Search Results for 'Darragh O'Brien'

Mayo County Council is to receive an additional €1.5m in funding next year after Minister Darragh O'Brien announced this week that the Local Property Tax (LPT) baseline fund, which ensures every local authority receives a minimum amount of funding from the local retention of LPT - is to increase for all local authorities by over €75 million.

Athlone Deputy Mayor, Cllr Frankie Keena, has welcomed confirmation from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, of €1.575 million funding approval for the construction of 21 affordable homes within the Dún an Rí development in Coosan.

Affordability of housing in Mayo is now at a crisis point, Mayo Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon highlighted during ministerial questioning in the Dáil. Deputy Dillon expressed disappointment that Mayo County Council has been excluded from the national affordable housing five-year delivery targets despite the problems that exist. At present no scheme has been approved to provide affordable housing in the county and this is having a negative impact on future economic development in the county. "There is a shortage of affordable homes to rent or purchase in parts of the county, especially in towns such as Westport, Castlebar and Ballina." Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien explained an identified level of affordable housing need arises where, of the projected housing need in the county, more than five per cent of new households would not qualify. "The level of affordability constrained need in Mayo is assessed at below five per cent. I understand there are localised affordability issues, particularly in Westport and also potentially in Ballina. We are happy to consider those issues. Where local authorities have localised affordability measures, as is the case in the two towns in question, they can still apply to the Department for funding to develop affordable housing schemes if they can demonstrate that an affordable scheme is needed to address those localised affordability challenges and they can meet the criteria for the fund. I am confident that can be done. As regards Mayo in particular, in June 2021 a scheme was submitted for 25 homes in Westport under the previous fund, namely, the Serviced Sites Fund. We have told Mayo County Council that it can resubmit that to the new fund and I understand work is ongoing between my Department and the council on that." Minister O’Brien informed Deputy Dillon of KPMG’s ongoing work for Mayo County Council on the future analytics side, to prove the affordability constraint in pressure areas within Mayo, and following the conclusion of KPMG work this month his Department has agreed to meet with Mayo County Council in June. Deputy Dillon said Mayo has the fourth-lowest market house price in the country but that is certainly not reflective of the open market price of new-build homes in areas such as Westport, Castlebar and Ballina. Some of these A-rated new premises are on the market for between €270,000 and €350,000. He said: "I am delighted to see Mayo County Council has been proactive. It reached out to the public in Mayo, seeking information to understand better the demand for affordable housing, including locations of choice and the affordability constraints of potential applicants. The threshold for social housing in Mayo is €25,000. Many people are above that threshold but caught within the squeezed-middle bracket. It is important that we respond to these pressure areas. Mayo has significant issues in respect of vacancy and dereliction. Increasing housing supply in the area would be an important step forward."

The elected members of Mayo County Council have asked council management to write once more to the leaders of the three government parties and Ministers responsible for water charges, to meet with them in relation to non-domestic water charges.

A motion was put forward at the January meeting of Mayo County Council to have the sliding scale per square foot in the recently introduced defective concrete block scheme for pyrite effected homes, removed.

Fianna Fáil Galway City East councillor, Alan Cheevers, is calling on the Galway City Council to issue a full credit on pitch licence fees for clubs in the city.

Government funding of €250,000 to upgrade the existing Achill Island water treatment plant has been described as 'chicken feed' by an Achill-based councillor.

Co-living could never solve Ireland's housing crisis, it could only contribute to exacerbating it, which is why the Government's decision to legislate against new co-living developments should be welcomed.