Results 16,361-16,380 of 25,999 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

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

Darragh O'Brien: My role, as Minister, in relation to the planning system is primarily to provide and update the legislative and policy guidance framework. The legislative framework comprises the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, (the Act) and the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended.  With regard to policy guidance, my Department has issued a large number of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Covid-19 Pandemic (10 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The Property Registration Authority is currently operating a high level of service. Applications for registration can be lodged as usual through the post or DX and are being processed in order of priority.  Urgent applications are being processed expeditiously upon request, on a case by case basis.  For the month of August 2020, intake was 16,818 transactions with 15,461...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Lease Agreements (10 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: It is a matter for Local authorities to provide and maintain housing in their area. They assess the housing needs for the area and build, buy and lease dwellings as appropriate to meet that need. In the case referenced, the information requested would be more appropriately addressed to Kildare County Council. While my Department provides financial support to local authorities for housing...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Lease Agreements (10 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: In 2019, 1,161 homes were delivered under the Social Housing Leasing Programme and, of those, 812 were delivered by the relevant local authority and 349 by an approved housing body. A breakdown of leasing delivery in 2019, by location and entity, is set out in Table 1 below. Leasing delivery data for 2020 is being collated at present and will be published on my Department's website...

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

Darragh O'Brien: My Department publishes comprehensive 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: . Acquisition information for each year of Rebuilding Ireland can be found at the following link:...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Regeneration Projects (10 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The final date for the submission of applications under Call 2 was the 29th May.  A large number of proposals were received, with every local authority submitting at least one application for URDF support.  Because of the nature of the URDF programme the proposals are very complex, and each will require detailed assessment.  The assessment process will take place over the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: National Monuments (10 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The recommendation of the outgoing Moore Street Advisory Group that it should be reconfigured to continue its work as a smaller, more focused body, was accepted by the Minister at the time. The outgoing chair was reappointed to lead the next phase and membership nominations were requested from constituent organisations, including relatives’ groups, the Oireachtas and Dublin City...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Tenant Purchase Scheme (10 Sep 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...

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

Darragh O'Brien: I have recently approved a once off, exceptional allocation of €1m for Galway County Council. This is not emergency funding but rather, is linked to the operation of municipal districts and is subject to a small number of requirements, including that the funding be divided equally among the municipal districts. My Department will set out the details of these requirements in...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Property Tax (10 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: As with all taxation matters, responsibility for Local Property Tax (LPT), including the structure and basic rate of the tax, rests with the Minister for Finance. Notwithstanding that, as LPT replaced general purpose funding to local authorities in 2015, I am responsible for LPT allocations to local authorities. I can confirm that the LPT allocation process for 2021 is unchanged from...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Residential Tenancies Board (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: My Department does not hold or collate the information referred to in the Question. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) which was established as an independent statutory body under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2020, operates a national tenancy registration system and to facilitate the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants. The Clerk of the Dáil requested that...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Tenant Purchase Scheme (9 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...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Housing Data (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 125 and 126 together. Cost information on the delivery of social homes through the local authority construction and turnkey programmes is collated by my Department at development level rather than at granular individual housing unit level. Disaggregating such development level information into individual unit costs, across all of the various types of...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Approved Housing Bodies (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 127 and 128 together. Following engagement with the Credit Union sector on proposals for credit unions to provide funding for the provision of social housing, the Central Bank undertook a review of the relevant investment framework in 2017. On foot of this review, revised Regulations commenced on 1 March 2018. The revised Regulations included the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Approved Housing Bodies (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: In April 2018 the Department of Finance published the Stability Programme Update for 2018 which was the first set of fiscal projections produced by that Department to incorporate the CSO decision to reclassify the majority of Tier 3 Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) as part of the local government sector. This was an important first step in the Government's assessment as to the impact of the...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Irish Water (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The Programme for Government provides that the Government will retain Irish Water in public ownership as a national, standalone, regulated utility. In this context, in September 2018, the Director General of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) reported on a process of engagement, undertaken with the parties involved in the water sector transformation programme, including ICTU and...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homeless Persons Data (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: Tragically, there were a number of deaths during the summer involving people accessing homeless services. Our sympathies go to the families who have lost loved ones in this way and indeed to the dedicated service providers that have also suffered the loss. Supporting households experiencing homelessness is a priority for this Government. The Programme for Government recognises that many...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Homelessness Strategy (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: I have established a Homelessness Task Force, to provide a forum for engagement with key organisations working to address homelessness and to provide input on the implementation of the commitments on homelessness in the Programme for Government. The Group met on three occasions in July, with the next meeting scheduled for 14 September. Notes of the meetings can be provided on request.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authority Funding (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: In 2019, €1.4bn was collected in rates from all 31 local authorities, an average collection rate of 86.6%. This collection rate is in line with the annual trends across the local government sector and does not reflect a funding shortfall.Similarly, as per unaudited 2019 figures, 30 of the 31 local authorities had a budget surplus in 2019, a continuing trend from 2018 and a marked...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Functions (9 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The Heritage Division of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is transferring to my Department. The transfer will take place in two stages, with the first stage due to take place on 9 September 2020. There are linkages between some of my Department's existing legislation, for example on the planning side, and some of the transferring heritage functions which will need...