Priority Questions
1Deputy Michael P. Kitt asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government the date on which the specific regulations for septic tank inspections under Section 70 L of the Water Services (Amendment) Act will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13411/12]
View answer2Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government if he will consider providing public funding to meet the entire cost to householders of upgrading their septic tanks to meet the agreed new set of standards. [13410/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.
I have stated on a number of occasions that I will keep under review the need to provide financial support to households whose domestic waste water treatment systems are deemed, following inspection, to require substantial remediation or upgrading. The need for any such support will be only become clearer when inspections are being carried out. At that stage, more information regarding the nature and extent of problems with domestic waste water treatment systems and the type and cost of pragmatic remedial actions that may be required to address these and remove the risks posed to public health or the environment by failing systems will be available. Any scheme of support will need to have regard to budgetary constraints and to the financial position of the individual households concerned.
Draft performance standards, which include operation, maintenance and de-sludging requirements, have been prepared by my Department in consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, and were published on 1 March. The consultation document has been drafted in an easy-to-understand format so that it is clear to everyone what the standards involve. If it had been issued as a draft statutory instrument, the legal format and language may have proved confusing for some people. That should not happen now.
The draft standards elaborate on the basic requirements for all domestic waste water treatment systems set out in the Water Services (Amendment) Act 2012 that the system does not cause a risk to public health or the environment. The consultation document provides more detail regarding the responsibilities of owners of domestic waste water treatment systems. These include requirements for the removal of sludge and for ensuring the system is in working order and functioning properly.
The public consultation process will be open until 30 March and I encourage all interested parties to consider the consultation document and, if they wish, to make submissions to my Department on the draft performance standards before the closing date. The submissions will be reviewed by my Department prior to finalising the content of the regulations, which will be made under section 70L of the Act. The regulations will give legal effect to the standards. As soon as the regulations are made, the relevant statutory instrument will be laid before each House of the Oireachtas for approval in accordance with section 18 of the Water Services Act 2007.
What the Minister published reveals little detail on the impact of the regulations on home owners in rural Ireland. Given that the regulatory impact mentions a charge of €17,000 - this is not scaremongering as the Department mentioned this in its figures - does the Minister envisage a lenient inspection plan or should we expect a more comprehensive plan that will drive up costs and affect the people who need to upgrade tanks?
I do not know what I have to do in order to make it easy for people to understand that this is a very well laid out and comprehensible document setting out the reasons we must have a licensing and monitoring inspection system in order to comply with a European Court of Justice judgment. The full details are laid out on how inspections will be carried out and when people can register has already been indicated as part of the press release for the Act. I cannot make it any simpler and if there is a problem with on-site waste water treatment systems, it will be tackled without any difficulty. I do not envisage an enormous number of people failing to comply with the inspection process arising from the regulations which I successfully negotiated, through the EPA, with the European Commission.
Fáilte ar ais, a Aire.
I was only away for a day and the Deputy missed me.
I know, I was only winding up the Minister. We welcome the publication of the draft standards, and although they are a bit vague, the language is clear. We will be making a submission on them. Some €2.7 billion was spent between 2000 and 2007 in upgrading urban waste water treatment plants, a process funded by taxpayers in urban and rural areas. Rural householders are now expected to foot the total bill to meet waste water standards. In many cases this will be unworkable, as in 99% of cases these are private houses constructed with loans or mortgages, and many owners may be in negative equity or arrears because of a collapse in income arising from unemployment or the past five austerity budgets.
There is a requirement on the Minister to ensure that we put in place is workable and can be carried out. We must ensure that people will comply and protect ground-water. We do not want to see people being dragged through the courts because they cannot pay for this.
We can learn from last night's debate on turf cutting. That was not a climb-down by the Government but rather the Government taking a great initiative to put a good plan in place. If we approach this issue similarly, engage and listen to people in order to find compromise, and if we apply the draft standards on a risk-based approach, the number of septic tanks requiring expensive repair would be modest. Will the Minister put in place the necessary financial measures to enable people in this process?
