Results 10,301-10,320 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 25 - Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised) (9 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I also convey the apologies of the Minister, Deputy Phil Hogan, to the select sub-committee. Unfortunately, he is indisposed and cannot be present. In his absence he has asked me to make some general comments on the Department's vote for 2013 before turning to housing expenditure, which accounts for almost 50% of the Revised Estimate. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Fergus...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (9 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: As Minister my role is to provide the necessary statutory and policy framework within which individual development contribution schemes are adopted by each local authority. The adoption of these schemes is a reserved function of the locally elected members of each planning authority. It is a matter for the members to determine the level of contribution and the types of development to which...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Adaptation Grants Expenditure (9 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 367 and 369 together. On 22 February 2013 I announced capital allocations to local authorities under the suite of Grants for Older People and People with a Disability amounting to €42.750 million. This year I allocated local authorities the full amount of their contractual commitments, and the balance of the available funding was allocated on the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Private Residential Tenancies Board Enforcement (9 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 sets out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants 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 resolve disputes between landlords and tenants in the sector. The PRTB replaces the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Mortgage to Rent Scheme Funding (9 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: On foot of the recommendations of the Keane Report on mortgage arrears the Government launched a mortgage to rent scheme on a pilot basis in February 2012. This scheme was extended nationally in June 2012, targeting those low income families whose mortgage situation is unsustainable and where there is little or no prospect of a significant change in circumstances in the foreseeable future....

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Expenditure (9 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 382 and 383 together. Under my Department’s Social Housing Investment Programme, funding is provided to local authorities for the construction or acquisition and refurbishment of dwellings to meet social housing need. On 1 March, I announced details of the capital allocations to local authorities in respect of the Social Housing Investment Programme...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Services (9 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Section 180 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 applies to estates which have been granted planning permission and includes the construction of two or more houses (which as defined in the Act includes apartments) and the provision of new roads, open spaces, car parks, sewers, watermains or drains. In relation to estates which have been completed to the satisfaction of the planning...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (9 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Under section 41 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, the duration of a planning permission (referred to as “the appropriate period”) is the period specified in the permission, or 5 years, whichever is longer. Section 42 provides that an application to extend the duration of the appropriate period must be made prior to the expiration of that period. The...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Wind Energy Guidelines (9 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 393 and 394 together. While, as Minister, I am specifically precluded under the Planning and Development Acts, as amended, from involvement in any particular matter with which a planning authority or the Board may be concerned, I am aware of the decision in this case and of the comments of the Board Inspector on the guidelines. My Department is studying the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Adaptation Grants Funding (9 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: On 22 February 2013 I announced capital allocations to local authorities under the suite of Grants for Older People and People with a Disability amounting to €42.750 million. This year I allocated local authorities the full amount of their contractual commitments, and the balance of the available funding was allocated on the basis of each authority’s share of the new...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Property Management Company Issues (9 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department has no function in relation to the operation of property management companies. The Multi Unit Developments Act 2011, which falls under the remit of my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality, regulates the management and operation of such companies. Section 180 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 requires that where a development for which permission is granted...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Property Management Company Issues (9 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department has no function in relation to the operation of property management companies. The Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011, which falls under the remit of my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality, regulates the management and operation of such companies.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Hedge and Tree Height Restrictions (4 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: There is no legislation in Ireland regulating the height of trees and hedges. My Department understands that there is no right in Irish law to receive light in a garden and that, while there is a civil remedy of nuisance available in respect of the branches or roots of a neighbour’s tree encroaching on one’s property, there is no civil law remedy in respect of the loss of light...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (4 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department wrote to planning authorities last month to bring to their attention and outline the potential implications of the judgment of the High Court in Wicklow County Council v. Fortune (judgment delivered on 6 June 2013). The case related to an application under Section 160 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) requiring the demolition of an unauthorised dwelling in...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Alternative Energy Projects (4 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: A foreshore lease for the development of a wind farm on the Codling Bank, off the Wicklow coast, was awarded by then the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources on 15 November 2005. The lease application together with the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was subjected to a comprehensive assessment by a range of technical experts who advised the Minister. This assessment...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Foreshore Licences Appeals (4 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: In accordance with section 2 of the Foreshore Act 1933, foreshore lease agreements provide for termination of the lease upon the occurrence of a range of termination events, which relate to the breach or non-observance by the lessee of the lease conditions.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Funding (4 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: On 22 February 2013 I announced capital allocations to local authorities under the suite of Grants for Older People and People with a Disability amounting to €42.750 million. This year I allocated local authorities the full amount of their contractual commitments, which in the case of Kildare City Council amounted to €1,723,752. The balance of the available funding was allocated...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Anti-Social Behaviour (4 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: While action to deal with anti-social behaviour is primarily a matter for An Garda Síochána, there are a range of provisions in housing legislation to counter such activity in the residential sector. In the case of local authority housing, councils have the power to refuse to allocate, or to refuse to sell, a dwelling to a person engaged in anti-social behaviour and the power to...

Topical Issue Debate: Private Residential Tenancies Board Remit (3 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB, was established on 1 September 2004 as an independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. The principal activities of the PRTB include the registration of private residential tenancies and the resolution of disputes between tenants and landlords, as well as the provision of...

Topical Issue Debate: Private Residential Tenancies Board Remit (3 Jul 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: We all want to ensure the amendment is introduced as quickly as possible in order that the scheme can be established. I believe it will provide relief for the large number of families for whom deposits are crucial, in particular when moving home. It is hard to come up with lump sums at that time. To be deprived of one's deposit when one is entitled to it is a real difficulty for families...