Results 15,001-15,020 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Commercial Rates (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: A harmonisation process is under way. It is happening on a county-by-county basis. The Valuation Office is carrying out the work. Some counties are still two years' away from the process while others have had it carried out. I think the revaluation process is currently being carried out in County Kildare. Any time there are rates revaluations, it causes quite a lot of strife because some...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Commercial Rates (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: It is. That is why we need a new Bill. Vacant properties and the rates that should apply to them are dealt with in the Bill. We will have an opportunity to tease it out in the committee. I will happily take on sensible suggestions in order to get the legislation right. I hope we will be able to start the process soon. I will bring the Bill to Government and I presume it will then go for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Commercial Rates (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: I am happy to facilitate that if it is helpful.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: For the record, house prices are back to where they were in 2002. I accept that prices are increasing at a rate that is not sustainable over a prolonged period but the core response to that must be to dramatically increase supply, in particular where people are looking to buy or rent homes. A chronic undersupply of housing, over a number of years and across all tenures, is at the heart...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Funding (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: In November 2014, my Department submitted potential projects to the Department of Finance in respect of the task force report for the European Fund for Strategic Investment, including the social housing PPP programme. Investment in social housing through the public private partnership, PPP, model is part of a wider plan to accelerate the supply of social housing, and is now reflected in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Funding (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: I agree in principle with the Deputy. A European fund is targeted at investment across the European Union to improve competitiveness and increase economic activity. That is the whole point of the Juncker plan. Ireland has an infrastructural deficit. We have been unable to afford to spend the kind of money that we would like to have spent over the past seven or eight years. The previous...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Funding (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: Whereas I need to be careful about what I say in the context of how we draw down funding, in particular in the context of the European Union fiscal rules because the Ministers for Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance are primarily responsible for that, I can certainly comment on social housing. We are using a series of new approaches to drive delivery. We have already committed...

Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2017: First Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: No.

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: I will happily answer that. The Valuation Office is actually in the Department of Justice and Equality and not in the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. What we are planning to do with this legislation is give local authorities more autonomy and flexibility in terms of how they charge for and collect rates locally depending on business type, geographical...

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: The Minister, Deputy Naughten, and I have had a number of meetings on this. We are close to agreement at this stage. We will hopefully be in a position within the next few weeks to publish draft guidelines. Those guidelines will then undergo a consultation process, which we are required to facilitate under EU law. At the end of that process, we will be able to finalise a new set of wind...

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: I do not have an exact date for that but the report is being handled by the Minister of State, Deputy English, and I understand it will be published shortly. I do not have an exact date but I can come back to the Deputy on that.

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: As I have said many times in the House, the scheme introduced last year was a pilot with a new approach. We said we would review it at the end of a year and that review is being finalised. As soon as the review is complete, we will implement the recommendations in the context of any scheme.

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy will see that within weeks.

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: We will bring the legislation to which Deputy Lisa Chambers referred to government in the next two or three weeks, certainly before the end of the month.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Wind Energy Guidelines (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 37 and 50 together. The Wind Energy Development Guidelines 2006 do not provide for a mandatory minimum setback distance between wind turbines and residential dwellings.  However, in the context of, and in addition to, noise limits, they indicate an advisory minimum setback distance of 500m to protect residential dwellings in noise sensitive...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Emergency Accommodation Provision (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 and 21 together. The target set in Rebuilding Ireland, that by mid-2017 hotels will only be used in limited circumstances to provide emergency accommodation for families, is necessarily ambitious.  However, I believe that the significant efforts currently being made by local authorities and other key bodies, supported by my...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Wastewater Treatment (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: With effect from 1 January 2014, Irish Water is responsible for delivering public water services. Irish Water is also responsible for water services infrastructure including water supply pipes or drainage pipes extending from a waterworks or wastewater works to the curtilage of a private property.  Under sections 43 and 54 of the Water Services Act 2007, responsibility for...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Local and Community Development Programme (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 63 together. My Department does not currently operate any scheme or programme which would fully fund the construction of a community centre or similar facilities. However, the provision of community facilities and amenities for younger people is addressed within the local authority planning and development process by...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Repair and Leasing Scheme (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: The Repair and Leasing Scheme (RLS) has been developed, under Pillar 5 of Rebuilding Ireland, to assist private property owners and local authorities or Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) to harness the accommodation potential that exists in certain vacant properties across Ireland. The scheme is targeted at owners of vacant properties who cannot afford or access the funding needed to bring their...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Rent Controls (6 Apr 2017)

Simon Coveney: When rent pressure zones were introduced in Dublin and Cork in December last year, only Housing Authority areas could be designated as rent pressure zones because the necessary information on rents was not available to decide whether smaller administrative areas met the criteria for designation.  At that time, I made a commitment that my Department would work...