Latest news with #MinisterForHousing
BreakingNews.ie
01-08-2025
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Presidential candidates can now be reimbursed up to €250k for election expenses
An order increasing the maximum amount of election expenses that can be reimbursed to a candidate at a presidential election from €200,000 to €250,000 has been signed by Minister for Housing and Local Government James Browne. Election expenses are reimbursed to a candidate at a presidential election who is elected or, if not elected, the total of their votes exceeds one quarter of the quota. Advertisement Section 21A of the Electoral Act 1997 provides that the maximum amount of election expenses that can be reimbursed to a candidate at a presidential election is €200,000. However, under the Act, the minister may vary the amounts having regard to changes in the Consumer Price Index. A review of the amounts typically takes place in advance of each election. Applying the CPI increase since the amount was last revised resulted in a potential increase to €252,700 which has been rounded down to €250,000. Section 53 (as amended) of the Electoral Act 1997 provides that spending by a candidate at a presidential election shall not exceed €750,000. It is not proposed to increase the spending limit, so it will remain at €750,000.
Irish Times
10-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, July 10th: On smaller apartments, the cost of crying and blackberries
Sir, –While I applaud the Minister for Housing's hope that apartment prices will 'likely' fall by €50,000-€100,000 in 'some' cases due to the newly allowed reduction in apartment sizes, the reality is that new lower limits will only allow developers to make more money fitting more apartments per floor into the same footprint of building. If the initiative is required due to current size limits preventing projects from proceeding on project viability grounds, pricing should not actually drop at all. Either previously unviable projects will now go ahead, or unit prices will drop, but you certainly won't get both The Minister should note that once out, this genie will be impossible to put back in the bottle, and he has just set the standard for future housing stock in Ireland and how we will live for decades to come. READ MORE I think 67m2 for a two-bedroom apartment is tiny. You will have nowhere to put a pram, a couple of suitcases, (critical these days) have a desk to work from home on or let alone perhaps have something like a piano. And this way of living will now become the norm. My favourite bit is that the Government seems not to have undertaken any research on the degree to which these size limits have worked overseas. Yes, I understand the pressures the Government is under to improve the supply of housing, but I believe this move will benefit the developers at the expense of how future generations will have to live. – Yours, etc, NEIL POWER, Sydney, Australia. Sir, – The new apartment design guidelines and the existing urban design guidelines for apartment heights barely mention fire safety. The new guidelines expressly provide that the number of lift and stair cores should be 'balanced' by reference to the cost of providing them and the need to comply with building regulations. The 2022 legislation in the UK, introduced following the deaths of 72 people in the Grenfell disaster, radically changed the regulation of the design, construction and occupation of buildings, particularly high-rise and apartment buildings. For example, a second staircase will be required in high-rise residential buildings from 2026, and safety in high-rise residential buildings will be actively promoted and enforced by extensive legal requirements. This followed a root and branch review in the UK of building regulations and building control, which were found to be not fit for purpose after the Grenfell fire. In Ireland, no such review has been carried out despite the similarities between Irish and UK law. It is not clear how building regulations requirements have been considered in the preparation of the new guidelines, which prompts the question: is the Government now prioritising 'viability' over a visible commitment to safer buildings, and ignoring lessons from elsewhere? DR DEIRDRE NÍ FHLOINN, Goatstown, Dublin 14. Sir, – Our Minister for Housing 'takes decisive action' to deal with the housing crisis (which has been developing on Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil's watch for decades). He plans to cut design standards to shrink apartments, allow fewer windows, make mono blocks of bedsits, have less ventilation, reduce community facilities and worse. He claims that this will reduce prices – of course it won't. It seems that the developers' lobby has directly written these pitiful new 'standards'. Can I suggest a radical solution to the Minister: export our young people (as they won't be able to afford anywhere to live), strip them of voting rights (as when abroad, they can't vote), and then continue to bury his head in the sand (as the