Results 11,141-11,160 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Child Protection (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: I can see the Senator is very concerned about this. I will convey those concerns directly to the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, and I will ask her to contact the Senator directly with regard to her supplementary question.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Household Charge (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: The EU-IMF programme of financial support, which was signed up to by Senator Byrne's party, contains a commitment to introduce a property tax for 2012.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Household Charge (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: The programme reflects the need to put the funding of locally delivered services on a sound financial footing, improve accountability and better align the cost of providing services with demand. It was considered that, in light of the complex issues involved, a local property tax would take time to introduce and, accordingly, the Government decided to introduce a household charge in 2012 as...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Child Protection (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: I thank Senator van Turnhout for raising this issue. I will convey her concerns to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. I am sorry that the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, is not here to reply. The Reception and Integration Agency, RIA, is a functional unit of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, which is a division of the Department of Justice and Equality. The RIA is...

Other Questions: Housing Regeneration (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: The redevelopment of Knocknaheeney Block D, which comprised the comprehensive refurbishment of some 80 dwellings, the provision of new infill units, sheltered housing and the provision of community facilities, was completed over the past two years with substantial financial support from my Department. In light of the experience at Knocknaheeney Block D and the fact that over ten years had...

Other Questions: Housing Regeneration (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: I visited the programme earlier this year and I felt that it was going well. It is working, residents are moving out to allow for demolition and they are staying within their own communities, etc. I felt that there was a positive response in Cork to it. We will be allocating further funding next year and the year after to ensure that we continue with the programme. I have an element of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: National Asset Management Agency (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: We are engaging regularly with NAMA and we push the agency all the time to ensure we get the best possible outcomes. We will put the various suggestions to NAMA. If we did not have a leasing system, there would be many more people on housing waiting lists. It is the most cost-effective way to house people in the current economic climate and we must use it. There are ongoing issues and we...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: National Asset Management Agency (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: Since December 2011, NAMA has identified more than 3,800 properties as being potentially available for social housing. The local authorities and the Housing Agency are working systematically with NAMA to determine if there is a social housing demand for properties identified as potentially suitable for social housing, including the need for accommodation for those who are homeless. Where a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: National Asset Management Agency (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: I thank Deputy Stanley. First, all Members share a determination to ensure that as many of these unoccupied units as possible will become occupied and will become homes for people. However, I make the point, of which the Deputy probably already is aware, that not all the unfinished houses are in NAMA. Indeed, only a relatively small proportion of them actually are in NAMA. It is a...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Private Rented Accommodation (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Government’s housing policy statement, published in June 2011, sets out a vision for the future of the housing sector based on choice, fairness, equity across tenures and delivering quality outcomes for the resources invested. Consistent with the Government’s commitment to equity across tenures, I will not incentivise one form of tenure over another but rather will seek to...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Mortgages (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: Two types of house purchase loan are available from local authorities: standard annuity loans targeted at lower income first time buyers and those under the Home Choice Loan scheme which are available to qualifying middle income first time buyers affected by the “credit crunch”. The terms and conditions governing the operation, including eligibility terms, of annuity mortgages...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Provision (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: The ongoing programme of social housing reform for which I am responsible includes reviewing the implementation of the Social Housing (Allocation) Regulations 2011. These regulations set out the matters that housing authorities must deal with in their allocation schemes. My intention is to put a greater emphasis on "time on the list" as a criterion for allocating local authority housing,...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Voluntary Housing Sector (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2009, introduced a new approach to the sale of social housing whereby social housing tenants, including tenants of approved housing bodies, could acquire new local authority houses and existing apartments under the Incremental Purchase Scheme (IPS). The details of this scheme are available on my Department’s website www.environ.ie. There is...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Unfinished Housing Developments (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: While the Government has made significant progress in this area by reducing the number of unfinished housing developments by 37% since 2010, the issues faced by the residents of the Gleann Riada development are a particularly severe example of the problems caused by unfinished housing developments across the country. An explosion occurred within a private house in this development in March...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Rental Accommodation Scheme Administration (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: In March 2012 the Government approved in principle a joint proposal by the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government and the Minister for Social Protection to transfer 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...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Provision (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: 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 housing and the return for the resources invested. To achieve...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Mortgage to Rent Scheme (4 Dec 2012)

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: Regeneration Projects (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: There are no proposals with my Department for a regeneration project at the location in question.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Services (4 Dec 2012)

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: Tenant Purchase Scheme (4 Dec 2012)

Jan O'Sullivan: Proposals are being prepared in my Department for legislation to underpin a new scheme for the sale of existing local authority houses to tenants. The scheme will be based on the incremental purchase model, involving discounts for tenants based on household income and a discount-related charge on the property that will dwindle away over a period unless the house is resold or the tenant...