Results 1,441-1,460 of 25,975 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (21 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: If one is putting forward something as a matter of urgency and it is of national strategic importance, that is not going to come in under every single particular issue that arises. The question will be whether it is urgent and is a matter of national strategic importance. These are decisions the Government will have to make and as part of that, it will consult the Office of the Planning...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (21 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: Amendment No. 1042 proposes to subject commission fees to full Oireachtas approval. Reviews of such fees are already evidentially based and subject to ministerial sign-off and approval. Therefore I consider this amendment disproportionate in its aim and unnecessary. Section 348 provides that "The Commission may determine fees that may be charged, subject to the approval of the Minister, in...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (21 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: It is a decision to be made if something arises as a matter of urgency. It is not the Minister taking the decision here, it is the Minister bringing it forward and then he or she must get approval of the Government. It has to get the approval of the Cabinet. The Minister must also consult with the Office of the Planning Regulator. This applies to a class of infrastructure of national...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (20 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: 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. The grants are 80% funded by my...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Ambulance Service (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: I thank Deputy Kerrane. I will take back the points she raised to the Minister. In my opening statement I concentrated for the most part on ambulance resourcing and some recent alternative care paths in County Roscommon. I will now focus on the service nationally and touch on the investment in our National Ambulance Service and its future plans. This Government has invested very...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Ambulance Service (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Health. I thank Deputy Kerrane for the opportunity to update the House on delivery of ambulance services in Roscommon, including the important emergency response role carried out by the rapid resource vehicle, RRV. I am informed that in the context of the National Ambulance Service emergency response operations across the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Overcrowding (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. I thank Deputy Paul Donnelly for raising the question of overcrowding at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown. Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, is a major teaching academic hospital within the RCSI Hospitals Group. It has a catchment population of upwards of 331,000 people and serves a mixed urban and...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Overcrowding (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: I appreciate the Deputy’s contribution and his genuine sentiments on the surge in attendance at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown. I also thank him for raising this important topic and acknowledge that he has raised other issues. The Government understands how important it is to make quality patient services available to people in Blanchardstown and everyone across the country....

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Antisocial Behaviour (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee. I thank Deputy Gannon for raising it. In fairness to the Deputy, he has raised it on many occasions. As the Deputy may be aware, the Government's approach to the misuse of drugs is set out in Ireland's national drug strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery. This is a health-led approach to drug and...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Antisocial Behaviour (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: I ask the Deputy to send me a structured email so that we can formally follow up with Dublin City Council on the issues he has raised on behalf of the people he represents. On behalf of the Minister, Deputy McEntee, I thank the Deputy for raising this issue in the House. While the Minister for Health and his Department lead the Government response to drug use, tackling this issue will...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: Under the climate action plan, the retrofit target for local authority owned homes is to retrofit 36,500 to BER B2 or cost optimal equivalent by 2030. As part of this new scheme over the period 2021 to 2023, 5,766 local authority homes have been retrofitted to B2 cost optimal equivalent. Furthermore, retrofit works were completed on over 74,000 local authority-owned dwelling since 2013 to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: We note the last point the Deputy has made. If he looks at the funding for this particular programme, in 2023, €76.9 million was provided. There were 2,445, which was the target. Next year, the target is 3,500 social homes. We have an increased allocation in that area. We are looking at this as a programme we want to work. It is a programme we are committed to, and we are looking...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: It is something we are looking at. We have received correspondence from the Deputy and others, and it is something that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and I are considering as we speak.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vacant Properties (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: Cork City Council last year got an initial allocation of €1.8 million. It received an additional allocation of €800,000, making a total of €2.56 million.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vacant Properties (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: The point is that this is about a partnership model. Ultimately, we have to have a system. We want councillors to move to a situation whereby they bring properties back into use as quickly as possible as they become vacant. We do not want to see void properties.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vacant Properties (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: I thank Deputies Murnane O'Connor and McAuliffe. We will certainly take up that question about the URDF funding on Barrack Street. We very much want to see the centres of places like Carlow coming back into use for people to live in. By way of being of assistance to the Deputies, we can look at 2023 itself and getting to that plan-led maintenance approach. Taking Carlow, Deputy Murnane...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vacant Properties (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: Taking the Deputies in order, as Deputy Murnane O'Connor is probably aware, we increased the HAP rates in the last period. There is 30% discretion and we keep it under constant review. An area to point to is the tenantin situ scheme. We want people coming off HAP and on to tenantin situ. We set a target of 1,500 last year. We have exceeded that target to reach 1,700. As regards the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vacant Properties (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: I propose to take Questions Nos. 66, 84, 86, 96, 109 and 122 together, and obviously Carlow is top of the list. The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, implementation of a planned maintenance programme and carrying out of responsive repairs, are matters for each individual local authority under section 58 of the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Further and Higher Education (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris. The employees of higher education institutions are protected by the provisions of employment law. This includes, but is not limited to, the provisions contained in the Employment Equality Acts and Equal Status Acts. As employers, relevant HEIs are also bound...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Further and Higher Education (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: I thank the Senator. I will take these matters back to the Minister. I note the point being raised by the Senator. Higher education institutions participating in the charter sign up to the Athena SWAN Ireland principles. In signing up to the principles, participants recognise that each institution, department and professional unit has different equality challenges and development...