Results 16,281-16,300 of 25,999 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Water and Sewerage Schemes (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: Section 70B(13) of the Water Services Act 2007 (No. 30 of 2007), as inserted by Section 4 of the Water Services (Amendment) Act 2012 (No. 2 of 2012), and the Domestic Waste Water Treatment System (Registration) Regulations 2012 (No. 222 of 2012)provide that all owners of houses served by an individual domestic waste water treatment system, have the system entered into the register maintained...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Grant Payments (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: Under the Water Services Acts 2007 and 2012 (Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems) Regulations 2012, the owner of a domestic waste water treatment system is responsible for its maintenance and renewal and shall ensure that its parts and components are fit for purpose, operational where appropriate and kept in good order and repair so as to prevent a risk to human health or environment. ...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Hare Coursing (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 331 and 358 together. On 16 September last my Department issued licenses under the Wildlife Acts to the Irish Coursing Club on behalf of its affiliated clubs to net and tag hares for the forthcoming 2020/2021 coursing season.

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Local Authority Housing (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: There are over 135,000 social housing homes nationally in the ownership of local authorities. My Department has been funding an Energy Efficiency Retrofitting Programme for these properties since 2013. The Programme has two phases: Phase 1, which comprises the bulk of the work undertaken to date, has focused on the lower cost improvements such as cavity wall and attic insulation, while...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Building Regulations (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: New buildings and extensions or material alterations to existing buildings must comply with the legal minimum performance standards set out in the Building Regulations 1997 - 2019. In this context, the Building Regulations (Part M Amendment) Regulations 2010, and the accompanying Technical Guidance Document M – Access and Use (2010), which came into effect on 1 January 2012, set out...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Mica Redress Scheme (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The regulations for the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme came in to operation on 31 January 2020. The Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks in Construction (Remediation) (Financial Assistance) Regulations 2020 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...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Housing Assistance Payment (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme (SHCEP) supports the delivery of social housing by providing financial support to local authorities for the long term leasing of houses and apartments from private owners, developers and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs). Details on SHCEP expenditure for the years 2015-2019, broken down by local authority, and the number of SHCEP agreements...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Planning Issues (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The provisions in relation to proposed local authority "own development" projects - commonly referred to as Part 8 projects - are provided for in Section 179 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended (the Act) and Part 8 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended (the Regulations). Under these provisions, a planning authority is required to advertise its...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Capital Assistance Scheme (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 337 and 338 together. Under my Department’s Capital Assistance Scheme (CAS), capital funding of up to 100% of project costs may be advanced by local authorities to Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) to provide housing for specific categories of housing need, including for older people, people with a disability and people who are homeless. CAS funding...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Flood Prevention Measures (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: My role and responsibilities as Minister do not extend to the maintenance, clearance, or dredging of rivers, in the context of recent storm events, or otherwise. I understand that the Office of Public Works is the statutory body responsible for Drainage Maintenance on water bodies where capital works have been carried out under the Arterial Drainage Acts 1945 and 1995; and for flood risk...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Water and Sewerage Schemes (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: Under the Housing (Private Water Supply Financial Assistance) Regulations 2020, the grant scheme to support improvement works for a private water supply has been revised. The purpose of the grant is to assist householders dependent on a private water supply (individual well) for their household use, by financially assisting them where they incur capital expenditure, to carry out...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Environmental Policy (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The Preservation Order was originally placed on the lands in question to secure the protection of late prehistoric to early medieval archaeological features, in particular burials, which were in danger from quarrying. With the co-operation and funding of the landowner, those archaeological features have been archaeologically excavated and recorded. The landowner has requested that the...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Environmental Impact Assessments (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: I understand the Question refers to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) preliminary ruling of 9 September 2020 in case C-254/19 that a decision to extend the period originally set for the construction of a liquefied natural gas regasification terminal must be considered an agreement of a project under Article 6(3) of Council Directive 92/43/EEC (the Habitats Directive) where the...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Housing Assistance Payment (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: Despite the challenges faced throughout the period of the Covid emergency measures, local authorities and the Housing Assistance Payment Shared Service Centre (HAPSSC) have continued to provide a critical service to all HAP customers. This is evident in the high number of HAP tenancies that continued to be set-up this year. The 2020 HAP target is for 15,750 additional tenancies and, at the...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Home Loan Scheme (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan Scheme enables credit-worthy first-time buyers to access sustainable mortgage lending to purchase new or second-hand properties in a suitable price range, where they cannot obtain sufficient mortgage finance from a commercial lender. As a requirement of the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan applicants must be first time buyers. This is to ensure the effective...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Housing Policy (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The provisions for affordable housing made available by or though housing authorities are contained in Part 5 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, which was commenced in June 2018. Under Part 5, an affordable dwelling purchase arrangement will normally only be available to a household where the household, or any household member, has not previously purchased or built a...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Departmental Reviews (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme which came into operation on 1 January 2016 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 for at...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Departmental Reviews (22 Sep 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 Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Electoral Commission (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: I am committed to maximising the number of young people voting and engagement with our democratic processes. Several initiatives are either in place or in development in order to achieve this aim. Firstly, my Department promotes greater awareness of the register of electors and encourages people to register to vote through an annual public awareness campaign. This entails the use of...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Electoral Commission (22 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: Local authorities in their capacity as registration authorities are responsible for the compilation and maintenance of the register of electors in their areas. It is their duty, as far as possible, and with the co-operation and engagement of the public, to ensure the accuracy and comprehensiveness of that register.The current process provides a number of opportunities to register or update...