Now, at Deputy Brady's request, having established that the last bus for Donegal has not departed, I will continue. Some of the consequences of this period of over-heating are still with us — to give an example, while building output and the demand for building materials dropped over the past three years, imports of materials have continued at a high level. This factor is having a damaging effect on our materials manufacturing industry and on employment within that industry.
Imports of building materials in 1981 — the last full year for which figures are available — were valued at about £350 million. About half of these imported materials could have been produced in the country creating direct employment of up to 10,000 jobs. Relatively speaking, we have one of the worst trade balances in Europe in this particular sector. The value of imported building materials doubled between 1977 and 1981; yet our exports in the period increased by less than one-third.
The building industry is a particular case in which an unthinking approach can, and has, damaged the interests of Irish producers. The type of case that I have in mind is the not infrequent one in which building or design specifications have been drafted in such a way that they effectively precluded by their terms the use of Irish materials or products that, given a fair chance of competing, would have been quite suitable on grounds of quality and price for the job in hand.
I want to assure Deputies that this Government will act responsibly towards the building industry. However, we are bound by constraints which were not of the present Government's making and which seriously limit room for manoeuvre. Much of the remedial action being urged on the Government would, in the long term, compound rather than cure the problems of the economy. The policy which I will pursue in relation to the building industry may take time to bear fruit but the reality of the present situation is that there is no magic wand available to conjure up in the short-term the kind of additional investment and growth that some spokesmen have called for.
Deputies will be aware of the need for a system of control both technical and administrative, in the construction of all buildings. While power to make building regulations is available in the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963, the Act does not cater for developments which have taken place in the industry since the 1963 Act was enacted. A number of factors, such as energy conservation and efficient use of resources, must be catered for in the building regulations and the power available under the 1963 Act is inadequate for this purpose. For that reason I propose to introduce a Bill during this present session which will provide a new statutory basis for the making of building regulations and for their administration and implementation.
Housing is the largest sector within the construction industry. It accounts for about two-fifths of the output of the industry and about one-third of its employment. The importance of housing is not solely that it is a major economic activity; it also satisfies a basic social need. We are relatively fortunate in having a housing stock of good quality. The return to the community from the considerable investment required to provide this housing stock is best illustrated by considering the consequences of poor housing conditions, such as widespread health problems, social and economic deprivation and instability. In the past ten years, well over one-quarter of a million new houses were built or almost 30 per cent of this country's housing stock. Although this is a remarkable achievement, population pressures are such that we must keep up or even increase this pace of activity. Any shortfall in meeting housing needs in the short-term will have to be made up in the longer term with heavy economic and social costs. The Joint Programme for Government recognises the need for a continuing high level of housing output and includes an aim to raise output towards 30,000 units per year. Obviously meeting this target will take some time, but I am determined that the target will be achieved.
My policy in seeking to ensure that housing completions are sufficient to satisfy needs is based on two approaches. First of all, every encouragement will be given to the majority who can house themselves through their own efforts. There is a wide range of inducements to this group of people ranging from grants and subsidies, tax concessions, the availability of mortgage finance and the operation of arrangements to ensure that new housing is of good standard and located in an acceptable environment. The second approach is that the State will provide, through local authorities, or assist the provision through voluntary housing organisations, of housing for those who have not the resources to house themselves.
In spite of the very difficult budgetary situation facing the Government I am maintaining the capital provision for housing in 1983 at a very high level. The total capital allocation for housing provided in the 1983 Public Capital Programme is £360 million, the highest allocation to any sector of the programme. In 1982, 26,798 houses were completed which represented a decline of over 2,000 houses on the figure for 1981. This decline has taken place entirely in the private sector due to the effects of the economic recession.
In 1982, the capital allocation for local authority housing was £186 million. This amount funded the completion of 5,686 houses and left a further 7,460 houses in progress at the end of the year. The average monthly employment on the programme throughout the year was 5,889 while the December figure stood at 6,086.
An allocation of £208 million is being made available towards the housing programme in 1983. This figure represents an increase of 11.8 per cent on the 1982 provision. Having regard to the very competitive tendering which we have experienced, particularly throughout the second half of 1982, and the moderation in the rate of increase in building costs, this allocation should be sufficient to maintain the programme throughout 1983 at about the 1982 level. It is important to ensure that maximum value is got for the resources provided. To this end we have undertaken a broad ranging examination of the extent to which there may be scope for restraining the unit costs of local authority houses which have, unfortunately, increased so much in recent years.
