Results 3,501-3,520 of 7,024 for speaker:Willie Penrose

Local Authority Housing (17 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: I have heard Deputy McLoughlin's suggestion that €200,000 be ring-fenced for the repair of housing within the Sligo Borough Council area. That is from the €2 million being allocated to the Cranmore development. As I understand it, that has been delayed for a considerable period but has now been given the green light. I will ascertain if commitments were given in that regard and I...

Local Authority Housing (17 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: I propose to take Questions Nos. 41 and 49 together. The sixth annual report of the Local Government Management Services Board, published in February 2011, which details service indicators in local authorities in 2009, shows the average time taken, from the date of vacating of a unit to the date when all necessary repairs are carried out, to re-let a unit in each authority. The figures show...

Local Authority Housing (17 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: I agree with the Deputy. Our focus is on vacant properties and each local authority is required to prepare an improvement plan for such properties. Better and more flexible grants are available this year and the €35,000 measure is available to deal with vacant properties which require a different level of work in order to return them to productive use. This is a time when we are strapped...

Local Authority Housing (17 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: Deputy Niall Collins put forward a fair suggestion. Unless significant damage has been done to a vacated house, it should be possible to re-allocate it within six weeks. I speak as somebody who lived all my life in a local authority house. While local authorities may not have adequate maintenance staff to do the necessary work, where minor repairs or repainting are required I am eager to...

Local Authority Housing (17 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock is a matter for individual authorities under section 58 of the Housing Act 1966 and I do not want to trespass into that area. I am allocating resources, but the utilisation of such resources in terms of value for money and improvement work plans for vacant properties is a matter for the local authorities concerned. Local...

Social and Affordable Housing (17 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: The Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, which came into force on 1 April 2011, include a standard application form to be completed by all households seeking social housing support. To ensure that a housing authority is in a position to consider a household's application properly and fairly, this form must be completed fully and all relevant supporting documentation supplied. Failure...

Homelessness Strategy (17 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: The commitment in the programme for Government to review and update the existing homelessness strategy is timely as Departments and agencies, together with community and voluntary service providers, are midway through the implementation of The Way Home - A Strategy to Address Adult Homelessness 2008-2013. From my initial discussions with representatives of the sector, the appropriate...

Homelessness Strategy (17 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: I have already had preliminary discussions with the main service providers and relevant stakeholders, who believe the overall strategy is reasonably sound. What they are eager to see is an acceleration of the implementation of the targets that have been set. I will certainly be working towards this. I intend to complete the homelessness strategy review and introduce an updated strategy...

Homelessness Strategy (17 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: As I stated, I am prepared to consider every suggestion to ensure that the Government's objective will be achieved while maintaining funding at its existing level, that there will be no reduction in the provision of essential front line services in 2011, and that the reconfiguration of services currently under way in Dublin can be completed. That is an extremely important objective in...

Written Answers — Departmental Schemes: Departmental Schemes (12 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: My Department currently supports an ambitious programme of regeneration projects to deliver integrated physical, social and economic regeneration, ranging from large-scale urban regeneration projects such as those in Ballymun and Limerick City to smaller estate-wide regeneration projects in Dublin City and in a number of regional towns around the country. This year, my Department is...

Written Answers — Unfinished Housing Estates: Unfinished Housing Estates (12 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: The high-level Advisory Group on Unfinished Housing Developments, established in October 2010 following the publication of my Department's National Housing Development Survey database, is identifying practical and policy solutions to address the difficulties associated with unfinished housing developments effectively and promptly. On foot of the interim analysis and findings of the Expert...

Written Answers — Local Authority Services: Local Authority Services (11 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: The Housing Finance Agency does not issue loans to homeowners but provides loan finance to local authorities who on-lend to low income households. Information regarding the number and types of loans issued by local authorities has been collected by my Department as part of the statistical quarterly returns since 1994. However, I have no plans to collect information on loans issued prior to...

Written Answers — Local Authority Services: Local Authority Services (11 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: My Department issued comprehensive guidance to local authorities on the treatment of mortgage arrears in March 2010. That guidance was closely based on the Central Bank's first statutory Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears. To reflect the content of the Central Bank's revised Code of Conduct – which replaced the previous code from 1 January 2011 and was informed by the deliberations of the...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (11 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: My Department does not collect data on either the number or value of income related loans that remain outstanding. Mortgage Protection Insurance (MPI) was introduced in July 1986 as a means of protecting housing loan borrowers in the event of death or disability. It was mandatory for new borrowers but excluded existing borrowers at that date. The majority of income related loans were...

Written Answers — Housing Grants: Housing Grants (11 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: My Department's involvement with the Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability relates primarily to the recoupment of a proportion of local authority expenditure on the payment of individual grants. The grant schemes, introduced in November 2007, are funded by 80% recoupment available from my Department together with a 20% contribution from the resources...

Written Answers — Social Welfare Payments: Social Welfare Payments (10 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: According to the Department's computer records, rent supplement is payable in respect of a number of tenancies at the location in question.

Written Answers — Housing Aid for the Elderly: Housing Aid for the Elderly (10 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: My Department's involvement with the Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability relates primarily to the recoupment of a proportion of local authority expenditure on the payment of individual grants. The grant schemes are funded by 80% recoupment available from my Department together with a 20% contribution from the resources of the local authority. The...

Written Answers — Housing Grants: Housing Grants (10 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: My Department's involvement with the suite of Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability relates primarily to the recoupment of a proportion of local authority expenditure on the payment of individual grants. The grant schemes, introduced in November 2007, are funded by 80% recoupment available from my Department together with a 20% contribution from the...

Written Answers — Private Rented Accommodation: Private Rented Accommodation (10 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: I have no function in the operational matters of the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), an independent statutory body established under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2004, and cannot therefore comment on the specifics of any individual case. However, the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 makes provision for enforcement by the Courts of Determination Orders made by the PRTB. If the...

Written Answers — Foreshore Licences: Foreshore Licences (10 May 2011)

Willie Penrose: As indicated in the reply to Question No. 211 of 19 April 2011, this application was referred to the Chief State Solicitor's Office for legal advice in February 2011 following a challenge to the State's ownership of the foreshore concerned; the applicant was advised of this referral at the time. The position is unchanged