Results 5,481-5,500 of 15,555 for speaker:Eoghan Murphy

Order of Business (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy for the question. We have approximately 20,000 landlords nationally who are engaging with HAP and taking HAP tenants into their accommodation. However, I recognise that in certain parts of the country HAP has not been as successful as it should have been. There is a 20% uplift which is allowed in most local authority areas. It is not being used in every case, nor does...

Order of Business (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The daft.ie report makes for interesting reading but it tells us something we already know, in that rents are increasing. It discusses rents sought rather than agreed rents, which is what the RTB collects. It also looks at a much smaller data sample than the RTB report, which gives us the quarterly rent index. The last RTB report from the final quarter of last year told us two important...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector Strategy (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The Strategy for the Rental Sector, published in December 2016, recognises that quality rental accommodation is critical to the success and sustainability of the residential rental sector and its attractiveness as a long-term accommodation option for households. A key commitment in the Strategy was to review the regulations governing minimum standards in rented accommodation, to bring them...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Proposed Legislation (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The Water Framework Directive requires that abstractions of surface water or ground water which are likely to have a significant effect on water status must be regulated. In December 2017, the Government approved the commencement of work on a General Scheme of a Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill which will govern the abstraction of water in a proportionate and efficient way. I intend...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: Against the background of the affordability pressures which currently exist in the rental market, the Government is determined to make cost rental a major part of the Irish housing system, similar to the role it plays in many other European countries. Under this approach, rents are set at levels to recover the construction costs and to facilitate the management and administration of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 42 and 78 together. The delivery of more affordable homes, to buy or rent, particularly in areas where people are facing the greatest affordability challenge, is a major priority for Government. While there is no single universally accepted definition of housing affordability, the widely used internationally accepted benchmark is that households, particularly...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homeless Persons Data (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 43, 61, 68, 69, 70 and 86 together. My Department currently publishes data on a monthly basis on the number of homeless persons accommodated in emergency accommodation funded and overseen by housing authorities. These reports are based on data provided by housing authorities, produced through the Pathway Accommodation & Support System (PASS)....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 44 and 53 together. The development of residential lands owned by local authorities and the Housing Agency, for social housing and, where appropriate, for mixed-tenure developments, is a major priority under the Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness. To this end, details of some 1,700 hectares of land in local authority and Housing...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Mortgage to Rent Scheme (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: My focus, and that of the Government, is to ensure that as many households as possible remain in their homes and in this regard, a range of measures are currently being implemented across Government Departments and agencies. These actions are focused on encouraging those in mortgage distress who have not been able to engage, to reach a long term debt resolution and avoid repossession if...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: My Department publishes information on social housing construction projects via quarterly Construction Status Reports. The most recently available report, which sets out the position at end 2017 and is available on the Rebuilding Ireland website at the following link: , provides project and stage details for all local authority areas, including Westmeath and Longford. It also includes new...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Regional Assemblies (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 48 and 461 together. The three Regional Assemblies were established further to the Local Government Reform Act 2014 and comprise representation from the constituent local authorities in the Eastern and Midland (Dublin, the Mid-East and Midlands), Northern and Western (North-West, West and Border) and Southern (Mid-West, South-West and South-East) regions. The...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: Notwithstanding the genuine challenges that arise with construction projects of all types, I and my Department have been consistently focused on ensuring that progress is made to achieve housing delivery as quickly as possible. My Department has worked with local authorities to review the processes and procedures for the approval of social housing construction projects and has agreed an...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Data (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: Under Rebuilding Ireland, a total of 208 rapid delivery homes were completed by end 2017. There are currently some 24 further rapid delivery schemes, due to yield in excess of 653 social homes, at various stages of advancement, 283 of which are scheduled for delivery in 2018. Many of the issues around delivery that ‘standard’ social housing construction projects face, are also...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Data (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: Under Rebuilding Ireland, a total of 50,000 social housing homes will be delivered through build, acquisition and leasing programmes.  In addition to this, 87,000 additional households will be supported through the Housing Assistance Payment Scheme (HAP) and the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS). The combination of 50,000 social housing homes and 87,000 HAP and RAS social housing...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Data (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I recently wrote to all local authorities, including Tipperary County Council, setting out their individual social housing targets across build, acquisition and leasing for 2018 and also for 2018-2021. In the case of Tipperary County Council, they have a target to deliver 117 new social homes in 2018 through build, acquisition and long-term leasing initiatives, with a further 154 families or...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Tenant Purchase Scheme Review (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme came into operation on 1 January 2016. The Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme. To be eligible, tenants must meet certain criteria, including having a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum and having been in receipt of social housing support...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 55 and 71 together. The Government's Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessnessis firmly focused on increasing supply and the priority for Government attention is to support those in society with the greatest housing access and affordability challenges. In that context, the focus is on meeting the housing needs of those in the lower-income...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Issues (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The purpose of Circular PL02/2018, which issued to planning authorities on 9 March 2018, was to remind planning authorities and elected members that they are required to consider planning applications in accordance with the open, transparent and verifiable written process, set down in planning legislation. The circular also highlights that planning authorities, when making their decisions,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: The overall aim of the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund is to increase housing supply by removing infrastructural obstacles that were preventing the development of key sites. I have approved funding of €195 million for 30 public infrastructure projects under the first phase of LIHAF. I expect that these projects will activate delivery of up to 20,000 housing units by 2021....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (8 May 2018)

Eoghan Murphy: One of the key outcomes of the second Housing Summit that I held with local authority Chief Executives earlier this year was a commitment to drive greater transparency and accountability at individual local authority level on the delivery of the targets under Rebuilding Ireland. In this regard, I recently wrote to all local authorities setting out their individual social housing targets...