Results 541-560 of 9,065 for speaker:James Browne

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: Government is fully committed to delivering affordable housing at scale, and continuing to accelerate housing supply across all tenures. As detailed under Housing for All, the Government plans to deliver 54,000 affordable homes, including 36,000 affordable purchase and 18,000 cost rental homes, by 2030. A comprehensive implementation strategy is in place to support the various affordable...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: Local authorities receive income from a variety of sources including grants from Central Government, Local Property Tax proceeds, commercial rates and other locally-raised charges. Central Government funding of local authorities similarly presents a complex picture, with transfers, both current and capital, coming from a wide range of Departments and Offices for a variety of purposes. ...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Building Regulations (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: The Planning Design Standards for Apartments Guidelines for Planning Authorities, 2025 “the Guidelines” were issued under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (Act of 2000). Section 28 provides that planning authorities and An Coimisiún Pleanála shall have regard to Ministerial guidelines in the performance of their functions. Where the Guidelines...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Vacant Properties (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: Pathway 4 of Housing for All sets out a blueprint to address vacancy and make efficient use of our existing housing stock. The Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant introduced in July 2022, provides a grant of up to €50,000 for the refurbishment of vacant properties for occupation as a principal private residence and for properties which will be made available for rent. A top-up...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1453 to 1455, inclusive, and 1522 together. A standard procedure for assessing applicants for social housing was introduced in every local authority on 1 April 2011, through the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended. Prior to 2011, many local authorities did not have income limits. Of those that did, they varied from authority to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1456 and 1457 together. Under the Programme for Government published in January 2025, the Government committed to introduce a new, all of government, national housing plan to follow Housing for All. My Department is currently examining that commitment, its implementation and the potential timeframe. While work is being undertaken to progress a new plan...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Meetings (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: I can confirm that I and a senior official from my Department met with the RIAI on 26 March. The RIAI delegates included the President and CEO.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Meetings (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: I can confirm that I and a senior official from my Department met with the Irish Planning Institute (IPI) on 15 April. The IPI delegates included the President, the Hon Secretary and a Senior Planner.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: My Department has made €325 million available to our local authorities for their overall social housing second-hand acquisitions activity in 2025. To date, overall, local authorities have only drawdown 35% of the allocated funding available and no Local Authority has exhausted their individual allocated funding. Fingal County Council was allocated funding of €20 million for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: EU Directives (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: The Drinking Water Directive was primarily transposed into national legislation by the European Union (Drinking Water) Regulations 2023 (S.I. No 99 of 2023). A Letter of Formal Notice regarding Ireland’s transposition of the Directive has been received by my Department. The letter outlines three concerns that refer to specific sub-articles of the Directive. The view of the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Building Regulations (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: A review of the Planning Design Standards for Apartments, Guidelines for Planning Authorities 2025, was undertaken which concluded the requirements for application of the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) process was not met, as the Guidelines do not establish the framework for consent for apartment projects which may be subject to environmental impact assessment (EIA) and they also do...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Building Regulations (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: Section 29 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2025 (Act of 2025) provides for an amendment to Part III of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (Act of 2000) by inserting a new section 44B allowing for the modification of a permission for residential development in specific circumstances. Section 44B will provide for a certification procedure for modifications to a planning...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Legal Cases (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1464 to 1469, inclusive, together. My Department seeks to minimise legal costs in relation to all matters and, where appropriate, avails of the services of the Chief State Solicitor's Office (CSSO), the Attorney General's Office and the State Claims Agency in relation the provision of legal advice to and representation of my Department. Costs of external...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1471 to 1473, inclusive, and 1694 together. Applications for a Local Authority Home Loan are made through the individual Local Authorities and the final decision on loan approval is a matter for the relevant local authority and its Credit Committee on a case-by-case basis. Decisions on all housing loan applications must be made in accordance with the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wildlife Protection (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department has primary responsibility for nature conservation, wildlife protection and the presentation and preservation of our National Parks and Nature Reserves. The mission of the NPWS, as stated in its Strategic Plan 2023-2025, is to protect nature. NPWS monitors the breeding populations of all breeding seabirds in Ireland,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: Continuing to increase the supply of new homes is key to meeting need and addressing many of the challenges currently facing the housing market. Supply has increased significantly in recent years. Some 131,000 new homes have been delivered since July 2020, with 92,400 of these delivered between 2022 and 2024 inclusive, exceeding the combined target for the period by 5,400 or so. Data on...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Architectural Heritage (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1476 and 1489 together. My Department provides support for historic thatched buildings principally through the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS). The BHIS is a grant scheme that seeks to help the owners and custodians of historic buildings to maintain and conserve these important structures. Owners of historic thatched buildings may apply to the BHIS...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wastewater Treatment (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1477, 1478 and 1488 together. In December 2023, my Department approved, in principle, almost €6 million in funding for a new wastewater treatment scheme for Beaufort Village, County Kerry. This funding was provided under Measure A8 of the Multi-annual Rural Water Programme, which supports the development of wastewater infrastructure in villages that...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: The Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 provides the statutory framework for the establishment of the Pyrite Resolution Board and for the making of the Pyrite Remediation Scheme. The Scheme was established to remediate dwellings damaged as a result of pyritic heave caused by the swelling of hardcore underneath ground bearing floor slabs. A dwelling to be considered eligible under the Scheme...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: House Sales (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: At present, the Minister for Justice and his Department continue to have responsibility for property services and estate agents. Under the Programme for Government my Department will take responsibility for the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA). The date for this transfer of functions from the Department of Justice has been agreed for 1 August 2025. My understanding is...