Housing subsidy in subhead E1 of the Vote meets in full the loan charges on borrowings incurred by local authorities in the provision of houses for letting. The provision for this subsidy in 1983 is over £128 million, an increase of £30 million over last year's provision.
The present differential rents scheme has been in operation since the beginning of 1982. I am at present developing proposals for a revision of the scheme for discussion with local authorities and tenant interests. The basic strategy behind the scheme is that those persons who can afford to do so should pay their fair share of rent and those in less favourable circumstances should have their rent payments tailored to their means.
Private housing output is influenced strongly by the prevailing economic situation. The result has been that private housing completions in 1982, compared with 1981, fell by over 2,000 to 21,112. Financial incentives such as grants and subsidies for house purchase and house improvement remain a central feature of Irish housing policy. Subhead E2 makes provision for £18 million for the payment of new house grants for first-time owner-occupiers and for house improvement grants.
The mortage subsidy scheme is designed to ease the burdens on first-time owner-occupiers of new houses by making a subsidy of up to £3,000 available to eligible applicants over a period of five years. The provision in subhead E3 for mortgage subsidy in 1983 is £14.3 million.
The availability of mortgage finance is a key factor in the level of housing demand. I am concerned, therefore, to ensure that mortgage finance should be available and at interest rates that people can afford. Private resources, through the building societies and the mortgage operations of the banks and assurance companies, are supplemented by public agencies — the Housing Finance Agency and the house purchase loan scheme of local authorities. In 1982, £439 million was paid out by all the major lending agencies. Regrettably, the contribution by the banks and assurance companies continues to decline. Together they provided something in excess of £30 million, or only about 7 per cent compared with nearly 20 per cent in 1978, of the total advanced by the main agencies.
Building societies remain the major source of mortgage finance. The societies advanced £292 million in 1982, or two-thirds of the total advances. The societies can be expected to continue their major contribution to the financing of the private housing programme in 1983 and they are likely to fund about 15,000 loans for both new and existing houses. The societies' mortgage rate stands generally at 13 per cent since January last, which is the lowest rate that has prevailed for more than four years. Some of the societies have been able to relax their loan requirements in varying ways in recent months. During 1982 the societies were permitted to avail of a foreign borrowing facility of £20 million with the benefit of a State guarantee against possible exchange rate losses. A token provision is included in subhead E3.6 to cover any expenditure which may be necessary on foot of this guarantee in the current year.
People on lower incomes for whom the building societies do not normally cater are provided with mortgage finance through schemes operated by local authorities and the Housing Finance Agency. The capital allocation for the payment of loans by these agencies in 1983 is £127 million. In 1982, local authorities paid out a total of almost £100 million in house purchase loans. Loans under the local authority house purchase loan scheme have a fixed interest rate of 12½ per cent per annum.
The Housing Finance Agency was set up by the previous Coalition Government. In the four month period to the end of 1982, the agency advanced some £17 million to enable local authorities to issue house purchase loans principally to first-time purchasers. The agency will have £50 million available for this purpose in 1983. There has been a strong demand to date for the agency's unique loan scheme. The agency will raise finance for its operations through the issue of State-guaranteed bonds linked to the rate of inflation and having a small real rate of return. A first bond issue of £25 million was made by the agency in January this year. The success of that issue augurs well for the future issues the agency will make.
The conservation and improvement of existing houses is a very important facet of housing policy. The scheme currently in operation provides grants for the provision of a water supply, sewerage facilities, a bathroom, increased accommodation to cater for overcrowding, chimneys in houses where none exists and necessary conservation works to the basic fabric of the house. In 1982 my Department paid about 18,000 house improvement grants, excluding grants paid for group water or sewerage schemes with which I will deal later.
For some years past a proportion of the moneys allocated for house improvements is earmarked for grants to provide improved accommodation for disabled persons and for essential repairs to certain houses in rural areas. Grant assistance is available for the adaptation of existing dwellings to facilitate occupants suffering from severe physical or mental disability. The essential repairs scheme applies to houses occupied by elderly persons and is designed to improve these houses so that the occupants can continue to reside in them for the rest of their lives. Irrespective of the state of the nation's finances it is only proper that social services of this nature should not be neglected.
