Written Answers Nos. 801-817
801. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the position on Ballymun shopping centre, Dublin; and the future plans in place in view of the fact that it is in the National Assets Management Agency's control. [35159/13]
View answerBallymun Regeneration Limited (BRL) and Dublin City Council are continuing to explore all options to further the economic objectives of the Ballymun Masterplan including the redevelopment of the privately owned Ballymun Shopping Centre and the adjoining lands owned by the Council. Planning permission for the redevelopment of the centre and the adjoining lands was granted in September 2009. The proposed redevelopment did not proceed at the time due to the prevailing economic conditions. However, the provision of commercial, retail and other services in Ballymun, and at this prominent site in particular, remains very important within the context of the overall regeneration programme. Dublin City Council continues to liaise with the parties who hold an interest in this site with the objective of progressing the proposed redevelopment.
802. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans for empty retail units in Ballymun. [35160/13]
View answerMy Department has provided over €700 million to support the Ballymun regeneration programme to date. This has facilitated the demolition of all but one of the towers and nearly all the flat blocks as well as the construction of over 2,900 social, voluntary, private and affordable residential units, new local parks and playgrounds, neighbourhood centres and a new traditional style main street. The programme has also provided state of the art community facilities, such as the Axis theatre, the Leisure Centre and Civic Centre. This project has now moved into its completion phase and my Department’s priority is to ensure that the remaining housing need is met while the investment to date is fully protected. My Department understands that Ballymun Regeneration Ltd (BRL) currently has three empty retail units available in Coultry. BRL has engaged an estate agent to let or lease these properties to interested parties with the objective of supporting and sustaining commercial and retail activity in Ballymun. The remainder of the empty retail units in Ballymun are not owned by BRL.
803. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the increase in revenue that would be received from having one additional staff member employed in credit control in his Department. [35161/13]
View answer804. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of persons in his Department who work on credit control issues. [35162/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 803 and 804 together.
My Department is a public body responsible for a wide range of programmes, including in the areas of housing, water services, environmental protection, local government services, and community and rural development. As my Department is not a commercial enterprise involved in the sale of goods and services as part of its normal business activities, it does not routinely create debtors or generate bad debts. Accordingly, my Department does not have a business requirement for a formal credit control function.
Each year, my Department’s estimate, as set out in the Revised Estimates for Public Services published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, contains details of Appropriations-in-Aid which are receipts retained by my Department to offset gross expenditure; significant receipts also arise in respect of the Local Government and Environment Funds. These receipts are primarily receivable from other public bodies (for example, receipts in respect of EU co-financed programmes, payments by the Irish Aviation Authority in respect of services provided by Met Éireann and motor tax income from local authorities). No issues have arisen in relation to the timeliness of the relevant payments, in line with normal public sector accounting procedures; the work involved is part of the general financial management services provided in my Department.
805. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the revenue earned from charging commercial rates to permanent offshore structures. [35163/13]
View answerLocal authorities are under a statutory obligation to levy rates on any property used for commercial purposes, in accordance with the details entered in the valuation lists prepared by the independent Commissioner of Valuation under the Valuation Act 2001. That Act determines properties that can, and cannot, be considered for rating purposes. The Commissioner for Valuation has sole responsibility for all valuation matters, including determination under the Act of relevant property for the purposes of rates. The Valuation Act 2001 comes under the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. No estimate of potential rates revenue for offshore structures is available in my Department.
806. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the revenue earned from removing the maximum rent level from local authority housing. [35164/13]
View answerThe year 2011 is the latest for which audited local authority Annual Financial Statement data are available. The amount of income collected from housing rents by local authorities in 2011 was €315,205,241. Housing rents are set in accordance with a rent scheme adopted by each local authority. The making and amending of rent schemes is the responsibility of housing authorities as an integral part of their housing management functions. In this regard I have not issued any direction to local authorities in relation to maximum rents.
807. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the action he will take following the publication of the EPA report in April 2013 on greenhouse gas emissions which stated that, even in a best case scenario, Ireland was at significant risk of not meeting its EU 2020 targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35167/13]
View answerAs I indicated at a meeting with the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht on 10 July 2013 , while, under EU law, Ireland faces a challenging greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2020, one of the priorities in initiating the policy development process in which we are now engaged was to identify and adopt the additional measures necessary to ensure 2020 compliance, and to progress our own agenda on effective transition to a competitive low-carbon economy in 2050. I look forward to receiving the Committee’s report in due course and I will consider it fully in finalising future climate policy.
809. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if there has been any analysis of how much the dormant accounts fund would benefit in the event of the relevant legislation being extended to credit unions and the reason this sector remains outside that legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35170/13]
View answerMy Department has not carried out an analysis of the benefit of adding dormant Credit Union accounts to the Dormant Accounts Fund. In practical terms, increasing the amount available in the Fund does not necessarily allow for the introduction of new dormant accounts measures or programmes. While applying the provisions of the dormant accounts legislation to credit union accounts could increase the size of the Fund, Government Departments and agencies must source monies for dormant accounts programmes and measures from their Exchequer allocation in the same way as with any other funding programme. When the moneys expended on dormant accounts measures and programmes are reimbursed from the Dormant Accounts Fund, the refund is to the Exchequer rather than to the spending Department. For this reason, dormant accounts expenditure is subject to the same constraints within Departments as any other spending programme. In addition, expenditure on new dormant accounts measures or programmes would serve to increase Government debt levels as money disbursed from the Dormant Accounts Fund belongs to the account holder, who can reclaim it at any time, and not to the State. Consequently, every euro spent from the Fund is regarded in accounting terms as a potential Government liability.
810. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide funding for Kerry County Council for group sewerage schemes in County Kerry in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35190/13]
View answerI refer to the reply to Question No. 428 of 14 May 2013 which outlines the position in relation to group sewerage schemes in Kerry.
811. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the statutory basis on which a local authority can decline to take in charge an on-site wastewater treatment plant when requested to do so by the majority of owners of the houses involved in accordance with section 180(2)(a) of the Planning and Development Act 2000. [35192/13]
View answerSection 180 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 applies to estates which have been granted planning permission and includes the construction of two or more houses (which as defined in the Act includes apartments) and the provision of new roads, open spaces, car parks, sewers, water mains or drains. In relation to estates which have been completed to the satisfaction of the planning authority in accordance with the permission, section 180 provides that the planning authority must, if requested to do so by the developer or by the majority of the qualified electors who are owners of the houses involved, initiate the procedures in section 11 of the Roads Act 1993 for declaring the road(s) to be public roads, for whose maintenance the local authority will then be responsible. Section 11 of the Roads Act empowers a local authority, by order, to declare any road over which a public right of way exists to be a public road. Before making an order the local authority must be satisfied the road is of general public utility, consider the financial implications of taking the road in charge and consult with the public/consider any objections received. The consideration of the objections and the making of the order declaring the road to be a public road is a reserved function, so that the decision whether to take the road in charge is ultimately one for the discretion of the elected members.
In relation to estates which have not been completed to the satisfaction of the planning authority and enforcement proceedings have not been commenced within the relevant period section 180 also provides that the planning authority must, if requested to do so by the majority of the owners, initiate the procedures in section 11 of the Roads Act. However, in this case the section provides that the provision in section 11 of the Roads Act requiring the authority to consider the financial implications of taking the road in charge is to be disregarded. Section 180 also provides that where a planning authority, in complying with section 180, makes an order under section 11 of the Roads Act, it must also take in charge any open spaces, car parks, sewers, water mains, or drains within the attendant grounds of the development.
Section 180 was amended in the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010 to provide that a planning authority may take in charge an unfinished estate, at the request of the owners of the housing units, at any time after the expiration of the planning permission, in situations where enforcement actions have commenced or where the planning authority consider that enforcement action will not result in the satisfactory completion of the estate by the developer. Planning authorities have also been empowered to take in charge part of an estate or some, but not all, of the facilities in an estate.
812. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if local authorities are exposed to a liability if they did not carry out prescribed reviews of discharge to waters authorisations for private wastewater treatment plants which were subsequently found to be dysfunctional and-or non-compliant.. [35193/13]
View answer813. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if all local authorities had carried out reviews of all section 4 discharge to waters licences by 22 December 2012; if the EPA had carried out reviews of all municipal wastewater treatment plants by 22 December 2012; if there is any obligation to carry out such reviews; if the European Commission has requested information from Ireland on these issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35194/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 812 and 813 together.
The Environmental Protection Agency is the statutory body responsible for the supervision of wastewater discharges from local authority wastewater treatment plants. The Agency is also the statutory body for investigating complaints of pollution and for the enforcement of environmental legislation in Ireland. Details of all prosecutions taken by the Agency for pollution incidents and details of its enforcement activities are published on the Agency’s website. Regulation 11 of the European Communities Environmental Objectives (Surface Waters) Regulations 2009 requires that not later than 22 December 2012, the terms of every authorisation, including licences issued under Section 4 of the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act 1977, be examined and a determination made as to whether the authorisation-licence requires to be reviewed. In accordance with Regulation 13, it is an offence not to comply with a requirement of the regulations.
All local authorities have completed their examination of Section 4 licences and have determined whether a review is required. While the majority of these reviews were completed by 22 December 2012, I understand that a number are still ongoing. In this regard, the Local Government (Water Pollution) Regulations 1978 and 1992 set down a procedure for reviewing Section 4 licences which provides for a requirement for statutory notices, time periods to respond to such notices and an appeals mechanism to An Bord Pleanála. The European Commission does not ordinarily request information regarding these issues but may make enquiries in relation to specific cases.
814. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will increase, as a matter of urgency, Kerry County Council's 2013 housing grants allocation that was reduced by 56% on the 2012 allocation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35195/13]
View answerAn application for additional funding in respect of the suite of Grants for Older People and People with a Disability has been received from Kerry County Council. I am keeping the funding of the housing adaptation schemes under active review and expect to contact all local authorities in regard to their allocation by the end of this month.
815. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if county councils have the power to compel the owners of shopping centres to ensure the shopping centre environs are kept free of litter and rubbish bins therein are regularly emptied; if he will outline the relevant sections of legislation regarding same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35196/13]
View answerSection 16 of the Litter Pollution Act 1997 empowers local authorities to require the taking of special measures to prevent or limit the creation of litter by certain operations, including shopping centres. In addition, section 57 of the Protection of the Environment Act 2003, which amended section 21 of the Litter Pollution Act 1997, conferred powers on local authorities to make bye-laws for the purposes of preventing the creation of, and controlling, litter within their functional areas. These bye-laws can require the occupiers of specified premises or classes of premises to take such measures as are deemed necessary by the local authority to prevent or limit the creation of litter at or in the vicinity of such premises and provide for its removal. The role of my Department is to provide the legislative framework within which to combat litter pollution and in that regard, following a review of legislation, my Department is currently preparing legislative proposals that would provide for the introduction of an on-the-spot fine for incidents of fly-tipping or small-scale illegal dumping.
