Results 14,881-14,900 of 25,999 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Home Loan Scheme (4 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 79, 91 and 92 together. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Housing (4 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 87, 89, 90, 93, 95 and 99 together. Increasing the supply of social, affordable and private housing is a priority for this Government. The Programme for Government commits to the delivery of 50,000 new social homes with a focus on new build homes. In 2021, the Government has made available €3.3 billion for housing delivery programmes. Subject to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Home Loan Scheme (4 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: €210 million has been secured to allow local authorities to lend through the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan (RIHL) scheme in 2021. Allocations for new lending approvals in 2021 have already been communicated to all 31 local authorities. The RIHL is a demand led scheme driven by the number of applications received by each local authority. Based on lending activity in recent years,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Housing (4 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 94 and 96 together. The delivery of housing supports is a key priority of Government and this is reflected in the Programme for Government commitment to increase the social housing stock nationally by more than 50,000, with a key emphasis on delivering new build homes. We are ambitious to ramp up the delivery at local authority level and we are committed to...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Housing (4 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: To date, my Department has issued two Serviced Sites Fund (SSF) calls for proposals to local authorities. Funding of almost €188 million has been approved in principle in support of 38 infrastructure projects in 14 local authority areas, which will assist in the delivery of almost 4,000 more affordable homes. Details of 35 SSF projects which received approval in principle under the two...

Housing Shared Equity Loan Scheme: Motion [Private Members] (3 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I do not have to circulate a copy of my speech because it is a Sinn Féin motion.

Housing Shared Equity Loan Scheme: Motion [Private Members] (3 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The speech is available.

Housing Shared Equity Loan Scheme: Motion [Private Members] (3 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Ba mhaith liom mo chuid ama a roinnt leis an Teachta McAuliffe. Bogfaidh mé an leasú ar son an Rialtais. I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following: “notes that significant progress has been made on an extensive range of measures included in the Programme for Government - Our Shared Future,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Septic Tanks (3 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Financial assistance towards the remediation, repair or upgrading works to, or the replacement of a domestic waste water treatment system is available under new and revised grant schemes which launched in June 2020. The schemes are focused on areas of greatest environmental priority rather than general in application. Details of the Terms and Conditions for each scheme can be found on the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (3 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: In responding to the Final Report of the Commission of Investigation (Mother and Baby Homes and certain related matters) and to the concerns of former residents, the Government committed to preparing a Strategic Action Plan. In doing so, the Government committed to a survivor-centred approach, characterised by continuous and enhanced engagement with former residents and their representative...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Road Network (3 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Under Call 2 of the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF), which was launched last year, Kildare County Council submitted an application seeking support for the project in question. There were a large number of proposals received under Call 2, with every local authority submitting at least one application. Because of the nature of the URDF programme the proposals are very...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Schemes (3 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Promoting the efficient and sustainable use of water is a central component of effective water policy. The Water Services Policy Statement 2018-2025 sets out the range of policy objectives across the key thematic areas of quality, conservation and future proofing that will be pursued between now and 2025. The Policy Statement supports the promotion of water conservation and water resource...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Covid-19 Pandemic (3 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, the Chief Executive of the Council is responsible for staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority. Local Authorities continue to deliver essential services, part of which includes traffic management which requires the attendance of traffic and parking wardens in the workplace....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Covid-19 Pandemic (3 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 313, 330, 342, 350 and 351 together. The Government announced that additional public health restrictions would apply under Level 5 of the Plan for Living with COVID-19 on 6 January 2021. The additional restrictions required all construction activity to cease from 6pm on Friday 8 January, with a number of exceptions. These measures are set out in The...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Schemes (3 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: Responsibility for the management and maintenance of the local authority housing stock rests with each local authority under section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. My Department does however provide funding support to local authorities to assist with management and maintenance of their stock under a number of funding programmes. A strong focus on improving thermal performance in the local...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Adaptation Grant (3 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides funding to local authorities 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 detailed administration of the grants including their assessment, approval and prioritisation, is the responsibility of the local authorities. The...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Contracts (3 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: No such contract has been granted by my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Housing (3 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: During 2020, funding of €56.4 million was paid by my Department for the remediation of 3,607 units under the Voids Programme. The table below sets out the breakdown of each LA submission, approval and recoupment. Local Authority Total No. of Units Sought Total Funding Sought Total No. of Units Approved Total Approved Funding...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Tenant Purchase Scheme (3 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: The Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme came into operation on 1 January 2016. The Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme. To be eligible, tenants must meet certain criteria, including having a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum and having been in receipt of social housing support...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Adaptation Grant (3 Mar 2021)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides capital funding to Local Authorities with regard to the Disabled Persons Grant (DPG) scheme and the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability scheme. While both schemes are administered directly by the local authorities they operate independently and from separate funding streams, the main differences being, the ownership status of the...