Subhead E provides funds for an emergency programme to improve the living conditions of old people living alone in insanitary or unfit accommodation. The range of works could involve, for example, repairs to a chimney or fireplace, the provision of water and sanitary facilities, the provision of food storage facilities, works to facilitate access to a house such as a ramp or handrail and so on. Formalities are kept to a minimum and where an application is approved work is carried out at no cost to the applicant. Generally, the programme is being undertaken with the co-operation of the health boards on a regional basis under the direction of the various community care managers. There is also close co-operation with certain voluntary organisations such as St. Vincent de Paul and "Alone". I have provided a sum of £1 million in subhead E4 to enable it to be continued in 1983.
In turning to local authority finance, let me first spell out in broad terms what I see as the problems in this area and what my objectives are in tackling those problems. I am concerned at the trend in recent years of local authorities' increasing dependence on the Exchequer for the bulk of their current revenue. This has come about with the derating of domestic dwellings in 1978 and the progressive derating of agricultural land, culminating in, for practical purposes, complete derating in 1983. To put this in perspective — in 1976, about 38 per cent of local authorities' receipts on current account came from the Exchequer — by 1982, this had risen to 60 per cent.
In these circumstances the Minister for the Environment — any Minister for the Environment — could not write a blank cheque for local authorities and as a result central controls on local finance, particularly in the matter of striking the rates, were imposed. Moreover, the deteriorating financial position of the Exchequer inevitably put a further constraint on the amounts by which local authorities were allowed to increase rates. I believe that the increased dependence on the Exchequer and the control it brings is not good for local democracy.
My approach to the question of local finances is based on the principle of restoring as much freedom and discretion to local authorities as is possible. The Estimates before the House, together with other decisions we have taken and to which I will refer, represent a first step in the right direction.
The Estimate published by the previous Administration provided £138 million under subhead O — grant in relief of rates — and £108 million under subhead P — grant in lieu of rates on agricultural land. These provisions would, I believe, have spelt disaster for local authorities. The £138 million for domestic rate grant was the same as the 1982 provision and was £17.5 million short of what would have financed even a freeze in rate poundages on domestic property. The £108 million for the grant in lieu of rates on agricultural land was the equivalent of a freeze in rate poundages had they been applicable to land.
When one realises that those grants are spent on the day to day running of the essential services the local authorities provide, including fire and emergency services, water and sewerage services, roads, the wages and salaries of over 30,000 workers, together with the mounting cost of debt service arising from the expansion in capital programmes, it is not difficult to see that the amounts provided by the previous Administration were a recipe for serious cutbacks in the essential services of local authorities and, with the cutbacks, the loss of employment.
I am pleased, therefore, that I was able to secure a Government decision to allocate an additional £31.5 million for these grants, notwithstanding the very difficult budgetary situation. This increased the 1983 provisions to £163.5 million for subhead O and £114 million for subhead P, representing increases of over 18 per cent and 5½ per cent respectively, over what had been provided by the previous administration and 18 per cent and 28 per cent respectively over the 1982 provisions.
I recognise that the extra £31.5 million still leaves a shortfall for local authorities which will have to be raised in other ways. My approach to this is to confer the maximum discretion on local authorities as to how the shortfall is to be raised. I have departed from the practice of five years standing whereby the local authorities' power to strike a rate was effectively dictated from the Custom House. This year local authorities were free to strike whatever rate they wished. They will also be free under the recently introduced Local Government (Financial Provisions) (No. 2) Bill, 1983, to supplement their income by charges for services. As this Bill will shortly be debated in the House, I do not wish to discuss the details here, except to make these points——
— the local authorities will have maximum discretion under the Bill in regard to the imposition of charges, while respecting that standardisation is necessary in some cases, as with the planning charges;
—the charges required will be of moderate dimensions — and very moderate compared with the charges which would have had to be imposed if the rate support grants had stayed at the level provided for by the previous Government. I hope this will be borne in mind by the Opposition when it comes to debating the Charges Bill.
That Bill also makes broad provision for hardship circumstances.
I believe that the approach which I have described is the right approach. I cannot claim that it will solve all the local authority financial problems this year, or that there are any practicable means of achieving that immediately. In addition, therefore, to the immediate steps which I have described, I am arranging for a special examination to be undertaken of the means that might be adopted to ensure the financial viability of the local government system for the medium and longer terms, including the degree of financial independence which is essential to the health and confidence of democratic local government.