demographic disaster unfolds). – Yours, etc, TOM CONROY, Rathgar, Dublin 6. Sir, – On June 27th, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers suggested that cost should take priority over aesthetics in future State infrastructure projects. Today, Minister for Housing James Browne is proposing to reduce the minimum size of studio apartments to 32 sq m. I wonder how either of these gentlemen would react were they obliged to live in a 32sqm concrete box with only one window and limited outdoor space? Not too happily, I imagine. – Yours etc, MUIREANN HOURIHANE, Sandymount, Dublin. Sir, – In a recent column Senator Michael McDowell yet again decries the 16-year-old decision by the 2009 government to abolish bedsits. (' Folly of abolishing bedsits only to promote co-living is now becoming clear ,' July 2nd). He claims 'as many as 15,000 bedsits disappeared around that time.' There does not appear to be any evidence for this assertion. Let's not be romantic about these cramped, often damp dwellings of the past. A bedsit usually took the form of a small one-room flat in a large, converted property with shared sanitary – and sometimes shared cooking – facilities in another part of the residence. They were often of a poor standard, badly insulated, with questionable fire safety and with limited to no living space, storage, privacy, or peace. These bedsits certainly cannot be compared to house share scenarios – as the author does – where a small group of tenants share a family kitchen, living room and bathroom in a single residential unit, with multiple rooms. It is worth remembering that the 2009 government provided a four-year lead-in period before the bedsit ban was to take effect, and it was made at a time when we had an oversupply of private rental housing and decreasing rents. While some landlords did not take this time to upgrade their properties to meet the required standards, there was a sufficient supply of rental housing for 'bedsit' tenants to relocate to at the time. The key reason for the change was to improve living conditions for tenants. It is also worth noting that the government in which Senator McDowell served as a minister, between 2002 and 2007, when the economy was booming, failed to increase social housing supply in any significant way, eking out an average of about 6,400 units a year. This is despite the recommendation by the National Economic and Social Council, at the time, that the State deliver over 9,000 units a year between 2005 and 2012. This was within the then government's gift, until at least 2007, but they chose not to pursue this recommendation. A greater folly. Not only this, but the then government also oversaw the sale of approximately 1,400 council houses each year under the tenant purchase scheme, effectively reducing State availability of social housing to a mere 5,000 units a year, a little over half of what was required. The folly of failing to invest in social housing at the time when Senator McDowell was in government casts a much greater shadow over Ireland's current dire housing situation than the decision to remove substandard housing from the market. – Yours, etc, JOHN-MARK MCCAFFERTY, Chief executive, Threshold, Dublin. Is this a record? Sir, – On July 5th, I picked seven fully ripe wild blackberries. Is this a record? – Yours, etc, TIM BRACKEN. Cork. Teacher shortages Sir, – Yet again, the teacher supply crisis makes headlines in your newspaper (' Teaching 'supply crisis' leaves 1,847 posts unfilled, ', July 7th). This issue has persisted for well over a decade. As far back as 2012, an international review panel noted it was 'surprised and concerned that the issue of teacher supply and demand has not been addressed in Ireland as it has been elsewhere '...one impact of the absence of reliable data on both supply and demand for teachers has been the increasing reliance on 'out-of-field' teachers at post-primary level.' How long must the public wait for the Government to acknowledge the catastrophic impact of the teacher supply crisis and to take meaningful action to address it? – Yours, etc, DR BRIAN FLEMING, PROF JUDITH HARFORD, School of Education, UCD, Dublin. The presidency Sir, – I thought I should let your readers know that I will also not be seeking a nomination to run for the presidency. – Yours, etc, PETER GAUGHAN, Monkstown, Co Dublin. The cost of crying Sir, – Rachel Reeves crying in the House of Commons cost me €54. Kathy Sheridan's piece about politicians crying in public and how the markets react negatively, whilst voters are generally supportive or indifferent to a crying politician (' The state of the world calls for more weeping, not less ', July 9th), resonates with me. Sterling fell dramatically after Ms Reeves's Commons appearance. As a permanent resident in the Republic, my British company pension is the same sterling amount each month but what I actually receive in euros varies according to the whims of the currency markets. Ms Reeves spooked them and I suffered. If Ms Reeves could contrive to make a robust Commons appearance