Results 9,861-9,880 of 25,799 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (11 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: 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 homeless services rests with individual housing authorities. My Department does not fund any homeless service directly...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Properties (11 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides breastfeeding employees with access to flexible spaces across all our office locations including the National Parks and Wildlife Service. These spaces include wellbeing rooms and rest rooms. Each one is shielded from view and is free from intrusion by co-workers or the public and is provided with appropriate furniture. Although currently demand does not exist for these...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Vacant Properties (6 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Planning regulations, introduced in 2018, which provide a temporary exemption for certain vacant commercial premises, including shops, services, offices, and guesthouses; from requiring planning permission to change to residential purposes such as ‘over the shop’ living, have been extended until 2025. The scope of the exemption was also extended to include ‘public...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Contracts (6 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 180 and 188 together. I refer to the reply to Dáil Question No. 152 of 5 October 2022 which sets out the position on this matter.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Data (6 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 181 and 182 together. The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) and the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) are forms of social housing support, provided by my Department, for people who have a long-term housing need. The table below details the number of active HAP tenancies, by local authority, on the 1st January 2020, 2021 and 2022:- Local authority...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Data (6 Oct 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 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, €3.5bn in funding through the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Data (6 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 184 and 185 together. Local authorities will always have a level of vacancy in their housing stock. This will fluctuate over time as tenancy surrender and re-letting of stock is an ongoing process. Data in relation to levels of vacancy, average turnaround times and reasons associated with this are not routinely collated by my Department. However,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Policies (6 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 186 and 187 together. The Programme for Government sets out a commitment to examine defects in housing, having regard to the recommendations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing’s report Safe as Houses?,and to assist owners of latent defect properties by identifying options for those impacted by defects, to access low-cost, long-term finance. In...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Bodies (6 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The information requested is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy in accordance with Standing Orders.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Meetings (6 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: Following the passing of legislation in 2019, with effect from 4 April 2022, landlords are required to register their tenancies with the RTB every year, within one month of the anniversary of when the tenancy began. I am aware that some landlords and agents are encountering issues with the new RTB tenancy management system and I met with the RTB in July and in September to discuss the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (6 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 192 and 193 together. In November 2021 the Government agreed a comprehensive Defective Concrete Block Grant redress scheme. This scheme was designed to support home owners who have been severely affected by issues relating to defective products in the construction of their homes. One of the actions arising from that decision was the development of a levy to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (6 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 194, 197 and 210 together. My Department provides funding to local authorities for the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability Scheme. These schemes assist eligible applicants living in privately owned homes to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs, with Exchequer funding of €65 million available...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (6 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides annual funding to local authorities under the Disabled Persons Grants scheme to carry out works on social housing stock to address the needs of older people, people with a disability or overcrowded situations. The detailed administration of this scheme including assessment, approval and prioritisation is the responsibility of local authorities. My Department's...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Traveller Accommodation (6 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: In accordance with the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, the role of my Department is to ensure that there are adequate structures and supports in place to assist housing authorities in providing accommodation for Travellers, including a national framework of policy, legislation and funding. Funding of €20 million has been made available in 2023 for the delivery of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (6 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides funding for the Housing Adaptation Grant for Older People and People with a Disability scheme, which is a range of grants for necessary improvement works or adaptations to houses, in order to facilitate the continued independent occupancy of their own homes by older people and people with a disability. These schemes cover works reasonably necessary for the purposes of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (6 Oct 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 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, €3.5bn in funding through the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (6 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: The Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme (SHCEP) budget funds the ongoing current costs of social homes delivered using a variety of different delivery streams. This includes properties built or acquired by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) using funding under the Capital Advance Leasing Facility (CALF) and the Housing Agency Acquisitions Fund (HAA), which are then made available under a...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (6 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: 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 the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended. Once a household is deemed eligible for social housing support, it is a matter for the local authority...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (6 Oct 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 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, €3.5bn in funding through the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Schemes (6 Oct 2022)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 204 and 206 together. The Local Authority Home Loan is a Government backed mortgage scheme for those on modest or low incomes who cannot get sufficient funding from commercial banks to purchase or build a home. It has been available nationwide from local authorities since 4 January 2022 for first-time buyers and fresh start applicants. As of 4 January 2022,...