Niall Collins
Question:1 Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the steps he is taking to implement the recommendations of the local government efficiency report. [15860/11]
Priority Questions
Local Government Audit
A range of work is already underway or in planning arising from the report and I am considering the relevant revenue raising and other recommendations that require enabling legislation.
My Department has been working with local authorities to advance the efficiency group's agenda in areas such as shared services, procurement and in the use of online technology to improve efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery to the public. I have recently established an independent implementation group chaired by Pat McLoughlin, who also chaired the efficiency review group, to drive forward relevant recommendations of the report in areas such as shared services, procurement, value for money and audit. I have asked the group to build on the extensive efficiencies that have been achieved by local authorities in the past two years or so where savings of over €300 million have been achieved, and to focus on key recommendations that will remove costs and yield earliest financial savings for the benefit of the sector and the economy. The group will report to me at regular intervals and its first report is to be provided within six months.
The group to review the staffing levels in Dublin City Council has recently completed its deliberations and its report and recommendations have recently been submitted to me. I am considering the report and will publish it shortly. Specific measures to modernise local government are also underway in parallel with the efficiency review group's recommendations. These include implementation of the "Transforming Public Services" programme and the public service agreement in local authorities in areas such as shared services, HR, ICT and procurement. Reports on progress and savings under the local government sectoral action plan of the PSA were made to the implementation body in May 2011.
I am satisfied that these measures represent a comprehensive and targeted approach to achieving further efficiencies in local government.
I thank the Minister for his reply. The local government efficiency review identified €511 million worth of savings that could be made across the local authority sector, which is a very significant amount of money. The Minister has told us he intends introducing new revenue raising measures for local authorities, including the household utility charge, which he announced during our last questions session.
What efficiencies will the Minister introduce in the local authority sector prior to committing to the introduction of this charge? This new charge will be levied on all households and will be a new income stream for local authorities. However, we do not have a schedule of identified efficiencies or savings.
For example, will the Minister reduce the number of local authority managers from 34 to 24? Will he reduce the number of directors of services in the second tier of management? Will he amalgamate local authorities along the lines recommended by an bord snip nua?
The Minister said the implementation committee will come back to him on a regular basis but is there a timeline to implement the action plans? What recommendations does he intend to pursue within this timeline?
I know Deputy Niall Collins would be anxious that we would have greater efficiency in local government.
Correct.
I am anxious to have a local government reform package to recommend to the House in the autumn. That will include some of the major recommendations in the various efficiency reports and in the McCarthy report to reduce payroll costs. I remind the Deputy that the number of local government staff has been reduced by 6,600 in the past two years. That is a very significant contribution to the overall reduction in public sector staff — in fact, it is 30%. Much work is being done to protect front line services and to enhance them if we possibly can and to look at the management side of the local government system to see how we can make efficiencies there.
There are a number of recommendations on how we can end motor tax gapping. I will bring forward proposals later this year which will probably require legislation to close the gap where people declare vehicles are off the road for a month. That gap will be closed in order to bring additional revenue into the local authority. Over-the-counter and full financial recovery of planning fees have been identified in the report and are under active consideration. I expect to have a package of measures to bring to the House in October.
I believe Professor Richard Tol indicated at a conference at which the Minister spoke that he envisaged the household utility charge may be of the order of €700 per household per month. Will the Minister give his view on that? Are there any plans to roll out new tolls on existing roads?
I do not agree with Professor Tol's calculations or with the proposition or assumptions he made in his comments at that conference. I have no plans to roll out any new tolling schemes.
Water Charges
Brian Stanley
Question:2 Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will give a guarantee that private companies will not be charged with the installation and control of water meters. [15916/11]
The programme for Government provides for the introduction of a fair funding model to deliver clean and reliable water. The objective is to install water meters in households and move to a charging system based on usage above a free allowance. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is currently preparing a strategy to implement these proposals, including the funding of the metering programme, the approach to be taken for the procurement of the water meters and for their installation. Further details will be made available when the Government has considered the proposals.
The programme for Government also proposes the establishment of a new State-owned water company to be called Irish Water. The memorandum of understanding between Ireland and the European Union and the International Monetary Fund commits Ireland to undertaking an independent assessment of the establishment of a water utility. Consultants are currently being appointed and will shortly commence work on this assessment, which will examine the optimum role of the new company and will assist in defining the functions to be assigned to it. The assessment is to be completed by the end of October this year and the Government will then consider proposals on the establishment of Irish Water before the end of 2011.
