Results 1,501-1,520 of 7,983 for speaker:Peter Burke

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Policy (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: There will be a strong policy in the draft guidelines to bring derelict and older properties back into use. I understand and appreciate the circumstances that Deputy Colm Burke is referring to and the challenges that people have in bringing those properties back into use. There do not need to be any impediments to doing that. As I said, one environmental assessment was completed yesterday...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Planning Issues (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: I thank Deputy Connolly for her question. The interdepartmental group, comprising officials from my Department, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, and Údarás na Gaeltachta, is in place to support and accelerate the ongoing work on planning guidelines in Gaeltacht areas. A key aim of the interdepartmental group is to ensure that procedures and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Planning Issues (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: To be clear, there is no confusion here. Much work has gone on. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, met Conradh na Gaeilge recently, which is central to this. I have met Gaeltacht communities across the country. In response to that, to underwrite, secure and ensure consistent and sustainable planning in our Gaeltacht areas, these guidelines are specific to Gaeltacht areas. They will be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Planning Issues (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: It is important to correct Deputy Connolly and say that the guidelines physically exist. They have to be screened as part of appropriate assessment before they can be published. That is part of the environmental process.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Planning Issues (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: Absolutely. We hope to publish the guidelines in January.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Policy (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 75 together. Updated rural housing planning guidelines are currently being prepared by my Department. The updated guidelines will expand on the high level spatial planning policy of the national planning framework, especially on national planning objective 19, which relates to rural housing. The objective makes a clear policy distinction between...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Policy (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: In the first instance, we just got news yesterday that the ecological assessment unit, EAU, within the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has decided a determination is not needed and the guidelines are screened out for an appropriate assessment. They will have to go on public consultation. We have to put them on public display whereby the public and members of the various...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authorities (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: The review is a very important mechanism to ensure we have equity throughout the network of 31 local authorities. What is key is the way the Government has intervened this year, in very challenging circumstances, to support local authorities via several funding streams, such as the energy support grant, which has assisted them in completing their budget, and the pay model, through which pay...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authorities (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: A large proportion, around €287 million, goes towards pay agreements and assisting local authorities in meeting those commitments. The Department is also doing a separate piece of work with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the local authority network to try to get to the bottom of the funding refunds. An estimate in the local authority system of how much pay will...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authorities (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: Absolutely.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authorities (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: I thank Deputy McAuliffe for his question. I acknowledge that all 31 local authorities have passed their budgets. This is a huge achievement by the sector in very challenging circumstances. We continue to support them in doing this. Local property tax was introduced to provide a stable and sustainable funding base for the local authority sector, providing greater levels of connection...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regulatory Bodies (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: I cannot comment on specific cases but on the broad policy, the RTB has its budget, which has been increased significantly, and it has staff. It also has a panel of solicitors which it can deal with to support tenants in the District Court. It has almost €1 million of a budget to deal with that specifically and it takes 400 cases in that regard every single year. The law is strong...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regulatory Bodies (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: First, on complying with the law, a landlord is required to register a tenancy within one month of it commencing.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regulatory Bodies (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: Second, a landlord is required to register it every year. It is the same for every other organisation that pursues individuals through the courts. The power is there under the Act to follow and pursue individuals for non-compliance. The RTB, like any other body or arm of the State, should be doing that. We will follow up on the Deputy's specific example and I will talk to the Minister...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regulatory Bodies (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: The RTB was established as a quasi-judicial, independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2022 to operate a national tenancy registration system and to facilitate the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants. A dispute may be referred to the RTB under Part 6 of the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2022. Information is available on with regard to the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Issues (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7, 16, 17 and 33 together. The Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation is progressing in line with timeline set out by the Office of the Attorney General, who is leading on the project and it is expected that the draft Bill will be brought to Government in the coming weeks. Intensive engagement between the working group, the Department and other...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: There are no specific statutory powers under the Local Government Act 2001 for the issuing of guidelines to local authorities on relations with the media. It is my understanding that no such guidelines on advertising and publicity are currently in place for Government Departments or other public bodies. Careful consideration would therefore be needed as to how any such guidelines, if...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 24 together. The funding system that applies to local authorities in Ireland is a complex one, as those authorities derive their income from a variety of sources including commercial rates, charges for goods and services and funding from Central Government, including my Department but also other government departments and state bodies. Across all...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Government Reform (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: The General Scheme of the Local Government (Maternity Protection and Other Measures for Local Authority Elected Members) Bill 2022 was approved by Government on 27 July 2022 and is published on the Government website at. The General Scheme of the Bill was before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage for pre-legislative scrutiny on 22 September 2022 and I...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Wind Energy Guidelines (1 Dec 2022)

Peter Burke: My Department is currently undertaking a focused review of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines. The review is addressing a number of key aspects including noise, setback distance, shadow flicker, community obligation, community dividend and grid connections. Guidance on the noise aspect is currently being finalised by my Department in conjunction with the Department of...