Results 221-240 of 9,065 for speaker:James Browne

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Building Regulations (2 Oct 2025)

James Browne: The design and construction of buildings is regulated under the Building Control Acts in order to ensure the safety, health and welfare of people within the built environment. The Acts provide for the making of Building Regulations, Building Control Regulations and also set out the legislative basis for the system of enforcement. The Building Control Regulations provide for matters of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homeless Persons Supports (2 Oct 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 318 and 319 together. 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 local authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation and related services for homeless persons...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Schemes (2 Oct 2025)

James Browne: The Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme supports the building of apartments in urban cores for sale to owner-occupiers. The Scheme aims to activate the supply of units which otherwise would not be delivered due to viability challenges by providing funding support to bridge the current "Viability Gap" between the delivery cost of building apartments and the market sale price (where the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (2 Oct 2025)

James Browne: The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a form of social housing support available for people who have a long-term housing need. Any household assessed as eligible for social housing is immediately eligible for HAP. Under HAP, a tenant sources their own accommodation in the private rented market. The accommodation sourced by tenants should be within the prescribed maximum HAP rent limits,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Ethics in Public Office (2 Oct 2025)

James Browne: Section 237A of the Local Government Act 2001 (as amended) provides that the Minister shall make regulations in relation to the ‘dealings’ of local authorities with members of the Houses of the Oireachtas which must include provisions in relation to correspondence with members of the Oireachtas by local authorities. These Regulations are contained in S.I. 274 of 2003...

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage: Motion (1 Oct 2025)

James Browne: I move: That Dáil Éireann: (1) approves the terms of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage done at Paris on the 6th November, 2001, a copy of which was laid before Dáil Éireann on 13th August, 2025, (2) approves the making of a Declaration under Article 28 of the said Convention that the Rules of the Annex to the Convention will...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Postal Voting (1 Oct 2025)

James Browne: Electoral law provides for postal voting for a number of different categories of people:whole-time members of the Defence Forces,members of An Garda Síochána,Irish diplomats serving abroad and their spouses/civil partners,electors living at home who are unable to go in person to vote because of illness or a disability,electors whose occupation, service or employment makes it likely...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (1 Oct 2025)

James Browne: My Department keeps costs relating to the DCB Scheme under continuous review. Following updated cost reports from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) and advice from the Expert Group established to consider the matter, a further increase from the original grant rates set down in the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (the Act),...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Schemes (1 Oct 2025)

James Browne: My Department provides funding under the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and Disabled People, to assist those in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The suite of grants, which include the Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People, the Mobility Aids Grant and the Housing Aid for Older People Grant, are funded by my Department with a...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (1 Oct 2025)

James Browne: Delivery data is not available on a constituency basis, however my Department publishes comprehensive programme-level statistics on a quarterly basis on social and affordable housing delivery activity by local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) in each local authority. This data is available to the end of Q1 2025 and is published on the statistics page of my Department’s...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (1 Oct 2025)

James Browne: Statistics in relation to local authority social housing stock are published by the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) in the annual Local Authority Performance Indicator Report. These reports provide a range of information in relation to social housing stock, including the number of social housing units in local authority ownership at a given time. The most recent report,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wastewater Treatment (1 Oct 2025)

James Browne: There are a number of housing estates across the country, including those named in the details supplied, that rely on developer provided water services infrastructure (commonly called DPI) for their water services. These estates are not yet taken in charge and are not connected to the Uisce Éireann public network. Since 1 January 2024, Uisce Éireann has held responsibility for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (1 Oct 2025)

James Browne: Social housing is a long-term support intended to support households that have continuing, long-term difficulty meeting their own accommodation needs. This is reflected in the underpinning legislation and the Household Means Policy, which provides for applicants’ eligibility to be assessed on their net average income over the previous 12 months from the date of their application. Given...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (30 Sep 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 532 and 551 together. The Apartments and Duplex Defects Remediation Scheme (‘Scheme’) is expected to be established shortly after the passage of the legislation (the Apartment and Duplex Defects Remediation Bill), the timeline for which is subject to Oireachtas process. The General Scheme of the Bill will be made available to undergo...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (30 Sep 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 533 and 562 together. The Apartments and Duplex Defects Remediation Scheme (‘Scheme’) is expected to be established shortly after the passage of the legislation (the Apartment and Duplex Defects Remediation Bill ('the Bill')), the timeline for which is subject to Oireachtas process. The General Scheme of the Bill will be made available to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Energy Policy (30 Sep 2025)

James Browne: The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EU/2024/1275) (EPBD) is the European Union’s main legislative instrument aiming to promote the improvement of the energy performance of buildings. The recast Directive, which was adopted by the European Parliament and Council, came into force in May 2024. The Directive requires transposition of the relevant Articles by 29th May 2026. ...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Fire Service (30 Sep 2025)

James Browne: Capital funding allocations for 2026 will be a matter of discussion between my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation in the context of the Budget and Estimates process. It is premature to comment on the proposed Fire Service Capital Programme 2026 -2030 prior to confirmation of the final outcome of that process.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (30 Sep 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 538 and 539 together. My Department provides funding under the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and Disabled People, to assist those in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The suite of grants, which include the Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People, the Mobility Aids Grant and the Housing Aid...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (30 Sep 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 540 and 541 together. Applications for transfers from social housing tenants are considered solely by the relevant local authority concerned in accordance with that authority’s allocation scheme, which is made by the elected members under section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 in accordance with the Social Housing Allocation...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Architects Register (30 Sep 2025)

James Browne: Section 18 of the Building Control Act 2007 details prohibition against using the term “architect” unless registered to do so. The registration body in Ireland for this is the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland. As detailed in the legislation, consequences for a person who practises or carries on business under any name, style or title containing the word...