Results 801-820 of 7,010 for speaker:James Browne

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Weather Events (6 Feb 2025)

James Browne: The Framework for Major Emergency Management 2006 (Framework) designates local authorities as the “Lead Agency” for coordinating the response to nine emergency scenarios, including severe weather and flooding. Local authorities are recognised as being best placed to lead and co-ordinate an emergency response in terms of capability, experience and knowledge. They work with the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homeless Accommodation (6 Feb 2025)

James Browne: My Department’s role in relation to homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the role of local authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation and related services for homeless persons rests with individual local authorities. My Department...

Government’s Response to Storm Éowyn: Statements (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: I am grateful for the opportunity, as Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, to make this statement to the Dáil following one of the most dangerous and destructive wind storms experienced in living memory. First, I acknowledge the extreme hardship experienced by many people across the country who had to deal with power and water outages for extended periods....

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 555 and 632 together. My Department is committed to staff development and promotes several EU related programmes each year. Staff are encouraged to apply for opportunities in the EU through the National Experts in Professional Training (NEPT) and Seconded National Experts (SNE) programmes as well as the shorter Erasmus for Officials programme. These roles...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Mining Industry (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 556 and 559 to 562, inclusive, together. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive (Directive 2011/92/EU), as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU), and the UNECE Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (the Espoo Convention) both set out the obligations of Member States/Parties to assess the environmental impact of...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Energy Infrastructure (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: My Department notes the commitment in the recently published Programme for Government 2025 – Securing Ireland’s Future to introduce planning guidelines for solar energy developments. In light of this commitment, my Department has begun an initial scoping process to identify the component factors relevant to the preparation of planning guidelines for solar energy development,...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Public Sector Staff (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 558 and 564 together. Under Section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he/she is responsible. My Department oversees workforce planning for the local government sector, including the monitoring of...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Housing Schemes (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 563 and 609 together. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Invasive Species Policy (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department is responsible for the management of Ireland's network of National Parks. It continues to invest heavily in, and is committed to, tackling the spread of invasive species. In particular, the control of Rhododendron ponticum is a priority in Killarney National Park (KNP). This is a challenging, costly, and labour intensive...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Invasive Species Policy (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 566 and 567 together. Managing invasive species within the boundaries of Ireland’s National Parks system is one of the important areas of work undertaken by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department, with a significant amount of resources devoted to this task every year. Invasive species cause grave damage to ecosystems and to...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Housing Policy (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: Cost Rental housing represents a key element of affordable housing delivery under the Government's Housing For All strategy, which is being achieved through collaboration with a range of delivery partners including Local Authorities, Approved Housing Bodies, and the Land Development Agency. At present, there is no transfer system in place for existing cost rental tenants and if they wish...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Housing Schemes (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: I propose to take Questions Nos. 569 and 581 together. My Department provides Exchequer funding to local authorities under the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and Disabled People scheme, to assist people in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The grants include the Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People, the Mobility Aids Grant and...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Local Authorities (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: The funding system for local authorities is a complex one, as authorities derive their income from a variety of sources including commercial rates, charges for goods and services, Local Property Tax, as well as funding from Government Departments and other bodies. My Department has a wide and diverse business agenda, covering a broad range of functions including local authority housing,...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Weather Events (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: Local authorities are designated as the lead agencies for coordinating a response to flooding and severe weather emergencies. All local authorities have an established Severe Weather Assessment Team in place, monitoring Met Éireann weather warnings, High Tide Advisories and European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) advisory warnings. Local authorities also have Severe Weather/ Flood...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Architectural Heritage (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: My Department oversees a number of schemes which assist owners of thatched buildings. A dedicated Thatching Grant is available for thatched buildings in use as homes. Applicants can avail of up to €3,810 or two thirds of the approved cost (whichever is less) towards necessary roof repair or renewal. A higher grant (up to €5,714) may be payable for houses on specified...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Planning Issues (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: On 15 October 2024, my Department published a Ministerial Action Plan on Planning Resources to respond to capacity challenges in the planning sector. This Action Plan provides a detailed roadmap to increase the pool of planning and related expertise needed to ensure a planning system fit for future needs. It sets out 14 high-level actions that provide a coordinated pathway to ensure a...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Housing Provision (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: Choice-Based Letting (CBL) is a method that can be used by local authorities to allocate social housing, whereby available social housing stock is let by being openly advertised, allowing qualified applicants to ‘bid’ for or ‘register an interest’ in available homes. Applicants respond to available properties advertised by local authorities, rather than waiting for...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Housing Provision (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: The Housing Agency Acquisitions Fund (HAAF) was established in the year 2017 as a revolving €70 million fund with the objective of acquiring vacant property portfolios from banks and financial institutions that could then be used for social housing. Information on the number of properties purchased from banks and financial institutions and sold to Approved Housing Bodies and local...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Housing Schemes (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: Disabled people can access social housing support through all of the available routes, namely, standard local authority housing, Rental Assistance Scheme, Approved Housing Bodies and the Housing Assistance Payment Scheme. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Register of Electors (5 Feb 2025)

James Browne: The Electoral Reform Act 2022 underpinned a series of modernisations and enhancements to electoral registration including the introduction of rolling registration and the use of PPSNs in the process. This allows people to apply for inclusion in the register or update their details at any time up to 15 days before polling day via a simple online process through either checktheregister.ie or...