The installation of the 2 no. Sheep grids at  Athgarvan National school is due to commence at the end of November.  This contract will be funded as a Local Property Tax/ Pay Parking Project.

The Minister for Housing, Mr. Simon Coveney,T.D. said “The most recent homeless figures for September are a reminder of the significant challenge that we face in tackling the homelessness crisis.”

Housing authority reports for a week in September 2016 identified the following numbers of individuals and families in receipt of State-funded emergency accommodation:

• 4,283 adult individuals;

• 1,173 families are included in this total, of which 1,014 are in the Dublin Region;

• 2,426 dependents are associated with these families.

• Total Homelessness adults and dependents – 6,709.

“Since Rebuilding Ireland was launched in July, we’ve made sustained efforts to deliver the plan’s objectives in relation to addressing homelessness. I have said that it will take time to turn the tide on homelessness for both families and individuals,” added Minister Coveney.

Significant additional resources for tackling homeless are being delivered under Budget 2017 with an increase of almost 40% in the Exchequer allocation, from €70 million in 2016 to €98 million in 2017.

Rebuilding Ireland provides for early solutions to address the unacceptable level of families in emergency accommodation and to end the reliance on commercial hotels, except in very limited circumstances, by mid-2017.

“We will have more than 300 rapid delivery homes under construction by year end. Multiple initiatives to bring vacant properties into use are underway with both the Housing Agency and local authorities. The number of Homeless HAP tenancies to be delivered will expand from 550 this year to 1,200 in 2017.

It is anticipated that this year some 2,700 exits from homelessness will be achieved, more than ever before. While we are finding more homes than ever for people who are homeless, we are focused on accelerating delivery of the strategy which is just three months old in order to make a measurable impact on homelessness,” ended Minister Coveney.

The Summer Stars reading programme is running in public libraries throughout the country this summer. Summer Stars is a free programme, open to all children.

Each child who registers for the programme at their local library joins in the fun of reading lots of exciting books during the summer. Children will receive their own Summer Stars Reading Card to record their progress and the Summer Stars Reward Stamp will be added to their card at the library for each book read. Fun rewards will be provided along the way. At the end of the programme, all children who have participated will be invited to attend an awards event.

Newbridge Community Library

Athgarvan Road

Newbridge

Co. Kildare

Ph: 045 448353

Email: newbridgelib@kildarecoco.ie

Website: www.kildare.ie/library

Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Simon Coveney, T.D., has announced the allocation of €9 million to assist local authorities in taking in charge 356 developments (accounting for over 17,000 households).   In addition to the €9 m allocation, almost €4.5m of funding will be sourced by local authorities through bonds and other sources.

The Minister stated that, “the dramatic boom and bust that our residential construction sector experienced over the last 15 – 20 years has left considerable issues for households in developments that would previously have been taken in charge in the normal way. There has been significant progress in tackling these most acute cases, providing for the completion of the majority of unfinished developments. Through the funding I am providing to local authorities we can now map a path towards all residential developments being taken in charge by local authorities.  Residents can be confident that the housing developments they live in will be properly finished out and maintained into the future.

This work on taking in charge should also be seen in the context of the Government’s forthcoming Action Plan for Housing and the funding provided through local authorities to support the provision of new infrastructure to support the development of high quality homes for all.”

The funding is being provided under the Minister’s new National Taking in Charge Initiative (NTICI) to accelerate current applications within the taking in charge process relating to around 1,500 developments.   The initiative has been guided by the results of a survey of housing developments not taken in charge that was carried out by the Department in December 2015 (and available on the Department’s website). This survey showed that at that point in time there were 5,655 completed housing developments nationally which were not taken in charge by local authorities, 1,500 of which had applications for TIC submitted to the relevant local authority.

My second motion in Junes MD meeing ‘That the council assist the residents of Liffey Hall to erect a lamp-post they paid to replace themselves after years of requesting the council to replace.

Report: The Public Lighting Unit has made contact with the Residents Association of Liffey Hall with a view to erecting these replacement poles.

That the council provide an update on the Part VIII process for the Skatepark and on the public submissions invited earlier this year.

Report: It is proposed to launch the Part VIII for the Skatepark in Newbridge in late August. No public submissions have previously been invited or submitted earlier in the year.

One of my questions in June’s MD meeting was ‘Can we include in the planning around the Lidl application for the link-road and new warehouse, improved traffic signage/calming along the route as traffic turns left from Lidl towards Athgarvan?

