Results 8,341-8,360 of 15,555 for speaker:Eoghan Murphy

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Private Rented Accommodation Standards (20 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: When a property is let, or available to let, it must comply with the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations. The Regulations specify requirements in relation to a range of matters, such as structural repair, sanitary facilities, heating, fire safety and safety of gas and electrical supply. Responsibility for enforcement of the regulations is a matter for the relevant local...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing Assistance Payments (20 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a flexible and immediate housing support that is now available to all eligible households throughout the State. There are currently 23,000 households in receipt of HAP, including more than 7,000 households that were previously supported by Rent Supplement. There are currently more than 18,000 separate landlords and agents providing accommodation to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Fire Service Staff (20 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: Fire services are provided by local authorities in accordance with the provisions of the Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003. Under section 10 of the 1981 Act, a fire authority is required to make provision for the delivery of fire services in its functional area, including the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of premises. In relation to the staffing requirements in each...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Housing Assistance Payments (20 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: The Residential Tenancies Board Rent Index for Quarter 1 2017 published on 15 June 2017 indicates that while annual private sector rents continue to trend upwards, growing by 7.37% annually when compared with the same period in 2016, quarter on quarter growth appears to be moderating with an increase of less than 0.1%, down from 2.8% in the previous quarter. This is an early...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme Data (20 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) is the largest social inclusion programme in the State and is a key priority for Government. The current SICAP programme will come to an end on 31 December 2017, and the successor programme (SICAP 2) is due to roll out in January 2018. Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) are the SICAP contracting authorities...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Data (20 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: Population estimates at the level of County are produced by the Central Statistics Office every five years as part of the Census. Between Census years, annual population estimates are only produced at the level of Regional Authority. My Department produces estimates of the numbers of social housing units which are occupied on the last day of each year at the level of Local Authority....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Departmental Staff Data (20 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: The number of staff serving in my Department by county is set out in table 1 below.  Table 1- Staff Serving at 31 May 2017 County Headcount Clare 20 Cork 16 Donegal 2 Dublin 441 Galway 1 Kerry 8 Kilkenny 2 Laois 2 Limerick 2 Mayo 94 Meath 3 Monaghan 2 Offaly 2 Sligo 1 Waterford 1 Wexford 103 Total 700 The details requested in relation to bodies under the aegis of my...

Other Questions: Information and Communications Technology (1 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: The OGCIO is based in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. It is implementing a multi-layered approach to cyber security and protecting ICT systems, infrastructure and services. The threat landscape is constantly evolving and significant effort is expended on continuing to enhance and strengthen ICT security to mitigate against emerging threats, risks, vulnerabilities and cyber...

Other Questions: Information and Communications Technology (1 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: It is incredibly important that we can maintain the security of information and data that we host in government systems. That is the reason we are examining this proposed new model for a team to deal with specific cyber security threats and to resource that out across Departments. As regards attacks made on the system over the last 12 months, there was a denial of service attack on a...

Other Questions: Information and Communications Technology (1 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Deputy for the question. The public service ICT strategy was approved by Government and launched in January 2015, and is specifically aligned with the objectives of the public service reform plan and the goals of the Civil Service renewal plan. The strategy aims to provide a framework for the delivery of greater efficiencies in public service ICT delivery and administration,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Costs: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (1 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: I thank the Chairman and the joint committee for the invitation to discuss again the implementation of the recommendations of the cost of insurance working group on motor insurance. I will also touch on the work being done in phase 2 to tackle the rising cost of employers' and public liability insurance. I also propose to say a few words about the Setanta judgment issued last week. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Costs: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (1 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: We met the State Claims Agency to discuss this. The Deputy knows that the Towers Watson report published in 2014 estimated the claims revision required as being between €87.7 million and €95.2 million. There will be a further actuarial report now that the judgment has been delivered and that figure might be revised. There are 1,639 outstanding third-party claims....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Costs: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (1 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: Not all claims have been settled. We can deal with the claims that have been settled where we understand what the award should be. They will be verified by the State Claims Agency and then will be brought to the courts for payment to be issued. That happens in six month tranches. The State Claims Agency is preparing to move with the first tranche of approximately 250. Six months from...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Costs: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (1 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: It will probably be the end of this year but it is too soon to know how many cases will be in that tranche. Some work has to be done to understand exactly what we can progress with now. The idea is to move with the cases which we understand have been settled so that the claims can be dealt with quickly. Matters will become difficult in circumstances where there claims that are still in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Costs: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (1 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: I indicated that approximately 250 claims would be dealt with initially and that we will proceed with the next tranche six months later, ideally in December. I do not yet know how many will be in that tranche. Work has already begun on identifying the numbers and what can be progressed early.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Costs: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (1 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: That is the intention but we are working on a date when we can bring the 250 cases being progressed by the State Claims Agency to the High Court so that payment can be made.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Costs: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (1 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: All I can say is that we are waiting for a date from the accountant of the High Court to bring those cases before the court. A great deal of work has been done on this first tranche and I am not expecting any unnecessary delays in that regard.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Costs: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (1 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: I met the CEOs of the insurance companies and representatives of Insurance Ireland prior to the judgment to talk about options in light of what the outcome might be. I met one insurance CEO since the judgment was delivered. From the work the committee did last year and from the cost of insurance working group report, the Deputy is aware of the massive uncertainty created by the initial...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Costs: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (1 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: No, it was not a direct commitment. Rather, it was an explanation as to why, in the context of its outlook and planning for the future, the company will be obliged to reserve less because the massive uncertainty caused in this instance has been removed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Motor Insurance Costs: Minister of State at the Department of Finance (1 Jun 2017)

Eoghan Murphy: I am not in a position to make demands of any insurance company about how it prices its products. The Government cannot interfere in the pricing of insurance products because that would go against EU law. What we both understand from the insurance industry is that the Setanta ruling was a serious problem for it in the context of the uncertainty in the market in the future. That uncertainty...