Sinn Féin is arguing that we should sign a blank cheque without knowing the extent of the problem.
That is not what I said.
It is. I have explained very clearly to the Deputy that when I know the extent of the problem arising from inspections, I can deal with it. Neither the Deputy nor anybody else knows what the issues will be in 2013 arising from inspections. I have dealt with all the issues raised by the Deputy's party through misinformation and otherwise over the past nine months.
That was not me.
To be fair, the Deputy was not party to it, although some of his party members were. Deputy Martin Ferris and others could educate him about public meetings and misinformation in the House. Those Deputies have been seeking to misinform and frighten people on an issue that should not cause a problem for many.
The Deputy mentioned some people with high mortgages but they would have already complied with the 2009 regulations and the 2007 Act. Recently built houses should have no difficulty in complying with the standards set out in the draft regulations and the cases where there may be problems would go back years and would not have engaged in a proper maintenance and de-sludge programme. Mentioning the category referred to by the Deputy is again misinforming people as he is arguing that they will have a problem with these standards. There will be few problems arising from these standards and I will consider the financial position of people if there are problems. I cannot and will not do so until I know the level of the problem arising from inspections in 2013.
I welcome the Minister's comments with regard to identifying problems and I hope the Minister can assure us there will be some grant assistance for people who must carry out major or minor improvements on their septic tanks. Will these inspections satisfy the requirements of the European Court of Justice and the European Commission?
Every step of the way we have been in contact with the European Commission and my predecessor was also in contact with it. The Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government submitted proposals on the basis that every septic tank would have to be inspected, with an annual inspection charge and compliance with the 2009 EPA code of practice. I immediately engaged with the Commission to indicate this was unacceptable in dealing with the European Court of Justice judgment and I succeeded, where my predecessors failed, and with the EPA we were able to convince the Commission that we had a system, proposals and standards. The Commission was satisfied they would comply with the judgment, which is what we are doing.
Will there be a grant?
I have already said I will examine the financial position after inspections commence. The days of the blank cheque are over, as the Deputy knows.
Even in east Galway.
I asked a question concerning what happens if an environmental group, or a body which calls itself an environmental group, takes a case to Europe. I believe he answered that in saying he has this squared with Europe. The one thing I ask the Minister to do is to give people some time to get septic tanks remedied where they are found to be defective. I know it will have to be risk-based; if a septic tank is polluting the public water supply time cannot be lost and I understand this. I would not ask any local authority to back-pedal on this and if it must be done quickly then it must be done quickly. The Bill states it must be done by a date. The Minister probably left it like this to give people latitude. Guidelines will be issued from the Department to local authority inspectors and they should state that a reasonable approach should be taken.
I agree with Deputy Stanley. He correctly pointed out I have given people as much flexibility as I possibly can to comply with the court judgment that there is no damage to public health or the environment. Irresponsible people have gone around the country and effectively advocated that watercourses should be polluted and people's households, businesses and neighbours should suffer from public health or environmental issues. This was totally irresponsible and has caused much fear and misinformation. I am glad the standards will be able to put away all these fears. They are based on what I said months ago in the many contributions I was asked to make on these issues.
I know many Deputies were wondering how I could negotiate with the European Commission a set of standards that would meet the European Court of Justice judgment without imposing any major financial problems for people deemed in their own minds to be in breach of the EPA code of practice of 2009. We have a pragmatic and practical solution to a very difficult issue which I inherited.
3Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government his views that the policy of charging for local domestic waste collection services (details supplied) and the resulting privatisation of such services has been a failure, has impacted negatively on the environment and has the potential to create a serious public health hazard and that essential public services should be centrally funded by a progressive tax system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13413/12]
View answerThe charges applied by waste management companies are a matter between those companies and their customers, subject to compliance with all applicable environmental and other relevant legislation, particularly the conditions attached to each waste collector's collection permit issued by the relevant local authority under the Waste Management (Collection Permit) Regulations 2007, as amended. Waste collection in individual local authority areas may also be subject to local by-laws.
The programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce competitive tendering for household waste collection, under which service providers would bid to provide waste collection services in a given area, for a given period of time and to a guaranteed level of service.