just before my next pension payment I would be delighted. – Yours, etc, KENNETH HARPER, Co Donegal. Injecting some sense into Botox Sir, – Can we bring a little common sense to the 'Botox' discussion (Letters, July 8th)? The 'median lethal dose' of toxin Brian O'Brien refers to (1x nanogram/kg) would require the injection of over 200 (1 treatment) vials of Botox for a female of average weight. Precisely why I choose a nurse to administer my Botox! Nurses inject daily, more than any other healthcare professional. A small syringe of morphine incorrectly drawn up, would be more likely to cause death than 200 vials of Botox. – – Yours, etc, Ciarán Farrell, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16. Anti-Semitism arguments Sir, – Some of your recent correspondents (Letters, July 9th) appear to have missed the core argument of Fintan O'Toole's article on Ireland's history of opposing anti-Semitism. (' Ireland has a proud history of opposing anti-Semitism ,' July 8th) The piece was not a denial that anti-Semitism exists in Ireland, but rather a powerful reminder that Irish solidarity with Jewish people has historically been grounded in a belief in universal rights and opposition to all forms of oppression. That tradition, as O'Toole made clear through the examples of Daniel O'Connell and Michael Davitt, does not pit opposition to oppression of Jewish people against concern for Palestinians. It is rooted in the understanding that justice is indivisible and that the suffering of one people does not justify the silencing of another. Protesting about the suffering of people in Gaza is not evidence of anti-Semitism. On the contrary, it is a continuation of the same ethical tradition that once compelled Irish figures to speak out against pogroms in Tsarist Russia. It is also unfortunate that The Irish Times saw fit to place other letters criticising the Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US foreign policy under the heading 'Anti-Semitism and Ireland.' Such framing reinforces the very conflation the article sought to challenge: the idea that criticism of Israel, no matter how grounded in human rights concerns, must somehow be suspect. – Yours, etc, SÉAMUS WHITE, Stoneybatter, Dublin. Sir, – James Wilson points out in his critique of Fintan O'Toole's article that last year a man was 'allegedly' set upon by anti-Semitic thugs because he was of the Jewish faith. This same level of allegation has been used repeatedly by the Israeli army to bomb hospitals, refugee camps, apartment buildings and more, because they were 'allegedly' being used by Hamas. I would like to take this opportunity to point out to Mr Wilson, and all the other correspondents who have attacked us Irish as anti-Semitic, that we really don't care what religion you may or may not subscribe to, but we are very much opposed to the killing of 57,000-plus Palestinians, regardless of what allegations are made. – Yours, etc, Dómhnaill Banks, Rathgar, Dublin 6. Sir, – Could anyone please furnish an instance where anyone has criticised Israel without being accused of being anti-Semitic? – Yours, etc, JOHN CRONIN, Terenure, Dublin 6W. Galway film fleadh and An Gaeilge Sir, – There is a revival of sorts in recent years in the Irish language which is very welcome. We have seen the success of films like An Cailín Ciúin which can stand on their own irrespective of what language is used in the film. This year the Galway Film Fleadh, now under way, is showing 11 films as Gaeilge, double last year's number. This points to a very healthy state of Irish language productions. The band Kneecap is popularising An Ghaeilge especially with young people. This is a far cry from the attitude of my fellow classmates to the language when we studied Peig nearly 50 years ago in secondary school. This year for the first time the Galway International Arts Festival have Gaeilge ambassadors volunteering at events to encourage people to use their cúpla focal irrespective of their fluency in the language. There will be a pop up Gaeltacht each day in the festival garden in Eyre Square between 1pm and 2pm. The use of An Ghaeilge is becoming more mainstream. It may be small steps,but people's attitudes to the language are changing. We have a long way to go before we experience the kind of revival that the Welsh language has undergone in Wales but as the seanfhocal says 'De réin a chéile a thógtar na caisleáin'. – Yours, etc, TOMMY RODDY, Galway. Praise the Lord Sir, –The Irish Times wouldn't be the same without the Dáil Sketch by Miriam Lord. Her light-hearted reporting on the sometimes dull proceedings in the Dáil is always a pleasure to read. She is a treasure and a lady as well as a Lord. – Yours, etc, TONY CORCORAN, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14. Climate change? Sir, – I note that a regular contributor to this letters page, (name supplied) has migrated to the Irish Independent letters page this morning. Is this an effect of climate change? – Yours, etc, BEN Mc CABE, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.
