Results 1,781-1,800 of 2,386 for speaker:Michael Finneran

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (18 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) tenants are charged rents based on a housing authority's differential rent scheme and the rent payable is calculated mainly by reference to household income. The differential rent schemes vary from authority to authority. The making and amending of rent schemes for social housing are the responsibility of local authorities as an integral part of their...

Written Answers — Housing Aid for the Elderly: Housing Aid for the Elderly (18 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: I refer to the reply to Questions Nos. 339, 340 and 341 of 3 February, 2010. The position remains unchanged.

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (24 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: My Department has been in regular contact with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in connection with its proposals for the regeneration of the area in question. The council recently submitted additional information in respect of its proposals. Further discussions on the matter took place between my Department and the Council at the recent Housing Action Plan meeting. My Department is...

Written Answers — Water and Sewerage Schemes: Water and Sewerage Schemes (24 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: Under the Rural Water Programme, grant aid of €2,031.58 per house or 75% of the approved cost, whichever is the lesser, is available for the provision or necessary improvement of an individual water supply to a house that does not have access to either a public or group water scheme supply. Responsibility for the administration of the Rural Water Programme was devolved to local authorities...

Social and Affordable Housing. (25 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: As set out in the 2010 Revised Estimates for Public Services, the social housing budget across capital and current expenditure programmes is €1,071 billion. This represents a decrease of 18% when compared to the provisional outturn figures for 2009. The Government's key priorities in shaping the overall housing provision for next year have been to focus the impact of necessary adjustments...

Social and Affordable Housing. (25 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: I stated that 8,000 to 9,000 equated to 50% of the build. The Deputy will appreciate we are talking about a figure in the region of up to 18,000 households.

Social and Affordable Housing. (25 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: The Deputy said there were 100,000 people; there are 56,000 households. Many people already are receiving supports such as the rent supplement scheme. Opportunities exist for local authorities and voluntary bodies. The Deputy will be aware that in September 2009 I extended to the voluntary bodies the opportunity to go into long-term leasing. This is proving very successful. Even though...

Social and Affordable Housing. (25 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: If those homes were to be built on an acquisition basis, it would cost in the region of €800 million and I am in a position to deliver those homes for less than quarter of that sum. These are new homes in perfect condition which will be inspected by the local authorities and people will have a tenure of ten, 15, 20 or even up to 40 years. As regards the final question, I have not finally...

Social and Affordable Housing. (25 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: The Deputy suggested we should have an asset at the end of the day. Those of us who spent many years as members of local authorities are aware that limited assets are available to local authorities. It is rare for houses that have been allocated to become available again. In some cases, they are retained by the second and third generations of families. There is nothing wrong with that.

Social and Affordable Housing. (25 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: We are having a sale very shortly of apartments in which people have been living for many years. Some of them are second generation apartments.

Social and Affordable Housing. (25 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: Many people have tried that in the past. My colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, pioneered that. He pushed it through and got it included in the legislation. On the Deputy's final point, I hope to be in a position to make an announcement on pilot areas for the incremental purchase scheme pretty soon.

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (25 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: Meeting housing need remains a high priority for the Government. While ensuring that we can deliver across the full range of needs, the scale and composition of the public housing programme in the years ahead will be dependent on a number of factors, including the level of available funding and the evolution of the housing market generally. I am determined to ensure that the overall housing...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (25 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 30, 41 and 44 together. The annual allocations for the Social Housing Investment Programme will issue in March 2010 following discussions with each housing authority at Housing Action Plan meetings which are currently underway. Housing authorities have been issued with provisional allocations for 2010 to enable them to maintain momentum on their work...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (25 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: A total of 66 repossessions across all local authorities have been carried out in the five year period 2005-2009. This includes 7 voluntary repossessions. I propose to include in the official report a tabular statement providing a breakdown of repossessions by each local authority. Provisions regarding lending by local authorities for the purposes of house purchase are set out in section 11...

Written Answers — Homeless Persons: Homeless Persons (25 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: Action to address long term homelessness is primarily a matter for the housing authorities and the HSE, which have statutory responsibility for providing accommodation and health care services, respectively, for homeless persons. 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...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (25 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: Between 2003 and 2008, the Government assigned sites in the ownership of local authorities, Government Departments and other State bodies for use under the Affordable Housing Initiative (AHI). Three sites were transferred with the intention of development using a public private partnership, to provide affordable and/or social housing under the AHI. The sites in question were Office of...

Written Answers — Housing Aid for the Elderly: Housing Aid for the Elderly (25 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: To comprehensively assess the overall level of demand for grant assistance under the suite of grant schemes for older people and people with a disability, my Department requested local authorities to submit details of their funding requirements for 2010 by 22 January, with a view to determining the allocations for this year as soon as possible after the publication of the 2010 Revised...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (25 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: My Department does not collect data on arrears in relation to households purchasing under the shared ownership scheme specifically. However, data published in the annual service indicators in local authorities give details on local authority mortgage arrears generally, including mortgages drawn down by households purchasing under shared ownership, as well as households purchasing under the...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (25 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: The most recent statutory assessment of housing need, which is carried out every three years by all housing authorities in accordance with the terms of the Housing Act 1988, showed that at end March 2008 56,249 households were in need of social housing support. Meeting social housing need is a high priority for the Government. While ensuring that we can deliver across the full range of...

Written Answers — House Prices: House Prices (25 Feb 2010)

Michael Finneran: The renewed Programme for Government sets out a clear commitment to create and maintain a comprehensive House Price Database based on sales prices. My Department, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Property Services Regulatory Authority, and the Central Statistics Office, as well as representatives from consumer and industry representative organisations, will be engaging...