Report: The Roads Design Department can examine this issue as part of its analysis of the Lidl planning application.

The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys TD, has today (Thursday) announced funding of €904,530 to 57 heritage projects under the Structures at Risk Fund (SRF) for 2016. The scheme provides funding for protected buildings in private and public ownership. The funding being provided ranges from €4,000 per project to over €26,000 per project.

Please promote this announcement through your social media channels. Please see below the list of projects being awarded funding for 2016

This scheme was first introduced in 2011, and since then it has made an invaluable contribution to the preservation and protection of our built heritage. This year, 57 projects across 27 local authority areas will benefit from direct funding. Heritage projects in every region across the country are set to benefit under this scheme.

Support for our built heritage, is vital not only for the safekeeping of Ireland’s architectural heritage, it also helps to support employment in the conservation and construction industries. Investing in our heritage will also play a very important role in rural regeneration.

This year, historic houses were eligible to apply for funding under the scheme. Minister Humphreys launched the Action Plan for the Sustainable Future of the Irish Historic House at the end of last year, which set out a roadmap of actions, including the broadening of funding sources, for this specific area of Ireland’s architectural heritage.

Improving the quality and aesthetics of historic structures can add to a community’s sense of pride and contributes hugely to the revitalisation of rural towns and villages. Heritage buildings are a very important part of our cultural landscape, and as the economy continues to improve, the Government hopes to be in a position to support the heritage sector to the benefit of communities across the country.

Note:

The Structures at Risk Fund provides funding for works to safeguard structures, in private and public ownership, protected under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, and in certain cases, works to structures within Architectural Conservation Areas. Typical works to be funded under the scheme include roof repairs, structural consolidation and measures to ensure weather tightness.

Fine Gael to examine actions of lending institutions in relation to home repossessions

Acting Chair of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party, Minister of State Catherine Byrne, has said the Fine Gael party is to examine the matter of home repossessions and the actions of lending institutions in this regard.

Deputy Byrne was speaking after the Fine Gael Party passed a motion submitted by Bernard Durkan TD on the matter, at its Parliamentary Party meeting last night (Wednesday).

The motion called on the Fine Gael Party to examine the extent to which various lending institutions continue to press for the repossession of family homes or buy to let properties, which may have an impact on the number of applications for Local Authority Housing.

A report will be conducted on this matter by the Fine Gael party, with a view to making recommendations to Government.

My second motion at yesterday’s Municipal District meeting ‘ That the members revert to the former democratic system of permitting elected representatives to speak on any motion they submit once the motion qualifies for the agenda. The current and relatively new system requiring a seconder in order to permit discussion of a motion, that has already been deemed appropriate for the agenda, goes against core democratic values of free speech and representation. Requiring a seconder permits censorship of individual motions on the Municipal District agenda that have already Kildare County Council Page 12 of 13 been through a qualifying process before being included on the agenda. It is not our role as public representatives to shut down public debate or to retain a mechanism that permits censorship.

Report: The regulation of proceedings at meetings and the requirement for motions to be seconded is set down in Standing Orders. Any proposed amendment to Standing Orders would have to be considered by the Protocol Committee.

My adjourned question from a previous meeting ‘Can we get an update from the Council about the status of the Old Courthouse site in Newbridge, including any plans for the site that would allow the insurance money be drawn down ? The insurance money payable, as a result of the Old Courthouse burning down, is Kildare County Council Page 13 of 13 yet to be drawn down, was brought to our attention as one of the reasons why the site could not be used for the location of a Skatepark.

Report: Following a fire in the Newbridge Courthouse on 4th April 2002 the Council removed the remaining structures from the site on grounds of safety. The normal arrangement whereby insurance would be recouped, following reinstatement of the building, did not apply as there was no immediate agreement on the replacement or use of the building.

In the circumstances, a case was made to the Insurers to recoup the costs incurred as well as recovering a sum realisable under the extent of insurance cover afforded to the building. Part of this was to recoup Civil Defence for loss of items held in storage at the building.

The settlement was arrived at on the basis that the Council would, in time, deliver a replacement building on the site – hence the indication previously that it could not be used as the Skatepark site. In the absence of any emerging fundable programme that would see delivery of an appropriate building on the site, the remaining fund advanced under the insurance claim is being targeted as match funding for the proposed library headquarters in Newbridge.