Results 3,441-3,460 of 7,024 for speaker:Willie Penrose

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (24 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: A new tenant purchase scheme under the provisions of section 90 of the Housing Act, 1966, the 2011 Tenant Purchase Scheme, was introduced recently to allow local authority tenants to avail of a discount of 3% per year of reckonable tenancy, up to a maximum discount of 45%, on the market price of a house they are eligible to purchase under the scheme. This scheme applies only to tenants of 10...

Written Answers — Voluntary and Co-operative Housing: Voluntary and Co-operative Housing (24 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: Under my Department's funding schemes for voluntary and co-operative housing projects, funding of up to 100% of the approved cost of accommodation is made available to approved housing bodies for the provision of social rented accommodation for people with special housing needs and for low-income families. My Department's involvement with voluntary and co-operative housing schemes relates...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (24 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: Under Section 9 of the Housing Act 1988, the statutory responsibility for determination of eligibility and assessment of housing need is entirely a matter for the relevant housing authority, in this case Kerry County Council. It is not open to me to intervene in any particular case with which the housing authority is concerned.

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (24 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: To be eligible for social housing support, a person must have a long-term right to reside in the State. My Department has given general guidance to authorities on how to assess whether an applicant for housing support has such a long-term right to reside in the State. The latest guidance to local authorities in respect of access to social housing supports for non-Irish nationals, including...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (24 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: The Social Housing Assessment Regulations, 2011, establishing a new system for assessing applicants for social housing support, came into effect on 1 April 2011. In the interests of facilitating access to social housing support and using local authority resources to best effect, the Regulations provide for a single application by households that goes beyond the boundaries of the functional...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (24 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: The detailed information sought in the question is not available in my Department. The most recent published data in relation to mortgage arrears are the Service Indicators 2009, published earlier this year and available on the Local Government Management Services Board website. These show local authority mortgage arrears levels running at 15.08%, an increase of 3.38% on 2008.

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (24 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: Under section 58 of the Housing Act 1966, the management and maintenance of the local authority housing stock, including the compilation and funding of ongoing maintenance programmes, is a matter for individual authorities. My Department's Social Housing Investment Programme provides capital funding to local authorities each year in respect of a range of measures to improve the standard and...

Written Answers — Housing Grants: Housing Grants (24 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: There is potential for the use of harvested rainwater as an alternative source of water for various business and commercial operations and for supplying toilet cisterns, washing machines etc. in domestic situations. There are also the environmental and economic benefits that can accrue from reducing the demand for water abstraction at source and the subsequent and expensive treatment of raw...

Written Answers — Special Housing Needs: Special Housing Needs (18 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: Under my Department's Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS) funding of up to 100% of the approved cost of accommodation is provided for accommodation by approved housing bodies for people with special housing needs. My Department's involvement with the voluntary and co-operative housing schemes relates primarily to the provision of funds for individual projects. Funding of €292,039 was provided...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (18 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: Data in relation to social housing starts and completions are published in my Department's Quarterly Housing Statistics Bulletins while data in relation to lettings are set out in Annual Statistics Bulletins. Copies of each are available in the Oireachtas library and on my Department's website, www.environ.ie. Data in respect of 2010 and 2011 are not yet available. Notwithstanding the very...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (18 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: My Department's involvement with voluntary and co-operative housing schemes relates primarily to the provision of funds for individual projects. The detailed administration of the schemes, and the certification that projects comply with the terms and conditions of the funding schemes, are the responsibility of the local authority. Approved housing bodies are responsible for the proper...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (18 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: My Department does not collect information in relation to the number of legal actions taken by local authorities on foot of cases of mortgage arrears. However, information regarding repossession of houses on foot of loan arrears is available. Repossession figures are extremely low for local authority borrowers with only 128 repossessions across all local authority areas carried out in the...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (18 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: The Government is acutely conscious of the difficulties many households are facing in terms of mortgage arrears and our Programme for Government sets out a range of credible and meaningful measures that will help households challenged to meet mortgage commitments. However, it is important to note, particularly for households worried about possible repossession, that the level of...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (18 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: I refer to the reply to Question No 208 of 19 April, 2011, which sets out the position in relation to this matter.

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (18 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: To be eligible for social housing support, a person must have a long-term right to reside in the State, decisions on which are a matter within the responsibility of the Minister for Justice and Equality. My Department has given guidance to authorities on how to assess whether an applicant for housing support has such a long-term right to reside in the State. The latest guidance to local...

Written Answers — Departmental Schemes: Departmental Schemes (18 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: I refer to the reply to Question No 96 of 12 May, 2011. In terms of the €7 million capital allocation to the former PPP regeneration projects, this funding will be used to support a diverse range of activities and investments reflective of the different stages of each of the projects ranging from planning/design, demolition works, site enabling works and construction as well as property...

Written Answers — Planning Issues: Planning Issues (18 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: Section 254 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 provides for a licensing system for the placement of various structures and appliances on, under, over or along a public road, including maps for indicating directions or places. This licensing system enables a local authority to exercise control over the placing of structures on roads to prevent traffic hazards arising. The Planning and...

Written Answers — Unfinished Housing Developments: Unfinished Housing Developments (18 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: Section 180 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) provides that, where estates have not been completed to the satisfaction of the planning authority and enforcement proceedings have not been commenced within the relevant period, the planning authority must, if requested to do so by the majority of owners, initiate the procedures for taking the estate in charge. A further...

Written Answers — Departmental Programmes: Departmental Programmes (18 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: Under my Department's Social Housing Investment Programme, local authorities are allocated capital funding each year in respect of a range of measures to improve the standard and overall quality of their social housing stock. The programme includes a retrofitting measure aimed at improving the energy efficiency of older apartments and houses. My Department requested local authorities...

Written Answers — Homeless Persons: Homeless Persons (17 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: The situation of homeless persons in emergency accommodation for protracted periods is a matter of particular concern to me and in this regard the commitment in the Programme for Government to review and update the existing homeless strategy is timely as Departments and agencies, together with community and voluntary service providers, are midway through the implementation of The Way Home - A...