Results 13,321-13,340 of 25,880 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The minimum standards for rental accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019.  All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with these Regulations. Responsibility for enforcement of the Regulations rests with the relevant local authority.  The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme is...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Funding (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department has a wide and diverse business agenda, covering a broad range of functions, including local authority housing, voluntary housing, homeless services, estate regeneration, energy efficiency retrofitting, housing grants, rural water schemes, urban regeneration, peatlands conservation, national parks & wildlife services and fire services. In order to achieve its...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The allocation of dwellings is a matter for the local authority concerned, in accordance with their allocation scheme made under section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and associated Regulations. This legislation requires all local authorities, as a reserved function, to make an allocation scheme determining the order of priority to be accorded in the allocation of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Budgets (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The capital expenditure provision for my Department in 2021 as set out in the Revised Estimates for Public Services 2021 published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) and available at www.per.gov.ie/en/rev/is €2,762m. The breakdown of this capital allocation by Programme is set out below: PROGRAMME 2021 GROSS CAPITAL...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Lead in drinking water is both the responsibility of water suppliers and property owners. Irish Water is responsible for lead pipework in the public water distribution network. This is known as public-side lead. Lead plumbing in buildings and within property boundaries is a matter for the property owner. This is known as private-side lead. While there are no lead water mains in Ireland,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Schemes (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides exchequer funding to local authorities to support the Housing Adaptation Grant for Older People and People with a Disability scheme, in respect of private houses.  These grants are available to assist in the carrying out of works which are reasonably necessary for the purposes of rendering a house more suitable for the accommodation of a person with a...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Details on the number of households qualified for social housing support in each local authority area is provided in the annual statutory Summary of Social Housing Assessments (SSHA). The most recent summary, conducted in November 2020, shows that 61,880 households were assessed as qualified for and being in need of social housing support. This represents a decrease of 6,813 households or...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: This Government is focused on ensuring that affordable, quality housing solutions are available to everyone in Irish society and this is reflected in the Programme for Government, "Our Shared Future". The Programme commits to putting affordability at the heart of the housing system through the progression of State-backed affordable housing.   This...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on social housing delivery on a quarterly basis. Details on the number of social housing units provided by all local authorities including by Wexford County Council in 2020 and Quarter 1 of 2021, is available on the statistics page of my Department’s website at the following link:...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: In 2018, the Enhanced Long Term Social Housing Leasing Scheme was introduced in order to target newly built, or yet to be built, houses and apartments that could provide social housing through long term leasing at a reasonable scale. The Enhanced Leasing Scheme is one option available to supplement delivery under local authority and approved housing body build and acquisition...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Housing Agency provides a central support service which assesses applications for the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan on behalf of local authorities and makes recommendations to the authorities to approve or refuse applications. Each local authority must have in place a credit committee and it is a matter for the committee to make the decision on applications for loans, in accordance...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides funding under the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability, to assist people in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The grants include the Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability, the Mobility Aids Grant and the Housing Aid for Older People, which are 80% funded by my...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Funding (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department conducts regular reviews of funding as part of the ongoing financial management of the Vote including: - A comprehensive annual review of expenditure and funding requirements in preparation of the Estimates for the Budget involving a detailed analysis of funding needs to meet my Department’s commitment to deliver on its broad range of functions, including local authority...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Pollution (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Primary responsibility for the monitoring, management, protection and improvement of water quality is assigned to local authorities under the Local Government (Water Pollution) Acts and related legislation.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) exercises general supervision in relation to the performance of these functions by local authorities. There is no doubting the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Construction Industry (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Increasing the supply of housing is a priority for the Government and for my Department in particular. I am aware that the Construction Sector has faced a number of considerable challenges over the past year, not least the restrictions on construction activity introduced to combat the spread of COVID-19 and the impact of Brexit and related supply issues. Domestically, delays are being...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The local authority has responsibility for the detailed administration of the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant scheme, as set out under S.I. 25 of 2020. This includes the assessment of applications for eligibility and payment of grants to successful applicants under the specific remediation option approved. Homeowners may apply to the local authority seeking...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I am acutely aware of the distress that the issue of defective concrete blocks has caused to the people and families affected. After working with the affected households and local authorities I have established a working group, with representatives from my Department, the local authorities and homeowner representative groups, to quickly review and address any...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan Scheme is designed to enable credit worthy first-time buyers to access sustainable mortgage lending to purchase new or second-hand properties. The Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan provides first-time buyers with access to mortgage finance that they may not otherwise have been able to obtain. More details of this are set out in the FAQ's section of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: In response to concerns being raised by homeowners in relation to the Defective Concrete Block grant scheme, I established a time-bound working group, with representatives from my Department, the local authorities and homeowner representative groups who are tasked with reviewing the operation of the scheme and providing a report with recommendations by 31st July. The Group has met on six...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Defective Building Materials (27 Jul 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 740 and 800 together. The Programme for Government sets out a number of commitments in respect of the important policy area of building defects and provides for an examination of defects in housing, having regard to the recommendations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing report, "Safe as Houses". In this context, I established a working group to...