Results 661-680 of 9,173 for speaker:James Browne

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...

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

James Browne: My Department provides Exchequer funding to local authorities to administer the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and Disabled People, which support older and disabled people living in private houses to adapt their home to meet their needs. The suite of grants, which include the Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People, the Mobility Aids Grant and the Housing Aid for...

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

James Browne: Uisce Éireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels including the development of a capital investment plan, which is approved through its own internal governance structures. I have no role in approving their capital investment plans. Uisce Éireann has established a dedicated team to...

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

James Browne: My Department’s Energy Efficiency Retrofit Programme supports the delivery of Climate Action Plan BE/25/10 with the continuing roll-out of the Social Housing National Retrofitting Programme, with 2,500 retrofitted properties expected to reach a minimum BER of B2 or higher and incorporating heat pump deployment targets this year. It is expected that 36,500 local authority owned homes...

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

James Browne: Archaeological sites in my ownership are presented and maintained by the Office of Public Works. The sites referred to are not in the my ownership and so are not maintained by the OPW. The sites may meet the criteria for application for grants under the Community Monuments Fund which is administered through the Local Authorities by the National Monuments Service of my Department. The...

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

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1485, 1502 and 1671 together. My Department provides funding under the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and Disabled People, to assist those in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The suite of grants, which include the Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People, the Mobility Aids Grant and the...

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

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1486 and 1543 together. Responsibility for ensuring that domestic wastewater treatment systems, including septic tanks, are maintained and are properly functioning rests with individual property owners, who are also financially liable. Grant assistance is available to septic tank owners where the system is found to be defective and poses a risk to human...

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

James Browne: My Department’s Domestic Waste Water Treatment System Grant Scheme provides financial assistance to homeowners for the repair, upgrade, or replacement of their systems (mostly septic tanks). The scheme, which is administered by the local authorities, is demand–led. The table below sets out the number of grants under the scheme paid by my Department to each local authority from...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Fire Service (29 Jul 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 Act 1981. My Department supports fire authorities through setting general policy, providing a Central Training...

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

James Browne: My Department is progressing work to enable the establishment of the Housing Activation Office (HAO) to support housing delivery by addressing infrastructure barriers. My Department does not comment on the specifics of individual staff and their rate of pay, however to date, six staff have been assigned or seconded to the HAO. In addition to the secondees in place, senior staff...

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

James Browne: Social Housing is delivered through a range of Local Authority and Approved Housing Body (AHB) delivery programmes. Capital expenditure on the delivery of new social homes is also supported by current funding provided through the Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme (SHCEP). In respect of Affordable Housing delivery, Housing for All provides for a number of important affordability...

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: National Parks and Wildlife Service (29 Jul 2025)

James Browne: The annual budget allocation for the National Parks and Wildlife Service from 2023-2025 is set out below. Year Allocation (€ million) 2023 €52.9 2024 €69.1 2025 €78.0 These allocations are based on gross voted expenditure as published in the Revised Estimates Volume...