Irish Times
08-07-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Do you live in a studio apartment? Amid plans to make them smaller, we'd like to hear your experience
New apartment guidelines reducing the size of studios , the n umber of windows and the amount of private outdoor space in apartment schemes are due to be published by Minister for Housing James Browne on Tuesday. We'd like to hear what you think about it. Do you live in one of these studios currently? We'd like to hear your experience amid plans to make them smaller. The minimum size of a studio apartment will be reduced to 32sq m, down from the 37sq m required under current standards. A standard tennis court for doubles play is 260sq m, which means eight of the minimum sized studio apartments could fit into one court. READ MORE We want to hear from you on what it is like to live within 37sq m. How would you feel losing five of those square metres as proposed under the new standards? [ Smaller apartments, fewer windows and lifts: What are the planned changes to housing rules? Opens in new window ] You can let us know what you think using the form below. Please limit your submissions to 400 words or less. Please include a phone number for verification purposes only. If you would prefer to remain anonymous, please indicate this in your submission – we will keep your name and contact details confidential. We will curate a selection of submissions for an article but please note we may not publish every submission we receive.
Irish Times
10-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Reforming the planning laws: ‘It was never going to be a short-term solution to the housing problem'
Ireland's national planning authority is about to enter a new era after the 2022 governance scandal that shook the organisation to its core. In the coming weeks An Bord Pleánala will change its name to An Coimisiún Pleanála and a number of structural changes will take place under the Planning and Development Act 2024. The organisation's 14 board members will become commissioners and they will solely decide on cases and have no role in the running of the organisation. A Chief Planning Commissioner will also be hired. The chairperson Peter Mullan will become chief executive and will run the business side of things. He will report to a new governing board, which will have at least five and no more than nine members, to be appointed by the Minister for Housing . READ MORE The changes are designed to separate corporate decision-making and governance functions at the organisation and are the final step in restoring public confidence in the body and morale among the staff working there. This section of the mammoth Planning and Development Act 2024, which is designed to reform how planning works in Ireland, is one of the first parts of the legislation to be commenced. [ Public perception of planning system worsens while harsh reality of housing crisis hits homes Opens in new window ] This section, Part 17, is expected to go to Cabinet next week and be officially activated the following week. The other main part of the legislation that will bring change to An Bord Pleanála is the introduction of mandatory statutory timelines for its decisions. Those timelines range from 18 to 24 weeks and there will be financial penalties for any failure to comply. This part of the Act is not due to be commenced at the same time as the name change, though it is expected to be in place by the end of 2025. All these changes are happening in the midst of a housing crisis , where builders and home buyers often point fingers at delays in Irish planning as one of the major contributory factors to the slow pace of building at a time when tens of thousands of new homes are needed every year. So what impact will the changes to An Bord Pleanála have on the housing crisis and what other changes can we expect to see when the new legislation is fully commenced? The context It is difficult to talk about the changes coming at An Bord Pleanála without first recounting the upheaval at the authority over recent years. In 2022 news broke of then deputy chairperson Paul Hyde's alleged conflict of interest on a number of cases. In 2023 he received a suspended prison sentence for failing to declare certain personal interests in a number of properties when a member of the planning body. Former An Bord Pleanála deputy chairman Paul Hyde leaving court in Cork in November 2023. Photograph: Michael Mac Sweeney/Cork Courts Chairman at the time Dave Walsh also took early retirement 'for personal and family reasons', creating a leadership vacuum. An investigation into governance issues at An Bord Pleanála by senior counsel Lorna Lynch concluded there were no sufficient grounds to refer matters to the Minister for housing to determine if there was 'stated misbehaviour'. She found, following an investigation into six governance areas involving a review of 175 case files, that there was no requirement for the planning board to initiate disciplinary action against any current or former employees. The upheaval in management and a deficit in staffing led to a build-up of cases sitting with the board. At its peak there was a backlog of more than 3,600 cases, roughly double its usual roster of about 1,500. [ James Browne has little power to fix the housing crisis. The status quo is in charge Opens in new window ] The national planning authority received approval from the Department of Housing to hire significantly more staff. It now has 290 full-time employees, up from 202 at the end of 2022, and 15 permanent board members. This has resulted in a substantial reduction in the backlog, to 1,274 cases as of March 2025. Mullan officially took over as chairperson in January 2024. He reflects on what has been an unprecedented period of disruption for the organisation. 