Results 7,901-7,920 of 25,732 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Okay. I can talk to the Deputy about that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I will mention a couple of things. I do not agree with a lot of what Deputy Gould has said but that will not surprise him at all. Looking at the numbers, output has increased by 10,000 in a year and the number of social housing units built is the highest since 1975. I put it to Deputy Gould that it would probably be higher if his party colleagues did not object to housing all over the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: No.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Tá brón orm. Sinn Féin said it would abolish it. I remember one throwaway remark its party spokesperson made one day. He said it was not enough. I asked him what would be enough and whether €50,000 or €70,000 would be enough for a vacant home grant. I take it that, if someone comes into Deputy Gould's constituency office in Cork city and says that he or she...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I did not interrupt Deputy Gould.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Let me speak to something positive.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Go on. It would be the first.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I will be very brief but I will first say that I did not mean to raise the Deputy's ire. However, Cork City Council delivered 517 new-build homes last year. That is a significant number.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Will Deputy Gould stop for a second?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I sat here and listened to Deputy Gould and sometimes it was not easy to do so. I am just trying to give him some facts. He should give his local authority in Cork city some credit for the work it does.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Deputy has not even acknowledged that the council built 517 new social homes last year. It purchased a further 45 while the approved housing bodies purchased a further 11. That is not even including Part V leasing. There were hundreds of homes provided in the Cork City Council area last year. Including the housing assistance payment, 1,295 homes were provided. The figure on the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I will write to the committee with an update on An Bord Pleanála. This will be useful and of interest to the members. We have 15 board members in place now, which is the highest number ever. They are working through the backlog. Even comparing the number of staff in the organisation now to the number there in 2021, it will be seen that we have had an increase of approximately 60% in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I know that, but there was an issue with open space and also with the mix of units. It was quite a dense development, which I think is good, but there is a desire to row back from that now. Some discussion is under way in this regard. I agree with the Deputy. I want to see these units built and I will provide him with an update. Deputy O'Donoghue raised an issue that we are examining,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: There must be a space for rental accommodation as well, but the Part V requirement does apply. If the accommodation in question is not intended to be temporary, and some in the agricultural and horticultural sector are permitted to-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Yes, it does.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Yes, I am aware of that as well. Turning to Deputy McAuliffe's query regarding cost rental, with tenants in situ, this scheme is now in place, as are the changes to the first homes scheme, which was approved by the board of the designated activity company. We have had queries about this from people. These changes are to be routed through the local authorities and the Housing Agency is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I will announce it myself if I do not receive the submission next week. Let us put it like that. It is on the way.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I will. The results, which show 8,300 units coming back in less than three years, are true. The average that was set on voids was actually €11,000 but that is the average cost. We are approving more substantial voids for much more than that. I will write to the Deputy on the voids as well.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Septic Tanks (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Water Services Act 2007, as amended, requires all owners of premises served by an individual domestic waste water treatment system to register their system with the relevant local authority. Further details are available at the following link: www.protectourwater.ie/default.aspx. I can confirm that my Department does not compile the requested data. In relation to the Census 2016...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (25 Apr 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 297 and 298 together. 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. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4 billion per annum, through an overall combination of €12 billion in direct Exchequer funding, €3.5 billion...