Results 8,361-8,380 of 26,778 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wastewater Treatment (6 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Uisce Éireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. The scope, prioritisation and progression of individual projects is a matter for Uisce Éireann and is approved through its own internal governance structures. The Programme for Government supports the uptake of Uisce Éireann's...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (6 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: 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. This includes the delivery of 90,000 social homes and 54,000 affordable homes by 2030. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct Exchequer funding,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (6 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Government approved the commencement of the process to revise the National Planning Framework (NPF) last month. An Expert Group has been appointed to undertake a high-level review of the NPF and it is expected that the work of the group will conclude with the submission of their report to the Minister over the summer. As part of the revision process, the full suite of results from...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (6 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 28, 57 and 96 together. Details on the number of households qualified for social housing support in each local authority administrative area is provided in the annual statutory Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA). SSHA reports since 2016 are available at including the most recent summary conducted in November 2022. The following table details the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (6 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Data on purchase of homes by household buyers, including fist time buyers, are available on the CSO website. The most recent data published by the CSO for the period to April 2023 are available at Data - CSO - Central Statistics Office. The CSO data show almost 50,000 dwelling purchases by households at market prices for the year to end-April 2023, up 6% year-on-year. The data also show, on a...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Fire Safety (6 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The public consultation on proposed amendments to Part B of the Building Regulations and the associated Technical Guidance Document relating to fire safety closed on 21 April 2023. Work is underway in my Department to examine each submission made and to consider if an amendment to the proposed Part B of the Building Regulations relating to fire safety and/or the associated draft...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (6 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department publishes programme level statistics on a quarterly basis on social housing delivery activity. This data is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website, at the following link: . This provides information for a number of categories of social housing delivery and also contains the targets for each local authority during each year of the programme. Longford...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homeless Accommodation (6 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department publishes quarterly progress reports which are based on quarterly performance reports submitted by the nine regional lead authorities responsible for the administration of homeless services at local level. These quarterly performance reports include details of the numbers of individuals prevented from entering emergency accommodation, and those exiting emergency accommodation...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (6 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: 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. This includes the delivery of 90,000 social homes and 54,000 affordable homes by 2030. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct Exchequer funding,...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Gabhaim buíochas leis na Seanadóirí as a gcuid leasuithe. I thank the Senators for their amendments. I again thank Senator Malcolm Byrne and the other sponsors of the Bill for progressing it. I will address some of the remarks made. I want to focus my remarks directly on amendments Nos. 1 and 11 but, following on from what Senator Boyhan mentioned, it is worth reflecting on...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I will come back in.

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: We take this legislation and the amendments very seriously. I served in the Seanad for five years and have great regard for it. I campaigned for its retention. Thankfully, it was retained. I believe in a bicameral system. The Seanad does important work. All Senators, be they from the university panels, elected from the other panels through local government or nominees of the Taoiseach,...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Senator can raise that directly with Senator Byrne. It is a fair point.

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir. As she outlined, amendment No. 3 proposes to amend the definition of “University Constituency” in section 1. The current definition is "University Constituency" and the "Universities Constituencies" means all graduates of universities in the State, and of institutions of Higher Education in the State, as determined by the...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: They probably will not, particularly as it is a broader view on it.

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I thank the Senator. I will go through them briefly. The Bill is useful, as I have mentioned. What I am about to say is not a criticism of the Bill itself, but it will show the types of things we need to address. There appears to be no clear definition in the Bill of what is meant by "institutions of Higher Education in the State", which is the term used in Article 18.4.2° of the...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: There were electronic ballots in Fingal once.

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I was.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wildlife Regulations (5 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The online public consultation, that was carried out as part of the review of the birds Open Seasons Order, was available to any member of the public or any organisation with an interest in the subject matter. The consultation was advertised widely and had a large response rate. A separate in-person stakeholder forum was held. Representatives from a wide range of cross cutting...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (5 Jul 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I have no plans to alter the Residential Tenancies Act in this regard at this time but I do keep the operation of the Acts under constant review and I will make timely amendments, as may be required. I draw your attention to the thorough review of the private rental sector which is currently underway in my Department. This will ascertain what an improved fully functioning private rental...