Results 3,681-3,700 of 4,700 for speaker:Noel Ahern

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (17 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I refer to the reply to Question No. 166 of 14 April 2005. The position is unchanged.

Order of Business. (17 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: This is a Second Stage speech.

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (12 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: My Department has been involved in extensive discussions and negotiations for some time with a number of private lending institutions with a view to those institutions providing mortgage finance, subject to their normal lending criteria, to applicants who have been allocated an affordable housing unit for purchase under Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000-2004 or the Housing...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (12 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: Information on the number of housing units provided under the various affordable housing schemes in each local authority area is published 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 annual housing statistics bulletins provide, among other data, information on house prices under...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (12 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: It is a matter for local authorities to provide affordable housing through the various targeted schemes. These are the shared ownership scheme, the 1999 affordable housing scheme and the provisions of Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2004. My Department's approval is not required for applications under these schemes. However, where site subsidy is being applied for under...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (11 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: The number of persons who purchased dwellings under the shared ownership scheme both nationally and in each of the four Dublin local authorities during the period 1997 to 2005 and the amount of subsidy and number of households obtaining rent subsidy are set out in the following table: Year Total National Dublin City Fingal Dublin South Dun-Laoghaire Rathdown Amount of rent subsidy...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (11 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I refer to the reply to Questions Nos. 456 and 457 of 10 May 2005. The commitment under the Sustaining Progress affordable housing initiative is to increase the supply of affordable housing by 10,000 units. It is proposed that a minimum of 350 affordable housing units will be provided on the former Magee Barracks site that was made available to the initiative, which works out at 3.5% of the...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (10 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 456 and 457 together. To ensure progress on the affordable housing initiative, the Government undertook to examine the best use of resources at its disposal, which included the housing potential of under-utilised State lands. Arising from this process, the former Magee Barracks in Kildare was identified as a potential site to deliver housing for this...

Industrial Relations. (4 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: Coláiste Mhuire Marino is one of five privately owned denominational colleges of education recognised by the Department of Education and Science for the purpose of training primary teachers. The Department funds Coláiste Mhuire Marino on a per student basis as certified annually by the college president. It is estimated that some €5 million will be allocated to the college in 2005. It is...

Anti-Social Behaviour Project. (4 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and giving me an opportunity to address the question of anti-social behaviour in the context of the management of local authority housing. Local authorities are responsible under the Housing Acts for the management and maintenance of their housing stock, including addressing any problems arising on their housing estates from serious anti-social...

Written Answers — Community Development: Community Development (4 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I have dealt comprehensively with this issue in the House already. I refer the Deputy in particular to my replies to Questions Nos. 24, 27 and 37 of 14 April 2005.

Written Answers — Private Rented Accommodation: Private Rented Accommodation (4 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: My Department has no function in the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants. This is the statutory responsibility of the Private Residential Tenancies Board established under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, which specifically provides that the board shall be independent in the performance of its functions. There is a general objective in the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to...

Written Answers — Housing Grants: Housing Grants (4 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 493 and 494 together. I refer to the reply to Question No. 494 of 19 April 2005. The position is unchanged.

Written Answers — Housing Grants: Housing Grants (4 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: The overall provision for 2005 for the voluntary and co-operative housing programme is €239 million.

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (4 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: My Department has encouraged local authorities to undertake public private partnerships for the delivery of social and affordable housing, providing that this route offers value for money. Most of the contracts entered into to date are in the form of partnering arrangements with developers to deliver social and or affordable housing on local authority lands with private housing also being...

Written Answers — Housing Policy: Housing Policy (4 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: 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, and other recent reports with a bearing on housing issues. The NESC report provides an important analysis of the Irish housing system and an agenda for the future development of policy. Importantly, the report recognises...

Written Answers — Homelessness Strategy: Homelessness Strategy (4 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: The Government's integrated strategy on homelessness was launched in 2000 and its homeless preventative strategy in 2002. Under the terms of the integrated strategy, homeless fora, representative of the statutory and voluntary homeless sectors, were established at local authority level and, under their aegis, homelessness action plans were adopted and are in the process of being implemented....

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (4 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: The total amount of funding, Exchequer and non-Exchequer, for the construction or acquisition of social and affordable housing in 2002 to 2005 and the percentage changes in house prices over the same period are set out in the following table. This includes capital spending on regeneration and traveller accommodation. Total Funding Exchequer component of total funding House Prices...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (4 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 501 and 502 together. In July 2004, I announced significant improvements to the loan and income limits for shared ownership and affordable housing schemes. The eligibility limit for applying for these schemes is now €36,800 for a single income household. In the case of a two-income household, both incomes are assessed in determining eligibility on the basis...

Written Answers — Housing Grants: Housing Grants (4 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: The provision of appropriate heating systems is eligible for funding under both the disabled person's and essential repairs grant schemes. Decisions on the type and extent of work which may be grant aided in individual cases are matters for the local authorities who are responsible for the administration of the schemes. Under the terms of the special housing aid for the elderly scheme, which...