Results 16,761-16,780 of 26,293 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Local Authority Home Loan was launched in January 2022. It is a Government backed mortgage for those who cannot get sufficient funding from commercial banks to purchase or build a home. It is available to first-time buyers and fresh start applicants to purchase a new or second-hand property, or to self-build. The Local Authority Home Loan has a maximum annual gross income limit for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Social Housing Assessment Regulations require local authorities, subject to certain conditions, to process applications within 12 weeks of receipt. However, different timeframes can apply where a local authority requires additional information from an applicant, with a potential extension to the 12-week deadline for completing the application and assessment process in such cases. ...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a form of social housing support for people who have a long-term housing need. In order for a household to qualify for HAP, they must first be assessed as eligible for social housing support by their local authority. Any household assessed as eligible for social housing is immediately eligible for HAP and those households must source their own accommodation...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Tenants in the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme are required to sign a rent contribution agreement to pay a weekly rental contribution to the relevant local authority, in line with the local authority’s differential rent scheme. As set out in the rent contribution agreement, this weekly rental contribution must be paid by them so that they remain eligible for the HAP scheme. ...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Vacant Properties (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I refer to the reply to Question No. 587 of 18 January 2023, which sets out the position in this matter.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority homes available for sale under the scheme. Local authorities may, within the provisions of the Housing (Sale of Local Authority Houses) Regulations 2015, exclude certain houses which the authority considers should not be sold for reasons such as proper stock or estate...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Vacant Properties (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 299 and 300 together. Pathway 4 of Housing for All sets out a blueprint to address vacancy and make efficient use of our existing housing stock. Many areas of cities, towns and villages of all sizes face the blight of vacant properties, which, if brought back into use, could add real vibrancy and provide new accommodation in those areas. The Croí...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Appointments to State Boards (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Land Development Agency (LDA) was established under the Land Development Agency (Establishment) Order 2018 as amended by the Land Development Agency (Amendment) Order 2018. In December 2018, the Government gave a derogation to the Guidelines on the Appointment to State Boards, to allow for the appointment of an interim LDA Board outside of the Stateboards.ie process until the LDA’s...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme provides for the purchase by eligible tenants, or joint tenants, of local authority homes available for sale under the scheme. The scheme was amended in February 2022 to include a reduction in the minimum reckonable income required to be eligible under the scheme from €15,000 to €12,500. This ensured older tenants, whose only income...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 303 to 305, inclusive, together. The purpose of the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 is to implement and give legislative underpinning to a series of measures to improve and enhance the current grant scheme, as agreed by Government on 30 November 2021. The administrative areas of the following counties have been...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Meetings (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The regeneration of Poolbeg West is an important step in the transformation of the Dublin Docklands area, with the potential to provide for 3,500 homes. In June 2021 following a comprehensive international open market campaign, a consortium of Ronan Group Real Estate, Oaktree Capital Management, and Lioncor Developments (“the Consortium”) acquired a controlling 80% shareholding...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Issues (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Updated Rural Housing Planning Guidelines are currently being prepared by my Department. The updated guidelines will expand on the high level spatial planning policy of the National Planning Framework (NPF), in particular on National Policy Objective (NPO) 19 which relates to rural housing. This objective makes a clear policy distinction between rural areas under urban influence (i.e. areas...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department is in the process of developing Section 28 guidelines for Planning Authorities on Sustainable and Compact Settlement Guidance (SCSG). When finalised, the SCSG’s will supersede current Section 28 ministerial guidelines for planning authorities on Sustainable Residential Development in Urban Areas (the ‘Sustainable Residential Development Guidelines’) last...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Programme for Government sets out a number of commitments in respect of the important policy area of addressing building defects. These include a commitment to examine defects in housing, having regard to the recommendations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing’s report Safe as Houses? Housing for All, the Government’s national plan on housing to 2030, reiterates...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Issues (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I wish to explain at the outset that my role as Minister in relation to the planning system is primarily, to provide a policy and legislative framework under which the planning authorities, An Bord Pleanála (the Board) and the Office of the Planning Regulator (the OPR) perform their statutory planning functions. The legislative framework chiefly comprises the Planning and Development...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended (the Act), there is no specific preclusion to the development of log cabins as a housing type. All development, unless specifically exempted under the Act or associated Regulations, requires planning permission. Any person may lodge an application for permission to a planning authority in accordance with section 34 of the Act for the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Vacant Properties (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, the implementation of a planned maintenance programme and carrying out of responsive repairs, are matters for each individual local authority under Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. Since 2014, Exchequer funding has been provided through my Department's Voids Programme to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 313 and 316 together. Oversight of financial institutions is outside the scope and remit of my Department but I confirm that I have engaged with my colleague, the Minister for Finance on these matters. The Minister for Finance advised that neither he nor his Department have any role in relation to the commercial decisions of individual regulated...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Building Regulations (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The query referred to relates to the operation of the building control system and my Department is in the process of replying to the individual concerned. In the context of the issues raised, the July 2022 report, Defects in Apartments, Report of the Working Group to Examine Defects in Housing,the Working Group, which I established, concluded that there is no single cause of the defects in...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (24 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I launched a new joint National Housing Strategy for Disabled People (NHSDP) 2022-2027 on 14 January 2022, together with my colleagues Peter Burke, TD Minister of State for Planning and Local Government and Anne Rabbitte, T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for Disability (available at www.gov.ie/en/press-release/1c6c5-new-national-housing-strat...