Results 2,421-2,440 of 4,700 for speaker:Noel Ahern

Written Answers — Departmental Schemes: Departmental Schemes (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: Under the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) local authorities are providing accommodation to certain recipients of SWA rent supplement who have been assessed as having a long-term housing need. The RAS scheme is part of a graduated range of housing supports and is an additional housing option for authorities in meeting housing need. Eligible persons can indicate their preference to be...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: The management, maintenance and improvements to their rented dwellings is the responsibility of each local authority and the funding of such works is required to be provided by local authorities from their own resources as part of their ongoing maintenance programmes. My Department does, however, provide capital funding for major refurbishment work to local authority dwellings under the...

Written Answers — Community Development: Community Development (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: The group detailed in the Deputy's question received funding detailed as follows through the Tallaght Local Drugs Task Force for a parent support group. Total € November 2001 — October 2002 31,744 November 2002 — April 2003 9,524 May 2003 — October 2003 9,524 November 2003 — April 2004 9,524 May 2004 —...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: Under the terms of the Sustaining Progress Affordable Housing Initiative, a series of lands belonging to local authorities have been released to the initiative. To date, 131 affordable housing units have been provided on three sites in Buckley's Field, Blackrock, Cork (32 units), Finglas Road (50 units) and Flemington, Balbriggan (49 units). Construction is also underway on ten sites...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: Circulars HRT 8/93 (15 June 1993) and HRT 2/97 (14 April 1997) advised local authorities of their obligations under the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 1993 which detail standards for rented houses including local authority houses. Copies of these circulars are available from my Department.

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: An application for funding under the voluntary housing capital assistance scheme has been received from Drogheda Borough Council in respect of this project and clarification on a number of aspects sought from the Council is awaited. When this is to hand the application will be further considered. Officials from my Department will, if required, meet with the Council and the voluntary body to...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: Details of the number of social and affordable houses that have been provided in Waterford City and county in each of the past five years are set out in my Department's Housing Statistics Bulletins, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library and on the Department's website at www.environ.ie. The majority of these have been funded through either Exchequer capital provision or...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: My Department met with officials from Sligo Borough Council on 7 June 2006 to discuss the draft framework plan for the regeneration of this estate. The overall proposals are now being examined in my Department in relation to their scope and suitability as well as indicative costings and implementation. A response from the Department will be conveyed to the Borough Council as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: The information requested is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: In 2004 I sought the preparation by local authorities of social and affordable housing action plans for the period 2004-2008. The Action Plans, now at their midway stage are currently being reviewed. The review is focusing on how targets have been met in the first two years of the plan and on incorporating any adjustments required for the remaining years of the plan, in light of performance...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: I recently informed local authorities of their financial capital allocations for their local authority housing programmes and have urged them to accelerate progress on the implementation of their housing programmes in order to commence construction and secure completion of as many social housing schemes as possible in 2006. An allocation of €43.2 million has been notified to the Kildare...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: I refer to the reply to Questions Nos. 238 and 239 of 4 May 2006. The loan limit for the Shared Ownership Scheme was reviewed and increased with effect from 1 January 2006. The maximum loan that may now be advanced by a local authority in respect of the share of a dwelling being purchased (minimum 40%) is €185,000. While the cost of a dwelling may substantially exceed this amount, the...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: The relative priority of households on the local authority waiting lists is determined in accordance with the authorities' schemes of letting priorities, the making of which is a function reserved to the elected members. It is the case that some applicants for local authority housing are on waiting lists for longer periods on the basis that their housing need has a relative lower priority...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 450 and 453 together. The most recent assessment of need for social housing was undertaken by local authorities in March 2005 indicated that there were 43,684 households on local authority waiting lists compared with 48,413 in March 2002 — a decrease of almost 10%. Information on the number of local authority housing units constructed each year for the past...

House Prices. (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 53 and 55 together. I am aware of the house price affordability index referred to and also of the trend in affordability as measured by the index compiled by my Department to assist in monitoring developments in the housing market. Despite increased house prices, affordability has remained relatively favourable. This is because of the substantial improvement...

House Prices. (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: Are those prices affordable? Relatively so, people seem to be getting by and there is still a significant number of first-time buyers in the market. Some 45% of mortgages for new houses are to first-time buyers. It was always difficult for a first-time buyer be it now or ten or 20 years ago. Whenever any of us had a mortgage it was always difficult in the early years. Our own index shows that...

House Prices. (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: It has always been difficult for people buying their first houses. Nothing has changed. The new Department index, which we have compiled for many years, was published last week and is relatively up to date, indicates that affordability was worse around 1990-91, and then eased off. This and the EBS report are based on a 25-year mortgage. They use figures below the normal affordability index...

House Prices. (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: If houses are over-priced, why are prices rising? I suppose they are rising for different reasons, namely, because an extra 90,000 people were working in the economy last year and because we had 55,000 immigrants into Ireland last year, people who are at the age when they rent or buy houses. The house price rises were partly due to those factors, but also because of a policy started about...

House Prices. (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: I am not recommending that the answer to affordability is longer-term mortgages. I am simply saying they are a fact. Many people are now getting 35-year mortgages. I heard of some financial institution spokesperson talking of intergenerational mortgages. Maybe that is a concept yet to come in, but such institutions are using other financial gimmicks. The real solution is supply. We have tried...

House Prices. (13 Jun 2006)

Noel Ahern: I am sorry if I keep repeating the same figures, but the output figure for last year was 81,000, while 14 or 15 years ago the figure would typically have been about 20,000. The level of output by the industry has hugely increased. Under any law of economics, supply should sooner or later equal demand, which should bring a bit of sense to the situation.