Results 9,121-9,140 of 25,732 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I thank Deputy Matthews for his intervention. It puts it in context. Just before he arrived, I mentioned that the existing system is not fit for purpose when it comes to appointments and it excludes people. An open and transparent competition process is open to everyone. I said that earlier but I reinforce what Deputy Matthews has said. He is correct that it should be open for everyone...

Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: It is an interim process.

Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I thank Deputy O’Callaghan and his colleagues, Deputy Ó Broin and others, for tabling the amendment. I will put this and the timeframe in context. I am not accepting the amendment and will tell the House why. I will also take up one of the suggestions Deputy Ó Broin made, which is something I intended to do in any event. If we look at this Bill and at what we are doing,...

Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: When those 12-month appointments cease, we must ensure we have a system in place where people can apply for new roles in a new reformed an coimisiún pleanála. We need to have that as there has to be a transition. We cannot have a cliff edge between one system and the other. The reform of the appointment process for board members to the board of An Bord Pleanála is a critical...

Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I thank all Deputies and appreciate the, for the most part, considered responses they have given. In response to Deputy Verona Murphy, who is not here, I live in a terraced duplex house. I like it, as do many people. It might not suit her in Wexford. That is fine, I take the point. There are urgent matters in the Bill. I welcome the support of the main Opposition party for the...

Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: It is important legislation because it updates planning law going back not just 23 years but to the 1950s. We need a modern, fit-for-purpose planning system that serves the people and country to deliver the homes and strategic infrastructure we need. Central to that will be and has to be public participation. We have to look at how that is. Some comments have been made that I will not...

Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: That is not in this Bill.

Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: That is not in this Bill either.

Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I am just trying to be helpful. That is not in this Bill either.

Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Yes, but I have circulated my script.

Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am very pleased to bring the Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill to Second Stage in the Dáil. I will go through this much-needed legislation in a minute. However, I first wish to deal with some confusion that may exist. The Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill is entirely separate from the...

Appointment of Ordinary Members of An Coimisiún Toghcháin: Motion (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I move: That Dáil Éireann, noting that the Government on 13th December, 2022, nominated Mr. John Curran, Ms. Maura Quinn, Mr. Alex Attwood and Professor Caroline Fennell for designation by the President to be ordinary members ofAn Coimisiún Toghcháin, recommends that, pursuant to section 9(9) of the Electoral Reform Act 2022, Mr. John Curran, Ms. Maura Quinn, Mr. Alex...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Data (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The Mortgage to Rent (MTR) scheme was introduced in 2012 for borrowers of commercial lending institutions and is targeted at those households in mortgage arrears who have had their mortgage position deemed unsustainable by their lender under the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (MARP), who agree to the voluntary surrender of their home and who have very limited options, if any, to meet...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 76 to 78, inclusive, together. 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, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Legislative Reviews (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: As provided for in the Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 (the Act), the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority (AHBRA) was formally established on 1 February 2021. AHBRA is an independent body tasked with the regulation of Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) for the purposes of protecting housing assets provided or managed by such bodies. The powers and functions...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (14 Dec 2022)

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, 36,000 affordable purchase homes and 18,000 cost rental homes. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Households may leave social housing for a variety of reasons, including no longer being in need of such support. If circumstances subsequently change, such households may apply for social housing support again at any stage. If deemed eligible, they will qualify for the suite of social housing supports and will be placed on the housing list to be considered for suitable tenancies in...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Vacant Properties (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, the implementation of a planned maintenance programme and carrying out of responsive repairs, are matters for each individual local authority under Section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. Since 2014, Exchequer funding has also been provided through my Department's Voids...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (14 Dec 2022)

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 an average of 10,000 new build social homes each year in the period to 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: Fire Stations (14 Dec 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Services Acts, 1981 and 2003. My Department supports the fire authorities through setting general policy, providing a central...