We are dependent on roads more than most other developed countries as the principal means of transport. The public road network accounts for some 96 per cent of all inland passenger traffic and 90 per cent of internal freight traffic. The main improvements required to make the road network — and especially the national routes — adequate in regard to economic, social and environmental needs, have been set out in the Road Development Plan for the eighties. Road grant allocations continue to be guided by the objectives of the plan. With some 3½ years experience of its operation, I have now undertaken a thorough review of the plan.
The Department's Vote provision for road grants this year amounts to £115.5 million an increase of 14 per cent relative to 1982. This should more than compensate for increases in costs which are estimated at 11 per cent. Between 1979 and 1982 total employment on road works declined from 11,500 to 10,000. I expect this fall in employment to be halted this year. Of the total Vote provision of £115.5 million £90 million will be spent on road improvement—£10 million more than last year. The priorities in the expenditure of that sum must be given to completing schemes already in progress, such as the by-pass schemes at Naas, Santry and Swords in the Dublin area, the ring road and bridge in Kilkenny and major bridges in Cork and Waterford. The Naas by-pass is expected to be open to traffic by the end of this year. Planning for a by-pass of Newbridge is under way. Public inquiries into the proposals for the new bridge over the Shannon and by-pass at Athlone have been arranged. Dublin County Council have accepted a tender for the construction of a new Templeogue bridge, and in Dublin city, Ballybough bridge will also be widened. The second stage of the new road to Dublin Airport is expected to start in the autumn. Planning is also going ahead for a by-pass of Bray and Shankill. I hope that local difficulties related to a by-pass of Chapelizod, the Southern Cross Route in Dublin, and a third bridge at Sligo will be resolved without undue delay. In Galway the planning of a new Corrib bridge is under way and construction work has commenced on the road approaches.
These are just some of the major works. Grants have also been allocated for many other improvement works throughout the country.
While the execution of road improvements is important an even higher priority must be given to preserving the existing network. I am providing £25.5 million this year for road maintenance, an increase of 19 per cent compared with last year. This will permit a reasonable standard of maintenance on our major roads. There was also a modest increase in the block grant for certain works on main and county roads.
It is important that we bring our major traffic arteries closer to the standards which obtain in Europe to offset disadvantages of our geographical position within the EEC. These major arteries — the national roads — comprise only around 3,300 miles or 6 per cent of the total road network, but they carry some 35 per cent of the traffic. Below this there is a further tier of non-national "main" roads — about 6,700 miles — and below that again 43,000 miles of county roads. Ireland has one of the highest proportions of road mileages to population in European countries, with consequential problems of improvement and maintenance of a widely dispersed network of which the major portion is of relatively low usage. With the improvement in the state of local authority finances, to which I have alrady referred, I expect that local authorities will apply a fair share of their resources towards the surface dressing of county roads, of which over 7,000 additional miles have been taken in charge in the past 20 years.
The Government believe that, given the limitations on Exchequer funding, ways and means must be found to supplement the roads programme by tapping other sources of finance. The Joint Programme for Government referred to the possibilities of attracting additional private capital for urgent infrastructural works, which would have an important spin-off effect in maintaining employment in the building industry. This proposal is being examined in my Department with particular reference to roads. The examination is aimed at establishing, inter alia, the best means of attracting and managing private capital for roads, and how such private investment is to be repaid, including the scope for the application of tolls for particular projects where such are considered to be appropriate and practicable.
Last month, I gave formal consent to an agreement between Dublin Corporation, the Dublin Port and Docks Board and Ringsend Bridge Ltd. under the Local Government (Toll Roads) Act, 1979. The agreement put a formal seal on a unique arrangement under which private enterprise has combined with public authorities in the provision of a modern traffic facility. Work has now started on the construction of the Ringsend toll bridge which will cost about £8 million and will span the River Liffey linking East Wall Road with Ringsend.
A provision of £3 million is being made for the Local Improvement Scheme in 1983. As in 1982, the bulk of the allocations made to counties which benefit from the Western Package will be devoted to farm road projects eligible for EEC aid.
