Results 401-420 of 7,003 for speaker:James Browne

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Architects Register (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 910, 911 and 932 together. I am aware that Architectural Technologists are an essential profession working to high standards in the construction sector. In general, the regulation of professions is in the first instance a matter for industry representatives working in consultation with relevant industry stakeholders. My Department has been engaging with...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Waterways Ireland (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: Waterways Ireland proposes to update the Shannon Bye-laws and Canal Bye-laws which are more than 30 years old. The needs of users have changed, environmental landscape and health and safety considerations have developed significantly and the waterways themselves have been transformed over the past thirty years. The purpose of updating the Bye-laws is to make the waterways safer for those...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: House Sales (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 913, 914, 925 and 926 together. My Department does not collect the data sought. The Central Statistics Office publishes data in respect of residential property transactions by non-households, including international investment funds. The latest data available are for 2023 and can be accessed on the CSO website (data.cso.ie/table/HPA10). The data are...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Court Judgments (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) has primary responsibility for for environmental noise matters, to include the consideration of matters arising from the High Court judgement referred to. In this regard, my Department is working in conjunction with DECC, in the context of its environmental noise policy remit, to finalise the guidance on the noise...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Mortgage Interest Rates (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: Local Authority Home Loans are not funded through borrowings from the European Central Bank (ECB). Local Authorities do not issue and have never issued what are termed 'tracker mortgages', therefore there are no Local Authority home loans that track the ECB rate changes directly. The current loan offerings available from Local Authorities are the Local Authority Home Loan and the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Data (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: My Department currently gathers and publishes data on a monthly basis on the number of homeless persons accommodated in emergency accommodation funded and overseen by local authorities. These reports are based on data provided by local authorities, produced through the Pathway Accommodation & Support System (PASS). The monthly homelessness report includes details of individuals,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Fire Service (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: In December 2022 Minister O’Brien published a review of the retained Fire Service that made thirteen recommendations to improve recruitment and retention in the Fire Service. The Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) is leading on the implementation of a new service delivery model aimed at increasing the work-life balance for retained firefighters, supporting more flexible working...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: EU Funding (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: The Limerick Regeneration Framework Implementation Plan (LRFIP) was adopted by the then Limerick City Council in February 2014. This plan set out a programme of physical, social and economic interventions over a ten-year period from 2014 to 2023. One element of the LRFIP was the Economic and Social Intervention Fund, (ESIF), and over the ten year period of the LRFIP (2014 to 2023)...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Data (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: A flagship element of Project Ireland 2040, the €2 billion Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) is supporting a programme of significant transformational capital projects that will contribute to the regeneration and rejuvenation of Ireland’s five cities and other large towns, in line with the objectives of the National Planning Framework and the National Development...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: Ireland’s 4th National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP) was published in January 2024. The Plan strives for a “whole of government, whole of society” approach to the governance and conservation of biodiversity. The Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2023 places the NBAP on a statutory footing and prescribes an obligation for listed public bodies, including local authorities, to have...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: State Bodies (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: The issues raised in the report on the examination of the Arts Council Business Transformation Programme that was commissioned by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport & Media, are a matter for that Department and I would draw attention to the action being taken by Minister O’Donovan who has recently announced an external review of the governance and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Services (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: My Department has done considerable work on all the recommendations of the Joint Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services Report of April 2017. In relation to Chapter 5 dealing with issues related to water conservation, the work undertaken is set out in the table below. JOC Chapter 5 Recommendations Update 5.1 The Committee recommends...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Legislative Measures (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: The Programme for Government 2025: Securing Ireland's Future commits to introducing a new, all-of-government national housing plan to follow Housing for All. Any proposals for new measures will be considered in this context.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Fire Stations (19 Mar 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 Acts, 1981 and 2003. My Department supports the fire authorities through setting general policy, providing a central...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Constitutional Amendments (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: The 2016 Bill proposing the Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution concerning public ownership of water did not complete the legislative process in the Houses of the Oireachtas and was deemed to have lapsed with the dissolution of the 33rd Dáil. The Water Services Acts 2007 to 2022 confirm Uisce Éireann as the national authority for water services and detail its functions...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Compulsory Purchase Orders (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: While local authorities are empowered under a number of statutes to acquire land, by agreement or compulsorily, for the purposes of performing any of their functions, the number of derelict sites acquired within their functional area under the provisions of the Derelict Sites Act 1990 (the Act) are submitted to my Department as part of their annual return on the operation of the Act. The...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: My role with regard to the protection and management of our architectural heritage is set out in the provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended), as are the roles of local authorities and the responsibilities of owners. Part IV of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, gives primary responsibility to local authorities to identify and protect the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: International Protection (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: The members of Athlone-Moate Municipal District agreed at their meeting of 30 October 2024 to make an Order under Section 31 of the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act 1948 Act prohibiting the erection or retention of temporary dwellings on a site at Lissywollen, Athlone. The Order was subsequently published on 4 November 2024, in accordance with the 1948 Act. In accordance also...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: The Housing First approach to addressing homelessness places direct access to housing first and foremost for vulnerable individuals using homeless services consistently or intermittently over long periods of time, and those unable or resistant to accessing homeless services and who may then become habitual rough sleepers. These individuals often have complex high support needs such as mental...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Bodies (19 Mar 2025)

James Browne: My Department does not hold the information requested by the Deputy. Arrangements have been put in place by each State body to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. The Deputy may wish to contact the State bodies directly in this instance to request the relevant information. Contact email addresses for each body are set out in the table below. ...