Latest news with #JamesBrowne
Irish Times
4 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Grants of up to €35,000 for firms planning move into new markets to cushion US tariffs blow
Enterprise Ireland will offer new grants to firms planning to expand into alternative markets due to the impact of tariffs on sales to the United States . Under measures approved by Cabinet on Tuesday, a market research grant of up to €35,000 will be made available to companies seeking to develop mitigation strategies to the impact of tariffs. The export agency has established a tariffs response team to develop measures for Irish exporters. It follows calls from the sector for enhanced supports, including a tariff adjustment fund modelled on the multibillion package made available in the aftermath of Brexit. Other measures which will be pushed by Enterprise Ireland include a market discovery fund for companies devising strategies, with funding of up to €150,000, as well as money to hire external strategy consultants. READ MORE Ukrainians accommodation Meanwhile, Government has agreed steps to limit the ability of some property owners to take advantage of a €600-a-month payment for accommodating Ukrainians. Cabinet has agreed that the accommodation recognition payment, which was already scaled back this year, will now be limited to owners of properties which have been used in the private rental market at any time since the start of 2022. A Government spokesman said the move, brought forward by Minister for Housing James Browne and Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan, comes amid concerns about the scheme's impact on the rental market. Housing Cabinet also agreed an additional €696 million in capital funding for housing programmes, including home building, vacant home refurbishment and allocations for the defective concrete blocks grant scheme. In addition to securing Cabinet approval for the appointment of new Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly, Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan also got agreement to send four gardaí to assist the French police during the tourist season. The members will not have police powers but will be there to assist in any interactions with Irish citizens who are victims of crime or involved in the commission of offences. They will be based in Mont-Saint-Michel and Giverny. Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien briefed Cabinet on a 10.6 per cent increase in passenger numbers across contracted bus and rail services, contained in the National Transport Authority's annual report for 2024. He also received approval for the publication of new legislation aiming to provide defined timelines for Environmental Protection Agency licencing decisions. The Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 will update three different licensing systems, with the Government of the view that it is taking too long for decisions to be made, with even minor proposed changes to a site requiring a full licence review. Cabinet also signed off on a plan to carry out a public consultation on planning exemptions.
Irish Examiner
6 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Government's order to zone more land for housing may not lead to surge in construction
At the final Cabinet meeting before the Government heads off on its summer break, there was a slew of housing proposals brought forward. Alongside more funds being provided to build social homes, and consultation beginning on planning exemptions for cabins in people's back gardens, there was an instruction to local councils to begin zoning more land for housing. But what does this instruction mean, and what will its impact be on Ireland's housing crisis? What has the Government done? It has essentially told all of Ireland's local councils to go and reopen their existing development plans, with an explicit call for more land to be zoned for housing. Housing minister James Browne signalled his intention to do this as far back as April, saying that councils should complete their rezoning efforts by the end of the year. 'I don't see any reason why we won't be able to access this land by the end of the year,' Mr Browne said then. 'The local authorities can do it quite quickly, and I expect to see local authorities move with the urgency that I'm moving with, and that the people who will be watching this expect the urgency, so we can deliver those homes that we need.' How much land is the Government looking to be zoned? The guidelines published call for enough land to be zoned to allow for 55,000 homes per year. However, additional headroom for 50% is also provided, meaning that land for up to 83,000 homes is permitted to be zoned each year. Where is the Government targeting its development? The National Planning Framework, published in April, outlines that 50% of development should be targeted within Ireland's five largest cities — Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, and Waterford — while the remaining 50% of development should occur in towns, villages and rural areas around the country. Are there individual targets for each council? Yes. This is because each individual council needs different levels of land to be zoned. For example, cities such as Dublin and Cork will require an increased level of zoned land compared to more rural counties such as Roscommon and Carlow. At Dublin City Council, the Government will permit the local authority zone enough land to build up to 8,196 houses per year. More rural areas have much lower requirements, with the requirement to zone land just enough to build 201 houses in Leitrim per year. Any more specific instructions for councils? Yes. In urban areas, the councils will be asked to prioritise development on brownfield sites in towns and cities, in an attempt to avoid urban sprawl into the countryside. Does this mean 83,000 houses will be built each year? While local authorities will be permitted to zone significantly more housing, it does not mean there's going to be a massive uplift in construction. The Government's own National Planning Framework sets out the overall target for housing delivery as 303,000 houses between 2025 and 2030. This means an average of 50,500 houses will need to be built each year, far below the 83,000 maximum that can be zoned each year. The highest level of housebuilding in recent years came in 2006, when over 86,000 houses were built. This would be a significant leap from where the State is at present, with 30,300 being built in 2024.