A directive adopted by the EEC obliges member states to implement harmonised schemes from 1 January 1983 for the annual testing of certain classes of commercial vehicles. Regulations to give effect to the terms of that directive were made in 1981 and the scheme is now fully operational. At present over 3,000 vehicles are being tested every month at centres widely available throughout the country. The introduction of this scheme should result in a substantial improvement in vehicle maintenance standards which in turn would be reflected in a decrease in defect-related accidents, a reduction in the incidence of costly breakdowns and an increase in useful vehicle life for operators.
Provisional figures show that fewer persons were killed on our roads during 1982 than in 1981, but the issue of safety on our roads continues to be a cause for fundamental concern. We have a long way to go before we can regard ourselves as a nation of safety-conscious road users. I take this opportunity of paying tribute to the various agencies which are concerned with the drive for greater safety on our roads — the Garda, the National Road Safety Association and An Foras Forbartha.
The Department's Vehicle Registration Unit, which is now located at Shannon, is concerned with the maintenance of computerised national records of vehicle ownership. The work involves the updating of existing computer records to take account of licence renewals, changes of ownership or other vehicle particulars as well as recording the details of first registrations. The unit works in close co-operation with local motor taxation offices from which the relevant data is obtained. The computerised system affords immediate access to a wide range of vehicle information, particularly to the Garda authorities, in the matter of traffic law enforcement and road tax evasion, as well as in crime prevention.
Future developments will include the centralisation of all vehicle records at Shannon. This will require legislation, which is currently in course of preparation.
The total provision made in the Public Capital Programme for 1983 in respect of sanitary services is £109.8 million. Of this £97.3 million is earmarked as non-voted loan capital for public water and sewerage schemes. The balance of £12.5 million is made up of the £7.2 million for grants for private group water schemes and provision of £5.3 million for public water schemes designated for grant assistance under the Western Package of aid from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund. The capital provision is adequate to cover 1983 expenditure on public water and sewerage schemes in progress and to allow financing to be provided for new schemes authorised this year. It also allows an average increase of around 50 per cent in the allocations to local authorities for small public water and sewerage schemes, costing less than £50,000. In many cases this will help to maintain direct labour employment. The average direct employment on the sanitary services programme is projected to increase to 2,150 jobs in 1983. This represents a 19 per cent increase on the comparable 1982 figure of 1,810 jobs.
The subsidy to be paid by my Department in 1983 on loan charges incurred by local authorities on the approved cost of public water and sewerage schemes is estimated at just under £30 million — the relevant funding is provided under subhead F.1. This is an increase of about £8 million on the 1982 allocation and reflects the growing commitment required to support the financing of loan charges on sanitary services investment.
The Government recognise that sanitary services schemes have a pivotal role in promoting economic growth and development. This is one reason why, despite economic and fiscal difficulties, sanitary services investment is being strongly maintained. For the country to take advantage of an upturn in economic activity there must be a good supply of serviced sites available for industry and for other developments.
In order to maintain the momentum of the programme in 1984, I have recently announced the release of 59 major public water and sewerage schemes with an estimated total value of about £75 million. The schemes approved include projects to serve housing and new industry; to eliminate deficiencies in existing services; to provide headworks for regional schemes, and to incorporate treatment facilities so as to prevent pollution being caused by sewerage schemes. I am arranging for my Department and local authorities to co-operate in ensuring that work and employment commence as soon as possible. The scale of these new releases will help in the build up of confidence in the civil engineering sector of the construction industry.
By the end of 1982 more than 3,500 private group water schemes had been completed and approximately 107,000 houses and 80,000 farms had obtained water from group schemes. Work was in progress on the installation of water in another 7,000 houses and 140 schemes had been designed to serve a further 4,800 houses approximately. The rural piped water supply programme continues to benefit greatly under the Western Package. Approximately £7,500,000 has been paid out since June, 1981 in grants in respect of more than 8,700 houses in the western counties under the scheme. The total allocation for 1983 of £7.2 million for group water scheme grants represents a 14 per cent increase on the outturn expenditure of £6.3 million in 1982. This will be adequate to meet all estimated grant expenditure in 1983 in both western and non-western counties.
The growth in fire risk which this country has experienced in the past decade or so has stemmed from economic and social change, and the introduction of new materials with fire characteristics different in many respects from the more familiar traditional materials. We have to gear ourselves to the increased hazards. The changed situation calls for response not just from Government and local fire authorities, but also from the general community.
