Results 3,641-3,660 of 4,700 for speaker:Noel Ahern

Security of the Elderly. (19 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: The scheme is community based, administered by the community section of my Department and focused on those over 65. People with disabilities under this age limit may require security equipment grants as well as other aids, but this scheme is not appropriate to meet their needs as it specifically targets older people. People with disabilities receive most supports through the health services...

Security of the Elderly. (19 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: We will provide new systems where it is established that the old ones cannot be repaired. However, people in the business tell me most of them can be repaired. I am nervous about the issue of obsolescence. If the alarm or pendant is working well a person will not qualify for a new one. I have heard reports, true or untrue, of some suppliers telling people they or their group need a new system...

Security of the Elderly. (19 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: From the beginning the scheme has been administered once a year. We get queries and complaints from some groups from time to time who feel they should be able to get the pendants on an ongoing basis. However, most groups seem to get by. We advertised for applications some weeks ago. Quite often a number of months pass between the time when a group applies and approval, but most groups get by,...

Security of the Elderly. (19 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: We have not done any study since our Department took responsibility for the scheme. The scheme has been consistently popular so, obviously, the community groups that apply to the scheme feel it is of benefit. The biggest fear is not so much that houses may be under attack, but that a person alone might be unwell or fall and may need to summon help. I am not aware of any study that has been...

Court Actions. (19 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: There is one current court action involving the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. As the matter is sub judice, I have been advised by the Office of the Attorney General that I am not in a position to discuss the stated reasons for the matter.

Court Actions. (19 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I do not have statistics on the matter. The Deputy is probably making a distinction between court actions in which the Department might be directly involved or other cases before the courts in which the Department might be indirectly involved. I cannot provide figures offhand but I am sure there are very few such court actions, if any at all. However, I will try to find the relevant figures...

National Drugs Strategy. (19 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 and 12 together. The mid-term review of the national drugs strategy was overseen by a steering group, chaired by my Department, and made up of representatives from a number of relevant Departments and agencies, as well as from the community and voluntary sectors. The group was tasked with examining the overall progress made to date in implementing the...

National Drugs Strategy. (19 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: In reply to Deputy English, the report states that the strategy is working well and that its objectives and aims are well focused. While it suggests some new priorities, and while a few of the strategy's 100 actions are being amended, fundamentally, the strategy gets a clean bill of health. There will not be a supplementary budget for this year. The budget for this year under the drugs...

Order of Business. (19 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: Talk to John O'Connell.

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (18 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 89 and 167 together. Information on the number of housing units provided under Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000-2004 in each local authority area is published in my Department's housing statistics bulletins, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library and also on the Department's website at www.environ.ie. Part V of the Planning and...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (18 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 95, 111, 139, 161 and 297 together. The results of the statutory assessment of local authority housing need, which was undertaken by local authorities in March 2002, indicated that a total of 48,413 households were in need of housing. The latest triennial statutory assessment of need took place in March 2005 and I anticipate publishing the results in September...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (18 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I am not aware of any formal proposal from the Committee of Public Accounts on the lines indicated in the question. However, the National Economic and Social Council in its report Housing in Ireland: Performance and Policy has recommended the amalgamation of the shared ownership and affordable housing schemes into a single first home scheme. My Department is addressing the issues raised in...

Written Answers — Housing Policy: Housing Policy (18 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 97, 103, 129 and 189 together. The Government is giving detailed consideration to the findings of Report No. 112 of the National Economic and Social Council, Housing in Ireland: Performance and Policy as well as the Ninth Progress Report of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution, concerning private property and a report by Goodbody Economic...

Written Answers — Private Rented Accommodation: Private Rented Accommodation (18 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 107 and 188 together. The total number of persons currently working in the Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB, is 33. Some 19 staff are provided to the PRTB by the Department and part of the work of the PRTB is contracted to a data entry company, which has assigned 14 staff to such tasks. The budget estimate for the board in 2005 is €4.210 million....

Written Answers — Local Authority Lands: Local Authority Lands (18 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 109 and 293 to 296, inclusive, together. My Department does not have details of the extent of all lands owned by the State or local authorities. The figure of 12,500 hectares, referred to in the question, is the amount of serviced residential land as at 30 June 2004, owned privately and publicly, which would give an estimated yield of 367,000 housing units....

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (18 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 112 and 150 together. An indicative survey of local authorities carried out by my Department prior to the introduction last year of a scheme for the installation of central heating in existing local authority rented dwellings estimated the number of such dwellings lacking central heating facilities to be in the region of 45,000. The current figure is likely to...

Written Answers — Housing Policy: Housing Policy (18 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: The Department does not have a definitive breakdown of house completions either by type of purchaser or whether they were second or holiday homes or intended for renting. However, with the unprecedented demand for housing, fuelled mainly by rapid economic growth and demographic changes, being the major driver of house price increases in recent years, it is clear that there has been...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (18 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: The Government has responded actively to increased levels of housing need by expanding affordable housing output very significantly. In the current year the Government has allocated record levels of funding to local authorities for their affordable housing programmes. Total capital spending on affordable housing output in 2005, including non-voted capital finance, will amount to over €432...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (18 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: In accordance with Government public procurement requirements, local authorities are requested to ensure that approved voluntary housing bodies who undertake projects under the capital funding schemes are made aware of the need to operate competitive tendering procedures.

Written Answers — Social Welfare Schemes: Social Welfare Schemes (18 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 137 and 170 together. The issue of possible abuses of the rent allowance scheme has been brought to my attention in my capacity as a public representative. At my request, my Department has raised this concern with the Department of Social and Family Affairs so that the matter can be properly examined and considered by that Department.