A public consultation designed to inform the policy development process concluded in September 2011. A large number of responses were received from a broad spectrum of interests. A consensus is not apparent and, on almost all of the relevant issues, a considerable breadth of opinion was expressed. All of the responses received, in addition to a summary document, are available on the Department's website.
I expect to be in a position to submit final proposals on household waste collection to the Government by Easter this year. All policy proposals will be carefully considered by the Government and will take account of the full range of issues and perspectives. Matters including pricing structures, waivers for low income households, uncollected waste and the regulatory regime in respect of inspection and enforcement will all be considered in this context. My policy objective is to put in place a system of regulation of household waste collection that provides the optimal mix of economic, environmental and social outcomes.
I thank the Minister. We are speaking about the present. There is mayhem in our communities, with four or five different private companies going down the same street on different days. So much for the polluter paying or trying to protect the environment, because this totally turns that on its head. Greyhound, which serves the Dublin City Council and South Dublin County Council areas, charges those in the Dublin City Council area who previously had waivers €100. However, those who will lose their wavers on 31 March in the South Dublin County Council area will be charged only €40. There are huge inequalities and discrepancies in local authority areas.
Does the Minister think the local authorities could have administered a proper polluter pays system without going to the private market? What we have now is a joke. People are very angry about the service they receive from these private companies. Consider Greyhound's record and how it got the tender in the first place. Dublin City Council paid Ernst and Young €250,000 to put out the tender. The question must be raised as to whether the Minister thinks the country would be better served by public waste collection rather than the mayhem of private collection which we have at present. Perhaps the Minister will reply in more detail.
I do not intend to nationalise the household waste collection system.
I think the Minister should.
That is Deputy Collins's opinion. I am telling her what I am doing. I do not intend to make that recommendation to the Government.
People have several opportunities to have their waste collected. Some people choose not to pay or not to have it collected. Such people are open to challenge under the waste collection legislation. Fewer than 18,000 people have refused to sign up to having their waste collected in the Dublin City Council area. There have always been 10,000 or 12,000 people who have refused to pay for anything. These are the people who brought the viability of Dublin City Council's scheme into question. It is not only Greyhound which can collect waste. Other service providers can also do so and there is a good civic amenity recycling centre not far from many of the residents affected by Greyhound's collection service.
I do not subscribe to Deputy Collins's view that we should nationalise the household waste collection system. It is a considerable cost to local authorities. There is an incentive for many people if they have difficulty with paying to recycle and use an alternative means of disposing of their waste.
It is wrong to say 12,000 or 18,000 households caused the privatisation of services in the Dublin City Council area. I do not accept this and I do not think the majority of people would accept it. The previous Government made a conscious decision, and supported by the present Government-----
We are running out of time. Does the Deputy have a question?
-----to privatise services. Does the Minister think the privatisation system in place at present does not do the service well and that it would be better to nationalise the bin service?
As I stated, I do not subscribe to the view that we must have a nationalised household waste collection service. People have many choices with regard to recycling and civic amenity centres, and they also have a choice with regard to who will collect their waste. I agree with the Deputy that it is not acceptable to have five different collectors going into one housing estate. We are seeing what we can do to regularise this. I wholeheartedly subscribe to the view that it does nothing good for the environment. However, we must have in place a system that will not cost an enormous amount of money to the customer or to local authorities. We are heading down the road of people paying more for their services to ensure we will not be paying any more income tax. This is the choice people will have to make. Under the law people are required to dispose of their waste. They have a series of options and I advise them to take one.
4Deputy Michael P. Kitt asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government his plans in relation to absorbing 2,000 residential units for social housing from the National Assets Management Agency; if additional revenue will be given to local authorities to fund the leases with NAMA properties; the ongoing contact he has with NAMA over use and future use of their properties; if any future plans exist to procure NAMA properties to address the social housing waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13412/12]
View answerIn December 2011 NAMA identified more than 2,000 properties as being potentially available for social housing. While most of these are located in the greater Dublin region and in Cork, properties are identified in a total of 15 local authority areas throughout the country. A steering group was then established to monitor progress, identify and address any obstacles that arise in particular cases and deal with any general policy implementation issues. My Department, NAMA and the housing agency are represented on the group and it will serve as an ongoing point of contact between NAMA and the bodies responsible for the delivery of social housing.
