Written Answers Nos. 189-194
189. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if information is available regarding the ratio of homeowners to home renters in Dublin (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22550/15]
View answerMy Department collates and publishes a wide range of housing statistics that inform the preparation and evaluation of housing policy and those data are available on my Department’s website. Data relating to household tenure status are not among that range as they are collected by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) as part of its Census work. The results of the 2011 Census are published on the CSO website and are available at http://www.cso.ie/en/census/census2011reports/. The next Census is due to be held in 2016.
190. Deputy Jerry Buttimer asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when he will introduce regulations to provide for a new tenant purchase scheme; when a new scheme will become operative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22587/15]
View answerPart 3 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 provides for a new scheme for the tenant purchase of existing local authority houses along incremental purchase lines. The Government’s Social Housing Strategy 2020 includes a commitment to make the Regulations necessary for its introduction, in the second quarter of 2015, which will set out the full details of the new scheme. It is expected that the new scheme will commence at the earliest possible date following the making of the Regulations which are at an advanced stage of drafting.
191. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of objections and observations separately received from statutory bodies, non-fee-paying, on planning applications in the past four years in each county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22617/15]
View answerMy Department does not collect the information requested by the Deputy.
192. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the grants available from his Department through the local authority for a person who has multiple mortgages and is up-to-date with repayments, and whose house is uninhabitable and in need of urgent repairs. [22637/15]
View answerSupport provided by my Department in respect of refurbishment or adaptations to houses are primarily in respect of social housing. In the case of private houses, the main programme of support funded by my Department is via the local authorities and is focussed on house adaptations for older people and people with a disability.
The suite of grants under Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability has the objective of facilitating the continued independent occupancy of their own homes by older people and people with a disability. It assists people with a disability to have necessary adaptations, repairs or improvement works carried out to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs; assistance for older people living in poor housing conditions to have necessary repairs or improvements carried out; and grants to address the mobility problems of a member of a household.
As these schemes are administered at local level, further enquiries-applications should be directed to the relevant local authority.
193. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 592 of 12 May 2015, if he will clarify that a case (details supplied) will be exempted from enforcement proceedings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22646/15]
View answerThe interpretation and application of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, including the enforcement provisions of the Act, is a matter for the relevant planning authority in the first instance, and may ultimately be a matter for the Courts.
I am not in a position to comment on the application of the planning law in individual cases. In this regard, I am specifically precluded under section 30 of the Act from exercising any power or control in relation to any particular case with which a planning authority, or An Bord Pleanála on appeal, is or may be concerned with.
194. Deputy Helen McEntee asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the date when the revised wind energy guidelines will be issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22658/15]
View answerIn December 2013, my Department published proposed “draft” revisions to the noise, setbacks and shadow flicker aspects of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines. These draft revisions proposed:
- the setting of a more stringent day and night noise limit of 40 decibels for future wind energy developments,
- a mandatory minimum setback distance of 500 metres between a wind turbine and the nearest dwelling for amenity considerations, and
- the complete elimination of shadow flicker between wind turbines and neighbouring dwellings.
A public consultation process was initiated on these proposed draft revisions to the Guidelines, which ran until February 21 2014. My Department received submissions from 7,500 organisations and members of the public during this public consultation process.
It is intended that the revisions to the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines will be finalised as soon as possible. In this regard, account has to be taken of the extensive response to the public consultation in framing the final guidelines. Further work is also advancing to develop technical appendices to assist planning authorities with the practical application of the noise measurement aspects of the Wind Guidelines. The revisions to the Wind Energy Development Guidelines 2006, when finalised, will be issued under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. Planning authorities, and, where applicable, An Bord Pleanála must have regard to guidelines issued under Section 28 in the performance of their functions under the Planning Acts.
