Written Answers Nos. 132 - 137
132. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which group, bodies or agencies promoting the arts or involved in productions, on a county basis, applied for and or received financial assistance by way of grant or other award in each of the past three years to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4817/13]
View answerThe Government's policy on the arts is to promote and strengthen the arts in all its forms, to increase access to and participation in the arts, and to make the arts an integral and valued part of our national life. As the Deputy will be aware, responsibility for the promotion of the arts at all levels throughout the country is primarily devolved to the Arts Council. Under the Arts Act 2003, the Arts Council is statutorily independent in its day-to-day operations and my Department has no role to play in its executive or funding decisions. Full information on the Council's funding decisions is made available on their funding decisions database on their website www.artscouncil.ie.
Full details of all awards and grant-payments made by my own Department to arts groups in 2010 and 2011 are made available on my Department's website at www.ahg.gov.ie. At the beginning of every year, details are published of the payments made in the previous year, including the address of the recipients. Details for 2012 have not yet been updated on the website but will these be forwarded to the Deputy when completed. I would also refer the Deputy to my previous replies in relation to these matters.
133. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of applications for grant aid or other forms of financial support received by his Department or bodies under his aegis funded by his Department from applicants in County Kildare; the extent to which it has been found possible to respond positively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4818/13]
View answerThe tables below set out the number of applications for grant aid or other forms of financial support submitted from applicants in County Kildare to my Department and to the bodies funded from my Department's Vote Group during 2012; and also the extent to which it has been found possible to respond positively to those applications. For the sake of completeness, I must advise the Deputy that my Department also operates the Cessation of Turf Cutting Compensation Scheme. Under this scheme, qualifying applicants from various counties, including Kildare, are receiving compensation payments of €1,500 (index linked) per annum or deliveries of turf. Details of these personal applications and payments are not reflected in the table below.
|
Scheme/Grant Programme operated by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. |
Number of applications for grant aid or other financial support received from applicants in Co. Kildare. |
Number of applications for grant aid or other financial support from applicants in Co. Kildare that were approved. |
|
Structures at Risk Scheme 2012 (applications submitted through the local authority) |
2 |
2 |
|
Regional Culture Night 2012 |
1 |
1 |
|
Arts Division – Capital Projects |
1 |
0 |
|
Rannóg Polasaí na Gaeilge |
2 |
2 |
|
Bodies and Cross Border Implementation Bodies under the aegis of the Department that received applications for funding from Co. Kildare. |
Number of applications for grant aid or other financial support received from applicants in Co. Kildare. |
Number of applications for grant aid or other financial support from applicants in Co. Kildare that were approved. |
|
Arts Council |
69 |
24 |
|
Irish Film Board |
15 |
4 |
|
Heritage Council |
27 |
18 |
|
Waterways Ireland |
10 |
10 |
|
An Foras Teanga, which comprises: |
||
|
Foras na Gaeilge |
13 |
12 |
|
Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch |
0 |
0 |
134. Deputy Paudie Coffey asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government with reference to the new Water Services Act, if he will outline the regulations, licensing, and protocols that will apply to contractors who are commissioned to de-sludge residential waste water treatment systems; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4588/13]
View answerOn 26 June 2012, I signed the Water Services Acts 2007 and 2012 (Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems) Regulations 2012 which set out performance standards for on-site treatment systems, including requirements regarding the maintenance and de-sludging of such systems. With limited exceptions, they must be de-sludged by a permitted contractor. The regulations currently in force which are relevant to contractors commissioned to de-sludge residential waste water treatment systems are as follows:
- The Waste Management (Collection Permit) Regulations 2007 as amended by the Waste Management (Collection Permit) (Amendment) Regulations 2008;
- The Waste Management (Facility Permit and Registration) Regulations 2007 as amended by the Waste Management (Facility Permit) (Amendment) Regulations 2008; and
- The Waste Management (Use of Sewage Sludge in Agriculture) Regulations 1998, as amended by the Waste Management (Sewage Sludge in Agriculture) (Amendment) Regulations 2001.
