Results 17,161-17,180 of 26,293 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (22 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: 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. This includes the delivery of 90,000 social homes by 2030. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct Exchequer funding, €3.5bn in funding through the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Appointments to State Boards (22 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: In making appointments to State boards under my remit, my Department operates in accordance with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform guidelines on appointments to State Boards, published in November 2014. The Public Appointments Service has responsibility for managing an open, accessible and transparent system to support Ministers in making state board appointments and it is open...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Lobbying Reform (22 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department does not collect information on board membership of senior Departmental staff. Section 6(4) of the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 requires each public body to publish a list of designated public officials of the body, and the list for my Department can be found here: www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/953ec3-regulation-of- lobbying/ The information requested in relation to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Vacant Properties (22 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 143 and 144 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: Wildlife Conservation (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Cork Harbour is one of over 100 Irish sites that are part of BirdLife International’s list of Important Bird Areas (IBA); six species were listed for Cork Harbour IBA: Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit; Bar-tailed Godwit; Curlew; Redshank; and Common Tern. Cork Harbour is also classified, by way of Statutory Instrument 391 of 2021, as a Special Protection Area under the EU Birds Directive....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Reviews (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Baseline funding for local authorities for 2024 and 2025 has not yet been finalised. Provisional Local Property Tax (LPT) allocations comprising baseline funding and equalisation funding where required, are normally notified to Government and subsequently to local authorities in July of each year, in advance of the local LPT variation decision process. The review of local authority...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Ambulance Service (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 210 to 212, inclusive, together. 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 Acts 1981 and 2003. My Department supports...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Projects (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Details of the studies, reviews and research undertaken or commissioned by my Department and currently underway, are set out in the attached table, together with the scheduled completion date. Information in relation to recently published reports is available on the homepage of my Department's website at: www.gov.ie/en/organisation/department-of-housing-local-gover nment-and-heritage/

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I will keep my statement as brief as possible. For the information of members and the Cathaoirleach, I am joined by my officials, Mr. Brían Munnelly, Mr. David Kelly, Ms. Sinead Kehoe and Ms. Janet Jacobs, along with the Ministers of State. As the Cathaoirleach has said, we have provided briefing material in advance so I will keep my remarks brief. The Further Revised Estimate...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: There was very strong delivery in quarter 4. It was a matter of a debate that we had in the Dáil Chamber and, indeed, at committee. Last year, the outturn was 29,851 new homes across all tenures. That figure has been verified by the Central Statistics Office, the independent agency the State depends on and respects. If others want to call the CSO figures into question, they must...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The first home scheme is one of the affordability measures we have in place and it is working very well. We have just short of 1,000 approvals already. The scheme only launched on 7 July last year. We wanted to ensure we had the IT system in place to back it up. There has been strong interest in it. The State is taken an equity stake and not a second mortgage. It helps bridge the...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: To answer the question directly, with the first home scheme in particular, we have had approvals in 29 of the 31 local authorities. There are only two counties in Ireland that have not had approvals yet. It helps to drive first-time buyer development and delivery and we are seeing that response on the ground. We were in Drogheda this morning and all those homes will be under the caps for...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I will make two quick points. Under the affordable housing fund for local authority-led affordable housing, we saw the first homes being built and sold last year. There were some issues with conveyancing that have been rectified. We have approved 42 schemes throughout the country and these will deliver more than 3,000 so far for affordable purchase, let by the local authorities. On cost...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Deputy knows the CSO itself was strong in its defence of its figures and methodology, which have never been brought into question before. It is our independent statistics office we depend on for the collation of such data. I do not think anyone has ever called the office's expertise, knowledge or know-how into question before. The Deputy has raised a point on completion certificates...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: First, we must look at the context of where this discussion came from, which was the announcement by the Government that we had exceeded our targets under Housing for All of 5,000 units. In fairness, it was in that context that this debate happened; it was post that.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I will answer that.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Deputy Ó Broin is putting up a commercial company’s data and data collection. Its methods-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 16 - Tailte Éireann (Further Revised)
Vote 23 - Electoral Commission (Further Revised)
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Further Revised) (23 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I am not avoiding answering it. The Deputy has not allowed me to answer it. He interrupted me as I was endeavouring to answer it. He knows the CSO is independent of the Government and its work is independent of me. It is important that is the case. If the statistics that are published by the State’s own agency do not suit some other narratives, that is something that-----