Subhead U provides an allocation of £1.352 million for fire and emergency services in 1983, an increase of more than 100 per cent on last year's allocation. The provision in the Public Capital Programme has also been substantially increased. The 1983 allocation is £6 million. This compares with £2.5 million in 1981 and £4.75 million in 1982. The increased funding will provide for an expanded programme of investment by the fire authorities in the construction of fire stations, and the purchase of fire-fighting, communications, rescue and other emergency equipment. Since 1978 some 30 major fire station projects have been completed and proposals for financing the purchase of 78 new fire tenders and other equipment have been approved. A subsidy scheme is payable at the rate of 50 per cent on loan charges and £1.2 million is being provided in subhead U1 for this purpose.
Increasing attention is being paid to the need for a higher standard of training in the fire service. Under the 1981 Act it is the duty of the individual fire authorities to ensure that training of fire service personnel is carried out and that adequate standards are maintained. My Department complement these activities by offering advice and assistance, issuing guidelines on various aspects of training and by organising central training courses for selected fire authority personnel. The financial allocation for training will allow for an expanded programme in 1983.
The Fire Services Act, 1981, has made significant improvements in the law in the area of fire prevention. In particular it strengthens the powers of the local fire authorities to inspect buildings and secure adequate standards of fire safety. The Act provides also for the making of fire safety regulations relating to matters such as the use and management of buildings to which the public have access.
The building regulations, to which I have referred already, will include requirements relating to fire safety in new buildings and in extensions and alterations of existing buildings. The matters to be covered will include structural fire precautions and means of escape, and account will be taken of the technical recommendations made by the Stardust Tribunal.
It is my intention also to avail of the powers in section 37 of the Fire Services Act, 1981, to make fire safety regulations which will cover the use, management and contents of buildings. Priority is being given to places of public assembly, taking account of the relevant recommendations of the Stardust Tribunal.
The passage of legislation and the introduction of regulations will not in themselves be sufficient to improve the overall level of fire safety.
The Fire Prevention Council have been doing excellent work in promoting public awareness of fire safety since they were established in 1978. This has been endorsed by the Stardust report.
Deputies will recall that when the Fire Services Act, 1981, was before the House there was general agreement on all sides on the proposals for the establishment of a fire services council which would be empowered to provide specified services for the Minister and fire authorities, including in particular the provision of training courses for fire service and other personnel. I am, therefore, going ahead now with the establishment of the council. A primary concern of the council will be to provide for an expanded programme of central training for fire service personnel. The council will have also the wider role envisaged for them in the Fire Services Act in that they will assist in the development of appropriate regulations, codes of practice and standards relating to fire and fire safety. I have no doubt but that the council will have wide support from the fire service. I hope to be in a position to announce shortly the details of the proposals.
I am continuing the general review of planning law and I intend that special emphasis should be placed on identifying changes which would make the planning system more effective and speed up decision making. In our present difficult economic circumstances it is essential that the planning process should not delay worthwhile development unnecessarily. Local planning authorities were asked last October to review their approach to development control and to examine their practices and procedures so as to ensure that the system is operating speedily and effectively. To assist in this review a substantial memorandum containing advice and guidelines was issued by my Department. I am now asking the planning authorities to report back on the action which they have taken as a result of their reviews and I am considering what further follow-up action may be open to me.
I have expressed concern on a number of occasions about the operation of An Bord Pleanála and, in particular, about the build up of arrears of appeals awaiting decision. There were 3,502 planning appeals on hands in the board at the end of March 1983. This situation, quite simply, is unacceptable in its implications for employment and in the holding back of economic activity in the hard-hit building and construction industry. I have had to consider how best the necessary turnaround in performance could be achieved, taking account also of the public concern which has been expressed. The Government have decided that the board should be reconstituted and legislation is being prepared and will be introduced as soon as possible. In the meantime special arrangements are being made, involving the assignment of additional departmental staff to assist the board, to bring about the maximum improvement in the arrears position as quickly as possible.
While it is essential that the development control system should be working efficiently, I believe that planning should make a positive contribution as well to development and employment provision. I will be trying to bring about a revival of interest and emphasis on the positive potential of planning. As a first measure guidelines on the methodology of urban plan-making are being issued to assist the local authorities. The local development plans should set the scene, and provide the context, for the positive role of planning. If plans are to serve this purpose they must be of a good quality and the guidelines should be a help in that direction.
