Results 17,461-17,480 of 21,040 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Drainage Schemes Status (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: I thank the Senator. I am aware of the anxiety of those in Bandon. I am quite conscious of the issues. I know the town quite well, as the Senator knows, and this is a real issue. I want to assure the Senator that under no circumstances would Irish Water contemplate putting in place a substandard scheme. Many schemes have been re-examined, such as the Ringsend plant in Dublin where...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Irish Water Funding (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: A key component of the strategy to establish Irish Water is that Irish Water will be classified as a Market Corporation under Eurostat rules and as a result, will not, other than in relation to Government operating subvention, be included in the calculation of the General Government Balance (GGB). The Market Corporation Test is a requirement that income from customers be greater than 50% of...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Assistance Payments (17 Feb 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...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Tax Yield (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: Data on motor tax receipts for 1996 is not readily available. Gross motor tax receipts for Meath were £10,338,934 in 1997 and £11,511,366 in 1998. Details of receipts from 1999 to 2011 are set out in the reply to Question No. 239 of 18 September 2014.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Tribunals of Inquiry Reports (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: The Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments (the Mahon Tribunal) was established in October 1997 and published its Final Report in March 2012. The work of the Tribunal at present is largely focussed on the settlement of the remainder of third party and court costs incurred during the work of the Tribunal. My Department's role is to arrange payment of such fees and...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Tribunals of Inquiry Expenditure (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: Court challenges relating to the withholding or redacting of certain information in witness statements, as well as against certain findings in interim reports of the Planning Tribunal relating to hindrance and obstruction by certain individuals, were initiated by certain parties at various times during the work of the Tribunal. Subsequent Supreme Court judgments found against the practice of...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Property Tax Administration (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: In accordance with the Government 's decision s in relation to local retention of Local Property Tax, my Department has notified Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council of a revised provisional Local Property Tax (LPT) allocation of €34,757,156 for 2015. This allocation takes into account the passing of a resolution by the elected members to vary the basic rate of local property...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Library Services Staff (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: The moratorium on recruitment and promotion in the public service was introduced in March 2009 in response to the financial crisis. My Department operates a delegated sanction from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for implementation of the moratorium in relation to local authorities, and any exceptions to the moratorium in local authorities require sanction from my Department....

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Fire Service Staff (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: Fire services are provided by local authorities in accordance with the provisions of the Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003. Under section 10 of the 1981 Act, a fire authority is required to make provision for the delivery of fire services in its functional area, including the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of premises. In relation to the staffing requirements in each...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Tax Collection (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: All receipts from motor tax are transferred to the Local Government Fund. Gross receipts from motor tax for each licensing authority for the period from 2010 to 2014 are as follows: Carlow Year Gross motor tax receipts (€) 2010 14,598,550 2011 14,422,438 2012 14,873,328 2013 16,258,206 2014 16,686,474 Cavan Year Gross motor tax receipts (€) 2010 15,921,215 2011...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Funding (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: Local Property Tax was introduced to provide an alternative, stable and sustainable funding base for the local authority sector, providing greater levels of connection between local revenue raising and associated expenditure decisions. Given that local authorities vary significantly from one another in terms of size, population, public service demands, infrastructure and income sources, the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Electromagnetic Fields Studies (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: My Department has commissioned a study to review and report on international developments on the potential health effects of electro-magnetic fields emanating from transmission grid infrastructures. The study is examining international developments in non-ionising radiation (NIR) and electromagnetic fields (EMF) research, since publication in 2007 of a report, entitled Health Effects of...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Homelessness Strategy (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: My Department’s role in relation to homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the role of housing authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. The Government’s Homelessness Policy Statement, which was published in February 2013, emphasises a housing-led approach which is about accessing permanent housing...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Register of Electors (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: The latest dates for application to registration authorities for entry in the supplement to the electoral register are advertised by my Department in the main national newspapers as well as on my Department’s website prior to referendums.  These advertisements are normally placed after the polling day order is made. Application for entry in the supplement must be received by...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Rental Accommodation Scheme Data (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: Since the first transfers commenced in late 2005, up to the end of Dec ember 2014, local authorities have transferred a total of 51,757 households from Rent Supplement (RS) to RAS and other social housing supports. Of these, 30,511 were housed directly under RAS and a further 21,246 were accommodated under other social housing options. The cumulative numbers transferred on 1 April of the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Data (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: My Department publishes a wide range of housing and planning statistics, including data on social and private housing output and sales to local authority tenants, broken down by year. Data relating to private and social housing output are available on my Department's website at: , by clicking “the House Completions 1970 to date” tab. Data relating to sale of units can be found...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Meters Installation (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: Irish Water is responsible for all aspects of the domestic metering programme. I understand that there are approximately 1,300 direct jobs sustained through the metering programme and approximately 84% of these jobs have been obtained by those in one of three 'social inclusion' categories (unemployed 21%; employees of SMEs 53%; graduates/school leavers/apprentices 10%), exceeding the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Septic Tank Inspections (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: Local authorities carry out inspections of septic tanks and similar systems for a variety of reasons, including water quality issues at drinking water sources or within designated shellfish or bathing water catchments and arising from reports of pollution from members of the public. Separately, inspections are carried out based on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Wind Energy Generation (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: Proposals for the location of individual wind energy developments to maximise productivity are a matter for the relevant developer taking into account several criteria including connectivity to the national grid. When considering individual planning applications for such developments and the appropriateness of their location, planning authorities, including An Bord Pleanála where...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing (17 Feb 2015)

Alan Kelly: Last year, exchequer funding of over €37 million was provided for the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability. I am pleased to be in a position to increase that funding by some 10% in 2015 to €40.4 million; individual allocations to local authorities will be made shortly. Through careful management of my Department's housing budget in 2014,...