At present, a number of projects have been identified as being suitable for social housing, and these are being advanced for inclusion in the leasing scheme. These projects are at various stages of development, from early discussions with developers on the type and number of units required, to negotiations on price, inspections, contract negotiations, completion works and fittings.
Once a developer or receiver and the housing authority are interested, the basis for a contract will be created which can be negotiated between the parties. This contract can take the form of a lease only or, where an approved housing body is involved, there is the potential to acquire units which are then made available to housing authorities under a payment and availability agreement. A systematic process is being used and I expect that housing units will start to be delivered under this arrangement by the middle of this year.
Funding is available for both housing authorities and approved housing bodies under the social housing leasing initiative to meet the cost of leasing these units. Funding is also available under the capital advance leasing facility to assist approved housing bodies which want to purchase units for social housing purposes from NAMA.
The social housing leasing initiative, facilitated in this case by NAMA, will make an important contribution towards meeting the demand for social housing support.
I thank the Minister for the information. I understand 100,000 people were on social housing list in recent times which is double the figure of four years ago. If, as the Minister states, there is an oversupply of housing, and I saw figures of 80,000 to 100,000, will these houses be leased?
Is the Minister in contact with the National Asset Management Agency with a view to using the agency to tackle the housing waiting list in a creative manner? If so, when will NAMA act on this issue?
Arising from the intervention of me and the former Minister of State, Deputy Penrose, with the National Asset Management Agency, we were in a position to secure agreement on the provision by the agency of 2,000 units of accommodation. This is a major boost towards the social dividend we expected from NAMA and will assist those on the housing waiting lists, which are, I regret, growing. The Department is examining initiatives of this nature to ensure families are moved into houses as quickly as possible. We are also engaging with local authorities in respect of the 2,000 units. We also want to ensure the National Asset Management Agency spends the moneys needed to make the properties fit for purpose in order that people can enjoy their new homes without the householder or local authority having to do work on them. Every effort is being made to ensure the units we identified in 2011 through this process will be expedited under the leasing scheme. I believe, however, that home ownership is ultimately the best way for people to have a stake in their home and ensure they have pride in their home. After a period, if the property market improves, I hope we will revisit the matter and be in a position to offer people an opportunity to purchase some of these homes in due course.
While I welcome the Minister's response, local authorities will require some funding to address housing waiting lists. Will the Minister examine options for providing additional revenue to fund the leases of National Asset Management Agency properties? What will be the role of voluntary housing agencies and local authorities in this regard?
It will not be possible for local authorities to engage in the traditional approach of direct building. The amount available for construction, direct purchase or to assist voluntary housing bodies in acquiring housing has declined from €1.5 billion to €353 million over the past four years. This is a substantial reduction and I do not know where we would obtain capital resources to go down that road again in the years ahead. Leasing and rental accommodation schemes have been to the fore in trying to resolve problems for people by providing private rented accommodation.
There is an opportunity to lease a substantial number of accommodation units from the National Asset Management Agency to assist those who are on the social housing waiting lists. I hope we will have the co-operation and goodwill of the local authority system to expedite the units and make them available to people on the social housing lists as quickly as possible.
5Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government when he will bring the policy proposals for an action plan on local government to Government; if it is his intention during the lifetime of this Government to introduce substantial and meaningful reforms in this area in view of the centralised nature of governance here; if it is his intention to tackle the over centralised nature of Government here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13414/12]
View answerWork is proceeding with a view to bringing policy proposals to Government at an early date on the reform and development of local government in accordance with the programme for Government. Decisions have already been taken to merge the authorities in counties Limerick and Tipperary and implementation work is proceeding. Progress reports have been submitted in both cases which present a positive account of work to date. I have also established a local government committee to consider whether Waterford city and county councils should be unified and I expect to receive its report shortly.
