Results 1,481-1,500 of 4,700 for speaker:Noel Ahern

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (22 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: I refer to the reply to Question No. 266 of 8 February 2007. The position is unchanged.

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (21 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: Under the existing Tenant Purchase Scheme, which has been in operation since 1995, local authority tenants can apply to purchase their dwelling provided they have been a tenant of the local authority for a continuous period of one year. Certain dwelling types, including apartments, are excluded from sale under the current sales scheme. To assist local authority tenants in purchasing their...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (21 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: Perhaps I might say a few words in support of the clause not allowing rent allowance in regeneration areas. I do so on two grounds, as a Deputy for Dublin North-West, which includes Ballymun, and as Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, which allows me a wider view. I thank Deputy Catherine Murphy, whose words explain my thinking. She said...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (21 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: That is what we are saying.

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (21 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: I heard some of the debate on the monitor earlier. Part 5 of the Planning and Development Bill involves social engineering. We try to provide a social mix in whatever building we undertake but even in local authority housing strategies there is no Part 5 in certain areas. There is no Part 5 in Ballymun, for example, because there is already a huge amount of social housing there. The...

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (21 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: Yes, "the area".

Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2007: Report and Final Stages (21 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: When we examined this three or four years ago we were told that would include the existing houses in the area. This scheme developed over recent years but there was disagreement initially over whether the process by which we did it was safe. It has been done with substantial agreement, however, and it is operating. It is needed to give the area a chance to breathe. The Department has...

Written Answers — Care of the Elderly: Care of the Elderly (20 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: My Department operates the Scheme of Community Support for Older People. This Scheme encourages and assists the community's support for older people by means of community based grants to improve the security of its vulnerable older members in their own homes. The Scheme is open to people aged 65 and over who have a genuine need for assistance and is administered by community and voluntary...

Written Answers — Departmental Programmes: Departmental Programmes (20 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: The processing of the approximately 1,300 applications received by my Department under this Programme is ongoing and to date I have announced two tranches of funding. The group referred to by the Deputy is not amongst those so far processed, however, I will be announcing further allocations of funding under this Programme in the coming period and I expect that, following completion of the...

Written Answers — Community Development: Community Development (20 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: Under the 2006 Programme of Grants for Locally Based Community and Voluntary Organisations, my Department received in excess of 1300 applications. The Group to which the Deputy refers was not amongst those Groups whose application was successful. All unsuccessful Groups are notified of the reasons and there is an appeals procedure available. Groups can receive information on this by...

Written Answers — Dormant Accounts Fund: Dormant Accounts Fund (20 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: An application to the Dormant Accounts Fund has been received from the organisation in question. Due to a misunderstanding, there was a delay in processing this application, however, at this stage processing is well advanced. The applicant has been advised of the position.

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (20 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: My Department does not operate any home improvement grant scheme specifically to assist people who suffer from electro-sensitivity. The Disabled Persons Grant Scheme, which is administered by the local authorities, provides grant aid for the provision of additional accommodation or necessary works of adaptation to a dwelling to meet the needs of a disabled member of the household. However,...

Written Answers — Building Regulations: Building Regulations (20 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: Floor Area Compliance Certificates can only be issued once certain standards and conditions are met. Following an inspection of the 27 properties involved on the 6 March 2007, my Department requested the company to complete some outstanding structural works and to submit certain documentation in relation to compliance with fire safety and building standards. The properties were re-inspected...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (20 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 924, 940 and 942 together. Details of the revised housing adaptation grant schemes for older people and people with a disability were announced recently as part of My Department's new housing policy statement Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities. The revised schemes are based on the outcome of the review of the Disabled Persons Grant scheme, which was...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (20 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: There is no general mechanism for transferring from social housing in Northern Ireland to similar housing in this jurisdiction. The acceptance or non-acceptance of housing applicants from outside the functional area of a local authority is a matter solely for the authority concerned. Section 9(5) of the Housing Act 1988 provides that 'a housing authority may, to such extent (if any) as the...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (20 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: There is no provision at present in the voluntary housing schemes for the purchase of individual houses by tenants. However, it was agreed under Housing Policy Framework Building Sustainable Communities that consideration would be given in consultation with the voluntary and co-operative sector, to pilot a tenant purchase scheme for some new voluntary homes under the scheme. The modalities...

Written Answers — Departmental Reports: Departmental Reports (20 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: Last October, the Government appointed Mr. John Fitzgerald, former Dublin City Manager, to lead an initiative to address social exclusion, crime and disorder issues in Moyross, Limerick. Since then Mr. Fitzgerald has been working with existing agencies and community groups to identify immediate actions which can be implemented in Moyross; in particular seeking to overcome any blockages which...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (20 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: I refer to the reply to Question No. 278 of 23 November 2006. I understand from Roscommon County Council that the difficulties experienced by applicants who have bought sites under the low cost sites scheme from obtaining mortgages from certain financial institutions have been resolved.

Written Answers — Local Authority Funding: Local Authority Funding (8 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: Capital funding is available through my Department's Capital Assistance Scheme to approved voluntary housing bodies to provide accommodation to meet special housing needs, such as the elderly, homeless or persons with disabilities. My Department's involvement with the scheme relates primarily to the provision of funds for individual projects. The administration of the scheme, and the...

Written Answers — Housing Statistics: Housing Statistics (8 Mar 2007)

Noel Ahern: Data on the number of houses built by type of dwelling for each year from 1997 to 2005 are published in the Annual Housing Statistics Bulletins, which are available in the Oireachtas library or on the Department's website at www.environ.ie. Since 2005, the type of dwelling classification has changed, and my Department is now provided with the number of individual houses, scheme houses (two or...