Results 17,601-17,620 of 21,040 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Motor Tax Collection (29 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: Motor tax is payable on an annual, half-yearly or quarterly basis. The rates applicable for the half-yearly and quarterly options are 55.5% and 28.25% of the annual charge, respectively. These relativities have remained generally consistent since the 1960s. The differential takes account of the extra workload for staffing in motor tax offices and the National Vehicle and Driver File Unit...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Proposed Legislation (29 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: The Programme for Governmentincludes a commitment to take further steps to address noise pollution, inter alia , through consideration of the introduction of fixed payment notices (also known as on-the-spot fines). The development of new noise legislation by my Department is being considered in the context of this commitment. However, as indicated in the Government’s Legislation...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Mortgage to Rent Scheme Data (29 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: I refer to the reply to Question No. 509 of 27 January 2015 which sets out the position in this matter. A breakdown by local a uthority of the mortgage to rent cases completed under both the Approved Housing Body Mortgage to Rent Scheme (AHB MTR) and the Local Authority Mortgage to Rent Scheme (LA MTR) to date is provided in the table below: Authority AHB-MTR LA-MTR Overall Carlow 3...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Social and Affordable Housing Eligibility (29 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: The primary purpose of social housing support is to assist the provision of suitable accommodation for households who have a housing need but do not have sufficient resources to secure accommodation from their own resources. Section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous) Provisions Act 2009 and associated Regulations empower a housing authority to carry out a social housing assessment in order to...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Ministerial Appointments (29 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: No records have been found in my Department of receiving representations from the Deputy referred to since March 2011 seeking persons to be appointed to positions that fall under the remit of my Department.

Other Questions: Waste Management Regulations (28 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: I thank the Deputy. Flattery will get him everywhere. The Government’s waste policy, A Resource Opportunity - Waste Management Policy in Ireland, was published in July 2012. Among the measures included in the policy document was the establishment of an interdepartmental working group to report to the Government with options to minimise the impact of waste charges on low income...

Other Questions: Waste Management Regulations (28 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: I concur regarding flytipping. It is disgraceful and I agree it is not always done by people from a certain income base. It is a complex issue because of how waste collection services have changed. I have committed to a number of regulatory reforms, of which the Deputy is well aware. July 2015 will be an important month for the household waste collection industry in terms of changes to...

Other Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (28 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: I am slightly bemused by the Deputy's comment. People across the Houses can criticise the social housing strategy if they so wish, but, by and large, the principles around it have been accepted as in terms of our going in the right direction. Considering the Deputy's philosophical background, I found her contribution quite strange. The figures I have are those I have consistently given....

Other Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (28 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: -----which will be next month, as I stated in my initial reply to the question. I have a meeting today on that matter after this business. We will be in a position next month to outline to the House where this funding will go. I am conscious of the pressure areas across the country, which we have heat-mapped. There are areas all over the country that have housing demand but we must deal...

Other Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (28 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: I took this job primarily to deal with the issue of housing because it is something that is quite close to my heart and is one of the largest issues facing this country both from the public and from the private perspective. The work that is going on between my Department, a number of agencies and the local authorities is nearing conclusion. It has taken a period of time. The Deputy must...

Other Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (28 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: Social housing is a key priority for the Government, as is evident in the additional €2.2 billion in funding announced for social housing in budget 2015 and the publication of the Social Housing Strategy 2020 in November 2014. The strategy builds on the provisions contained in budget 2015 and sets out clear, measurable actions and targets to increase the supply of social housing,...

Other Questions: Irish Water Funding (28 Jan 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. The market corporation test is a requirement that income from customers be greater than 50% of...

Other Questions: Irish Water Funding (28 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: I will not engage in speculation on communications between a journalist and Department of Finance officials. I cannot confirm it one way or the other, although I find it very hard to believe. We are engaging with the CSO in terms of providing all the necessary information. We are very confident that it will pass the test. The figure the Deputy quoted is accurate; I think it is 44.38%. We...

Other Questions: Irish Water Funding (28 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: What I said was that I could not confirm what journalists are saying. I do not think any one of us in this House ever can. However, I am not aware of any such process - I would be so aware given my Department's role in this - or of any officials going down the route referred to by the Deputy. Journalists speculate. However, I can state categorically that my Department and the Government...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Homeless Accommodation Provision (28 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: As the Deputy will be aware, Dublin was prioritised and transport services, night cafés etc. were introduced. A number of other changes are also under way. Nevertheless, I share the Deputy's concerns as we both represent the lower midlands. I understand and appreciate that homelessness is a broad issue that does not only affect urban areas, even if the acute problems arise in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Irish Water Funding (28 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: Irish Water is set up in order to ensure that it can invest into the future - that it can have capital to invest on a scale that was not there before. It is a model that is necessary so that we do not have to argue about whether we are going to invest in schools, health care, or water. We need a separate mechanism to be able to fund this. Deputy Murphy is well aware of issues around water...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Irish Water Funding (28 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: There has been an awful lot of analysis of Irish Water, but the way in which it has been set up as a utility means that it now has huge capacity to borrow and invest into the future. Deputy Murphy knows there will be economies and deferred costs in the future as a result of the investments that have been made. It will be possible to prioritise projects. Irish Water is currently in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Homeless Accommodation Provision (28 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: I thank Deputy Cowen for raising this issue. I also commend the Deputies opposite, many of whom participated in this process in a very non-political and open way. Many people outside the House of various political persuasions acted in a similar vein. I want to publicly thank them for that. On 4 December 2014, as everyone is aware, I hosted a special summit on homelessness to reaffirm the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Irish Water Funding (28 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: The establishment of Irish Water is an integral component of the Government’s water sector reform strategy and will lead to lower costs and improved services in the future, providing much better outcomes for customers and the environment. Irish Water is being funded by a combination of domestic and non-domestic water charges, Government subvention and the raising of debt on capital...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Water Charges Yield (28 Jan 2015)

Alan Kelly: The main aspects of the Irish Water funding model are set out in a detailed fact sheet published on my Department’s website. In 2015 Irish Water expects billed income from domestic customers to total €271 million and that from non-domestic customers to total some €229 million, giving a total billed income from customers of €500 million. The estimated annual cost...