Building on these actions to date, I intend in the near future to bring wider policy proposals to Government for an action programme on local government, with particular focus on strengthening local government structures generally at regional, county and sub-county levels. This will include proposals for an enhanced local authority role in economic development and enterprise support, reflecting arrangements arising from the recent Government decision on the local enterprise service and in respect of the alignment of local and community development functions with local government. The programme will also incorporate proposals arising from consultations with ministerial colleagues regarding functions and services of their Departments and bodies under their aegis that could potentially be devolved to local government in the short to medium term.
The programme will also reflect other work under way on local government efficiency implementation and financing and will broadly map out further aspects of the local government system on which reform proposals will be considered. The range of action under way and proposed will form a substantial programme of mutually reinforcing reform measures which should result in stronger, more effective and cohesive local government, with greater capacity to address challenges and promote economic and social development in their respective areas.
My overall vision is for a reformed system of local government to be the main vehicle of governance and public service locally, performing as wide a range of appropriate functions as possible, as efficiently as possible as close to citizens and communities.
As the Minister realises, Ireland has the most centralised government in Europe and one of the Continent's most ineffective local government structures. I am not sure the measures to which the Minister referred will significantly change that position. Does the Government plan to return some power to citizens? There is a substantial gap between citizens and politics. The former do not feel represented because the councillors they elect at local level have virtually no authority. Other than having a say on the development plan, most of the work of a councillor involves representation and lobbying on behalf of constituents. Does the Government have any appetite for real reform of local government to provide it with proper funding to invest in people friendly areas such as crèches, education and health, as is the case in most local authority systems elsewhere in Europe, or will this country remain among the most centralised in Europe?
I fully concur with Deputy Wallace on the centralised nature of government here. This is not acceptable, which is the reason I am doing something about it. In view of the Deputy's stance on the household charge, I would welcome his proposals on financing local government. Where will we obtain money at local level to contribute to the effective running of local government and the provision of services if we comply with the standards the Deputy has set?
I want to move many of the functions of agencies and sections of Departments to ensure services are delivered as closely as possible to individuals and communities. I have made a start on enterprise functions. My Department and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation have agreed to devolve the community and enterprise development functions to local authority level. There is a challenge for local authorities to step up to the plate by engaging with people on the ground to ensure we get a good response to rolling out all of these services. However, these services must also be paid for. If one seeks to devolve functions and remove the centralisation of functions, which the Deputy correctly noted is a problem, one must have the wherewithal at local level for funds to be provided to implement these services and give the greatest possible discretion to elected members to implement such services at local level.
Taxes collected at local level should be used at local level. Removing responsibility for motor taxation, driving licences, payroll and water from local authorities will mean they will have even less to do.
If the household charge was a tax on homes, we would consider it. However, someone who paid 12% stamp duty on a house purchased for €200,000 will pay €25,000 over a 25 year mortgage, which amounts to a household tax of €1,000 per annum. If the Government abolishes stamp duty for principal residences, as is the case in the rest of Europe, the notion of paying a tax on one's home would be fair. There is, however, no comparison between the position here and elsewhere in Europe because Irish people have probably paid more tax on their homes through stamp duty than any other Europeans. If the Government abolishes stamp duty on principal residences, it could be deemed fair to impose a household tax in respect of homes purchased thereafter. However, the current position is definitely not fair.
I accept the household charge is not progressive or fair and one needs to have a property tax in place, as most socialist parties in Europe would agree. I intend to bring forward proposals later this year to achieve this outcome in 2013.
Is the Minister a socialist now?
The United Left Alliance opposes the concept of a property tax.
It is the only socialist party in Europe which opposes a property tax.
I want to ensure the principles Deputy Wallace outlined are implemented. I refer, for example, to the proper devolution of functions to local authority level and the proper provision of local services which can be delivered by people at local level as close as possible to the people. However, these services must also be funded at local level, which is what I am striving to do.
If people see that services are being provided for their money, they will live with a property tax.