The urbanisation process, and the need to get infrastructural and other investment programmes properly integrated, means that more attention will need to be given to the regional dimensions of physical planning. Important work of the kind I have in mind has now been undertaken by the Eastern Regional Development Organisation aimed at identifying the best strategy for future accommodation of development in and around the capital. There are, of course, special problems in that region and special urgency, but the regional dimension of planning is needed in all regions and I am aware that forward planning has, in fact, been undertaken by other regional development organisations as well. My Department will be reviewing the happenings and the needs in this area. There is a provision of £125,000 for assistance for the regional development organisations in 1983. £50,000 of this is earmarked as a contribution to the eastern region study to which I have referred, leaving £75,000 for grants towards the general operating costs of the nine organisations. This is £25,000 more than in 1983, so that I will, in fact, be providing a stronger measure of support in this area than has been done in recent years.
The introduction of fees for planning applications and appeals is in line with the approach of the previous Government. The considerable cost of operation of the development control system, involving processing of planning applications by local planning authorities and of appeals by An Bord Pleanála, has hitherto been borne by the public at large. It is reasonable and equitable that the persons and interests who utilise the system and have the benefit of it should make some contribution to the costs involved. The fees which have been introduced are designed to achieve this aim.
There have been some criticisms, and this is to be expected. It would be nice not to have to impose any charges. I believe, however, that the scheme of planning fees is fair and reasonable and will come to be seen that way. But if there are unsatisfactory elements in the scheme, and this emerges with experience, I am prepared to take account of them and, if necessary, to amend the scheme.
In accordance with a commitment contained in the Programme for Government, priority has been given to the reestablishment of the Joint Committee on Building Land, which has now held a number of meetings. I sincerely hope that the committee will prove an effective means of reaching consensus as to the best approach to the question of building land prices. The Programme for Government contains a commitment to the enactment of legislation by mid-1984 on the question of building land and this remains the target.
I am reviewing the action to be taken in the matters covered by the Urban Development Areas Bill and the Dublin Inner City Development Authority Bill, 1982. I am fully aware of the particular significance of the future development of the Port and Docks Board site alongside the Custom House and I do not rule out the possibility of special institutional arrangements. But I have reservations about heading into a situation in which there would be demands to set up a number of new development bodies to undertake specific tasks in various areas, and the problems which this would be likely to cause in regard to financing, duplication and so on. I am not sure that these implications were fully thought out by the previous Government. This seems to be reflected, for example, in the issues which had been raised about the relationship between the proposed urban development commissions and Dublin Corporation.
I would like to see as much progress as possible being made to deal with the very real problems of the inner city in the most effective way possible, which is through the existing local authority and other institutions concerned. This possibility is being examined side by side with the review of legislation to which I have already referred.
In the meantime, the Dublin Inner City Group, which works under the aegis of my Department, will continue to provide financial support for projects in the Dublin inner city which lead to job provision, improvement in community, recreational and educational facilities and in social provisions. At this stage the group has dispensed over £1.5 million under this programme, and the Estimate provides for a further £300,000 for 1983.
The physical environment is a prime national resource which in recent years has rightly become the subject of increasing public attention. As the Minister with an overall responsibility for the protection and improvement of the environment, I welcome this tendency. Significant changes in the surroundings are taking place all the time as a result of the pressures brought about by an expanding economy, our growing population, increasing urbanisation, industrial growth, changing patterns of agriculture and increasing demands for recreational facilities.
The economic growth we need to achieve increased employment and improved living conditions inevitably means that the environmental pressures will continue.
A formal environment policy statement was issued by the previous Coalition Government in January 1982. The main aim of this policy is the protection and improvement of the physical environment side by side with economic and social progress. The statement of policy was an essential step in promoting the interests of the environment. However, of itself, a policy statement will achieve nothing unless there is a commitment to specific measures to give effect to the policy aims.
There is, in fact, a lot going on centrally and locally, inside the local government system and outside it, that has a bearing on the policy aims set out in the 1982 statement. I intend that early attention should be given to assessing the adequacy of the existing programmes bearing on environmental protection and improvement taking account, in particular, of the recommendations of the Environment Council in their report "A Policy for the Environment". The aim will be to identify gaps or weaknesses in environmental programmes so that whatever action is needed to deal with them may be undertaken. I am also proceeding with examination of the adequacy of the legislation relating to pollution control with a similar objective in mind.
