Results 1,841-1,860 of 2,386 for speaker:Michael Finneran

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (2 Dec 2008)

Michael Finneran: Under my Department's funding schemes for voluntary and co-operative housing, grants of up to 100% of the approved cost of projects are available for accommodation provided by approved housing bodies. The administration of the schemes, including the processing and appraisal of new applications, the management of the planning and procurement stages of projects and the certification that...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (2 Dec 2008)

Michael Finneran: Responsibility for the operation of the affordable housing schemes is primarily a matter for individual housing authorities. Accordingly, detailed information in relation to the position regarding contracts for sale or other matters in relation to individual affordable homes is not available in my Department. It is a feature of the operation of the schemes that individual authorities would...

Written Answers — Homeless Persons: Homeless Persons (2 Dec 2008)

Michael Finneran: Housing authorities have statutory responsibility for homeless accommodation and other related services and any proposals in this regard are a matter for consideration in the first instance by the relevant housing authority. The housing authority must establish the need for the service and determine the level of emergency/transitional accommodation and related services to be provided, having...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (2 Dec 2008)

Michael Finneran: The Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) is designed to cater for the accommodation needs of persons in receipt of rent supplement who have a long-term housing need. As indicated in the table which follows, in the period to end-October 2008, over 16,400 households eligible for the scheme were transferred from rent supplement to accommodation provided by local authorities, either to RAS directly...

Written Answers — Private Rented Accommodation: Private Rented Accommodation (2 Dec 2008)

Michael Finneran: I have no function in this matter as the operation of tenancy registration is the responsibility of the Private Residential Tenancies Board, an independent statutory body established under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. Since its establishment, the Board has achieved considerable success in the registration of tenancies and I understand that in excess of 240,000 tenancies are now...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (27 Nov 2008)

Michael Finneran: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 21 together. I wish to clarify the position in relation to the targets for social housing and the actual delivery achieved as there seems to be some confusion in this regard. The commitment entered into by the Government under the social partnership agreement, Towards 2016, was to achieve 27,000 social housing "starts" over the three year period 2007...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (27 Nov 2008)

Michael Finneran: As indicated during the debate on Budget 2009, it is important that the ongoing process of correction in the housing market is not artificially interfered with. Given that sentiment in the housing market is heavily dependent on wider sentiment in the economy, the Government's approach is focused on the broader economic fundamentals and ensuring, ultimately, that the housing market is...

Written Answers — Rental Accommodation: Rental Accommodation (27 Nov 2008)

Michael Finneran: The minimum standards for rented accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 1993. These regulations apply to local authority and voluntary housing units as well as private rented accommodation and local authorities have responsibility for the enforcement of the regulations in relation to all properties — local authority, voluntary and private. In...

Written Answers — Rental Accommodation: Rental Accommodation (27 Nov 2008)

Michael Finneran: I propose to take Questions Nos. 23, 37 and 42 together. Minimum standards regulations for rental accommodation are currently prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 1993, made under section 18 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992. These regulations specify requirements in relation to a range of matters, such as structural repair, absence of damp and...

Written Answers — Strategy on Homelessness: Strategy on Homelessness (27 Nov 2008)

Michael Finneran: A new Government strategy on homelessness, The Way Home: A Strategy to Address Adult Homelessness in Ireland 2008 — 2013, was published in August 2008. The strategy builds on the strong progress made under previous homeless strategies and sets out a vision to address adult homelessness over the next five years. The strategy recognises that homelessness involves a complex interplay between...

Written Answers — Rental Accommodation: Rental Accommodation (27 Nov 2008)

Michael Finneran: I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 and 55 together. Details of the inspections of private rented accommodation carried out, the dwellings inspected which did not meet the statutory standards and prosecutions initiated up to 2007 are included in my Department's Annual Housing Statistics Bulletins, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library and on my Department's website at...

Written Answers — Rental Accommodation: Rental Accommodation (27 Nov 2008)

Michael Finneran: I propose to take Questions Nos. 30, 36, 38, 40, 44, 49, 51, 52 and 140 together. Minimum standards for rental accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 1993, made under section 18 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992. All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with these regulations. Failure to...

Written Answers — Rental Accommodation: Rental Accommodation (27 Nov 2008)

Michael Finneran: The registration fees collected by the Private Residential Tenancies Board in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and the number of registrations recorded each year, are set out in the following table. Also included in the table is the number of late registrations and composite fees recorded in 2007. Five sevenths of all registration fees paid to the Board is allocated to support local authorities in...

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (27 Nov 2008)

Michael Finneran: Work is continuing to address the outstanding issues relating to the tenant purchase of local authority apartments. I hope that legislative proposals for a viable apartment sales scheme can be finalised in time for consideration during the Dáil Committee Stage of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008.

Written Answers — Strategy on Homelessness: Strategy on Homelessness (27 Nov 2008)

Michael Finneran: There is no funding application in respect of this project with my Department at present.

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (27 Nov 2008)

Michael Finneran: The various affordable housing schemes assist in achieving the Government objective of enabling every household to have available an affordable dwelling, as far as possible, at the tenure of its choice. This is accomplished by making homes available for purchase by those who, under normal circumstances, cannot afford outright ownership at full market prices. Mortgage finance for affordable...

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (27 Nov 2008)

Michael Finneran: Information on affordable housing activity, up to the end of June 2008, is available on my Department's website at www.environ.ie. Information is also published in my Department's Housing Statistics Bulletins, copies of which are available in the Oireachtas Library.

Written Answers — Social and Affordable Housing: Social and Affordable Housing (27 Nov 2008)

Michael Finneran: We have made considerable progress in recent years in meeting housing needs through the broad range of social and affordable housing programmes. In 2007 alone, the needs of almost 18,300 households were met across the housing spectrum and all the indications available to us at this stage would suggest that 2008 will be another year of significant delivery under the main housing programmes....

Written Answers — Local Authority Housing: Local Authority Housing (27 Nov 2008)

Michael Finneran: The final allocations for the 2009 Social Housing Investment Programme to be announced early next year will take account of the 2008 Housing Needs Assessment to be finalised shortly, and so will appropriately reflect any change in identified needs in the Kildare area.

Social and Affordable Housing. (27 Nov 2008)

Michael Finneran: The overall objective of Government housing policy, as set out in the Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities policy statement published in February 2007, is to enable every household to have available an affordable dwelling of good quality, suited to its needs, in a good environment and, as far as possible, at the tenure of its choice. When viewed in this context, the issue of...