Up to January 2012, the individual local authorities were responsible for the issue of Waste Collection Permits. On 1 February 2012, Offaly County Council was designated as the Nominated Authority for the processing of all new Waste Collection Permit applications received on or after that date. This single Nominated Authority is known as the National Waste Collection Permit Office (NWCPO). The setting of protocols and conditions for the carrying out of waste collection activities are a matter for the local authorities or the NWCPO as appropriate.
135. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason a housing estate (details supplied) in County Limerick has been de-activated from its status of unfinished housing estate; if he will reactivate this status; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4616/13]
View answerThe development in question was categorised by Limerick County Council as a Category 3 development in 2011 and its status remains unchanged. As part of the process of preparing the National Housing Development Survey 2011, published by my Department in October 2011, local authorities provided details of all unfinished housing developments in their areas. Unfinished housing developments were divided into four categories as follows:
- Category one, where the development is still being actively completed by the developer, or where no serious public safety issues exist;
- Category two, where a receiver has been appointed;
- Category three, where a receiver has not been appointed and the developer is still in place but effectively inactive; and
- Category four, where the development has been effectively abandoned and is posing serious problems for residents.
A revised list of estates will be prescribed for 2013.
136. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide details of the person who audits the accounts of local authorities; the reason that the Comptroller and Auditor General does not audit the accounts of local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4647/13]
View answerThe Local Government Audit Service provides a professional audit service to local authorities which are funded from a number of sources including central Government grants and the provision of goods and services. Section 116 of the Local Government Act 2001 provides that local government auditors shall be independent in the exercise of their professional functions. While, in accordance with the Public Service Reform Plan, a critical review on merging the Local Government Audit Service into the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General was initiated, the Government decided, in the context of the Action Programme for Effective Local Government, Putting People First that the Local Government Audit Service and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General should not be merged. Instead, the Programme puts in place new governance and accountability arrangements for local government, including the establishment of a new National Oversight and Audit Commission.
Arising from work on these matters, additional cooperation and other measures to underpin enhanced audit arrangements in local government are being pursued by the Local Government Audit Service and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General taking account of their separate independent statutory responsibilities and the Government’s approach in Putting People First.
137. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the contacts he has had with the British Government in relation to Sellafield; if he is satisfied with recent stress tests or safety tests that have been carried out on the site; if he is satisfied that Sellafield has been subject to EU-wide stress tests organised at a European level and not subject solely to a domestic stress test organised at a British domestic level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4651/13]
View answerIn November 2012, I published a summary of a report prepared by an independent team of international experts, commissioned by Ireland, which assessed the probable risks to Ireland from incidents at the Sellafield nuclear site. The experts quantified the likelihood of incidents occurring at Sellafield, and as stated in the public summary, an incident at the Sellafield site resulting in the release of radioactive material would give rise to "no observable health effects in Ireland". The report is a valuable input to developing Government policies including National Emergency Planning. This public summary document is available on my Department's website at www.environ.ie.
In May 2011, shortly after the tsunami that led to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, the European Council called for comprehensive and transparent risk and safety assessments - "stress tests" - of all EU nuclear power plants. The Sellafield site is a waste repository and reprocessing facility and not a nuclear power plant, and thus did not fall within the strict parameters of the EU "stress test" programme. The criteria developed for the EU stress tests were specifically aimed at, and designed for, power reactors and not for non-power sites such as Sellafield, and therefore only results from these stress tests were subject to the EU peer review process. However, the UK required the operators of all of their nuclear sites, including non-power sites such as Sellafield, to apply the EU “stress test” assessment criteria to their sites. The results of the assessments were reported to the UK Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), whose mission is to secure the protection of people and society from the hazards of the nuclear industry.
Ireland has on-going engagements with the United Kingdom in relation to radiological matters. For example, my Department and the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland meet regularly with their counterparts from the UK Department of Environment and Climate Change to discuss radiological matters of mutual interest. I intend to continue to ensure that the UK authorities are kept aware of any concerns held by Ireland, and to take all possible steps to ensure that the highest levels of safety apply at Sellafield, and at other existing and any “new-build” nuclear facilities in the UK.
