Results 861-880 of 4,773 for speaker:Paudie Coffey

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Issues (10 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: 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 housing authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation for homeless persons rests with the individual housing authorities and the purposes for which...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Building Regulations (10 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: In order to assist the parties directly involved in reaching a satisfactory resolution to their difficulties, I recently announced my intention to establish an expert group to investigate the problems that have emerged in the concrete blockwork of certain dwellings in both Donegal and Mayo. While building defects are, in the first instance, matters for resolution between the relevant...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (10 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: A shortage of supply is at the heart of the current challenges in the housing sector and the Government is addressing this on a number of fronts. The Government’s Construction 2020 Strategy, published last year, is aimed at addressing issues in the property and construction sectors and ensuring that any bottlenecks that might impede the sector in meeting residential and...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Rental Accommodation Scheme Expenditure (10 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The information is being compiled and will be provided to the Deputy shortly. The Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS), Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme (SHCEP) and Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) are key delivery programmes under the Social Housing Strategy. In the case of RAS, the Scheme was established with the dual purpose of eliminating long-term dependence on the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Repossessions (10 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Section 15 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014, provides for a mechanism whereby a housing authority may terminate a tenancy and take possession of a house where it is satisfied that the house had been abandoned by the tenant. Section 16 of the Act makes provisions for an application to court in respect of a tenancy terminated under section 15, by a person who was a tenant...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Estates (10 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Service indicators published annually by the Local Government Management Agency include details of private residential estates taken in charge by individual planning authorities, including Kildare County Council. My Department recently wrote to all planning authorities requesting details of housing estates not yet taken in chargein their respective functional areas in order to assist in the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Unfinished Housing Developments (10 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Since 2010, an annual national housing survey of unfinished housing developments has been conducted during the summer months to monitor progress. In that period, the number of unfinished housing developments has decreased by approximately two-thirds, from nearly 3,000 in 2010 to 992 in 2014. The detailed findings of the annual surveys, annual progress reports and other useful publications...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Derelict Sites (10 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I propose to take Question Nos.221 to 223, inclusive, together. The Derelict Sites Act 1990 provides that local authorities are required to take all reasonable steps, including the exercise of appropriate statutory powers, to ensure that any land within their functional area does not become, or continue to be, a derelict site. To this end, local authorities have been given substantial...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Forthcoming Transport Council Meeting: Discussion with Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (9 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The purpose of this meeting is to engage with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, on tomorrow's meeting of the EU Council of transport Ministers, at which the debate will focus mainly on social aspects of road transport and road safety. I welcome the Minister and his officials. I draw the attention of witnesses to the fact that by virtue of section...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Forthcoming Transport Council Meeting: Discussion with Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (9 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I thank the Minister. Before calling on members, I will ask a question myself. The Minister mentioned security a number of times in his address, referred to the Paris outrages and mentioned aviation security. I have read of proposals by airlines to share passenger information with regard to security issues and the possibility of people, who might be going to commit outrages, travelling by...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Forthcoming Transport Council Meeting: Discussion with Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (9 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice has indicated that he must leave the meeting shortly. I propose that he be allowed to contribute next. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Forthcoming Transport Council Meeting: Discussion with Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (9 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The Minister has indicated he is under time constraint so I will take the next two speakers together and the Minister will reply to both.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Data (9 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: Under section 90(12)(a) of the Housing Act 1966, a person who bought a house from a local authority under a tenant purchase scheme must obtain the authority’s consent to re-sell the house within a specified period after tenant purchase (20 years in the case of the 1995 Tenant Purchase Scheme). The enactment empowers the housing authority to refuse to consent to the resale of the house...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Flood Relief Schemes (9 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: I understand that this project comprising a cycleway proposal as well as flood alleviation works to address higher tides and sea levels was originally approved by An Bord Pleanála in 2011 under section 226 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, relating to foreshore developments. The environmental impacts of the project were assessed as part of this process. Dublin City...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (9 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: A significant quantity of land has been zoned for new residential development along the northern edges of Dublin City, situated within the Fingal County Council and the Dublin City Council administrative areas. The future development of these lands has been comprehensively planned by the relevant planning authorities through the preparation of several local area plans (LAP’s)...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (9 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) is at present playing an ongoing role in the delivery of social housing. To the end of September 2015, a total of 1,600 NAMA residential properties had been delivered for social housing use, comprising 1,241 completed properties and a further 359 that have been contracted and where completion work is on-going. A further 486 properties are considered...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Commencement of Legislation (9 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 provides for a number of measures which, taken together, will bring much-needed stability to the rental sector pending the coming on-stream of the supply of new housing. Firstly, section 25 of the Act provides for the extension of the period between rent reviews from 12 months to 24 months. The provision is subject to a sunset clause such that...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Pyrite Incidence (8 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: In March of last year, my Department met with a number of private homeowners from County Mayo whose homes are affected by structural problems. The problems appear to concern approximately 15 private houses and the period of construction for the houses involved was 1997 to 2002. My Department was also made aware of problems associated with the cracking of concrete blocks in approximately...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Rent Controls (8 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 regulates the landlord-tenant relationship in the private rented residential sector and sets out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants. Section 19 of the Act provides that in setting the rent under a tenancy, whether at the outset or by way of a review, the rent must not be greater than the market rent. Section 20 provides for the frequency...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Private Residential Tenancies Board (8 Dec 2015)

Paudie Coffey: The Residential Tenancies Act 2004, as amended, regulates the tenant-landlord relationship in the private rented residential sector. The Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Act to operate a national tenancy registration system and to facilitate the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants. The Act applies to every...