Results 21-40 of 5,265 for in 'Written Answers' speaker:James Browne

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (3 Jul 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 269 and 270 together. Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he or she is responsible. My Department oversees workforce planning for the local government sector, including the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (2 Jul 2025)

James Browne: The local authority Development Plan is the principal planning strategy document which sets out the relevant policies and objectives to guide the physical development of each city and county over a six-year period and is required to be consistent with the National Planning Framework (NPF) and the relevant Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy. The Revised NPF was approved by Government...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Waterways Issues (2 Jul 2025)

James Browne: Waterways Ireland is a North South Implementation Body established under the British Irish Agreement of 10 April 1998. It is funded by my Department and the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. The detailed information requested in relation to the proposal to extend the Shannon Navigation from Lough Allen to Dowra is not held in my Department. However, arrangements have been...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (2 Jul 2025)

James Browne: The oversight and practical management of housing waiting lists, including the allocation and transfer of tenancies, is a matter for the relevant local authority in accordance with the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, and associated regulations. Decisions on the qualification of households for social housing support, the most appropriate form of such support, and the allocation of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wildlife Conservation (2 Jul 2025)

James Browne: Corncrake LIFE is a five year (2021-2026) €5.9m project improving the conservation status of one of Ireland’s most iconic farmland bird species. Led by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department, in collaboration with project partners, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Fota Wildlife Park, Atlantic Technological University and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wild Fires (2 Jul 2025)

James Browne: The provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Services Act 1981 & 2003. My Department supports the fire authorities through setting general policy, providing a...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (2 Jul 2025)

James Browne: In line with a commitment in Housing for All, a review of the Private Rental Market was undertaken by my Department and published in July 2024. One of its recommendations was that a comprehensive examination of the current RPZ system should be undertaken. The key focus of the review, which was undertaken by the Housing Agency, was to assess the operation of Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs)...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (2 Jul 2025)

James Browne: There is currently no such obligation on any party, namely, Landlords, Local Authorities or Tenants to engage with the tenant-in-situ scheme.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Issues (2 Jul 2025)

James Browne: While the Planning and Development Act 2024 (Act of 2024) was enacted in October 2024, it is in the process of being commenced. The provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended (Act of 2000), and associated Planning and Development Regulations 2001 (Regulations 2001) remain in force until the relevant sections of the Act of 2024 are commenced and the corresponding sections...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (2 Jul 2025)

James Browne: The local authority Development Plan is the principal planning strategy document to guide the physical development of each city and county over a six-year period. The relevant statutory provisions governing the preparation, adoption and variation of development plans are currently primarily found in sections 9 to 13 of Planning and Development Act 2000. Section 9(1) of the Act requires...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (2 Jul 2025)

James Browne: The First Home Scheme, which launched in July 2022, is a shared equity scheme, designed to help bridge the gap for eligible first-time buyers, eligible homebuyers, and self-builders, between their deposit and mortgage, and the price of their new home (within price ceilings established across the country). Full details are available on the First Home Scheme website, www.firsthomescheme.ie. ...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: State Bodies (2 Jul 2025)

James Browne: An Coimisiún Pleanála is the national independent statutory body with responsibility for the determination of planning appeals and direct applications for strategic infrastructure and other developments under the Planning and Development Act 2024, the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, and certain other Acts. There is sanction in place for up to 313 posts at An...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (2 Jul 2025)

James Browne: The Land Development Agency (LDA) was established with a focus on managing the State’s lands to develop new homes and regenerate underutilised sites. The Agency has also been tasked with unlocking stalled, private, planning-consented developments in the shorter-term through Project Tosaigh, its market engagement initiative. The LDA is targeting 8,000 new homes over the course of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (2 Jul 2025)

James Browne: The Mortgage Allowance scheme provides for an allowance of up to €11,450 payable over a 5-year period, to tenants or tenant purchasers of local authority housing, to assist them to purchase or have a private house built with a mortgage. The current rates are underpinned by the Housing (Mortgage Allowance) Regulations 2001 and have been in place since 1 January 2002. New...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (1 Jul 2025)

James Browne: Data returned to my Department from local authorities indicates that there were 934 refusals of offers of social housing in 2024, of which 693 were first refusals and 241 were second refusals. I will provide the Deputy with a breakdown of the data by local authority. There is some inconsistency in how this data is recorded at local authority level. My Department has been working closely with...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (1 Jul 2025)

James Browne: The Programme for Government recognised the need for acceleration of home building by unblocking infrastructure delays and by coordinating investment in servicing zoned land. Government has agreed to the establishment of a new Housing Activation Office, which will be the delivery mechanism for the PfG commitment, and my Department has already begun putting together a team of specialists in...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (1 Jul 2025)

James Browne: Following the appointment of the EU Commissioner for Energy and Housing Mr Dan Jørgensen, a Housing Task Force was established by the Commission with effect from 1 February 2025. The EU Housing Taskforce is preparing the first ever European Affordable Housing Plan which is expected to be published by the Commission in early 2026. Recognising that housing is a national competence, but...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (1 Jul 2025)

James Browne: Cost Rental is a new form of tenure which was introduced under the Affordable Housing Act 2021 and since then we have been actively building a pipeline of cost rental homes, with nearly 4,000 homes delivered to the end of last year. The Government has made a clear commitment in the Programme for Government to build more cost rental units through the LDA, local authorities and Cost Rental...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (1 Jul 2025)

James Browne: My Department provides funding under the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and Disabled People, to assist those in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The suite of grants, which include the Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People, the Mobility Aids Grant and the Housing Aid for Older People Grant, are funded by my Department with a...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (1 Jul 2025)

James Browne: A key principle of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is that eligible households source their own accommodation in the private rental market. The accommodation sourced by tenants should be within the prescribed maximum HAP rent limits, which are based on household size and the rental market within the area concerned. Since 11 July 2022, each local authority has statutory discretion to...