Results 8,061-8,080 of 26,778 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Approved Housing Bodies (26 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides a range of funding streams, through local authorities, to assist AHBs with the delivery of social housing, examples of which include the Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) with a Payment and Availability Agreement, or the Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS). The Capital Loan Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) was closed to new applications in 2011. The terms and conditions,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Approved Housing Bodies (26 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Where a vacancy arises in a dwelling owned by an AHB, the relevant local authority may nominate suitable households from its housing or transfer list to that body, having regard to the order of priority set out in its allocation scheme. If an AHB is in receipt of funding under a relevant Exchequer funding scheme, they must comply with the terms and conditions of that scheme. AHBs may also,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (26 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Awaiting reply from Department.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Waterways Ireland (26 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Shannon Flood Relief State Agencies Co-ordination Working Group which is chaired by the Office of Public Works (OPW), is the lead agency for the coordination and implementation of Government policy in relation to the management of flood risk in Ireland. This Group has the lead role in developing policy on national flood risk management and the lead role in co-ordinating the actions and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Regulatory and Poverty Impact Assessments (26 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Awaiting reply from Department.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Special Areas of Conservation (26 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: My officials would be happy to engage with the Deputy or the landowner in relation to the question, once the precise location of the lands in question can be ascertained. Detailed information in relation to protected sites in Ireland can be found at the following link: www.npws.ie/protected-sites Landowners who wish to engage with my officials in relation to protected sites can email...

Affordable Housing: Motion [Private Members] (21 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The people whom I have visited in the constituency and estate right beside Oscar Traynor Road want homes for their sons and daughters. Deputies in that area who have made a virtue of finding any reason to oppose that development have to answer for themselves. I want to see progress and delivery. I want to see sites such as that on Oscar Traynor Road being developed for residents and young...

Affordable Housing: Motion [Private Members] (21 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Every measure that has been brought forward to help in home ownership-----

Affordable Housing: Motion [Private Members] (21 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: That is happening. Some 400 first-time buyers a month are drawing down mortgages, 41,000 are people getting the help-to-buy grant and 2,500 households, with that number growing every day, are able to buy their home through the first home scheme. The Deputy opposes every single one of those measures.

Affordable Housing: Motion [Private Members] (21 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Certainly not.

Affordable Housing: Motion [Private Members] (21 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all the words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes that Housing for All: A New Housing Plan is firmly focussed on re-establishing a sustainable housing delivery system capable of delivering for current and emerging needs and the Government: — is actively working to improve Ireland's housing system and deliver more...

Affordable Housing: Motion [Private Members] (21 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Affordable Housing Act 2021 established cost rental on a national footing and underpins the affordable housing fund that allows us to deliver affordable housing to local authorities and to make that subvention on behalf of the State to make the homes affordable. The Social Democrats voted against that legislation as well. It opposed the first home scheme, which so far has helped, in...

Affordable Housing: Motion [Private Members] (21 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I did not interrupt Deputy Shortall once. The Social Democrats also opposed that. Another real assistance that helps first-time buyers is the help to buy grant, which is a rebate of a tax people paid to them to help-----

Affordable Housing: Motion [Private Members] (21 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: -----with their deposit. Some 41,000 households have been helped with that so far. Again, the Social Democrats opposed it. Every single measure brought forward-----

Affordable Housing: Motion [Private Members] (21 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Every single measure has been opposed by the Social Democrats. I have a lot of regard for Deputy O'Callaghan. If the motion he tabled is the first effort at Social Democrat housing policy and this is apparently the alternative to the most comprehensive housing plan brought forward by any government - it is the single biggest intervention by any government in the history of the State - it is...

Affordable Housing: Motion [Private Members] (21 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: We will do that by increasing supply and exiting more people from emergency accommodation into permanent, secure housing. In the last quarter of last year and the first two quarters of this year, we have seen more people exiting from homelessness into permanent social housing than we have seen since those records were collected. It is a good trend. We have also seen that there are many...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (21 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I thank Deputy Verona Murphy. In that instance, if we can help in any way to get those details directly to the Minister for Health, I will do so-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (21 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: -----and let him assess it. So if the Deputy can get those details through I will get that on to the Minister for Health for her. Deputy Durkan's point is well made and we will ensure that anything we can do, at Government and interdepartmental level, to ensure access to Castletown House, we will do. Deputy O'Connor has expressed frustration at continuing delays for NCTs, which we...

Gnó na Dála - Business of Dáil (21 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: On behalf of the Government I want to thank An Ceann Comhairle for those remarks and I wholeheartedly agree with him. I thank him for the swift action he has taken. There is not a word he has said that I do not agree with but I want to thank the staff here, the ushers and An Garda Síochána for the work they did so professionally yesterday. They went above and beyond; let us be...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (21 Sep 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I am aware of and have been kept up to date by officials on this dispute and the action proposed to be taken by Fórsa members in local authorities. These are local authority staff whom we all value and there is no question about that. There is a mechanism to deal with disputes and issues such as this with the LGMA and the union representatives. We are on the cusp of national pay...