Results 1,481-1,500 of 26,006 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

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...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley. I thank the Senator for raising the matter as it allows me an opportunity to update the House on the current position in respect of the provision of a new school building for Drogheda Educate Together Secondary School, ETSS. Drogheda ETSS is a coeducational post-primary school under the patronage of Educate...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: I thank Senator Keogan for raising this important matter. The Department will continue to keep the patron and school updated as the project progresses and on interim accommodation, pending delivery of the permanent project for the school. I have no doubt this is a matter Senator Keogan will take up directly with the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, but I will also draw it to her...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Climate Change Policy (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: I am taking this important matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and I thank Senator Byrne for raising it. This Government takes the issue of climate change very seriously and has put in place a number of initiatives to address the changes that we, as a nation, need to make to address the climate crisis. These include amendments made in 2021 to the climate Act, the requirement for...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Climate Change Policy (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: Senator Byrne made very cogent points. There is a whole-of-government approach to this issue. Changes to the climate system as a result of human activity have already resulted in an observed global average temperature increase of more than 1°C since pre-industrial times. That goes without saying. Further increases in global average temperatures are projected to cause significant...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Rural Schemes (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys. I thank my local colleague, Senator Conway from County Clare, for raising this important matter. The LIS, which we all know as the local road improvement scheme, is a programme for improvement works on small private or non-public roads in rural areas that are not normally maintained by local authorities but...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Rural Schemes (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: Given the value of the scheme for people living in rural areas, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, was pleased to be in a position to increase the allocation for the LIS in 2023 alone to almost €30 million. This is a record investment that signifies her commitment to the scheme. More than €120 million has been invested in the LIS since 2017. The figure I have for the allocation...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Rural Schemes (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: I once again thank Senator Conway for raising this important matter. I note the point he raises about the funding, and it is one I will take back to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys. She is aware of the importance of LIS funding to rural communities, which provides access not just to people’s homes and farms but also to outdoor amenities such as lakes, rivers or beaches. She remains...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Regional Development (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: The National Planning Framework is a long term national-level strategy for the planning and sustainable development of urban and rural areas, with the objectives of securing balanced regional development and a sustainable ‘compact growth’ approach to the form and pattern of future development. The National Planning Framework recognises that continued investment in Dublin and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Legislative Programme (15 Feb 2024)

Kieran O'Donnell: The Government Legislation Programme for the Spring 2024 Session was published on 16 January. As set out in the Legislation Programme, my Department has three priority Bills for publication, namely: The Land Value Sharing Bill: the aim of which is to permit the State to secure a proportion of the uplift in land values resulting from zoning and designation to facilitate provision of...