Written Answers Nos. 172-82
173. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the action he has taken to ensure the effectiveness of the strategic environmental assessment here; his plans to act on recommendations recently made following A Review of SEA Effectiveness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14450/13]
View answerA Review of Effectiveness of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in Ireland published by the EPA on 14 December, 2012, on behalf of the SEA statutory environmental authorities including my Department, found that SEA has proven to be a vital tool for environmental protection. In addition, an Action Plan 2012-2016 was also published which was drawn up by the SEA statutory environmental authorities to address the priority challenges identified in the Review. My Department is working with the other statutory environmental authorities, including the Environmental Protection Agency, in delivering on the Action Plan. Both the Review and the Action Plan are available to download on either my Department’s website (www.environ.ie) or the EPA’s website (www.epa.ie).
174. Deputy John Lyons asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if his Department is involved in discussions with local authorities to give prioritisation to applicants for social housing support based on the length of time they have been on the waiting list; and if so, if he will provide an update on such a change to the scheme of letting priorities being introduced. [14466/13]
View answerAs part of my role as Minister with responsibility for housing and planning I am overseeing a programme of social housing reform. This includes elaborating on the Social Housing (Allocation) Regulations 2011 which came into force in May 2011, and set out the conditions that housing authorities must take into account when making their allocation schemes. As part of the programme of reform, my intention is to place a greater emphasis on ‘time on the list’ as a criterion for allocating local authority housing, as such a criterion will provide a much more transparent system for the operation of a waiting list than the current point based system operated by many authorities.
175. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the progress made within his Department on phasing out the use of LoCall 1890 numbers that can be extremely expensive when dialled from mobile phones and introducing 076 number, which generally included in tariff bundles provided by most mobile network operators and are charged at the same rate as national calls, in view of the fact that the number of mobile phones exceed the number of landlines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14483/13]
View answer176. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he has considered the use of, or implemented, integrated voice response systems in his Department's phone systems or in the phone systems of agencies within his remit; if the staff and salary cost savings which might arise have been assessed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14499/13]
View answer177. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if his Department has given any consideration to the use of telephony switchboard services that are shared with another Govlernment Department or another public body in order to reduce costs and increase call handling capacity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14514/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 175 to 177, inclusive, together.
My Department regularly review policies and procedures to reduce costs and achieve savings. My Department operates 1890 LoCall telephone numbers as well as standard geographic telephone numbers for access to its main offices. Where the 1890 LoCall number is advertised customers are informed that rates charged for calling the number may vary among different service providers. The 076 number has been introduced to provide telephone access to some of my Department’s smaller offices.
The implementation of an integrated voice response system on my Department’s phone systems was previously examined but was not deemed suitable to meet the business demands of my Department, which can involve a high level of interaction with the public in determining the most appropriate means for dealing with individual queries. There is currently an arrangement in place between my Department and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for the shared use of telephony switchboard services.
178. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he received a copy of the Being Young and Irish – Take Charge of Change report from the Office of the President, Áras an Uachtaráin as part of President Higgins series of seminars with young persons here which took place in Dublin, Galway, Monaghan and Cork in 2012; if he has noted the Take Charge of Change declaration made by the participants; the steps he has taken arising out of the report’s findings in order to achieve young person’s vision for Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14529/13]
View answerI am aware of the report in question and I commend its findings, in particular that young people strongly believe in active citizenship, volunteering and helping others, and that they see these values as a strong part of their understanding of being Irish. The young people consulted have a strong sense of the value of community and have expressed the view that this value was lost during the boom years.
A key principle underlying my Department’s activities is enabling communities themselves to identify and address social and economic needs and problems in their own areas. There is a particular focus on supporting communities that are vulnerable, disadvantaged or under threat, and an adherence to the values of local participation. Youth is a priority target group for many state interventions and supports. My Department’s Local and Community Development Programme (LCDP) which aims to tackle poverty and social exclusion, through partnership and constructive engagement between Government, and its agencies, and people in disadvantaged communities provides support to young people. Over the course of 2011 and 2012 output data demonstrate that almost 143,000 young people/children were engaged with through the Programme. The LCDP is a key tool of Government in providing supports for the ‘harder to reach’ in the most disadvantaged areas in society and I believe the focus on supporting youth, through this and other interventions, should continue.
179. Deputy Jerry Buttimer asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in relation to the letting of unsold affordable dwelling, if a local authority has regard to the current financial circumstances of the household in prioritising allocations, if such a policy meets the need to promote social inclusion as set out in Section 69 (g) of the Local Government Act 2001; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14541/13]
View answerUnder Section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 all housing authorities are required to make an allocation scheme. The Regulations require authorities to set out the manner in which they will allocate dwellings to both households on the waiting list and households who have been approved for transfers. Any unsold affordable housing units that a housing authority has made available for social housing are subject to that authority’s allocation scheme, just as in the case of any other form of social housing. Previous guidance issued by my Department has covered such leasing arrangements in respect of demand identified and where tenure mix is not adversely impacted in terms of developing sustainable communities. However, it should also be noted that the making and amendment of such an allocation scheme for social housing is a reserved function of the elected members of each housing authority.
180. Deputy Seamus Healy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will reverse the cut of approximately €2.1 million in grants for persons with disabilities and for housing aid for older perosns, notified to South Tipperary County Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14565/13]
View answerOn 22 February 2013 I announced capital allocations to local authorities under the suite of Grants for Older People and People with a Disability amounting to €42.750 million. In allocating the available funding across all 34 city and county councils I did so in as transparent and as fair a way as possible. In framing the 2013 allocations, my Department wrote to each local authority requesting details of the numbers and value of grants where work had been approved to commence. Between them, local authorities reported contractual commitments in respect of approved grants totally €18 million. This year I allocated local authorities the full amount of their contractual commitments, which in the case of South Tipperary County Council amounted to €81,623. The balance of the available funding was allocated on the basis of each authority’s share of the new applications on hand in January 2013. This brought South Tipperary County Council’s overall allocation to €1,087,988.81.
In order to deal with any acute or particular difficulty which might arise in the operation of the schemes over the course of the year I have set aside a small capital reserve. My Department will consider applications from local authorities for a supplementary allocation in such cases.
181. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will make funds available for houses from the pyrite resolution fund of €50 million to help with the cost of pyrite certification tests estimated at €2,000 to €3,000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14608/13]
View answer
My Department is engaging in preliminary discussions with a number of financial institutions facilitated by the Irish Banking Federation with a view to securing a loan facility which the not-for-profit entity (to be established by the construction stakeholders) would draw down to permit the earliest possible commencement of pyrite remediation works. The detailed negotiations with the prospective lenders on the terms and conditions of this facility will be concluded by the not-for-profit entity. The loan facility is intended to defray the costs of pyrite remediation work and ancillary costs only and cannot be used for any other purposes.
182. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the amount spent on the Garda PULSE system for the years 2011, 2012 and to date in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14429/13]
View answerThe Garda Commissioner is the Accounting Officer for the Garda Vote. I am informed by the Garda authorities that PULSE was integrated with other Garda information technology systems in 2006 to form a new combined system which is referred to as the Garda Information System (GIS). Accordingly, from 2007 onwards it is not possible to identify spending specific to PULSE. However, the Garda authorities have indicated that the total information technology expenditure incurred by An Garda Síochána over the period referred to by the Deputy was as outlined below:
|
Year |
Expenditure |
|
2011 |
€22,973,314 |
|
2012 |
€18,074,943 |
|
2013 (to date) |
€ 9,915,348 |
