Results 17,161-17,180 of 26,886 for speaker:Darragh O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Property Tax (23 Sep 2020)

Darragh O'Brien: The Programme for Government – Our Shared Future, sets out a range of actions that relate to local authority funding. The Programme commits to bringing forward legislation for the Local Property Tax (LPT) on the basis of fairness and that most homeowners will face no increase. It also states that those counties with a lower LPT base will be adjusted via an annual national equalisation...

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

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides financial support for the protection of heritage buildings and historic structures through two grant schemes, which are, in the main, administered by the Local Authorities. These are the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) and the Historic Structures Fund (HSF). Both schemes are run on an annual funding cycle and, in general, all funds must be drawn down and claimed...

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

Darragh O'Brien: I propose to take Questions Nos. 322 and 328 together. Local authorities are under a statutory obligation to levy rates on any property used for commercial purposes in accordance with the details entered in the valuation lists prepared by the independent Commissioner of Valuation under the Valuation Acts 2001 to 2015. The levying and collection of rates are matters for each individual...

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

Darragh O'Brien: There are no specific criteria for anaerobic and biogas systems facilities under the planning code and it is a matter for planning authorities or An Bord Pleanala, as appropriate, to assess applications for such projects in line with the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended (the Act), and the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended. I am aware that the Irish Bioenergy...

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

Darragh O'Brien: In November 2019, funding of €5m was awarded under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund to Waterways Ireland and its partners, Kildare and Laois County Councils to progress the Barrow Blueway from Lowtown to Athy. Waterways Ireland commenced construction of the Barrow Blueway in early August 2020. The construction work is being undertaken by Waterways Ireland’s direct...

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

Darragh O'Brien: My Department provides financial support for the protection of heritage buildings and historic structures through two grant schemes which are, in the main, administered by the local authorities. These are the Built Heritage Investment Scheme (BHIS) and the Historic Structures Fund (HSF). To date, a combined sum of over €4.3m has been allocated to 450 built heritage projects across...

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

Darragh O'Brien: Across the period 2016 to 2021, we are working to meet the housing needs of more than 138,000 additional households. This includes 50,000 long term supports in build, bought or leased homes, being delivered by both local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) and also congoing support under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme and the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS). The...

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...