Results 9,901-9,920 of 26,787 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defective Building Materials (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: It is a very important scheme. I am glad the Deputy referenced that it is an enhanced scheme, an improved scheme on what was there before. We all know its purpose, which is to remediate dwellings damaged by the use of defective concrete blocks. We passed the Act to implement and give legislative underpinning to a series of measures to improve and greatly enhance the current grant scheme...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Schemes (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: As the Deputy will know, 2022 represented the commencement of a very ambitious programme of delivery of affordable homes under the provisions of the schemes which we introduced with the Affordable Housing Act 2021. This saw significant delivery of cost-rental homes by Approved Housing Bodies, AHBs, in particular through the cost-rental equity loan, the first cost-rental and affordable...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Schemes (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: It is not controversial.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Schemes (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: We will not have the debate on the first home shared equity scheme today but it is equity that purchasers get and it is an extremely popular scheme that is working. As I said, more than 800 approvals have been made already to real households for real homes. That is good. We will break down that data when it is finalised. We will break it down between cost rental, affordable purchase...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Housing Schemes (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The first cost-rental tenants are actually in place. I met many of those residents. They have long-term, secure tenures with below-market rent. The rent is calculated on the basis of covering the cost of the delivery and management of the development. We have set an income cap of €53,000 net for that scheme. I am looking at changes to the cost-rental scheme and we are working...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Issues (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: An Interdepartmental Group (comprising of officials from my Department, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and Údarás na Gaeltachta) is in place to support and accelerate the ongoing work in relation to planning in Gaeltacht areas. One of the key aims of this interdepartmental group is to ensure that procedures and systems will be tailored, as...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Government and I are committed to supporting and developing a fair and effective residential rental sector that is efficient, stable and responsive and that provides long-term and secure tenancies and investment returns. As set out in the Housing for All Action Plan Update (published in November, 2022), my Department has commissioned a comprehensive review of the private rental...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Housing for All sets out national housing policy and implementation measures for the period to 2030. As part of the objective to increase social housing delivery, the plan recognises the significant role that Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) have played as partners in social housing delivery and will continue to play over the period of Housing For All. The Capital Advance Leasing Facility...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (26 Jan 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, 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 Provision (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Following the publication of Housing for All, I asked local authorities to prepare Housing Delivery Action Plans. 18 local authorities, including Carlow, were asked to include planned affordable housing delivery in those Plans. I also set five-year Affordable Housing delivery targets for those local authorities last March. Carlow County Council published its final Plan last July. Funding...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (26 Jan 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, 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 (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Under the “Supporting Homeownership and Increasing Affordability” pillar of “Housing for All”, the Government committed to introducing a form of ‘owner-occupier guarantee’, which would enable Local Authorities to specify the proportion of houses and duplexes in a development for owner-occupiers. In support of this commitment the Government...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Bodies (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: In line with commitments in the Programme for Government and Housing for All: A New Housing Plan for Ireland, The Housing Commission was established by Government in December 2021 to independently examine and review the housing system in Ireland. The Commission has been tasked to examine issues such as tenure, standards, sustainability and quality-of-life issues in the provision of housing,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: National Parks and Wildlife Service (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The management of Ireland’s upland areas is a responsibility shared by many with various sectors and organisations all having responsibilities in this regard. The substantial increase in budget and resources for the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in recent years demonstrates the government’s commitment to enabling NPWS to deliver its mandate in protecting our...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Rental Sector (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2022 regulates the landlord-tenant relationship in the rented residential sector and sets out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Acts to operate a national tenancy registration system and to facilitate the resolution of disputes between...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme supports the building of apartments for sale to owner-occupiers. The Scheme aims to bridge the current “viability gap” between the cost of building apartments and the market sale price (where the cost of building is greater). The scheme is targeted principally at activating planning permissions already in place for such homes. The...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: 2022 represented the commencement of a very ambitious programme of delivery of affordable housing. This momentum will continue in 2023 with a pipeline of housing delivery in place and being developed by local authorities, by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) and by the LDA as well as homes being made available through the First Home Scheme. Local authorities have begun systematically...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: The First Home Scheme, launched on 7 July 2022, supports first-time buyers, as well as buyers who are eligible under Housing for All’s ‘Fresh Start’ principle, in purchasing new houses and apartments in the private market through the use of an equity share model. Full information on the scheme is available on the First Home Scheme dedicated website,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: Housing for All commits to increasing the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 new homes per year. It has secured and sustained levels of State investment of over €4bn a year, giving the construction sector the certainty it needs to help ensure the ambition of the Plan is realised and 300,000 new homes are built by 2030. Supply is increasing. The 2022 target of 24,600 homes...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (26 Jan 2023)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 117 and 162 together. Housing for All commits to increasing the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 new homes per year. It introduced a number of viability measures to unlock stalled housing developments and increase the supply of new housing and in particular for apartments. The Croí Cónaithe (Cities) Scheme supports the building of apartments...