Results 1,581-1,600 of 4,810 for speaker:Malcolm Noonan

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: Consultation is a democratic process.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: No, I am not.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: While it is often difficult to anticipate the time it may take for a Bill to progress through the Oireachtas, the following timelines are provided on the basis that this Bill will be enacted before the summer. It is also important to note that extensive work is currently being carried out, in parallel with the work on this Bill, on the revision of the planning and development regulations....

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: If it is okay, I will deal with that first before moving on to Traveller accommodation and planning. Deputies O’Callaghan and Ó Broin are correct about the need to consider reducing embodied carbon in our built environment. The point about the demolition of buildings was well made. Across Dublin, we routinely see perfectly good buildings that were built in the 1940s or 1950s...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: Maybe I am looking at it differently but I see this as being very democratic. Section 21 states: (2) The Minister shall make provision for public consultation in the review of the National Planning Framework, including arrangements for consulting— (a) members of the Oireachtas, (b) regional assemblies, (c) local authorities, (d) the Commission, (e) the Office of the Planning...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rental Sector (15 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: The Government has developed the cost-rental tenant in situscheme for tenants in private rental homes who are at risk of homelessness because a landlord intends to sell the property but who are not in receipt of social housing supports. The scheme was established on a temporary administrative basis from 1 April 2023 and is managed by the Housing Agency pending further policy development over...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rental Sector (15 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: There are price guidelines for each local authority. I do not have them to hand here. With regard to the number of homes acquired under the cost-rental tenant in situscheme to date, 47 bids have been accepted to the end of quarter 3 of 2023 since the launch of the scheme on 1 April 2023. Those bids will obviously be expected to rise over the coming months.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rental Sector (15 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: They are, yes.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rental Sector (15 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: The guidelines are there and they are consistent with local authority housing purchase. Local authorities do have some discretion with regard to those.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Rental Sector (15 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: That legislation is in preparation at the moment.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Provision (15 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: The Deputy raised the very important point of people who find themselves in difficult situations, whether it is a home being repossessed, marital breakdown or another issue, which can impact on their ability to sustain housing and find affordable housing. The Government is responding to this through Housing for All, the fresh start principles, the local authority home loan scheme and the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Provision (15 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: There needs to be uniformity in the appeals process across the country and I am certain that there is. As I said, our Department carries out an annual review of that with all the constituent local authorities to ensure there is a fair and balanced approach to appeals. However, appeals do work. If people follow due process, the appeals process can work. As I said, there are many...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Provision (15 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 68, 92, 250, 256 and 261 together. Accelerating the delivery of housing is a key priority for Government. Housing for All is the Government’s plan to increase and fast-track the supply of housing, and it is delivering. This continues to break records year on year for the delivery of housing. Almost 33,000, that is, 32,695 new homes were completed...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Septic Tanks (15 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I can provide the Deputy with a table of inspections per county. I do not have it to hand. These are important grants. There are three available. The national inspection grant is available to householders who failed an inspection carried out by a local authority under the national inspection plan and received an advisory notice. The priority area for action grant is available to a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Septic Tanks (15 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I agree wholeheartedly. We will be launching the new water action plan, the third cycle of the river basin management plan. Within that we intend to expand significantly the number of areas for action and high-status objective areas. That will give added support to householders in those catchments. This comes about because of the deteriorating quality of our water and catchments. The...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Septic Tanks (15 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: The expansion of the areas will give the opportunity for more householders to avail of these grants.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Septic Tanks (15 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: Some 165,000 households use septic tanks as their wastewater treatment. The contamination and potential for contamination of groundwater in household wells can be very significant for human health and the environment, particularly for vulnerable groups such as infants, pregnant women and elderly people and people with underlying health conditions, as well as the risk of phosphorous, nitrogen...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (15 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: Cost rental is a new form of tenure which was introduced under the Affordable Housing Act 2021, where rents are set only to cover the cost of financing, building, managing and maintaining the homes. The Housing for All strategy commits to delivering a total of 18,000 Cost Rental homes over the period to 2030, and significant funding is being made available to support provision by Approved...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Schemes (15 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 77 and 79 together. For 2023, Government agreed an increased provision for social housing acquisitions and my Department provided funding for local authorities to acquire at least 1,500 social homes. The additional acquisitions have focused particularly on properties where a tenant is in receipt of social housing supports and has received a Notice of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Referendum Campaigns (15 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 80 and 104 together. Public ownership is a core principle governing the development of water services and the Government has committed to holding a referendum on the ownership of water services. Importantly, the establishment of Uisce Eireann in public ownership is already firmly secured under the Water Services Acts 2007 to 2022. I have previously...