Results 1,481-1,500 of 9,065 for speaker:James Browne

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Staff (11 Jun 2025)

James Browne: From time to time my Department engages Consultants/Consultancy bodies. My Department does not have visibility on all of the staffing of such bodies including whether retired officials may be engaged within those bodies and therefore does not hold information on whether retired officials are re-engaged as consultants or as part of consultancy contracts. However, in tendering and putting...

Vacant Council Housing: Motion [Private Members] (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: Vótáil.

Vacant Council Housing: Motion [Private Members] (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: I thank all Members for their contributions. I echo the comments made by the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, and reassert this Government's commitment to tackling the challenges in the housing sector. I will highlight the steps being taken by the Government to minimise vacancy and to ensure strategic and informed programmes of planned maintenance work for local authority housing are...

Vacant Council Housing: Motion [Private Members] (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: -----submitted by a local authority does not exclude €11,000. In addition, and where turnaround times are not impacted, local authorities can also complete the suite of works applicable to the energy efficiency retrofit programme on a vacant dwelling with additional funding up to a maximum of €48,850. There is evidence to suggest, however, that while re-letting costs are...

Vacant Council Housing: Motion [Private Members] (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: It did not have the money to put in stairs.

Vacant Council Housing: Motion [Private Members] (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: It did not have the money to put in stairs. Is the Deputy having a laugh? This is the problem. The local authority should be putting in those stairs.

Vacant Council Housing: Motion [Private Members] (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: The Deputy should think about what he is saying. These voids should not be there. The local authorities have the ability and wherewithal to resolve the issue.

Vacant Council Housing: Motion [Private Members] (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: The Government has in the past given them the money to do so. The funding available from my Department under the planned maintenance voids programme is available to support minimal turnaround times, with all local authorities moving to a position of aligning works with the criteria of the relevant regulations and meeting their legal obligations as a landlord. This will limit the impact of...

Vacant Council Housing: Motion [Private Members] (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: The Deputy comes in and blames the Government for allowing that to happen.

Vacant Council Housing: Motion [Private Members] (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: It is madness and should not be happening. Of course, in line with local authorities' best practice and with regard to rental standards, whether a house is old or has a long-standing tenant in situ, it should be inspected and improvement works carried out at regular intervals to prevent excessive maintenance costs and delay when the property becomes vacant. To that end, my Department and...

Vacant Council Housing: Motion [Private Members] (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: The move to the planned maintenance approach for stock management and maintenance is crucial in this regard to ensure that local authorities can maximise the funding available from relevant stock improvement programmes by only completing the measures applicable with the housing standards for rented housing regulations when a property becomes vacant. Providing cyclical maintenance over the...

Vacant Council Housing: Motion [Private Members] (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: -----provided a maximum average is maintained across the local authority's programme.

Vacant Council Housing: Motion [Private Members] (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: Given the legal responsibility on local authorities with regard to management and maintenance, they play an important role to ensure adequate budgetary provision for the purpose of housing repairs and cyclical maintenance from their rental income. The funding my Department provides is supplementary rather than available to fully replace local authorities' own self-funding. Returning to...

Vacant Council Housing: Motion [Private Members] (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: That is not a Government responsibility but a local authority responsibility.

Vacant Council Housing: Motion [Private Members] (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: We will continue doing everything in our power to minimise turnaround times, as referenced in the programme for Government, with the proposed introduction of a new voids programme to support local authorities to ensure their homes comply with the relevant standards and to provide good comfort levels for their tenants and implement strategic programmes for planned maintenance informed by stock...

Housing: Statements (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: I very much welcome the opportunity to come before the House this evening to speak on housing matters. I take this opportunity to thank all of the Members who contributed this evening to the important, worthwhile and very interesting debate. First, I echo the contributions of the Ministers of State, Deputies O'Sullivan and Cummins, earlier and reassert the Government's commitment and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: Not for existing tenancies.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: Not for existing tenancies.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Flood Risk Management (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: The Planning System and Flood Risk Management Guidelines for Planning Authorities (2009) were prepared jointly by my Department and the OPW and were issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. The Guidelines provide for the incorporation of flood risk identification, assessment and management in the planning process. Planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála are...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Water Quality (10 Jun 2025)

James Browne: The Water Action Plan 2024 published by my Department sets out a roadmap to restore Ireland’s water bodies to ‘good status’ or better and to protect water from any further deterioration. In some instances, water bodies have been physically modified in the past to serve a beneficial specified use to society such as; a drinking water abstraction, a hydroelectric scheme,...