Results 2,601-2,620 of 4,700 for speaker:Noel Ahern

Seanad: Electoral Register: Motion. (10 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: This is what we need to address between now and next November.

Seanad: Electoral Register: Motion. (10 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: What the Deputy's party is putting forward would not solve anything by next June. The priority should be to concentrate on what can be achieved in the short term. After that we can discuss longer-term issues. If politicians are experts at anything, they are experts on the electoral system. We might have more in common with each other here than we have differences. We should deal with the...

Seanad: Electoral Register: Motion. (10 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: It is not practical in the short term. It is a fine theoretical proposal, but that is not sufficient. We are trying to get the register up-to-date for next year. At one time, we did this ourselves.

Seanad: Electoral Register: Motion. (10 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: The task of compiling the register has become more difficult as a result of the rapid population growth, increased personal mobility, growing numbers of gated apartment complexes and increased rates of new household formation and so on. These are all challenges and many of the difficulties were made known to people during the recent census. Problems with voting registers are not new. They...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (9 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: I assume that the Question refers to housing by approved housing bodies with funding provided under my Department's capital loan and subsidy scheme. While there is no provision at present in the voluntary housing scheme for the purchase of individual houses by tenants, my Department indicated in the recently published document Housing Policy Framework, Building Sustainable Communities, that...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (9 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: I assume that the Question refers to Part V agreements reached between developers and local authorities following negotiations under the Planning and Development Act 2000-2004 which requires, inter alia, that up to 20% of land zoned for residential developments or for a mix of residential and other uses, is to be reserved to meet social and affordable housing needs. Instead of the transfer of...

Written Answers — Private Rented Accommodation: Private Rented Accommodation (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: My Department maintains close ongoing contact with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) regarding progress on the implementation generally of the provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. An update on the number of registration applications processed by the PRTB is provided to my Department generally on a monthly basis.

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 and 92 together. The preparation of the National Development Plan 2007-2013 (NDP) is being coordinated by the Department of Finance and a high level steering group, chaired by that Department and comprising senior officials of other relevant Departments, has been established to oversee drafting. The housing material of the NDP is being drafted by my...

Written Answers — House Prices: House Prices (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: I refer to the reply by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to Question No. 1128 of 25 January 2006. Any legislative action to address the issue of gazumping would involve changes to the Law of Contract. The report of the Auctioneering and Estate Agency Review Group to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in July 2005 recommended, in order to protect buyers, that...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: Proposals from local authorities in relation to the construction of social and affordable housing that may involve the provision of additional energy efficiency measures, will be examined by my Department on their merits from the point of view of efficacy and value for money/cost benefit considerations. Social housing design guidelines outline a range of issues to be taken into account...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: Housing statistics are available on my Department's website at www.environ.ie. Under the Tenant Purchase Scheme, local authorities completed 1738 sales in 2005.

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 71 together. The management, maintenance and improvements to their rented dwellings is the responsibility of each local authority and the funding of such works is provided by local authorities from their own resources as part of their ongoing maintenance programmes. My Department does, however, provide capital funding for substantial major refurbishment...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: Galway County Council were contacted in this matter and advise that the houses in question are priced at €152,000, which is the construction cost of the units less a subsidy from my Department. The price of each house is based on costs at final account stage. Galway County Council have confirmed that at no time were the applicants in Tynagh advised of any price other than the sale price...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: The impact of this Government's commitment to strong social and affordable housing programmes can be seen in the results of the 2005 Housing Needs Assessment which showed a decrease of almost 10% when compared to the 2002 results. Indeed the strength of existing programmes can be gauged from the fact that work was in progress on over 10,000 social housing units at the end of last year. Since...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: It is a key Government objective to maximise access to affordable housing. In situations where the demand exceeds the supply for particular developments, it is a matter for the relevant local authority to draw up a scheme of allocation priorities based on broad criteria set out in legislation. The making of a scheme or amendment to any such scheme is a reserved function of the Council.

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: My Department recoups to local authorities 90% of their expenditure on the provision of accommodation and related services for homeless persons, including those in move-on accommodation. In 2005, recoupment was made in respect of 779 move-on units, which represented an increase of almost 33% over the previous year when recoupment was made in respect of 586 units. Funding available from my...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: An objective and comprehensive assessment of a person or family's need is an essential first step in putting in place a modern system of housing supports. Under the Housing Policy Framework — Building Sustainable Communities, there is a commitment to develop new means of assessing housing need. As part of the new arrangements I anticipate that future assessments of housing need will be...

Written Answers — Private Rented Accommodation: Private Rented Accommodation (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: I intend to review the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 1993 as soon as the demands involved in bedding down the new tenancy legislative regime permit. I expect that work on the review of the Regulations will commence later this year. In the meantime action is being taken on a number of fronts, as indicated in my reply to Questions Nos. 12, 61, 63, 103, 104 and 114 on 8 March...

Written Answers — Private Rented Accommodation: Private Rented Accommodation (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: Substantial resources are being provided to the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) to meet the high level of demands on its services. There is currently a total of 35 staff working in the PRTB, which also receives ongoing support from my Department. The PRTB has also engaged a panel of 175 mediators and adjudicators to assist with its dispute resolution functions. An increased...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (4 May 2006)

Noel Ahern: The most recent assessment of the need for social housing which was undertaken by local authorities in March 2005 indicated that there were 43,684 households on local authority housing waiting lists compared with 48,413 households in March 2002 a decrease of almost 10%. More comprehensive data on the assessment at an individual local authority level will be published shortly in the Annual...