The Journal
7 hours ago
- Business
- The Journal
Clampdown on payments for hosting Ukrainians as new rule to limit some RTB registered properties
GOVERNMENT HAS MOVED to clampdown on the state payment for housing Ukrainians by agreeing today to limit the eligibility of some properties. Concerns have been raised about the scheme's impact on the rental market and it was agreed at the Cabinet Committee on Migration in July to limit eligibility in some specific cases. Justice Ministers Jim O'Callaghan and Housing Minister James Browne got approval today for proposals to limit the eligibility of some properties for the tax-free €600 a month payment. The changes mean any property registered with the Residential Tenancies Board at any time since 1 January 2022 will be ineligible to make a new application for the Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP). Advertisement Existing claimants are unaffected. It is expected that a memo will got to Cabinet in the autumn seeking the government's approval of the publication of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, which will contain the legal changes for this amendment. In March 2025, the payment was extended until 31 March 2026, but the payment was cut from €800 to €600 per month. Rise in households in receipt of payments As reported by The Journal at the weekend , there has been a considerable rise in the number of households in receipt of the state payment for housing Ukrainians, as the government has ended the contracts for over 100 centres that were housing them so far this year. Since January of this year an additional 3,125 payments have been made to property owners, representing a 16% rise in payments made under the ARP scheme since the start of the year. Sinn Féin has called for a full review of the ARP scheme, and said that it is giving landlords 'tax free' payments and reducing the rental stock in certain counties. Related Reads 'They have nowhere else to go': Payments for hosting Ukrainians on the rise as centres close Cabinet green-lights cutting of Ukrainian accommodation payment to €600 per month from June The party has also said that the government has ignored calls for the scheme to be 'means-tested'. At the same time, however, 109 accommodation centres that were hosting Ukrainians have returned to their original use, according to figures provided by the Department of Justice. Agencies involved in arranging local accommodation for Ukrainians told The Journal that hundreds of Ukrainians have sought out hosting arrangements locally due to these closures, as in many cases the alternative accommodation they are offered is far away, and they have become embedded in the local communities they're in. The Department of Justice has said that 16,900 hosts are currently accommodating almost 39,600 people under the scheme in over 21,800 properties. With reporting by Eimer McAuley Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Independent
15 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Over €1.2 million awarded to water programme in Wexford
The recipient of the funding will be Blackstairs Group Water Scheme, who will use it to address leakage reduction and water conservation, with an estimated 1,114 households to benefit from the investment. Fine Gael Senator Cathal Byrne said funding of €73.9m has been allocated for 291 projects across the county, under the Multi-annual Rural Water Programme 2024–2026 'Today's announcement is great news for communities across the country but particularly those in County Wexford serviced by the Blackstairs Group Water Scheme. It's so important that we protect our water sources and ensure the highest standards in water treatment. We must ensure that communities across Wexford have the benefit of high quality infrastructure and water services,' he said. 'The allocation of €73.9m for 291 projects across the country will directly benefit 63,000 rural households and will address a wide range of needs such as water quality and infrastructure upgrades. Projects will range from minor works right up to major capital investments of over €2m for complex or bundled schemes,' he added. Minister James Browne also welcomed the news and highlighted the Government's commitment to improving water services around the country. "The Government is working hard to fund improvements to water services across the country, including services to rural areas that do not have access to Uisce Éireann services. This announcement today is very much part of that commitment and will support rural communities to thrive as places to live and work,' he said.
Irish Times
19 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Local authorities told to zone more land for housing, as national target more than doubles
Local authorities will be told to zone more land for housing, as the Government plans to more than double the national annual target as part of efforts to tackle the housing crisis . Under planned guidelines being brought to Cabinet on Tuesday, councils will be asked to collectively zone enough land to hold 83,000 new homes per year, up from the current 33,000 annual target. Minister for Housing James Browne is understood to have been seeking 'urgent' action from all councils to respond to the housing crisis. They have been instructed to immediately review and vary their local development plans, which set out objectives for sites in their vicinities. The new zoning guidelines for local authorities will replace ones introduced in 2020 and set out the expected housing demand up until 2040. READ MORE These figures draw on a range of scenarios presented by the Economic and Social Research Institute in research from 2024 on population growth, housing demand and assumptions relating to unmet demand. The Government intends there to be land zoned for 83,000 housing units each year once local development plans are updated. This comes as Mr Browne also looks to increase housing supply targets for councils nationwide in response to a mixed level of delivery by local authorities. Earlier this month it was reported that the Government has plans to maintain an effective league table of how the 31 councils are performing in their assignment to deliver of social housing. The patchy delivery statistics showed some councils exceeded their social housing delivery targets, while others fell short. Separately, people will be able to offer views on proposed planning permission exemptions for cabins and modular homes in back gardens from Tuesday as a four-week public consultation process begins. Mr Browne is expected to update Cabinet on the proposals being developed by Minister of State for Planning John Cummins. Under the plans, cabins or modular units of up to 45sq m could be exempt from planning permission if they comply with building regulations and residual private garden space of 25sq m is retained. The proposed exemptions also include attic conversions and other developments related to transport and water infrastructure. The proposed changes aim to reduce unnecessary planning applications to in turn free up local authority resources for larger-scale developments. Exempted development regulations have not been substantially updated since 2001. The plan is for new regulations to be in place before the end of the year. Meanwhile, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers is to brief the Cabinet on a report by his department's infrastructure division outlining the emerging barriers delaying new infrastructure. The report outlines 12 key issues causing a drag on delivery. These include inconsistent planning decisions and an increased regulatory and legal burden for the development of key infrastructure. The report will place a heavy emphasis on the impact of High Court judicial review cases and the growing threat of such legal proceedings on important construction projects. It is estimated that the planning and approval process for critical infrastructure takes between three and five years longer due to the added threat and duration of judicial reviews. The report will also outline areas of international best practice being examined for potential solutions. These include recent reforms such as Canada's One Canadian Economy Act 2025, which provides for certain projects of national interest to be fast-tracked. A final report and action plan will be published in the autumn.
