Results 11,001-11,020 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Property Taxation Exemptions (5 Feb 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The list of unfinished housing estates to be prescribed for purposes of a waiver from the local property tax is currently being prepared.

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

Jan O'Sullivan: The Wind Energy Development Guidelines, June 2006, provide advice to planning authorities on addressing wind energy through the development plan process. The guidelines are also intended to ensure a consistency of approach throughout the country in the identification of suitable locations for wind energy development and the treatment of planning applications for wind energy developments....

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

Jan O'Sullivan: In advancing loans for house purchase by lower income borrowers, it is of critical importance that local authorities make such funding available on the basis of sound lending criteria. My Department and individual local authorities have a responsibility to ensure that mortgage lending is prudentially based and that the capacity of a borrower to fully service a loan over the full term is...

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

Jan O'Sullivan: A total of 704 housing associations were approved by my Department under Section 6 of the Housing (scellaneous Provisions) Act, 1992 for the provision and management of housing. In 2012 my Department identified 86 Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) that neither produced housing stock nor applied for funding. These companies were no longer registered with the Companies Registration Office and...

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

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 603, 607 and 608 together. In terms of the delivery of social housing, the Government’s Housing Policy Statement, published in May 2012, clearly identifies that the main focus in terms of supports provided by Government will be on meeting the most acute needs – the housing support needs of those unable to provide for their accommodation from...

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

Jan O'Sullivan: According to the most recent figures made available from the Department of Social Protection, at the end of 2012 there were nearly 88,000 recipients of rent supplement, of whom 53,000 have been in receipt for longer than 18 months. The cost of rent supplement to that Department in 2012 was over €400m. The ongoing management and financing of the rent supplement scheme is a matter for...

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

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department remains committed to providing financial assistance to older people and people with a disability who wish to carry out essential repairs, extensions/adaptations to their homes in order to meet their accommodation needs. 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...

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

Jan O'Sullivan: The detailed information sought regarding individual properties listed on the Derelict Sites Registers of specific local authorities is not available in my Department. Under the Derelict Sites Act 1990, local authorities are required to maintain a derelict sites register, which includes the name and address of each owner and occupier, where these can be ascertained by reasonable enquiry, of...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Mortgage Arrears Proposals (5 Feb 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 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. The...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Unfinished Housing Developments (31 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 136 and 137 together. As part of the process of preparing the National Housing Development Survey 2011, published by my Department in October 2011, local authorities provided details of all unfinished housing developments in their areas. Unfinished housing developments were divided into four categories as follows: - Category one, where the development is...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Provision (31 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: It is open to any person or household to apply to a housing authority for an assessment of their housing need. It is a matter solely for the housing authority concerned to determine whether an applicant for social housing support is eligible for and in need of that support. The authority must make its determination in accordance with the provisions of section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Private Rented Accommodation (31 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 regulates the tenant-landlord relationship in the private rented residential sector. The Act sets out the law relating to the rights and obligations of tenants and landlords in the sector covering, inter alia, security of tenure and the termination of tenancies. The maximum duration of a tenancy under the Act is four years, after which a new tenancy must...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Private Rented Accommodation (31 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I have no function in the operational matters of the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), an independent statutory body established under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, and cannot therefore comment on the specifics of any individual case.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Unfinished Housing Developments (30 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The development in question was categorised by Limerick County Council as a Category 3 development in 2011 and its status remains unchanged. As part of the process of preparing the National Housing Development Survey 2011, published by my Department in October 2011, local authorities provided details of all unfinished housing developments in their areas. Unfinished housing developments were...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Unfinished Housing Developments (30 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I am chairing the National Co-ordination Committee on Unfinished Housing Developments to oversee implementation of the Report of the Advisory Group on Unfinished Housing Developments, together with the Government's response to the recommendations. The Committee includes representatives from the Irish Banking Federation, local authorities, the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency, NAMA...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Establishment of Planning Regulator: Discussion with Minister of State (29 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I agree with Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan that we would want to ensure that these practices do not happen again and that his experience is not the experience in future. That is why we want to put as much transparency as possible into the system. For example, there are ethics declarations required of councillors, as well as of representatives in the Dáil, in the context of declarations...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Establishment of Planning Regulator: Discussion with Minister of State (29 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I will make a general point first of all, mainly in response to what Deputy Seán Kenny said about the ethics area. The Mahon tribunal made 64 recommendations and only ten of them relate to planning. Much of the corruption-related issues are being dealt with in other ways and do not relate to my responsibilities on planning. Today, we are specifically focusing on the forward planning...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Establishment of Planning Regulator: Discussion with Minister of State (29 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Mr. Philip Nugent from the planning section has just advised me that we have written to the Courts Service on two occasions offering to organise educational seminars on the planning system. In other words, we could offer it information on planning but we have to be careful about the spade we use.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Establishment of Planning Regulator: Discussion with Minister of State (29 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The first three contributions were interesting. What has come across is the importance of, on the one hand, balancing the independent role of a regulator but, on the other, ensuring accountability. Deputy Stanley, in particular, referred to the accountability of the Minister answering questions and similar accountability at local level and we must get that balance right. Transparency is an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Establishment of Planning Regulator: Discussion with Minister of State (29 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Yes.