Results 5,721-5,740 of 25,732 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (14 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The Government has implemented several measures to ensure a balanced housing market across all tenures, including home ownership, social housing, and private rental. Under Housing for All, the Government committed to an 'owner-occupier' guarantee, allowing local authorities to designate a percentage of houses and duplexes in a development for owner-occupiers. In May 2021, measures...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (14 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Local authorities set and collect rents on their dwellings in accordance with section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. The making or amending of such rent schemes is generally a matter for local authorities within broad principles set out by my Department, including that rent levels should be based on income and reflect tenants’ ability to pay. Local discretion and flexibility are...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (14 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a form of social housing support available for people who have a long-term housing need. Any household assessed as eligible for social housing is immediately eligible for HAP. Eligible households can source their own accommodation in the private rental sector which should be within the HAP rent limits provided to them by the local authority. At the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (14 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Local authorities are constitutionally recognised, independent statutory bodies with their own democratically elected councils, and management and governance structures. The elected council has the primary oversight role in the governance of a local authority, and the chief executive is fully accountable to the council. Elected councils have extensive powers to request information, issue...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (14 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority, in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended. The Regulations prescribe maximum net income limits for each local authority in different bands...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (14 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The minimum standards for rental accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019 and specify requirements in relation to a range of matters, such as structural repair, sanitary facilities, heating, ventilation, natural light, fire safety and the safety of gas, oil and electrical supplies. These Regulations apply to all properties let or available for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Student Accommodation (14 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: With effect from 15 July 2019, the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019, as amended, applied the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, as amended, to a licence agreement between a student and an owner of student accommodation. The Act defines ‘student accommodation’ to mean ‘a building, or part of a building, used for the sole purpose (subject to paragraphs (a), (b) and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Student Accommodation (14 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2022 (the Acts) regulate the landlord-tenant relationship in the residential rental sector and set out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants. The Acts apply to every dwelling that is the subject of a tenancy, subject to a limited number of exceptions. Dwellings covered by the Acts include the private rental sector, the cost rental sector, the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Reviews (14 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The elected council of a local authority has the primary oversight role in the governance of the local authority, and the role of the chief executive is to carry into effect all lawful directions of the elected council in relation to the exercise of their reserved functions. The chief executive is also fully accountable to the elected council through, for example, the furnishing of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (14 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Arising from the Government Decision of 30 November 2021 in respect of the enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB) grant scheme, the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) was tasked with delivering a programme of work to carry out reviews of a number of technical matters, including a review of the impact of pumped cavity wall insulation on cavity wall construction and within homes...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Issues (13 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: On 25 April 2023, the Government approved additional measures under the Housing for All Action Plan to incentivise the activation of increased housing supply and help reduce housing construction costs, including the introduction of temporary time-limited arrangements for the waiving of local authority “section 48” development contributions and the refunding of Uisce Éireann...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Quality (13 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Uisce Éireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local level. Under section 7 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013, my Department has no operational function in this matter. However, it may be helpful to note that Uisce Éireann has established a dedicated team to deal with representations...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Regeneration Projects (13 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: The regeneration of the Oliver Bond House complex by Dublin City Council (DCC) has my Department's full support. My Department provided Stage 1 Capital Appraisal approval to DCC for the redevelopment for the flats in Blocks L, M and N, on the 16th March 2022. This allowed for a guarantee of Departmental support whilst also tasking DCC to investigate a review of options to find the most...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Data (13 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Housing for All, is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. This includes the delivery of 90,000 social homes by 2030. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct Exchequer funding, €3.5bn in funding through the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Energy Conservation (13 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Since 2013, Exchequer funding has been provided through my Department's Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme (EERP) to support local authorities with the retrofit of local authority owned homes requiring insulation and energy upgrade works. Over the period 2013 to the end of 2023, local authorities received over €308 million in funding to carry out energy upgrade works on over 79,000...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Vacant Properties (13 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Local authorities will always have a level of vacancy in their housing stock. This will fluctuate over time, as tenancy surrender and re-letting of stock is an ongoing process. Therefore, ongoing data in relation to vacant local authority owned homes are not routinely collated by my Department. However, statistics in relation to social housing stock, at a point in time, are published by...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (13 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: On 7 December 2022 the Government approved the publication of the General Scheme of the Registration of Short-Term Tourist Letting Bill (STTL Bill) and the priority drafting of the Bill which provides for the establishment of a new registration system for short-term lettings to be operated by Fáilte Ireland in line with the commitment under Housing for All - A New Housing Plan for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (13 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Housing for All targets the delivery of 18,000 new Cost Rental homes to 2030. A strong pipeline is in place and under continuous development by Local Authorities, by Approved Housing Bodies using the Cost Rental Equity Loan, and by the Land Development Agency. All Cost Rental providers are legally obliged to make Cost Rental homes available in line with the provisions of Part 3 of the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homeless Persons Supports (13 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: 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 a 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 support needs such as mental or...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Issues (13 Feb 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: An Bord Pleanála (the Board) 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 2000, as amended, and certain other Acts. There are now more people working at the Board than at any time previously. Since October 2021,...