Results 15,581-15,600 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: EU Directives (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: My Department is the competent authority with responsibility for transposing both the EIA and SEA directives. In respect of SEA, there are five designated statutory environmental authorities in Ireland which are my Department, the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Department of Communications, Climate...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Mortgages (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: To the end of Q1 2016, there were a total of 17,696 local authority house purchase loans with a value of €1,028,153,195 outstanding. Over one-quarter (27%) of these loans were in arrears of more than 90 days. My Department publishes a wide range of housing statistics, including the number and value of local authority mortgages and a breakdown of those in arrears by local authority....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Mortgage to Rent Scheme Administration (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 267, 268 and 282 together. The Review of the Mortgage to Rent Scheme for borrowers of commercial private lending institutions published on 8 February 2017, concludes that the current financial model of the scheme may not be capable of delivering the scale of successful cases that could benefit from the scheme over time. Currently, the MTR scheme relies on...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: National Planning Framework (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: The National Planning Framework, titled Ireland 2040 - Our Plan, will set a new strategic planning and development framework for the co-ordination of a range of national, regional and local authority policies and activities, planning and investment including new Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies (RSES) to be prepared by the three Regional Assemblies established under the Local...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: National Planning Framework (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: The initial public consultation phase of the National Planning Framework process is underway until 16 March next.  The NPF will be a high level, long term spatial framework that will cover the period to 2040.  The output of the consultation phase, together with consideration of the full Census 2016 results in April, will feed into a draft National Planning Framework document, to be...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: The policy of Sustainable Communities, that is encouraging the provision of a choice of house type, size and tenure within a single neighbourhood - referred to as the “sustainable neighbourhood” - has been Government policy since 2007. Its objective is to avoid the significant effects of social isolation and limiting of opportunities that can occur with large mono - tenure...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: As the Deputy will be aware, I announced stage 1 funding approval of €17,859,976 for Dublin City Council to progress the delivery of 56 Social Housing dwellings at the site concerned last December. These dwellings benefit from an existing approval under the Planning Acts for 110 social and affordable units on a portion of the site. This is the first phase of a mixed tenure...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Maintenance (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock, including heating systems and the achievement of energy efficiency, is a matter for each relevant local authority, and it is open to each authority to address maintenance or improvements to their housing stock from within their own resources. My Department operates certain funding programmes to support local authorities in the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Shared Ownership Scheme (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 276 and 277 together. My Department, together with the Housing Agency, the Housing Finance Agency and local authorities, has considered the affordability issues facing some borrowers who purchased properties under the Shared Ownership (SO) schemes and devised a more affordable long-term path towards full home ownership. Indeed, a range of measures have already...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Wind Energy Guidelines (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: I understand that the legal case referred to is still before the Courts in relation to the determination of costs and damages and therefore it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the matter, including in relation to any possible implications for the review of the 2006 Wind Energy Guidelines. Pending the finalisation of the review of the 2006 Guidelines, the existing Guidelines...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Wastewater Treatment (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the environmental regulator responsible for the licensing, authorisation and enforcement of urban waste water discharges consistent with the requirements of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive which sets out requirements for the collection, treatment and discharge of urban waste water, with the objective of protecting the environment from the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Information and Communications Technology (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: My Department’s Geographic Information Systems use An Post’s GeoDirectory address database which now contains Eircodes. Modifying the existing address search software to include Eircodes incurs a cost of €2,240.00 (ex Vat) per annum. This functionality is intended to be available in the next release of the MyPlan.ie GIS due by April 2017. Other than MyPlan.ie, there is...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Protected Disclosures (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: I can confirm that I received the correspondence referred to last week and that it is currently being carefully examined, informed by the provisions of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. My Department’s Protected Disclosure Policy, which sets out the general process follows when a confirmed protected disclosure is received, is available online at: .

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Water and Sewerage Schemes Funding (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: Under my Department’s new Multi-annual Rural Water Programme 2016 - 2018 there are six different funding measures. New group water schemes and new group sewerage schemes are addressed by two of the measures, namely: - Measure 3 - Rural development (group water sector): This measure supports social and economic development in rural towns and villages and their hinterlands by...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Deposit Protection Scheme Establishment (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 provides for, among other things, the establishment of a tenancy deposit protection scheme to be operated by the Residential Tenancies Board. Indecon Consultants were originally appointed to carry out the research on the development of a deposit retention scheme and they reported in November 2012. The provisions in the 2015 Act were developed...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: EU Funding (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: My Department currently accesses European Union funding from the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and Horizon 2020. There are plans to seek funding from the Connecting Europe Facility funding instrument and to seek additional funding from the European Social Fund under the Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning (PEIL) 2014-2020 and from Horizon 2020....

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Departmental Funding (21 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: The following funding was made available to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in the years 2015 and 2016, in its role as a member of the Community and Voluntary Pillar. Trade Union/Representative Body Payments made in 2015 Payments made in 2016 ICTU €18,840  €18,840 

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: EU Directives (16 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: The European Union (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2014, as amended, give legal effect in Ireland to the Nitrates Directive and to our Nitrates Action Programme (NAP). The objective of the Regulations is to protect ground and surface waters, including drinking water sources, primarily through the management of livestock manures and other fertilisers. My...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Regeneration Projects (16 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: The Limerick Regeneration Framework Implementation Plan sets out Limerick City and County Council’s approach to demolitions under the Limerick Regeneration programme and is available at the following link: . The implementation of the overall Plan and the demolition schedule is a matter for the Council and my Department does not have records of specific houses yet to be demolished.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government: Tenant Purchase Scheme Eligibility (16 Feb 2017)

Simon Coveney: In line with the commitment in the Programme for a Partnership Governmentand reaffirmed in Rebuilding Ireland – Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness,a review of the first 12 months of operation of the scheme is currently being undertaken by my Department. Any changes to the terms and conditions of the scheme which are considered necessary based on the evidenced gathered will be...