Results 2,041-2,060 of 15,555 for speaker:Eoghan Murphy

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Services (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: The Government’s Water Services Policy Statement 2018-2025 sets the broad policy context for the development of water services, including the position of Irish Water as the single, publicly owned national water services authority. This is consistent with the recommendations made by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services in 2017, and the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Housing (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, responsive repairs and planned maintenance programmes, is a matter for each individual local authority, in line with section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. Local authorities return vacant properties to use through their own resources but my Department also continues to provide...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Data (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, responsive repairs and planned maintenance programmes, is a matter for each individual local authority, in line with section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. The challenges faced by local authorities in re-tenanting properties vary considerably, with some properties requiring...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homeless Persons Supports (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: Supporting families experiencing homelessness is a key Government priority. In addition to an ambitious social housing programme being rolled out under Rebuilding Ireland, the Government's Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, which is designed to meet housing needs on a long-term basis, a network of family hubs is also being put in place to provide a better response than is possible...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: Affordable housing for purchase is being provided under Part 5 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009. Under the Serviced Sites Fund (SSF), €310 million is being made available over the 2019 to 2021 period to support the delivery of infrastructure on local authority sites, which will deliver over 6,000 affordable homes. The first call for proposals under the SSF in...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Vacant Sites (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: My Department does not maintain a central register of vacant sites, as each local authority administers the vacant site register in respect of their functional area. However, a recent review of the on-line vacant site registers across all local authority areas shows there are collectively over 360 individual sites currently on the local registers. Over 120 of these sites had been entered by...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: River Basin Management Plans (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: The River Basin Management Plan for Ireland 2018 – 2021 sets out the actions which Ireland will take over the period in order to improve the quality of our aquatic environment and meet the objectives of the EU Water Framework Directive. The Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) is a shared service working with local authorities and State agencies to develop and implement the River...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Mortgage to Rent Scheme (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: The Mortgage to Rent Scheme for borrowers of private lending institutions is targeted at those households in arrears who are eligible for social housing support, whose mortgage has been deemed unsustainable in accordance with the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears and Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process enforced by the Central Bank.  Under the Mortgage...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Issues (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 948 and 949 together. My Department provides funding under the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability, in respect of private houses. There are three separate grants available, including the Housing Aid for Older People grant. Funding of €71.25 million was allocated for the three grants in 2019, with...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Estates (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: My Department  launched the National Taking-in-Charge Initiative (NTICI) in April 2016 to trial new approaches and working methods in supporting and accelerating overall national and local action on the taking-in-charge process of housing estates, including estates with developer-provided water services infrastructure which can include stand-alone treatment plants. Under the terms of the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rent Pressure Zones (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: The Government’s Strategy for the Rental Sector recognises that rapidly increasing rental inflation is the most significant challenge to security of tenure in the rental sector and that there is a need for a targeted, time-bound and transparent policy response to the issue of rising rents.  To address this, the Government introduced the Rent Predictability Measure.  This...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Home Loan Scheme (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: The Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan scheme was launched in February 2018 to replace the existing House Purchase and the Home Choice Loan schemes. Towards the end of last year I asked my Department to undertake a review of its operation. In carrying out the review, the Department has consulted with a number of local authorities, the Housing Agency and the Housing Finance Agency...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Tenant Purchase Scheme Eligibility (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: The Housing (Sale of Local Authority Houses) Regulations 2015, provide the basis for the Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme for existing local authority houses.  The Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme.  To be eligible, tenants must meet certain criteria, including having a minimum...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Eligibility (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 955 and 995 together. Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority, in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended. The 2011 Regulations prescribe maximum net...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Funding (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: Local authorities derive their income from a variety of sources, predominantly commercial rates, charges for goods and services, such as housing rents, funding from Central Government and local property tax (LPT). Central Government funding, both current and capital, emanates from a range of Government Departments and Offices. There is a local discretionary element to some locally levied...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 amended section 3 of the Residential Tenancies 2004 Act so that dwellings let by approved housing bodies (AHBs) to social housing tenants now come within the remit of the Acts. The position of these tenants significantly improved by the change, which commenced on 7 April 2016, as they now benefit from the following: -...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Adaptation Grant Applications (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: The detailed administration of the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability, including the assessment, approval and payment of individual grants to applicants, is the responsibility of the relevant local authority.  I understand from the local authority in question that they are awaiting the submission of estimates of costs for the works from the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Home Loan Scheme (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: The Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan Scheme enables credit-worthy first-time buyers to access sustainable mortgage lending to purchase new or second-hand properties in a suitable price range, where they cannot obtain sufficient mortgage finance from a commercial lender.  As with the previous local authority loan offerings, the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan is available to first-time...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Approved Housing Bodies (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: Local authorities are the statutory housing authorities for their areas and, in that capacity, they are responsible for co-ordinating all social housing activity and should ensure that competition in the pursuit of acquisition opportunities for new social housing by the various delivery bodies, including the authority itself and approved Housing...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Commencement of Legislation (11 Jun 2019)

Eoghan Murphy: On 30  May 2019 I signed  the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 (Commencement) Order 2019. This Order appoints 31 May 2019 and 4 June 2019 as the dates on which specified provisions of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019 come into effect. The Order is available on the Irish Statute Book website, at the following link:...