Galway County Council on a permanent basis before the end of the year.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Property Registration (25 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Although the Property Registration Authority (PRA) falls under the aegis of my Department, the PRA has its own Vote (Vote 23), of which its Chief Executive Officer is the Accounting Officer. In addition, the PRA operates under a delegated staffing sanction from my Department for filling posts up to the grade of Principal Officer. The staffing complement of the PRA as at 31 October 2021 was...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Schemes (25 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The 'Housing for All' plan sets out the Government’s commitment to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade, including an average of 10,000 new build social homes. While specific targets for the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) and the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) are not set under ‘Housing for All’, the Plan does...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Gorse Burning (25 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Services Act, 1981. My Department supports fire authorities through setting general policy, providing a central training...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (25 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 241 and 242 together. Long term leasing forms part of the overall social housing leasing delivery which also includes delivery streams such as Mortgage to Rent Scheme (MTR), the Repair and Leasing Scheme (RLS) and the Enhanced Leasing Scheme. A breakdown of total leasing delivery per annum for social housing by local authority location can be found on my...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (30 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The delivery of affordable housing for purchase by local authorities is provided for under Part 2 of the Affordable Housing Act 2021 which I commenced in September of this year. It is intended the Regulations governing the operation of these provisions will be put in place over the coming weeks. The first homes to be made available for sale under the scheme will be in Boherboy Cork in...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Energy Conservation (30 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department has provided funding support to local authorities for energy efficiency retrofitting works under the Social Housing Energy Efficiency Retrofitting Programme since 2013 and under the Voids Programme over the period 2014 – 2019. Since the programme commenced in 2013 over 73,500 units of social housing stock have been retrofitted with a total exchequer spend of €161...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (30 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 223 to 225, inclusive, together. Housing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. Over 300,000 new homes will be built by the end of 2030, including a projected 90,000 social homes, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes. The Plan is backed by...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (30 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2021 regulate the landlord-tenant relationship in the private rented residential sector and set out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Acts to operate a national tenancy registration system and to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (30 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The allocation of suitable housing to tenants on Clare County Council's social housing waiting list is a matter for the Council and one in which I as Minister have no role. The Council will have a range of options for the provision of housing solutions including properties that the Council owns, that are leased, rented or contracted to the Council and properties owned and provided by...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (30 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Objective 37 of the National Planning Framework provides for a Housing Needs Demand Assessment (HDNA) by local authorities to ensure their respective long-term strategic housing needs are met. The HNDA is a standardised methodology which quantifies current and projected housing needs of local authority areas, including requirements for different tenures. Nationally, the proportion of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Staff (30 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The following table sets out the full time equivalent number of staff in the Local Government and Housing Divisions of my Department from 2016 to end October 2021. On foot of a Transfer of Functions order, the Heritage Division joined the Department in September 2020 and staff numbers in that Division are provided from the time they were in this Department. Details in relation the housing...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Public Sector Staff (30 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Housing Agency was established under Statutory Instrument No. 264 of 2012, Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency (Establishment Order) 2012, and Section 7 deals with staffing of the Housing Agency. Details of the number of staff employed by the Housing Agency in each of the years 2016 to 2020 and to date in 2021 and the breakdown of staff in terms of function is set out in the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (30 Nov 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 authorities for which he or she is responsible. In this regard, it is a matter for each individual Chief Executive to assign staff to specific divisions. My Department has 48 housing related staff...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Credit Unions (30 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: 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. These revised Regulations included the addition of investments in Tier 3 Approved Housing Bodies...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (30 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 235 and 236 together. The Residential Tenancies (No. 2) Act 2021 introduced measures in July 2021 to extend the operation of Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) until the end of 2024. The Act also provides that rent reviews outside of RPZs can, until 2025, occur no more frequently than bi-annually. This provides rent certainty for tenants outside of RPZs for a...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Services (30 Nov 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I assume that the Deputy is referring to Developer Provided Water Services Infrastructure (DPI) in housing estates. Housing estates which are not taken-in-charge by local authorities and do not have their water services connected to the public network rely instead on DPI which was provided by the estate developers. The Memorandum of Understanding between Irish Water and local authorities,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Covid-19 Pandemic (30 Nov 2021)

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 at local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of emergency accommodation and related services for homeless persons rests with individual housing authorities. This...