'It was an existential crisis. The unethical and criminal behaviour of Paul Hyde brought this organisation to the very brink. We worked very, very hard to reestablish our reputation,' Mullan tells The Irish Times. But how has the crisis affected staff and what do they think of the proposed changes? A new name Rebuilding the reputation of the organisation does not require a name change, or a change in governance, Mullan says, because he believes this has already been achieved. But will it help? 'I think it will,' he says. Other staff members were not so sure. In May 2023 trade union Forsa, which represents a number of An Bord Pleanála staff, wrote to then minister for housing Darragh O'Brien outlining its opposition to the move. The change in name 'reflects negatively on all who work in the organisation' and represents 'collective punishment' for all of those in the organisation who had worked with 'impartiality and integrity', while others at the very top had not, Forsa said at the time. The turmoil and subsequent clean-up had a bruising and isolating effect on those who worked there, though that appears to be receding. 'There was a little bit of unhappiness, but I think people have come around to the idea,' Mullan says. 'I think everybody here accepts that it reflects the governance changes in the Act, and what the commissioners will do.' Sign outside An Bord Pleanála's offices in Dublin. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw The name, An Coimisiún Pleanála, reflects the fact that the 14 board members will now become planning commissioners, or Coimisinéirí Pleanála, and there will be nobody on the governing board deciding on planning cases. This is not a rebrand, Mullan stresses. 'It's not that we fancied a new sign,' he says. The new name reflects the change in governance. 'The main value within the staff of this organisation is integrity. That integrity existed in staff members before the governance failures and has come right through to the fore now,' Mullan says. The impact Will these changes to An Bord Pleanála's structure and governance have a big impact on how planning is done in Ireland? 'I don't think they're going to be transformative,' Gavin Lawlor, president of the Irish Planning Institute says. 'The changes are subtle, so there won't be any significant overt change. An Bord Pleanála is changing its name, there are governance changes in terms of how it operates and how it's structured, and it will have mandatory timelines imposed on decision making.' Gavin Lawlor, president of the Irish Planning Institute. Photograph: Fennell Photography The more significant reform around how planning is done in Ireland is contained in other sections of the Act. 'The objective of the Act is to provide more certainty around the timing of the outcomes of a planning application. Then on the plan-making side, it is to provide more detail, more certainty for the community as to what will happen in the future,' Lawlor says. Local authority development plans will be extended to 10 years in duration, increasing certainty for developers and putting the focus on long-term, strategic planning. These plans will have to align with the National Planning Framework (NPF), and the Minister for Housing James Browne has said he will be asking all local authorities to reopen their plans this year to ensure they comply with the revised NPF. The development plans will also be guided by Urban Development Zones, which will be explicit on the height and density allowed in certain areas. 'It gives everybody a little bit more certainty around what they can expect to see when planning applications come in. What we want is a more plan-led system, a more prescriptive system, so less is left to chance,' Lawlor says. The changes will not be swift, though. 'Within a year, the new Act will be in place, but then it takes time for those elements of the new Act to kick in, and to make meaningful difference,' says Lawlor. He estimates that it will be 'probably three to five years' before any new development plans are in place and then another three years until the consequences are seen 'in terms of housing'. 'The Planning and Development Act was never going to be a short-term solution to the housing problem,' Lawlor says. While slow-paced change is not exactly music to the Minister's ears – or to people trying to build, buy or rent their own home – it does appear to be a step in the right direction. What will people notice in the changes with An Coimisiún Pleanála? 'I don't think John or Mary Citizen are going to notice anything really different other than the change in our name,' Mullan says. 'But the public are entitled to an efficient planning service, and that's what they're going to get from An Coimisiún Pleanála.' Delivering an efficient planning service could be a much larger task than any one organisation can pull off.
