Results 4,541-4,560 of 8,016 for speaker:Peter Burke

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Local Authority Members (15 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: Just one paragraph is required to reform the pay and expenditure aspects. The non-pay issues are more complex. One could even bring in the key issue of maternity leave. We need to examine in a wider context all the key issues that councillors are facing.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Covid-19 Pandemic (15 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: I thank Senator Lombard for his well-structured contribution. Undoubtedly, he has raised an important issue. On level 5 restrictions, under Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19, the Government has agreed that the current public health restrictions will remain in place until 5 March 2021. This decision has been informed by the latest public health advice applying...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Covid-19 Pandemic (15 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: I thank the Senator. I note the points he makes but I want to be clear. There are stringent regulations in place. If someone embarks on a trip that is recreational or social, that is against the law. It is enforceable and punishable through An Garda Síochána. If someone partakes in such activities he or she may end up with a criminal record for putting public health and...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Pyrite Incidence (15 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: I thank the Senator for raising this matter on behalf of her constituents and I fully understand how stressful this can be for families caught up in it. Budget 2021 provides funding of €40 million for the operation of the pyrite remediation scheme and the defective concrete blocks grant scheme. As set out in the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future, the remediation of dwellings...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Pyrite Incidence (15 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: Senator Doherty has made a strong case on this issue. I will raise the matter with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, as the Pyrite Resolution Board is within his portfolio. I know that he has done a lot of work on the issue to date. It is an important issue. The Senator has raised a valid point that it was a different time economically when the proposals were drafted and approved. I...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Funding (11 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: In 2018, the then Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform initiated an Inter-Departmental review of Local Property Tax (LPT). The purpose of the review was to inform the Minister in relation to any actions he may recommend to Government concerning the overall yield from LPT and its contribution to total tax revenue. As the LPT review did not primarily concern itself with...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Commercial Rates (11 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: One of the earliest priorities for Minister O'Brien and I was to secure exchequer funding to support a waiver of commercial rates for businesses impacted by the pandemic, while simultaneously supporting local authorities. €900m was allocated by Government to fund the cost of a rates waiver from 27 March to 27 December 2020. This meant that for eligible businesses, such as those in...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Funding (11 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 96 together. As outlined in the replies to Parliamentary Questions No. 333 and 334 of 27 January 2021, my Department engages regularly with the local government sector and with individual local authorities on their financial situations. The Budget 2021 Expenditure Report, published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, details my...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Issues (11 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: Under the Planning and Development Act, 2000, as amended (the Act), all development, unless specifically exempted under the Act or associated Regulations, requires planning permission. Section 4 of the Act and Schedule 2 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended (the Regulations), set out various exemptions from the requirement to obtain planning permission. Any such...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (11 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: My Department is currently reviewing the 2005 rural housing guidelines for planning authorities (which were issued under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000) and in doing so, having regard to the principles of the outcome of the ‘Flemish decree’ case, where relevant. It is important to clarify that the ‘Flemish Decree’ was a March 2009 Decree...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Vacant Sites (11 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: Under the vacant site levy provisions in the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015, planning authorities were empowered to apply a vacant site levy of 3% of the market valuation of relevant properties which were listed on local authority vacant site registers in 2018, which relevant owners were liable to pay in January 2019. The rate of the levy increased to 7% for sites listed on local...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Legislative Programme (11 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: In January 2020, my Department published the finalised General Scheme of the Marine Planning and Development Management Bill (MPDM), which will provide the legislative basis for Ireland's new marine planning regime. In addition to the legislative underpinning for forward planning provided through the National Marine Planning Framework, the MPDM Bill will also provide: a new State consent...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Staff (11 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: 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 monitoring of local government sector employment levels. To this...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Issues (10 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: The planning system continues to operate during the current Covid Level 5 restrictions subject to appropriate safety protocols and services operating online where feasible. For the purpose of giving legal effect to the current Level 5 restrictions announced by the Government, new Regulations have been made by the Minister for Health entitled the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A –...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Coastal Protection (10 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: The National Coastal Change Management Strategy Steering Group is jointly chaired by my Department and the Office of Public Works (OPW). The Group is comprised of senior officials from the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Guidelines (10 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: Section 34(2)(a) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended (the Act), provides that when making its decision on a planning application, the planning authority shall be restricted to considering the proper planning and sustainable development of the area having regard to the provisions of the local development plan as well as a number of other factors including any guidelines issued...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Guidelines (10 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: There are a number of reasons why it is necessary to review and update the 2005 rural housing guidelines. As drafted, they are framed in the context of the National Spatial Strategy (NSS) 2002, which was superseded by the National Planning Framework (NPF) in 2018. In 2007, two years after the guidelines were issued, the European Union raised an issue in respect of local housing need policy,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Staff (10 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: 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 monitoring of local government sector employment levels. To this...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Legislative Measures (10 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: At its meeting of 26 January 2021, Government approved the drafting of a general scheme to provide for a directly elected mayor with executive functions for Limerick city and county based on the governance structure recommended in the report of the Implementation Advisory Group established to consider the Directly Elected Mayor with Executive Functions for Limerick. Government also approved...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: An Bord Pleanála (10 Feb 2021)

Peter Burke: The fees for making submissions or observations on planning applications and appeals are set at levels intended to prevent frivolous or vexatious submissions, while not acting as a deterrent to persons with genuine concerns or interest in proposed developments from making submissions. Section 144 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 provides that An Bord Pleanála may determine...