Results 18,581-18,600 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: For the information of the House, it is my understanding that I am meeting the committee next week and I look forward to exploring some concepts with the members and also hearing their ideas. On the finance issue, it is true that there is a lot of available finance now. The Housing Finance Agency, for example, can borrow money at low interest rates now but that was not the case until...

Priority Questions: Irish Water (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Government is committed to retaining Irish Water as a single national utility in public ownership responsible for the delivery of water and wastewater services. To build public confidence in Irish Water, I will be establishing an expert advisory body which will advise on measures to improve the transparency and accountability of Irish Water and to give the Oireachtas quarterly reports on...

Priority Questions: Irish Water (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: Irish Water has a responsibility to put information into the public domain if it feels it is relevant. I suspect that is what it was trying to do. I have not read the report the Deputy is referring to but there is a massive opportunity cost in terms of essentially going backwards in terms of the way we deliver water. I will have an opportunity when debating these issues later to outline...

Priority Questions: Irish Water (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy seems to know more than I do about selective leaking in regard to this particular issue. I do not believe we should be selectively leaking anything. The debate we had last week, as a result of selective leaks, also skewed a debate inappropriately. I would be a fan of more transparency and, when reports are put together, of publishing reports in full in order that people can get...

Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: First of all, we will monitor. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to do that in a very transparent way by reporting on progress on a quarterly basis. There will be individual plans and targets set for each local authority in the country. Obviously the most pressure will be on the four Dublin local authorities, the two in Cork and those in Limerick, Galway and Waterford,...

Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: What I have said to chief executives is that if they have a human resource or people power issue that is preventing them from getting on with meeting the targets that we need to set for the new ambition, I need to know about it, and we will speak to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to see if we can get them the people they need. Certainly, from my Department's perspective, we...

Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: In line with the commitments of the programme for Government, I will be publishing an action plan for housing within the Government’s first 100 days. As Minister, I will be vigorously pursuing the earliest possible advancement of the construction and acquisition of new housing units to meet the targets under the Social Housing Strategy 2020. On the acquisition of social housing,...

Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: I do not want to pretend that we have been building as many social housing houses as we should have been for the last couple of years. We would like to have done more. We would have done more if we had more money available, but if one looks at the capital expenditure commitments between now and 2020-2021, there is €3 billion for social housing. It is a very serious commitment. My...

Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: Only in the last couple of years.

Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Provision (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: Housing is a key priority for this Government and, as outlined in the programme for a partnership Government, I will prepare an action plan for housing within the Government's first 100 days, working with other Government colleagues. We hope to do this by the end of July or the middle of August. The action plan will build on the considerable work already carried out or under way, and will...

Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Expenditure (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: In October 2015, the Government approved a programme to deliver 500 units of rapid-delivery housing across the Dublin region for homeless families currently residing in commercial hotels. InNovember 2015, Dublin City Council entered into a contract for the delivery of the 22 units in Ballymun at a cost of €4.2 million excluding VAT. This is the original tender cost and remains the...

Priority Questions: Social and Affordable Housing Expenditure (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: Sometimes there is a misunderstanding regarding the difference between rapid-build technologies and engineering solutions and modular housing units as if we are somehow building the trailers parks of the future. That is not what we are doing. Anybody who has visited the Ballymun project has seen houses that look like many other houses that have been built through normal construction...

Priority Questions: Building Regulations (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: To add weight to what I outlined earlier, according to figures published last week by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland on the cost of building a house, professional fees represent 2% of the cost, which is about €5,000. Part of that cost was the assigned certifier. There had been accusations that an additional cost of €10,000 or €20,000 was attached to this...

Priority Questions: Building Regulations (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Building Control (Amendment) Regulations were introduced in 2014 in response to serious concerns for public safety which arose from the prevalence of failed or seriously defective homes following the economic crisis and the collapse of the building sector. The regulations require that compliance with building regulations must be verified through the execution of an inspection plan that...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Services (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: Since 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. Irish Water is responsible for water services infrastructure including water supply pipes or sewers extending from a waterworks or waste water works to the curtilage of a private property. Under sections 43 and 54 of the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Issues (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: I will prepare and publish a comprehensive ‘Action Plan for Housing’ within this Government’s first 100 days. Ultimately, a shortage of supply of houses and apartments to buy and rent is at the heart of the challenges in the housing sector. The plan will build on what the previous Government has already done and will draw on the work of the Special Oireachtas Committee on...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Planning Issues (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: At the heart of good planning is the creation of strong communities. The 10 principles on which the planning system in Ireland is based are set out clearly in my Department’s Planning Policy Statement published in 2015. Principle No.3 , which is particularly relevant to the issue raised by the Deputy, states: ‘Planning is about creating communities and further developing...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Government has clearly signalled its intent to support the implementation of the Social Housing Strategy 2020 and the supply of new quality social housing units as evidenced by the €2.9 billion committed as part of the overall Capital Plan for the period 2016 – 2021 and the wider prioritisation of social housing across the budgetary process over the course of the Strategy....

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Provision (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: The Taoiseach and I met with local authority Chief Executives on 12 May 2016, in order to discuss, amongst other things, the housing situation and in particular boosting supply and the future delivery and implementation of the targets set for the local authorities under the Social Housing Strategy 2020. The meeting provided an opportunity for a very useful exchange of views and I...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Tenant Purchase Scheme Eligibility (24 May 2016)

Simon Coveney: The new Tenant Incremental Purchase Scheme came into operation on 1 January 2016. The Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme. To be eligible, tenants must meet certain criteria, including having a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum. In determining reckonable income, the income of...