Results 10,981-11,000 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Homeless Persons Supports (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 143 and 595 together. The Government’s Housing Policy Statement, published in June 2011, clearly identifies that the priority for Government will be to meet the most acute needs of households applying for social housing support. I am determined to ensure that the social housing programme is framed in a manner which optimises the delivery of social...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Maintenance (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: In line with overall national policy which promotes a reduction in energy use, the enhancement of energy efficiency standards remains a priority within my Department’s overall strategy for the improvement of local authority housing. Under my Department’s Social Housing Investment Programme, local authorities are allocated funding each year in respect of a range of measures to...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Voluntary Housing Sector (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Approved housing bodies (AHBs) are identified in the Government’s Housing Policy Statement as key partners in the delivery of social housing. However, the move from capital funded programmes of construction and acquisition by AHBs to more revenue funded options presents challenges for them. As such, I am developing an enabling regulatory framework for the sector that will provide...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Maintenance (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: An explosion occurred within a private house, one of a terrace of six houses, in this development in March 2012. Subsequently, Longford County Council established an expert steering group and appointed a firm of consulting engineers to investigate the cause of the explosion. A second explosion occurred in this development at the beginning of October 2012. The specific findings of the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Government published its response to the recommendations of the Final Report of the Mahon Tribunal on 19 July 2012 including in respect of an independent planning regulator, to which it has agreed in principle. I also discussed this specific recommendation with the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht on 29 January 2013. In that context, I am now...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Community Development Initiatives (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The integration of local transport is a key feature of national, regional and local development planning and is further strengthened through the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010. This provides for greater consistency of plans at regional, city/county and local level, including through the requirement for a core strategy to be incorporated into development plans to reinforce the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Section 180 of the Planning and Development Acts 2000 - 2012 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...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Provision (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I am determined to ensure that the social housing programme optimises the delivery of social housing and the return for the resources invested. To achieve this, it is essential that we tailor the use of available Exchequer supports to prevailing conditions and explore the full range of solutions to address housing needs. The social housing capital budget has been reduced from €1.535...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Adaptation Grants (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Work is currently underway on preparing the capital allocations under the housing programme for 2013, including the suite of Grants for Older People and People with a Disability. As part of this process, my Department requested local authorities to submit details of their funding requirements under the grant schemes. The information received is being assessed at present. I intend to announce...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Anti-Social Behaviour (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 184, 551 and 559. Housing authorities have a range of statutory housing powers to assist them in tackling anti-social behaviour in their housing stock. These powers include 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 seek a court order excluding a person engaged in...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Tenant Purchase Scheme Eligibility (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Incremental Purchase model is a discount scheme based on household income that enables the State to share in the profits from resale during the 20 to 30 year period for which the house is subject to an incremental purchase charge. In contrast to the 1995 scheme, the discounts provided under the incremental purchase principles are based on household income rather than length of tenancy,...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I published new Development Contribution Guidelines on 21 January 2012. Development contribution schemes were first introduced in 2000 and, together with Exchequer funding and local authorities’ own resources, have played a significant role in the delivery of infrastructure in support of development. The new guidelines build on the experience gained in implementing contribution...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Provision (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Currently, only three of the original 36 flat blocks in Ballymun are occupied by City Council tenants. Around 90 households are accommodated in the two eight storey spine-blocks on Balbutcher Lane. The last remaining 15 storey tower block, Joseph Plunkett Tower, accommodates 62 families at present. All of these families will be re-housed this year in homes currently nearing completion or...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department does not collect the information sought. As Minister of State, 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 individual development contribution schemes is a reserved function of the locally elected members of each planning authority. It is a...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Commercial Rates Calculations (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department does not collect the information sought in the question. The adoption of individual development contribution 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 they will apply.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Private Residential Tenancies Board Enforcement (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I have no function in the operational matters of the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), an independent statutory body established on 1 September 2004 under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. The PRTB’s annual reports are available on its website .and the reports include details on enforcement figures. The most recently published report relates to 2010 ; the 2011 report will...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Proposed Legislation (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 regulates the tenant-landlord relationship in the private rented residential sector. It sets out the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants in the sector including, inter alia , the obligation on a tenant to pay to the landlord, or his or her authorised agent, the rent provided for under the tenancy. Notwithstanding the legal position in this...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Assistance Payments Implementation (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: In March 2012 the Government approved in principle the transfer of responsibility for recipients of rent supplement with an established long-term housing need from the Department of Social Protection (DSP) to local (housing) authorities. The new service would be provided using a new Housing Assistance Payment [HAP]. It is envisaged that, unlike rent supplement, HAP would be paid on the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Traveller Accommodation (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: In accordance with the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, statutory responsibility for provision of Traveller accommodation programmes designed to meet the accommodation needs of Travellers rests with individual housing authorities, in this case Fingal County Council. My Department’s role is to ensure that there is an adequate legislative and financial system in place to...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Unfinished Housing Developments (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The National Housing Development Survey 2012 identified a total of 84 unfinished housing developments in the Meath area, of which some 38 were substantially complete. Further details can be found in the survey, which is available on my Department’s website,