It is intended that Irish Water will be responsible for the management of the water metering programme. Achieving value for money will be critical and it is likely that the installation of water meters will involve an open procurement process where contractors will be invited to submit tenders for various elements of the meter installation programme. However, while it would be impractical to rule out private sector involvement in the installation of water meters, the intention is that the meters and related equipment will remain in public ownership.
I refer to the proposal to set up a single water authority in the State. Currently, that is the situation in the Six Counties. The Minister of State will be aware of the difficulties faced by elected representatives in the North when trying to deal with the problems during the big freeze last winter. We made cheap jibes about this in an earlier debate but despite the best efforts of all elected representatives in the North, a single body at arm's length from government and local and national elected representatives can cause problems.
A question please.
Will the Minister of State give a cast iron guarantee that private companies will not be involved in disconnecting water supplies to domestic households?
Irish Water will not be a private company but a State-owned operation. The Government and the Dáil will be informed of the powers and responsibilities it will have. There is a tender out currently. I hope we will have an interim report by the end of July and a full report in October. The Minister will then go to Cabinet with proposals which wewill discuss openly in the House. It is not the intention that Irish Water will be a private company.
I have heard different things about the water charge and the utility charge and there have been various reports in the media. Will the Minister of State clarify when the utility charge and the water charge will come in?
The programme for Government provides for an allowance and after that there will be a charge. Up to 2,000 people will work on installing the meters in homes. That is a large number of jobs, which will be important to local communities.
When will the charge be introduced? I did not get an answer.
The Deputy knows the answer.
Political Party Funding
Stephen S. Donnelly
Question:3 Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will amend his proposal, regarding the halving of State funding to parties which do not have 30% female candidates for the next general election in order that the same principle applies to the next local elections as well; if he will increase the target to 40% for both local and general elections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15919/11]
The programme for Government contains a commitment that: "Public funding for political parties will be tied to the level of participation by women as candidates those parties achieve."
On 8 June 2011, I published the general scheme of the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011. The general scheme includes provision for a requirement that to qualify for full State funding under Part 3 of the Electoral Act 1997 a qualified political party will have to have at least 30% women candidates and at least 30% men candidates at the next general election. This is to rise to 40% after seven years. Half of every payment to a qualified political party is to be made contingent on meeting those requirements.
The relevant heads of the Bill to provide for these new arrangements are set out in Part 5 of the general scheme, as published. The approach provided for in the scheme is both practical and sound and I intend to proceed in this manner.
Payments made to qualified political parties under Part 3 of the Electoral Act 1997 are linked to performance at a general election and these new requirements will therefore apply in respect of candidates of political parties at a general election. It is also my intention that the measures would have a knock-on effect by providing an incentive to political parties voluntarily to apply similar arrangements at local elections.
The new legislative provisions are being designed as an incentive mechanism to encourage political parties to apply a more equal gender balance in the selection of candidates that are put forward at a Dáil general election. They are a proportionate response to address a significant problem of public concern within Ireland's democratic system.
At the general election held in February 2011, 86 of the 566 candidates who sought election were women, representing 15.19% of the total. Of the 166 members of Dáil Éireann returned after the election, 25 were women, representing 15.06% of the total. The proportion of men to women in the population of Ireland is approximately 50-50, yet this has never been reflected in Dáil representation. This modest proposal will give political parties an opportunity to have greater representation by women in the Dáil and to ensure greater representation by women on the slate of candidates.
As I have told the Minister previously, I strongly commend what he is doing. There is a real opportunity here to achieve far more meaningful reform, both at local and national level. A 30% change would simply require Fine Gael to field another 13 female candidates and the Labour Party to field another five female candidates. There are 2.25 million women living in Ireland and 42% of the Minister's party membership is composed of women. Given the relatively modest changes that would be required to move quickly to 40%, which would result in a fantastic change, is it not a reasonable thing to do now?
Second, if we accept the logic the Minister has used for the changes at national level, the same logic should apply to local government. It would also make it easier for female candidates at national level. I am new to politics but it is abundantly clear that sitting councillors and Deputies have a huge advantage over others when running for election. Would it not make more sense, both in principle, for the same reason the Minister is applying it nationally, and in practice, to achieve greater female representation, to have it enforced at local level as well as national level?
