Results 2,181-2,200 of 4,700 for speaker:Noel Ahern
- Social and Affordable Housing. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: Now, today, and next year.
- Social and Affordable Housing. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: The Deputy knows that planning permission lasts for five years and many of the houses on sale this weekend got their planning permission five to seven years ago. No one action can be taken overnight to ramp up the delivery of affordable units. However, as the old planning permissions die out, the dividend in the future will be considerable.
- Social and Affordable Housing. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: I suggest it is Deputy Gilmore who is putting a spin on the situation. Many of the housing units currently on sale are still exempt.
- Social and Affordable Housing. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: The Deputy knows well also that many of the big developments, particularly in the Dublin area, got ten-year planning permissions from the local authorities. The dividend on affordable units is delivering and coming forwardââ
- Social and Affordable Housing. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: Not alone have we got Part V, there are other schemes. Last year these schemes, including Part V, delivered nearly 3,000 units. This will increase to 8,000 over the next couple of years. The dividend from Part V will be considerable, not to mention the good work the affordable homes partnership will do and the different land swaps that will be made. The Deputy will always try to make...
- Social and Affordable Housing. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: ââI can do so and the figures will look much more impressive. Part V is and will be a very good source of affordable houses in the future as the old planning permissions die out.
- House Prices. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: Increasing house prices and mortgage interest rates mean that a greater proportion of disposable income is now needed to meet mortgage payments. Despite this affordability both nationally and in Dublin remains within the affordability limits now typically applied by lending institutions in deciding mortgage applications. My Department's affordability index reflects the position at the end of...
- House Prices. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: Many studies have been carried out by different financial institutions. However, first-time buyers are key buyers in the market. As I said, 45% of mortgages for new homes taken out last year were by first-time buyers, which shows they are buying. Different people can play around with figures. The survey by Halifax mentioned by the Deputy was very selective in its prices. It used the...
- House Prices. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: The affordability index is more important. While that has also increased it is still not as bad as it was for a period in the early 1990s. Affordability comprises the price of the house, the tax rate, the interest rate and the average take-home pay. While affordability has worsened, many people have got over it. While, sadly, I might give out about it, many affordability indexes are based...
- House Prices. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: The stamp duty rates are set by the Department of Finance and there is no point in us going into that. Generally speaking first-time buyers are more inclined to buy new homes than to buy second-hand ones. When we reduced the rates two years ago it shifted the balance and brought a far greater number of first-time buyers into the second-hand market.
- House Prices. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: There is nothing wrong with that. Generally first-time buyers buy new houses rather than second-hand houses. The Deputy mentioned the census figures. There are four local authorities in County Dublin. Dublin city is almost fully built up. Naturally the population of the city will not increase in the same way as Kildare, Meath or north County Dublin. It goes back to the point Deputy...
- Housing Policy. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: Priorities for investment in housing under the National Development Plan 2007-2013 will take account of a number of factors, including the key policy challenges highlighted by the NESC report, the results of the 2005 housing needs assessment and the policy framework set out in the document, Housing Policy Framework â Building Sustainable Communities, which was launched in December 2005....
- Housing Policy. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: I do not know what the Deputy means when he accuses us of demolishing homes without replacing them.
- Housing Policy. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: We are spending huge money on social housing. The overall housing budget this year is â¬2 billion and, of that, â¬1.4 billion is being spent on social housing. There is huge investment.
- Housing Policy. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: The output last year of local authority housing was the highest for approximately 20 years. The waiting list did come down. I know how many are on it, although it is important to note that over 40% of what are called families on the social housing waiting list are single people. Huge amounts of money are being spent on new building, remedial works and regeneration schemes. With regard to...
- Housing Policy. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: âârather than having huge estates for one class of society. There are no plans to change Part V. It is delivering.
- Housing Policy. (4 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: There is also the affordable homes partnership. In the Deputy's constituency, it has delivered a couple of hundred homes through land swaps. We announced another such swap a few days ago under which we will get more than 200 houses, many of them in west and south-west Dublin, at good prices of â¬180,000 to â¬220,000. We are providing many affordable homes; 500 such homes have been...
- Social and Affordable Housing. (3 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: I thank Deputy Walsh for his continuing interest in this project. The site in Clonakilty was one of the sites released to the affordable housing initiative by Deputy Walsh and I acknowledge both this and the other sites released by him to the initiative during his tenure as Minister for Agriculture and Food. While progress on this site may appear to be slow, Cork County Council, whose...
- Written Answers — Community Development: Community Development (3 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: An application was received by my Department from the organisation in question under the 2006 Programme of Grants for Locally-Based Community and Voluntary Organisations. All applications under this Programme are assessed objectively against the published criteria. This assessment process is being carried out at present and all groups will be notified in writing of my decision in relation to...
- Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (3 Oct 2006)
Noel Ahern: My Department gave approval to Kildare County Council to accept a tender for the construction of social housing at Coolaghknock Glebe in Kildare town in December, 2005. There were some outstanding issues to be resolved relating to the overall budget cost for the scheme. However, the Department considered that these should not be critical to the Council commencing work on site. Following...