Another important development taking place is the preparation by An Foras Forbartha in association with my Department of a first report on the state of the environment. This report will provide a factual account of the condition of our environmental resources so that we can take heed of undesirable trends and take corrective action. I hope to see this report completed shortly.
I was very glad to announce recently that £10 million is available for environmental works to be undertaken by local authorities this year. Of this provision, £8 million is being financed by the Youth Employment Agency with the balance of £2 million coming from Subhead G of my Department's Vote. I have notified local authorities of allocations aggregating £8 million. It is important that the employment should be beneficial not just in terms of numbers of jobs created but also the quality of work and of the work experience. I have stressed to local authorities the importance of developing the training and educational aspects of their work programmes in association with the appropriate authorities in their areas.
A further allocation of £2 million is being made available from which funds will be allocated to local authorities for particular projects which will provide suitable training, work experience and temporary employment for eligible young persons in areas of particularly high youth employment. Projects selected will be of a longer-term nature than those normally associated with the environment improvement scheme and the local authorities have been invited to submit proposals.
I want to emphasise my commitment to the settlement programme for travelling people. To that end, I will ensure that my Department continue to give every assistance and encouragement to local authorities to provide accommodation for travellers, whether in conventional houses, in special schemes or on halting sites. This year £1.5 million is being made available under subhead S mainly to provide 100 per cent subsidy to local authorities for capital projects and 90 per cent recoupment of the salaries and expenses of social workers employed in the programme. A sum of £1.25 million of non-voted capital is also provided to finance new schemes of accommodation.
The Travelling People Review Group, which was set up jointly by the Ministers for the Environment and Health in January 1981, presented their report on 4 May. The report contains a detailed analysis of all aspects of existing policies, programmes and services which relate to the travellers and recommends a series of programmes involving action in the areas of accommodation, education, employment, health, social welfare and so on. A Government review body, composed of the Ministers of State at the Departments of the Environment, Justice, Finance, Labour, Health, Social Welfare and Education has been established to ensure urgent consideration of the recommendations in the report and to identify those which are capable of implementation in the current financial situation. The review body is under the chairmanship of the Minister of State at my Department, Deputy Ruairí Quinn.
My own direct area of concern is, of course, the question of accommodation for travellers. There have been real achievements in this area but these have been masked by the fact that the number of traveller families doubled in the past 20 years. The count taken last November showed that 1,102 families were then in occupation of standard houses and a further 360 families were living either in chalets or trailers on authorised sites or halts. On the debit side, however, we have to face the fact that the number of roadside families continues to rise and last November, stood at 1,387. Besides, there are great discrepancies in achievement in different areas.
There is heavy emphasis by the review body on standard housing as the predominant method of approach to settlement and this is very much in line with the policy which I have been pursuing. On receiving the results of the 1982 count, I wrote to each city and county manager asking for intensification of effort in the accommodation programme and stressed that every traveller who applies for a house should be given full consideration in accordance with the statutory schemes of letting priorities. I have also asked the managers to ensure that travellers get whatever assistance they need in making applications for housing. My Department are now examining the detailed recommendations in regard to housing and other accommodation which were made by the review body and I will ensure that no time is lost in establishing an implementation programme.
There are a considerable number of other expenditure items in my Department's Vote which I have not time to deal with but details are available in Part III of the Vote. Areas not covered by me include subhead H (recoupment of expenditure in respect of the Register of Electors), An Foras Forbartha, malicious injuries, grants for the public library service, miscellaneous services in subhead Y such as grants to the Irish Water Safety Association and the Water Pollution Advisory Council. The receipts for Appropriations-in-Aid are set out in subhead Z and are self-explanatory.
I would have liked to go into more detail on some of the items in the Department's Vote but I do not wish to take up too much time so that Deputies who may wish to speak may have an opportunity to do so. If Deputies want further information on any of the subheads in the Vote I will obtain it for them. Overall, the voted expenditure, together with the non-voted expenditure and the income of local authorities, amounts to a very large sum of money which must be used in the most efficient manner for the benefit of the whole community. It is my objective to achieve this.
