Results 15,761-15,780 of 25,999 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Home Loan Scheme (11 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: Local authorities offer fixed-rate annuity finance to eligible Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan (RIHL) borrowers at rates of 2.745% and 2.995% per annum, for twenty five and thirty years respectively. There is an additional mortgage protection insurance premium of 0.555%. The 2.745% (2.995%) interest charged to RIHL borrowers can be broken down as follows: - Local authorities borrow from...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Home Loan Scheme (11 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department publishes quarterly statistics on local authority mortgage arrears on its website on the following link: , which shows data up to 30 June 2020. This dataset provides information on arrears on all local authority mortgage lending, including the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan (RIHL). Separately, the Department collects information on arrears on the RIHL. Provisional data for 31...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing (11 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 97 and 98 together. In Budget 2021, the total funding being made available for the delivery of housing programmes was €3.3 billion. From this sum, €468 million will be specifically provided to support housing affordability measures. This includes the Serviced Sites Fund, the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund, the Rebuilding Ireland...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (11 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: National Policy Objective 37 of the National Planning Framework requires that each local authority should undertake a "Housing Need and Demand Assessment" for their area. This will be important in estimating likely future housing need across tenures, including social housing need. Work on the development of the HNDA process is ongoing in my Department. Research on population projections...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (11 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The 2005 Sustainable Rural Housing Guidelines are framed in the context of the National Spatial Strategy (NSS) 2002. Given the superseding of the NSS by the National Planning Framework in 2018, together with the need to address the potential implications of the 2013 European Court of Justice ruling in the "Flemish Decree" case, there is now merit in updating the Sustainable Rural Housing...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Policy (11 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: Further to finalisation of three three Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies between June 2019 and January 2020, review of City and County Development Plans has commenced in many local authorities, overseen for the first time by the Office of the Planning Regulator. The process of alignment between plans will continue into 2021 and when complete, will be the first time that there is an...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Expenditure (11 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 102 and 108 together. The Office of Public Works provides accommodation for Government Services and manages a significant proportion of the State’s property portfolio. No part of my Department rents office accommodation from the company named. The information requested in relation to bodies under the aegis of my Department is a matter for the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Irish Water (11 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: Since 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. The day-to-day operation of the public water system, including the leakage reduction programme, is therefore a matter for Irish Water and I have no function in relation to this matter. Additional capital funding...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: An Bord Pleanála (11 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department engages with An Bord Pleanála on an ongoing basis to ensure that it has the appropriate resources to perform its broad range of functions which includes planning appeals, strategic infrastructure and strategic housing development planning applications, vacant site levy appeals and other matters which are submitted for determination under Planning and Development, Water...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing (11 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority, in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended. The 2011 Regulations prescribe maximum net income limits for each local authority, in different bands...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing (11 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority, in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended. The 2011 Regulations prescribe maximum net income limits for each local authority, in different bands...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (11 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: As an initiative of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund (LIHAF) was primarily designed to support housing supply by funding the provision of public off-site infrastructure to relieve critical infrastructure blockages and enable housing developments to be built on key sites at scale. 30 projects received final LIHAF...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Livestock Issues (10 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters Regulations, SI 605 of 2017, as amended, provide for controls on the application to land of nutrients from agricultural sources to ensure the protection of water quality in any adjacent surface water or groundwater bodies. The Regulations do not provide for discretionary exemptions from these controls. The recent announcement of the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Provision (10 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: In Budget 2021, the total funding being made available for the delivery of housing programmes is €3.3bn. This includes funding to deliver 12,750 social homes through build, acquisition and leasing. A major focus of this investment is the delivery of new build, with an overall target of 9,500 new homes. The build target includes the delivery of 5,250 new homes by local authorities,...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Reports (10 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 370 and 374 together. Section 5.0 of Sustainable Urban Housing: Design Standards for New Apartments Guidelines for Planning Authorities, published by my Department in 2018, provide guidance and policy in respect of ‘Shared Accommodation Developments’, also known as ‘Co-living’. I have been clear in my intention to review the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing (10 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department publishes comprehensive programme level statistics on a quarterly basis on all social housing delivery activity under Rebuilding Ireland. This is published on the statistics page of my Department’s website, at the following link: In addition to the statistical overview of activity in each local authority, a detailed Social Housing Construction Status Report is published...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Housing (10 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The right of local authorities to set and collect rents on their dwellings is laid down in section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. The making or amending of a rent scheme is an executive function. The process can be subject to the influence of elected members through the local authorities annual estimates process. The Programme for Government commits to bringing forward a package of social...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Flood Risk Management (10 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The Office of Public Works (OPW) is the lead organisation for flood risk management in Ireland. The OPW has set out in Flood Plans how that flood risk is to be managed through investment in flood relief schemes and other policy measures. The Flood Plans detail the flood risk and proposed feasible flood risk management measures for 300 areas of significant flood risk throughout the country. My...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Tenant Purchase Scheme (10 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme came into operation on 1 January 2016. The Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme. To be eligible, tenants must meet certain criteria, including having a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum and having been in receipt of social housing support...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Mica Redress Scheme (10 Nov 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme is underpinned by regulations made under Sections 2 and 5 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1979, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, to provide for a grant scheme of financial assistance to support affected homeowners in the counties of Donegal and Mayo to carry out the necessary remediation works to...