I will read out a technical response to the amendments first and then I will comment on a few of the issues that were raised. I genuinely appreciate the engagement of the House and Senators' connection with this Bill. I know many of the issues raised are genuine and Senators are well-meaning. I fully understand that. I will address amendments Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, as they have been grouped together by the Bills Office. These amendments each seek, by various means, to instigate the holding by the planning authorit…

It is at the discretion of the local authority to either hold an online meeting or a public meeting or both. They have to do one. That is sufficient. There is no implicit action that a local authority is trying to prevent the public from getting involved. That does not happen in the local authority system. Local authorities want the public involved.

I will read out a technical response first and then respond to each of the issues that have been raised. I will first address amendment No. 6 as jointly tabled by Senators Higgins, Ruane and Black. While I recognise that this amendment is well intentioned, I cannot accept it. Planning authorities routinely conduct public consultation exercises, inviting submissions from the public across a wide range of functions and areas of responsibility and have demonstrated the required capacity to undertake such important eng…

The use of the Part V mechanism to allow local authorities to acquire units in a private development, which are then allocated to social housing tenants, is important for a number of reasons. It makes a crucial contribution to supply of the overall stock available for social housing purposes and it supports the objective of social integration. As a matter of policy, it has been directed that the priority option that should be pursued by local authorities for Part V obligations is the acquisition of social housing o…

I thank the Deputy. AHB tenancies are registered with the Residential Tenancies Board and governed by residential tenancies legislation. AHBs are currently subject to a voluntary regulation code and they will shortly come under the remit of the new approved housing bodies regulatory authority, which is in the process of being established. The Housing (Regulation of Approved Housing Bodies) Act 2019 addresses AHB governance, financial management, financial reporting, property and asset management and tenancy managem…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and providing an opportunity to comment on the EPA's latest report, "Ireland's Environment 2020". This important statement on the condition of our national environment brings together key data and assessment from right across the spectrum of the EPA's work. This report includes an assessment of the water quality of our rivers, lakes, canals, groundwaters, estuaries and coastal waters. The EPA sets out in stark terms the present and future challenges we face as a country and…

I thank Deputy Alan Farrell again for his comments and for his genuine interest in the issue of improving our water quality, which is a huge issue facing us all as citizens. The report marks a concerning change in direction in our water quality trends and it identifies the need to amplify and co-ordinate efforts across all sectors. In particular we must increase efforts to address both diffuse pollution sources, such as nutrient losses from agriculture, and point sources, such as wastewater run-off. These are both,…

I thank Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan for consistently raising issues in respect of the national broadband plan on behalf of his constituents. The national broadband plan contract was signed with National Broadband Ireland in November 2019 to roll out a high-speed and future-proofed broadband network within the intervention area, which covers 1.1 million people living and working in the over 544,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along with 695 schools. The national broadband plan will ensure t…

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan again for raising this issue and for the points he clearly makes regarding it. I share his frustration in respect of the providers and the issue of access to information as well as genuine customer service, which is a major frustration with people. I do not want to put a tooth in it: that is fully reflective of the situation on the ground. I believe the joint Oireachtas committee shone a light into this recently. We have a great deal of work to do to respond to that issue. It is something …

I thank Senator Conway for raising this issue and providing me with the opportunity to address the matter. Since 1 January 2014, Irish Water has had statutory responsibility for all aspects of public water services planning, delivery and operation at a national, regional and local level. As part of budget 2021, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage secured funding of over €1.4 billion to support water services. This includes €1.3 billion in respect of domestic water services provisioned by Irish …

I thank Senator Conway again for raising this issue and for working on behalf of the residents in Doolin, Broadford, Cooraclare and Carrigaholt. It is important we respond to the challenges because we are clear in this country that private investment will be weak over the next number of months because of the coronavirus. That gives a key opportunity for the State to step in with public investment to ensure it keeps our economy strong. There is no better way to do that than to improve our infrastructure in our local…

The Local Government Rates and other Matters Act 2019 was passed by the Oireachtas and enacted on 11 July 2019. Key elements of the Act include a modernisation of rates legislation and practice including variation of rates payment arrangements, the pro rata levying of rates on occupiers based on period in occupation within a year, the application of interest payments on unpaid rates, minimum charges for vacant commercial premises, a potential rates waiver scheme and amendment to the rate limitation order formula in…

I met the president of the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, and his team yesterday and committed to holding quarterly meetings with them. Part of this relates to the engagement with councillors to provide core support to them in order that they will be aware of all the issues they can respond to in the chamber, which are very extensive at this time. The Office of the Planning Regulator provides courses for planning matters. One is taking place this week and there is ongoing engagement with councillors o…

I am fully committed to ensuring that accessible social homes are available to persons with disabilities. Budget 2021 has made available €3.3 billion towards a wide range of housing programmes that will deliver 12,750 new social homes for next year. A record 9,500 of these homes will be new build homes, designed and planned using guidelines, build standards and planning regulations supported by the Department. In respect of construction funding over the period from 2016 to 2019, the Department provided almost €2.1 …

As I said, the committee will meet before the end of the year to review the process. I remind the Deputy we have increased funding for adaptation grants consistently over recent years. There was a 19% increase from 2019 to 2020 and it has been increased again for next year. It will be €75 million in 2021. Money has been put behind this. If local authorities are short of money for funding streams, there is additional money for which they can apply through the Department. It is very important this money is spent and …

I absolutely disagree with that contention because if we look at the facts, 10,023 households directly benefited from interventions by the Department with regard to disabilities. We will increase this to more than 10,500 in 2021 because of the significant increase in the budget in recent years. With regard to local authority delivery, a steering group has been established in each of 31 local authorities that can assess why delivery is not as expected if they are not drawing down their funding. This is supposed to m…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and the Deputy for the question. The LDA was established on an interim basis in September 2018 by way of an establishment order made under the Local Government Services (Corporate Bodies) Act 1971 , pending the enactment of primary legislation when it will be established as a commercial State agency. The LDA is currently working on a HSE-owned 14.5-acre site on the grounds of St. Kevin's Hospital, Cork. The agency has advised my Department that this site will deliver approximately …

I note that the Deputy has other proposals for the site but it is important to state our aim and primary focus is to deliver the 2,074 quality affordable housing units on it. We can only be accountable for what is under our jurisdiction in the Department. I have advised the Deputy that the planning application is expected to be lodged by the end of this year. There is a lead time of 16 weeks from that date for the planning application to go through its verification process. We expect the units to be delivered. It i…

I fully appreciate that many of these sites, no more than the one in my constituency, have a significant emotional history attached to them. I am sure the LDA will liaise with the local authority in respect of that. With regard to the application, I have given the Deputy a clear timeline, referring to the end of the year. Once the application is submitted, there will be a 16-week verification process. With regard to building housing, the LDA has progressed immediately with planning on its sites before even being pu…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 48, 64 and 95 together. Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended. The 2011 regulations prescribe maximum net income limits for each local authority, in different bands according to the area concerned, with income being defined and assessed ac…