Results 16,361-16,380 of 20,884 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing (10 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: The State is currently finalising its observations on this complaint and will submit these to the European Committee of Social Rights by 29 June, the deadline set by the Committee. All submissions are made available on the ECSR’s website:

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Data (10 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: My Department collates and publishes a wide range of housing and planning statistics that inform the preparation and evaluation of policy. It includes data on the total number of units built (incorporating private, local authority and AHB contributions), broken down by year and house type, and those data are available on my Department’s website at: by clicking “Mthly house...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Shared Ownership Scheme (10 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: My Department, with the assistance of the Housing Agency, the Housing Finance Agency and the Local Authority Housing Loans Management Group, is currently reviewing the operation of the Shared Ownership Scheme for existing borrowers. The objective is to seek to address, where appropriate, any difficulties arising for some shared ownership borrowers. I expect the review will be finalised...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Data (10 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: My Department collates and publishes a wide range of housing statistics that inform the preparation and evaluation of housing policy and those data are available on my Department’s website. Data relating to household tenure status are not among that range as they are collected by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) as part of its Census work. The results of the 2011 Census are...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Tenant Purchase Scheme Administration (10 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: Part 3 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 provides for a new scheme for the tenant purchase of existing local authority houses along incremental purchase lines. The Government’s Social Housing Strategy 2020includes a commitment to make the Regulations necessary for its introduction, in the second quarter of 2015, which will set out the full details of the new scheme. It...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (10 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: My Department does not collect the information requested by the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Grant Applications (10 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: Support provided by my Department in respect of refurbishment or adaptations to houses are primarily in respect of social housing. In the case of private houses, the main programme of support funded by my Department is via the local authorities and is focussed on house adaptations for older people and people with a disability. The suite of grants under Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (10 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: The interpretation and application of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, including the enforcement provisions of the Act, is a matter for the relevant planning authority in the first instance, and may ultimately be a matter for the Courts. I am not in a position to comment on the application of the planning law in individual cases. In this regard, I am specifically...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Wind Energy Guidelines (10 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: In December 2013, my Department published proposed “draft” revisions to the noise, setbacks and shadow flicker aspects of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines. These draft revisions proposed: - the setting of a more stringent day and night noise limit of 40 decibels for future wind energy developments, - a mandatory minimum setback distance of 500 metres between a wind...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Assistance Payments Implementation (10 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: The implementation of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a key Government priority and a major pillar of the Social Housing Strategy 2020, which I published on 26 November 2014. The HAP scheme will bring all social housing supports provided by the State under the aegis of local authorities. The scheme will remove a barrier to employment by allowing recipients to remain in the scheme if...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: This amendment proposes to set out definitions of baselines and baseline years in respect of greenhouse gas emissions with a view to more wide-ranging amendments in sections 3 and 4 of the Bill. I will reserve my principal observations on the more wide-ranging amendments until later in the debate. As I do not agree with the proposed large-scale amendments to section 3, I consider this...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: I thank the Deputies who tabled the amendment, Deputies Barry Cowen and Catherine Murphy, and their substitutes, Deputies Charlie McConalogue and Mick Wallace, who are proposing it, to include a reference to "climate justice" when the Government is considering for approval a national mitigation plan or a national adaptation framework. Few, if any of us, doubt the validity of the concept of...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: The concept is not the issue, as we all subscribe to it. I am knowledgeable in this area and accept the spirit of the loose term. The issue is how it can be defined in law. We must be careful about inserting something into Irish legislation without having a clear definition. This is a major issue. We must ask whether it would have knock-on effects or unintended consequences down the line...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: We did not seek legal advice from the Attorney General, but I will do so, if necessary. Our legal advice from within the Department was clear.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: I will speak on amendments Nos. 10 and 11 together. Amendment No. 9 has been ruled out of order and while Deputies are welcome to submit another version of that amendment on Report Stage, amendments Nos. 9, 10 and 11 all pull together. In practical terms, with amendment No. 9 having been ruled out of order, the provisions in amendments Nos. 10 and 11 do not add up. I say this genuinely. As...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: In fairness, it is not in my hands. It is the Bills Office-----

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: I shall respond directly to a number of the comments made which I have taken on board. Obviously, we have our national climate change policy which commits us to having an 80% decarbonised economy by 2050 and carbon neutrality in agriculture. We also have our 2020 targets for greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, we do have targets. I have said what I have said about the targets being set...

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: I apologise to the Deputy. I did not write down his question. With regard to the mechanism he mentioned, I do not have any issue with it in principle.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: No. I do not believe that is fair.

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Jun 2015)

Alan Kelly: In general, it is a process that often occurs. Of course, it can be done.