Results 17,201-17,220 of 26,293 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

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: We will have a fourth call for URDF across all 31 local authorities at the end of the summer or early autumn. As the Minister of State mentioned, this call specifically focuses on vacancy for residential. In the fourth call we will move back towards the regeneration-public realm piece and the local authorities have been informed.

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 the second question first. The acquisition target, originally under Housing for All, was set at 200 a year because we wanted to phase out acquisitions. We have permitted now, and we have approval, that any local authority purchase will be above and beyond that and, therefore, we are not restricting it to 200 units and they will not be taken out of their build figures.

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: No. We have agreed, with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, to have flexibility in that space too. I hope that we will be able to purchase approximately 1,500 units this year, and that is what I am looking at across local authorities as well. There is no restriction on the purchase with tenantsin situ.

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: We can do that through a couple of streams. This year, we are looking to make it more efficient and do it directly on the capital side but that will not take away from the social housing delivery because that money is in the base. In some instances, if an AHB purchases the property------

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: Exactly. We are not restricting that either. It will depend on the property.

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: Yes, CALF or the capital assistance scheme, CAS.

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: They would all support acquisitions. The 200 target for purchase is-----

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: Exactly, that has been moved. For clarity, and so the Deputy does not come back to me about this, there may be some larger homes, particularly for larger families where we need that type of discretion.

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: Yes, I understand the point being made.

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 targets we have set for local authorities are baseline targets. We want to exceed them. I was local authority officials in County Tipperary this week and they have exceeded their delivery and many others have done the same. We want them to do that. The targets set are a baseline but want people to do more than that. We expect projects that were not completed last year to be completed...

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: Is the Deputy asked whether I am going to reduce their targets to take that into account? No, I am not.

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: No, all the targets that are set are agreed with each local authority on a multi-annual basis and they are baseline targets.

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: We want them all to be exceeded. We have a housing summit next week and I am meeting the chief executives to discuss this matter.

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: Will the revised upwards targets be published?

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: No, the targets are set and we need certainty within the targets but they are a baseline. There is no change to what we have asked local authorities to do at the very least. Some of those targets are very challenging. They were not set arbitrarily by me. They were set by my Department and the local authority sector, working together. I expect many local authorities to exceed those...

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: It will be below the target but there is a reality and there was a reality the previous year where the Deputy said that we missed targets, we had a construction shutdown.

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: : We have allowed provision for 1,500 acquisitions this year under the tenant in situscheme The requisite funding will be provided and I want local authorities to use this money. Some local authorities have been more active than others. I am meeting the chief executives next week to reinforce that message. It is a good way to ensure people do not fall into homelessness. It adds to our...

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: Yes, they do. We have some AHB purchases as well. It depends on the ground. There have been some complications with people who are on HAP tenancies in different local authorities residing somewhere else. That has come up and we are trying to work that through, particularly in the Dublin region but I do not want a property not to be purchased with a HAP tenant just because that tenant...

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: We have a mechanism to help in that case. Not many sites have closed. Some stalled for a while, particularly in the second quarter, after the outbreak of the Ukraine war. We saw what happened there but we will reassess any reasonable request for a price increase. We receive requests every week where there has been an increase for the contractor. We do not want to see any projects stalled...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Issues (28 Feb 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 262 and 311 together. On 7 December 2022 the Government approved the publication of the General Scheme of the Registration of Short-Term Tourist Letting Bill and the priority drafting of the Bill which provides for the establishment of a new registration system for short-term lettings to be operated by Fáilte Ireland in line with the commitment under...