Results 15,041-15,060 of 15,555 for speaker:Eoghan Murphy

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Staff Data (5 Mar 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: Under Pillar 5 of Rebuilding Ireland, which aims to ensure that existing housing stock is used to the maximum degree possible, the Vacant Homes Unit was established in 2017 within my Department with the primary aim of driving and coordinating actions at central and local government levels and to support local authorities in identifying vacant properties. Since 2018, my Department has secured...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homelessness Strategy (5 Mar 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: Housing First enables homeless individuals with high levels of complex needs to obtain permanent secure accommodation with the provision of intensive housing and health supports to help them maintain their tenancies. The National Implementation Plan for Housing First was published in September 2018. The Plan includes an overall target of 663 tenancies in the period 2018-2021, with...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: European Court of Justice Rulings (5 Mar 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: Following a judgment in March 2019 by the Court of Justice of the European Union on Ireland's non-compliance with the urban wastewater treatment directive, my Department, accompanied by Irish Water, met with European Commission officials in June last year and proposed a programme of measures to ensure that the findings in the judgment were addressed.  My Department will maintain close...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Residential Tenancies Board (5 Mar 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2019, with one of its key functions being to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants. Due to the quasi-judicial and independent role of the RTB, it would be inappropriate for me, as Minister, to intervene in specific disputes. Security of tenure for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Programmes (5 Mar 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: In July 2019 my Department launched the multi-annual Developer Provided Water Services Infrastructure Resolution Programme 2019-2021.  Bids were sought from local authorities around the country for funding under the programme. The closing date for bids was 18 September 2019.  A total number of 19 local authorities with Developer Provided Infrastructure in estates in their areas...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Home Loan Scheme (5 Mar 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: The Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan (RIHL) launched on 1 February 2018. When the RIHL was initially being developed, it was estimated that the drawdown of loans under the scheme would be approximately €200 million over three years. The RIHL proved to be more successful than initially anticipated and following discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform an...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (5 Mar 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: Targets for the delivery of new social housing were issued to all local authorities and the funding to support this delivery is being provided to them under Rebuilding Ireland. The targets out to 2021 are publicly available on a local authority basis at the following link: . In delivering against these targets, local authorities are bringing forward new proposals to my Department on a...

Covid-19 (Housing, Planning and Local Government): Statements (7 May 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: I very much welcome the opportunity to discuss with colleagues today the many issues that fall under my Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. I recognise that many people might want to focus on the issue of housing in particular because it is so important but I would like to speak, if I have the time, to issues that have happened around the planning area, local government,...

Covid-19 (Housing, Planning and Local Government): Statements (7 May 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: The work of the inter-agency group that I set up in September 2017 was meant to be the vehicle to tie all of the different Departments together, but bureaucratic walls unfortunately maintained regardless of that. They came down very quickly in the crisis and that is why the work has been so successful. It is a model that must continue into the future. I know the Deputy is planning on...

Covid-19 (Housing, Planning and Local Government): Statements (7 May 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: I might need the time to reply to the questions from the Deputies. As we come out of the lockdown period we can look through the five phases and the important dates where housing is concerned. The first is 18 May when we hope to see the construction sites opening again. The Deputy is correct that it must happen in a safe way. The new standard for the operation of house building sites has...

Covid-19 (Housing, Planning and Local Government): Statements (7 May 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: Yes. We also do not want any stigmas being associated with certain types of housing. We have standard designs for the internal layout of homes which can be taken off the shelf by local authorities and we have a draft document that was circulated before the end of last year on the external layout, which would be how many sites one might be able to get in a hectare, how much green space would...

Covid-19 (Housing, Planning and Local Government): Statements (7 May 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: Yes.

Covid-19 (Housing, Planning and Local Government): Statements (7 May 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy for those questions. I will work back through them. Regarding rates and the waiver of same, further funding will be required because some businesses will not be able to reopen after the three-month period because of the plans we have put in place, so they will continue to be able to avail of the waiver. In advance of that, an additional amount of money will have to be...

Covid-19 (Housing, Planning and Local Government): Statements (7 May 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: I might also ask the Deputy to give a commitment to me that if I am in opposition and he is in government that he will engage with the Opposition on the ESRI report on rent arrears.

Covid-19 (Housing, Planning and Local Government): Statements (7 May 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: The Deputy is very kind. There will be a rent arrears problem in the State. It is not yet clear how big it is which is why the ESRI is doing this work. I have had a number of engagements with both the tenant representative organisations and the landlord representative organisations. It is in both sides' interests that we can manage this problem when it arises, we just need to know the...

Covid-19 (Housing, Planning and Local Government): Statements (7 May 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: I congratulate Deputy Guirke on his maiden speech. Time was when a Deputy might go for a few pints after a maiden speech, but unfortunately it will not happen, not today. Hopefully in the future the Deputy will get that opportunity. The social housing waiting lists have been falling. They have fallen to below 70,000 from above 90,000 over the course of Rebuilding Ireland. However, we...

Covid-19 (Housing, Planning and Local Government): Statements (7 May 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy for those questions. Deputy Feighan is welcome back to the Dáil Chamber. I am sure he does not miss the Seanad - I will withdraw that remark in case it is misinterpreted. Deputy Feighan asked about local authority housing. Not all home activity is on site at the moment. At the end of the year some 6,500 houses were active on sites throughout the country. We...

Covid-19 (Housing, Planning and Local Government): Statements (7 May 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: I agree with the Deputy. I have a real fear as to what might be happening or what will happen in the commercial leasing sector as we continue in this emergency period. Unfortunately, we are not able to go out and live the lives we used to live, and that might have an impact on businesses in their ability to stay afloat during this emergency period or even get back on their feet once the...

Covid-19 (Housing, Planning and Local Government): Statements (7 May 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy for those follow-up questions. There are opportunities now to open up parts of the country that we feared might have been closed forever. Those opportunities are not the result of the emergency alone. The national planning framework that we agreed included that sort of spatial planning and getting people back to parts of the country that we feared were, and indeed were,...

Covid-19 (Housing, Planning and Local Government): Statements (7 May 2020)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy for his contribution and his questions. We have used every mechanism available to us to try to increase the number of new homes being built. That is the reason we spent more money last year than had been spent as a State in any of the previous years, and that includes the boom years when we were building far too many houses. It shows the scale at which delivery is now...