I have great sympathy with the question and the tone of Deputy Donnelly's remarks. I consider this to be a staging post towards achieving his objective. However, there is a conservative culture in the manner in which these matters can be addressed not only by men, but also by women. There is a balance to be struck between increasing the participation rate of women in politics, and people of either gender wishing to be in politics on merit. There is nothing to stop a person from standing as a candidate in an election for any political party or to stop political parties opting for a 50:50 ratio, if they wish. I am setting a floor in legislative form to ensure that at least 30% of both genders will be considered by political parties. It does not apply to independents at present.
As I said, I welcome this. As regards the conservative measure, I ask the Minister and his officials to consider that the margin required to move from 30% to 40%, which is the Council of Europe's recommended percentage and ultimately the figure the Minister intends to reach, would require Fine Gael and the Labour Party finding an additional 24 and 12 female candidates, respectively. In the context of there being 2.25 million women in Ireland, it should not be beyond the abilities of the parties.
The Deputy will appreciate that this is the first time a Minister has brought forward this proposal. This is the first Government to bring forward a meaningful proposal to increase the participation rate of women and to give them the opportunity to be candidates in a general election. The funding is linked to general elections. If it was linked to local elections, I would be able to apply it down the line. Perhaps that will happen in the future. However, I accept the Deputy's sentiments. I have no difficulty with the spirit and principle of the question, but I am linking this to general elections, in the first instance, and asking political parties to have due regard to it in the local elections.
Niall Collins
Question:4 Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government if he will take the necessary legal and constitutional steps, as promised in the programme for Government, to bring about a complete ban on corporate donations. [15861/11]
On 8 June 2011, I published the general scheme of the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Bill 2011. In line with the Government's commitment to significantly reform political funding in Ireland, this Bill will implement commitments in the programme for Government and recommendations made in the Moriarty Tribunal Report Into Payments to Politicians and Related Matters .
The Bill provides, inter alia, for a ban on the acceptance of donations over €200 from all sources, other than from individuals, by political parties and their accounting units, candidates, Oireachtas Members, Members of the European Parliament, local authority members and third parties, as defined in the Electoral Acts, unless the body has registered with the Standards in Public Office Commission and has furnished, in writing, the name and address of the person or persons responsible for the organisation, management or financial affairs of the body; a statement of the nature and purpose of the body; a list of the membership or shareholders of the body; a copy of its statement of accounts for that year; a copy of the annual report to its members — it will not be inclined to do that; and the donor has declared to the recipient that the donation has been authorised by a general meeting of the members of the body concerned.
Fianna Fáil, in introducing its Electoral (Amendment) (Political Donations) Bill 2011 in Private Members' time in the Dáil on 10 May 2011, acknowledged legal advice it had received to the effect that an outright ban on corporate donations would be likely to be unconstitutional. The Government's approach also recognises this position and, therefore, provides for significant restrictions on corporate donations. This approach will achieve the objective immediately of addressing the widespread concern that the large-scale corporate funding of politics is unhealthy for democracy. The general scheme I recently published also contains a number of other measures that are wide ranging and radical in their scope to reform political funding arrangements.
The Minister acknowledged what was in our Bill, which was voted down by the Government. During the general election campaign the Minister's party put great emphasis on the concept of banning corporate donations completely. He has now resiled from that position, despite it being an election promise and a commitment in the programme for Government. People worry that while the Government has published its Bill to deal with this matter, nothing has changed. The Bill has not been enacted so fundraising continues under the old regime and can continue until the Bill is enacted. When will the Bill be taken in the House and enacted?
The Private Members' Bill brought forward by Fianna Fáil would not have included all corporate bodies. There were loopholes to allow certain corporate bodies to continue to give donations without being subject to the new restrictions. There were flaws in the Bill. We got advice from the Attorney General on the constitutionality of corporate donations. We wished to proceed immediately to restrict corporate donations and if there was any doubt about the constitutionality of what we intended to do, the Government decided to examine it in the context of the constitutional convention which will be established shortly. That convention will report in a year and there will be an opportunity to put that forward in the context of constitutional change in 2012. However, we are proceeding immediately with the legal advice we received from the Attorney General. What we are trying to do is welcomed by Fianna Fáil and I am delighted the party has been converted to this policy.
