Results 1-20 of 7,753 for speaker:James Browne

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (26 Jun 2025)

James Browne: A review of the current Exempted Development Regulations is ongoing and a wider public consultation on exempted development regulations will be undertaken shortly. Members of the public, State bodies and other concerned parties will be able to make submissions in writing as part of the consultation process. The Government cannot pre-empt the outcome of any consultation and therefore no...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Data (26 Jun 2025)

James Browne: The Building Regulations set out the legal requirements in Ireland for the construction of new buildings (including houses), extensions to existing buildings as well as for material alterations and certain material changes of use to existing buildings. They set out minimum standards for the design and construction of buildings and works to ensure the health and safety of people in and around...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Marine Protected Areas (26 Jun 2025)

James Browne: The Marine Protected Areas Bill is at an advanced stage of drafting. It is intended to finalise this draft as soon as possible. However the Bill will need revision to reflect new Ministerial responsibilities and transfers of functions between Departments once these have taken place. It should be noted that, in the context of this forthcoming transfer of the marine environment function...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (26 Jun 2025)

James Browne: A flagship element of Project Ireland 2040, the €2 billion Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) is supporting a programme of significant transformational capital projects that will contribute to the regeneration and rejuvenation of Ireland’s cities and other large towns, in line with the objectives of the National Planning Framework and the National Development Plan. ...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (26 Jun 2025)

James Browne: The National Planning Framework recognises the strong link between our health and environment and includes a National Policy Objective to support the objectives of public health policy, including Healthy Ireland and the National Physical Activity Plan, through integrating such policies, where appropriate and at the applicable scale, with planning policy. The zoning of land for particular...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (26 Jun 2025)

James Browne: The Government is acutely aware of the housing challenges faced by many sectors of society. Housing for All, Ireland's housing plan to 2030, contains a suite of actions that have, and continue to, increase the provision of housing through accelerating supply and increasing the affordability of homes. My Department is currently exploring options for the setting aside of certain Cost Rental...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (26 Jun 2025)

James Browne: My Department is committed to continued investment in rural water infrastructure which is delivering improvements to water services in areas of rural Ireland where Uisce Éireann services are not currently available. As regards the funding being provided there are separate arrangements for capital and operational funding of the Group Water Sector. The Multi-annual Rural Water...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (26 Jun 2025)

James Browne: My Department notes the commitment in the Programme for Government 2025 – Securing Ireland’s Future to introduce planning guidelines for solar energy developments. In light of this commitment, my Department has begun an initial scoping process to identify the component factors relevant to the preparation of planning guidelines for solar energy development, including any...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (26 Jun 2025)

James Browne: Since the publication of the current Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines in 2005 (which continue to have effect in addition to subsequent clarifications and national policy changes in the National Planning Framework) there have been important changes to our planning system. Most notably, obligations under European Directives and international agreements relating to the management and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (26 Jun 2025)

James Browne: The First Home Scheme, which launched in July 2022, is a shared equity scheme, designed to help bridge the gap for eligible first-time buyers, eligible homebuyers, and self-builders, between their deposit and mortgage, and the price of their new home (within price ceilings established across the country). Full details are available on the First Home Scheme website, www.firsthomescheme.ie/ ...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Night-time Economy (26 Jun 2025)

James Browne: My Department participates in the Night Time Economy (NTE) Implementation Group, which is led by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport (DCCS), and is currently leading on Action 6 of the Night Time Economy Strategy to “examine the practical implications for planning and other legislative codes to enable the potential for vacant buildings to be used for meanwhile...

Legislative and Structural Reforms to Accelerate Housing Delivery: Motion [Private Members] (25 Jun 2025)

James Browne: I thank colleagues for all their important contributions here today. I echo the comments made by the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, earlier and reassert this Government's commitment and determination to tackle the challenges in housing. Housing is a cross-sectoral challenge that has a real impact on people's lives. Our goal remains a housing system that serves the needs of our people....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Regulations (25 Jun 2025)

James Browne: The Planning and Development Regulations 2001 transpose, and include, the classes of development requiring environmental impact assessment, or screening for environmental impact assessment, that are listed in Annex I and Annex II of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive. The Directive specifies projects which, by virtue of their nature, size or location, are likely to have...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wild Fires (25 Jun 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 109 and 110 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 Act 1981 & 2003. My Department supports the fire...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (25 Jun 2025)

James Browne: My Department collects and publishes programme-level statistics on affordable housing delivery activity by local authorities and delivery partners in each local authority area. Data for the years 2022 up to Q4 2024 is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/collection/6060e-overall-social-housing-provis...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (25 Jun 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 112 and 113 together. The Programme for Government commits to the introduction of a new voids programme, to include mandatory voids frameworks for local authorities so as to improve turnaround time of vacant local authority housing stock. Work is underway in this regard within the statutory framework set out in section 58 of the Housing Act 1966, which...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (25 Jun 2025)

James Browne: The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 provided for the development of a deposit protection scheme to be operated by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). However, significant changes have taken place in the rental market since this legislation was passed. It should be noted that, unlike many other jurisdictions examined, Ireland already has a well-established quasi-judicial dispute...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (25 Jun 2025)

James Browne: My Department provides Exchequer funding to local authorities to administer the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and Disabled People, which support older and disabled people living in private houses to adapt their home to meet their needs. The suite of grants, which include the Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People, the Mobility Aids Grant and the Housing Aid for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (25 Jun 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 116 and 117 together. CAS funding of €2.1 million was provided to Approved Housing Bodies for the provision of 10 units of accommodation for careleavers in 2024. Care leaver accommodation is provided as a specific category under CAS, especially for those who have complex needs and are in danger of falling into homelessness with housing solutions...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: State Savings Schemes (25 Jun 2025)

James Browne: The Government committed in January 2025 to introduce an all of government national housing plan to follow Housing for All, underpinned by a multi-annual funding commitment. As part of this, all Departments have been examining actions to further enable both the delivery and viability of housing. One of these areas has been an initial examination and consideration of whether and how a...