Results 11,061-11,080 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Statutory Instrument No. 83 of 2007 (Planning and Development Regulations 2007) introduced an exemption from the requirement to obtain planning permission for solar panels on a house or on any building within the curtilage of a house. The exemption is subject to certain conditions and limitations, as set out in the table below. The exemption was introduced following public consultation. ...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Statutory Instrument No. 235 of 2008 (Planning and Development Regulations 2008) introduced an exemption from the requirement to obtain planning permission for photo-voltaic solar panels on industrial buildings, light industrial buildings or business premises. The exemptions are subject to certain conditions and limitations, as set out in the table below. The exemptions were introduced...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Mortgage Arrears (16 Jan 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: Local Authority Housing Waiting Lists (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department does not hold information on the number of households on local authorities’ waiting lists. This figure fluctuates continually according as households are allocated housing and other households apply for housing support. Detailed information on the latest statutory assessment of housing need, carried out in March 2011, including a breakdown by housing authority, is...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Homeless Persons (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Central Statistics Office published a special Census report, Homeless Persons in Ireland, on 6 September 2012. This report indicated that 59 people were sleeping rough in the Dublin Region on Census night, 10 April 2011. The report identified that a further 2,316 people in the Dublin Region were housed in accommodation defined as emergency, transitional or long-term. Outside of Dublin the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Homelessness Strategy (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation for homeless persons rests with the housing authorities and the purposes for which housing authorities may incur expenditure in addressing homelessness are prescribed in Section 10 of the Housing Act 1988. Details of the funding provided by my Department, under Section 10, for the years 2008 – 2012 in County Louth...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Domestic Violence (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Responsibility for the development and provision of services to support victims of domestic abuse rests with the Minister for Health and Children and is delivered through the Health Service Executive. In addition Cosc, the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence, which was established in June 2007 as an executive office of the Department of Justice and...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Eligibility (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Regulation 22 (1) of the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 provides that a household with alternative accommodation that would meet its housing need is ineligible for social housing support. Paragraph (2) of the Regulation clarifies that paragraph (1) does not operate to exclude from eligibility for social housing support an applicant who owns accommodation that is occupied by his or...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Private Residential Tenancies Board (16 Jan 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 under the Act to operate a national tenancy registration system and to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants in the private rented residential sector. My Department conducted a review...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Proposed Legislation (16 Jan 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 in a garden...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Household Charge Exemptions (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The list of housing developments which have been designated eligible for a waiver from the household charge in 2012 was extracted from the National Housing Survey 2011, having regard to the categorisation of estates by local authorities under the Unfinished Housing Developments Public Safety Initiative. This list is set out under the Local Government (Household Charge) Regulations 2012. All...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 660 and 669 together. In assessing a household for social housing support, the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 set out maximum income thresholds which all housing authorities must adhere to in determining eligibility. In accordance with the Household Means Policy issued under Regulation 17 of the Regulations, the income threshold is net of...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Traveller Accommodation (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: In accordance with the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, statutory responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller accommodation programmes, designed to meet the accommodation needs of Travellers, rests with individual housing authorities. My Department's role is to ensure that...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Capital Assistance Scheme Applications (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Under the Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS), funding of up to 100% of the approved cost is available for the provision of accommodation to meet the needs of persons with specific categories of housing need including older people, people with an intellectual, physical or mental health disability, the homeless, returning emigrants and victims of domestic violence. My Department's involvement...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Rents (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: It is a matter for each household to decide the form of housing that best meets its housing need at an affordable price. The current arrangements for determining local authority rents will be substantially replaced on the coming into force over the next year of provisions of Section 31 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009. Household income will continue to be a major factor in...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Unfinished Housing Developments (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: The National Housing Development Survey 2012, the results of which I published in November 2012, outlined the progress which has been made in tackling the issues faced by the residents of unfinished housing developments. This Survey, which is available on my Department's website, , provides a comprehensive breakdown by local authority of the status of all unfinished housing developments...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Tenant Purchase Scheme (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department is currently preparing the General Scheme of a Housing Bill that will include, among other things, proposals for a new scheme for the sale of local authority houses to tenants. The scheme will be based on the incremental purchase model, involving discounts for tenants linked to household income and a discount-related charge on the property that will dwindle away over a period...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Unfinished Housing Developments (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: 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 still being actively completed by the developer, or where...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Unfinished Housing Developments (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: I am chairing the National Co-ordination Committee (NCC) 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,...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Building Regulations (16 Jan 2013)

Jan O'Sullivan: Part L (Conservation of Fuel and Energy –Dwellings) of the Building Regulations 2011, set down the minimum energy performance standards which buildings, including dwellings, are required to achieve when they are newly built or when they are subject to an extension or a material alteration or change of use. The Building Regulations include 12 parts dealing with a range of safety and...