Results 3,701-3,720 of 4,700 for speaker:Noel Ahern

Industrial Relations. (4 May 2005)

Noel Ahern: I will respond on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, who unfortunately cannot be present this evening because she is abroad on official business. As Deputies are aware, the president of Coláiste Mhuire Marino, Ms Caoimhe Máirtín, resigned from her position on Friday, 29 April. It is understood the resignation relates to reported difficulties at...

Written Answers — Security of the Elderly: Security of the Elderly (28 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: Responsibility for the scheme of community support for older people transferred from the then named Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs to the newly formed Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs in June 2002. The scheme was operated through the regional offices of the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs up to and including 2002. The purpose of the...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (28 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: The administration of the shared ownership scheme is a matter for individual local authorities. Authorities must assess each application under the scheme on its merits and must have regard, inter alia, to the ability of applicants to manage the mortgage and rental commitments arising from a shared ownership transaction. They must satisfy themselves that the financial commitment being entered...

Written Answers — Private Rented Accommodation: Private Rented Accommodation (28 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: While the offices of the Private Residential Tenancies Board are in Canal House, Canal Road, Ranelagh, Dublin 6, the dispute resolution function of the board is carried out, as far as possible, in the area where the tenancy that is the subject of a dispute is located. The panels of mediators and adjudicators established by the board under section 164 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004...

Written Answers — Private Rented Accommodation: Private Rented Accommodation (28 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: Responsibility for the enforcement of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 1993 rests with the local authorities. Between 1996 and 2004, specific resources for this work have been available to local authorities through registration fees payable by landlords to the local authority in whose functional area their rented dwellings are situated. Since 1 September 2004, the...

Written Answers — Energy Efficient Housing: Energy Efficient Housing (28 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: My Department does not have funds at its disposal to grant assist energy efficiency improvements for one-off houses, nor is such a scheme of grants proposed. However, many effective measures to improve energy efficiency in houses can be achieved at negative or zero equivalent annual cost to the householder. Information on a broad range of energy efficiency measures may be obtained from...

Written Answers — Housing Grants: Housing Grants (27 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: My Department does not provide funding to the Housing Finance Agency. The agency advances funds to local authorities to be used by them for any purpose authorised under the Housing Acts and it finances its operations by borrowing or raising funds for these purposes. The agency's annual report for 2004, including its financial statements, will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas soon.

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (27 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: The average cost of a housing unit provided in 2004 under the local authority housing construction programme is estimated at €147,000.

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (27 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: Based on returns provided by Kildare County Council to my Department at the beginning of the year relating to its local authority housing construction and acquisition programme there were some 250 housing units under construction. The council proposes to commence the construction of, or acquire, some 500 units at various locations throughout the county during the course of the year. The...

Written Answers — Rented Dwellings Register: Rented Dwellings Register (27 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: Responsibility for the registration of tenancies now rests with the Private Residential Tenancies Board, which is an independent statutory body established under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. Requests for information relating to the board's functions, including tenancy registration, may appropriately be directed to the board at Canal House, Canal Road, Ranelagh, Dublin 6. The board is...

Written Answers — Housing Grants: Housing Grants (26 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: The termination of the new house grants scheme, which was announced on 14 November 2003, arose from the necessity, in the context of the 2003 Estimates, for the Government to ensure a sustainable match between expenditure and resources, and to concentrate housing programmes on areas of greatest impact and social need. It is not proposed to reintroduce the grant. However, through overall...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (26 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 509 to 511, inclusive, together. Dublin City Council submitted a revised scheme of letting priorities for approval to my Department in February 2004. Following a number of informal discussions between my Department and the city council, a full meeting was held in February 2005 to consider the revised scheme. This was then approved in April 2005 subject to the...

Services for People with Disabilities. (21 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: The advisory committee on the education of the deaf and hard of hearing was established in December 2001 by the then Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Woods, with the following terms of reference: to review the adequacy of the current range of educational support services available to students who are deaf or hard of hearing, to identify and prioritise areas of service provision...

Waste Disposal. (21 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, is out of the country on official business, and I am afraid the answer is rather general and not related to the specific issues the Deputy raised. Ensuring the provision of waste facilities in line with the relevant waste management plan is primarily a matter for the local...

Waste Disposal. (21 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: That is the point I was making. It got too big, and it was not simply vans from landscape gardeners. It is not in my constituency, but I heard reports of 40-ft. trucks going in. It was the scale that people complained about.

Waste Disposal. (21 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: Green waste, including commercially arising green waste, continues to be accepted at Esker Lane in Lucan. Looking to the future, however, South Dublin County Council will prioritise domestic users and commits itself only to keeping the facility available to householders. In the short term, the council will apply to the EPA for a revised waste licence for the green centre in Esker Lane so that...

Waste Disposal. (21 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: As the Deputy said, the Minister met them a few months ago, and I will speak to him on his return next week or whenever I see him and tell him that the Deputy had raised those ongoing concerns.

Waste Disposal. (21 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: I am sorry this matter has arisen on the wrong day. I am sure that the Deputy would rather have had the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, from his own constituency to answer him. However, I can read out to him the answer I have here. Waste management enforcement action is a matter for the relevant local authority and the Office of Environmental...

Waste Disposal. (21 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: I will ask some questions about the matter in my capacity as Minister of State with responsibility for housing. I regret the Minister was absent when the Deputy raised the issue.

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (21 Apr 2005)

Noel Ahern: I refer to the reply to Question No. 67 of 13 April 2005. The position is unchanged.