Results 221-240 of 1,042,240 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Patrick Nulty OR speaker:Michael Ring OR speaker:Mark Ward OR speaker:Jennifer Murnane O'Connor OR speaker:James Browne OR speaker:Thomas Pringle OR speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett) in 'Committee meetings'

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Schemes (19 Sep 2024)

Alan Dillon: I thank the Deputy for his question. Under Housing for All, the Government will deliver 47,600 new-build social homes in the period 2022 to 2026. Our clear focus is to increase the stock of social housing through new-build projects delivered by local authorities and approved housing bodies. For 2023, the Government agreed increased provision for social housing acquisitions. This has...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Schemes (19 Sep 2024)

Robert Troy: As I said, it is a positive initiative and we are getting value for money because the State is no longer paying for RAS or HAP for the property; it is buying an asset. More importantly, it gives tenants certainty and ensures they have a forever home in areas in which they are part of their communities. I am worried about the guideline figure issued to councils and that councils need, for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Schemes (19 Sep 2024)

Alan Dillon: I thank the Deputy for his positive feedback on the scheme. I re-emphasise that local authorities have been asked to focus on RAS and HAP properties where the tenant has been issued a notice of termination. There is no ceiling in the sanction of acquisitions. Properties already in social housing help to mitigate against the risk of a negative impact on the tenant in ensuring we can address...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Schemes (19 Sep 2024)

Robert Troy: I should have said on the record that I am a landlord but I have not issued any notices to quit. Will the Minister of State clarify whether local authorities, once they meet the ceiling, need to come to the Department on a case-by-case basis for approval? Has guidance been issued by the Department about whether, where there is a link between the landlord and tenant regarding a family...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Schemes (19 Sep 2024)

Alan Dillon: I will talk to the Deputy about the case he mentioned offline. In July, the Minister wrote to local authorities about this matter. We worked closely with local authorities, which can be seen in the feedback. There is a cross-sectional team and steering group on acquisitions in place to support households and local authorities in acquisitions. Any request for additional acquisitions above...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Schemes (19 Sep 2024)

Catherine Connolly: Táimid ag bogadh ar aghaidh anois go dtí an chéad cheist eile. Tá Ceist Uimh. 58 in ainm an Teachta Eoin Ó Broin.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Schemes (19 Sep 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Schemes (19 Sep 2024)

Catherine Connolly: I beg your pardon. I completely forgot; I will break all the rules just for the moment because the fault is mine. I meant to let Deputy Durkan in on the last question. I am breaking the rules but I am at fault. Deputy Malcolm Noonan: I assure the Deputies that thyere is no lack of political will. It is our utomst priority. I appreciate the support from the committee and across the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Housing Schemes (19 Sep 2024)

Bernard Durkan: I am sorry. I strongly support the sentiments expressed by my colleague. I compliment the Minister and Ministers of State for the progress to date in what was a difficult and tall task in relation to housing generally. The policies are working. However, there is a need for a fast kick forward at this time because a large number of people who have been renting for a long period and now...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Economic Policy (19 Sep 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: The Minister hit the nail on the head. That is the point I was making. We want people to be able to stay there. The vast majority of people in Balbriggan who are of working age and employed leave. They leave in the morning to go to work. They are not employed locally. There is an issue with underemployment that the Minister will be aware of. Even the report refers to towns like...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Economic Policy (19 Sep 2024)

Darragh O'Brien: Fingal is a major employment zone too. Taking the airport as an example, 25,000 people are directly employed on-campus, with about 120,000 indirect jobs in that area. That is how important the airport industrial and economic zone is. Certainly, regarding remote working, specifically for Fingal, last year the local government division of my Department last year allocated €150,000 in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Marine Protected Areas (19 Sep 2024)

Marine Protected Areas

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Marine Protected Areas (19 Sep 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: 56. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the position regarding the publication of the marine protected areas legislation, with an anticipated timeline; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36076/24]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Marine Protected Areas (19 Sep 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I want to ask the Minister of State about the marine protected areas legislation. It is key unfinished work that we have in front of us as a Government. I would like to see it completed, not just from the point of view of the environmental NGOs, which are looking for progress on this, as is anybody with an interest in the marine, but, also, as we are developing our offshore wind, it is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Marine Protected Areas (19 Sep 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: As an island nation, our seas and our ocean are crucial for Ireland, supporting our economy, international trade, our energy supply and communications systems, as well as our climate, environment, cultural traditions, heritage, health and wellbeing. The Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 sets the underpinning process for planning, consenting and regulation of certain maritime activities and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Marine Protected Areas (19 Sep 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: I thank the Minister of State. We are great friends, both inside and outside this Chamber, so I hope he does not mind if I put the boot in a little on this. That was not really much of an answer. The clock is ticking on this Government, whether we are talking about November, December, Valentine's Day, or March 2025. There is not a great deal of time and this is key legislation. Under...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Marine Protected Areas (19 Sep 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: The Deputy is correct in saying that we have moved from 2.4% at the outset of this Government to 10% of waters under strict protection as special protection areas, SPAs, for marine birds, including the east coast and the seas off Wexford, which is the largest SPA in the history of the State. I have established a marine advisory group, which is a high-level scientific group, which has...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Marine Protected Areas (19 Sep 2024)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh: We have a range of competing interests that are looking at our offshore area. It should be mentioned that we do not have a senior Minister for the marine even though nine tenths of our actual territorial area is the marine. We do not want a Klondike situation here. We have huge growth in offshore renewables, which is welcome. We have that designated maritime area plan, DMAP, process,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Marine Protected Areas (19 Sep 2024)

Eoin Ó Broin: I fully support Deputy Ó Cathasaigh. As the Minister of State knows, this is an issue that we have raised regularly in the committee. "Frustrating" is probably an understatement. We were led to believe at an earlier stage that the legislation was nearly ready to go at the end of last year. Now, we are hearing that it has not even been completed. Even if it is published before...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vacant Properties (19 Sep 2024)

David Stanton: Could the Minister of State let me know at some stage which local authorities are using the funding provided by the Oireachtas to fund vacant homes officers? Which of those are doing that exclusively so that, for example, the vacant homes job is not number ten on a list of other works they have got to do? Is that a condition attached to the funding we are providing to the local authorities?...