Results 19,321-19,340 of 21,040 for speaker:Alan Kelly

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: An Bord Pleanála Appointments (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: It is unclear as to which Board member, or members, of An Bord Pleanala the Deputy is referring. The process for making appointments to An Bord Pleanála is governed by the Planning and Development Act 2000. In terms of its operations, An Bord Pleanála operates under a Code of Conduct as required by section 150 of the Act. One of the purposes of the Code is to ensure that any...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Homelessness Strategy (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: On 25 February 2014, the Government approved the establishment of a Homeless ness Policy Implementation Team. The Team is responsible for overseeing and monitoring the delivery of actions outlined in the Government's Implementation Plan on the State’s Response to Homelessness, which was published on 20 May 2014. The Plan outlines the Government's approach to delivering on its...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Funding (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: General purpose grants from the Local Government Fund have historically been structured to bring about equalisationover time; that is a position of balance where the financial needs of local authorities are met by their resources and they are able to provide an appropriate level of service to their customers. Local authorities’ cost and income bases vary significantly from one another...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Voluntary Sector Funding (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1451, 1472, 1474, 1477, 1480 to 1483, inclusive, 1486, 1528 and 1597 together. The funding scheme to support national organisations in the community and voluntary sector aims to provide multi-annual funding to national organisations towards core costs associated with the provision of services. Applications for a new round of funding, which commenced on 1 July...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Nitrates Action Programme Implementation (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: The Nitrates Directive is given legal effect by the European Union (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) Regulations 2014, known as the ‘Nitrates Regulations’. Local authorities, acting under the general supervision of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are the competent authorities for enforcing the Nitrates Regulations. The EPA collates and publishes...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Rental Accommodation Scheme Expenditure (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: The Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) is a targeted scheme catering for the accommodation needs of persons in receipt of Rent Supplement from the Department of Social Protection, generally for more than 18 months, and who are assessed as having a long-term housing need. From its inception in 2004 up to the end of June 2014 expenditure totalling some €707.1million has been incurred...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Non-Principal Private Residence Charge Administration (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1454 to 1456, inclusive, 1459, 1460, 1462, 1548, 1576 and 1619 together. The Local Government (Charges) Act 2009, as amended, provides the legislative basis for the Non-Principal Private Residence Charge. The NPPR Charge, which has since been discontinued, applied in the years 2009 to 2013 to any residential property in which the owner did not reside as their...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Library Services Provision (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: I refer to the reply to Question No. 30 on today’s Order Paper which sets out the position in this matter. My Department does not collate the specific information sought.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Banking Sector Regulation (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 regulates the landlord-tenant relationship in the private rented residential sector and sets out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants relating to, inter alia,security of tenure and the termination of tenancies. The Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Act to operate a national...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Litter Pollution (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: My Department provides extensive support to local authorities to enable them to discharge their statutory obligations under the Litter Pollution Act 1997 (as amended) and Waste Management Act 1996 (as amended). Data available under the National Litter Pollution Monitoring System show that the proportion of areas surveyed in 2013 deemed to be completely unpolluted stands at 12.2%, the highest...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Library Services Provision (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1463, 1464 and 1523 together. Opportunities for All, a Strategy for Public Libraries 2013-2017, recommends “a review of existing organisation structures ... to establish stronger, more effective and efficient public libraries in the context of local government reform and shared services and new opportunities afforded by the strategy outcomes”....

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Property Taxation Yield (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: My Department has advised local authorities of their provisional Local Property Tax allocations from the Local Government Fund for 2015. 80% of LPT will be retained locally to fund vital public services in 2015. The remaining 20% will be re-distributed to provide top-up funding to certain local authorities that have lower property tax bases due to the variance in property values across the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Non-Principal Private Residence Charge Collection (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: The Local Government (Charges) Act 2009, as amended, provides the legislative basis for the Non-Principal Private Residence Charge. The NPPR Charge, which has since been discontinued, applied in the years 2009 to 2013 to any residential property in which the owner did not reside as their normal place of residence. The NPPR Charge is based on self-declaration and therefore the onus is on the...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Maintenance (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: I recently allocated to local authorities almost €8 million in funding for once-off adaptation works for extensions and adaptations to social housing to support people with a disability. Wicklow County Council was assigned €403,628 of this overall allocation. It is now a matter for each local authority to prioritise the works to be advanced under these measures.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water Meters Installation (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1468, 1491, 1511, 1603 and 1604 together. The Water Services Act 2013 provided for the establishment of Irish Water as an independent subsidiary within the Bord Gáis Éireann Group and assigned the necessary powers to allow Irish Water to undertake the water metering programme. The meter installation programme commenced in August 2013 and will be...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Housing Issues (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: My Department publishes a wide range of housing statistics. Data on the number of private and social housing units constructed in Waterford City and County are available on my Department’s website at the following link: by clicking “Qtrly house completions by sector and local authority 1994 to date” under the House Building heading.

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Provision (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: In accordance with the provisions of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998, statutory responsibility for the assessment of the accommodation needs of Travellers and the preparation, adoption and implementation of multi-annual Traveller Accommodation Programmes, designed to meet these needs, rests with individual housing authorities. My Department is in contact with Longford County...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Fire Stations Upgrade (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: The provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Services Act 1981. My Department supports the fire authorities through setting general policy, providing a central training...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Voluntary Sector Funding (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: My Department supports the Community and Voluntary Sector in its contribution to an active, democratic and pluralist society through a number of schemes. There is a particular focus on supporting communities that are vulnerable, disadvantaged or under threat. Pobal, a not-for-profit organisation, manages a significant proportion of funding on behalf of my Department under the Local Community...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Provision (17 Sep 2014)

Alan Kelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1475 and 1476 together. My Department publishes a wide range of housing statistics, including data on the number of social housing units provided directly by local authorities and approved housing bodies, broken down by year. The data do not include a breakdown of the units provided by approved housing bodies. The statistics highlighted are available on my...