My point is that in the general election campaign the Minister's party led the public to believe that it would ban corporate donations, and the public voted for the party on that basis, although the party knew it could not do it. The Minister is now hiding behind the legal advice. However, he has not answered my question. When will the legislation be dealt with in the House? Fundraising by all political parties is taking place now and every week under the old regime. We all agree with the spirit of the Bill but when will it be enacted?
It will probably be the most speedy implementation ever of a proposal in a programme for Government. It will be published in July and enacted before the end of the year.
Local Authority Housing
Catherine Murphy
Question:5 Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will introduce a shorter and more specific application form for those seeking a local authority housing transfer; if he will agree to include the reason the transfer is being sought; if he collects statistics on the number of transfer applications; the numbers who achieve such transfers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15487/11]
At present, local authorities are free to use their own application forms for social housing tenants seeking a transfer from their current accommodation. In some cases they may use the existing standard application form when there is much new information to collect. In such cases, it should be indicated that it is a transfer rather than a new application. However, this is a matter for the housing authority concerned. My Department currently does not collect statistics on the number of transfer applications made to housing authorities, the numbers of transfers completed, or the reasons transfers are sought.
That is the problem. Kildare County Council uses the same form regardless of whether it is a fresh application for housing or a transfer request, so that is counted in the figures for those seeking housing. It distorts the figures. It also removes the prospect of gathering information on why transfers are sought. There are a number of reasons, such as health matters and the size of the household, but the main one is anti-social behaviour. There are some brilliant tenant liaison officers but even with the best will in the world they can only do so much. There must be a multi-agency approach. Is the Minister aware that there is a cost in the provision of transfers? Plumbing and electrics must be checked. Calculating the cost of the transfers would show there is some value for money in what I am saying if one captures information and deals with it. Does the Minister of State agree that one must capture this information in order to plan for needs and respond to the difficulties? The last time the Minister of State attended Question Time, I asked if he would consider an online version. Will the Minister of State consider the same thing for a transfer form, with the same application form used nationally?
This should be an informal process unless there is information missing. The local authority has comprehensive information on each of the applicants. If someone seeks a transfer, it is a formal situation. The Department does not require the use of the new standard application form for transfers. Local authorities are free to set up transfer procedures and to require the completion of forms. I take the Deputy's point about the new application form. Getting it online is a good suggestion. It is designed to provide information needed by local authority for a full assessment of an applicant for social housing. There may be occasions where the provision of detailed information may be required, giving rise to a transfer. Background documentation may also be required under the old system but the new system is more comprehensive. It is a unitary system and allows one to work within the county structure.
I anticipated that Deputy Catherine Murphy was referring to County Kildare. We always fish near home. That county is preparing a new transfer application form for future use. I do not want to be prescriptive about this matter. I do not see the advantage of prescribing a standard application form for transfers. Most cases are dealt with quite easily and simply by the housing authority concerned. When it is agreed, the household is put on the transfer list. Deputy Murphy sought the reason for transfer and referred to antisocial behaviour. That is a significant cause of transfers. Local authorities are closer to people and the housing and staff officers know the situation on the ground.
If we do not capture the reasons, we cannot respond when there is a problem. If the reason is included on a form, such as design issues or antisocial behaviour, one can then deal with it because one sees the nature and scale of the problem. That is why I ask for it to be included.
I do not see how this could be of benefit to the Department or to me. These matters are dealt with at local level.
They are not dealt with.
There is no one better than people at local level to implement the transfer where appropriate. The last thing I want to do is to take a dictatorial attitude to whether someone should be transferred or the background reason for it. The background reason is a matter of discussion between the applicant, possibly a local representative and the housing officer involved. In 18 years as a member of a local authority, I thought this was the best way to ensure a transfer took place. Gathering statistics is one aspect of the matter and I am not against it. In fairness, Deputy Murphy is consistent on this point. The last thing I want to do is dictate to local authorities because that is the point at which matters go awry. Local authorities should receive their allocation and use the broadly standardised form in respect of the application system. The last thing the Department should want to do is tell local authorities how to effect the transfer. Every transfer should be treated on its merits and I would like to see local authorities retain autonomy.