Written Answers Nos. 122-129
122. Deputy Dan Neville asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will give consideration to allocating some moneys under the rural programmes for the upgrading of houses for the elderly which are in urgent need of basic repairs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38911/13]
View answerThe broad objectives of the LEADER Axes of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 are to improve the quality of life in rural areas and to encourage diversification of economic activity in rural areas. The measures include a range of initiatives that are designed to promote economic activity in rural areas and also to stimulate broader community initiatives aimed at improving the overall quality of life for rural dwellers. The rules under which the Programme operates, however, do not allow funding to upgrade private homes.
My Department is providing some €45.6 million to local authorities under the suite of Grants for Older People and People with a Disability. In the case of Limerick County Council, the overall allocation for the grant schemes in 2013 is €1,587,391; in the case of Limerick City Council, the allocation is €1,164,070.
123. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the advice he would give to persons or community groups looking to establish new walking routes; if he will financially support the preparation and maintenance of new routes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38938/13]
View answerDue to budgetary constraints it has not been possible to develop new walks under my Departments’ existing Walks Scheme since December 2010. However there are 40 trails covered by the Scheme, with payments of €1,910,000 made to 1,805 landholders in 2012 for maintenance of trails that traversed their lands. It is intended that any efficiencies and savings that can be generated will be put towards priority walks and improvements in the existing trails comprehended by the scheme.
Despite current financial constraints there are now close to 800 trails, listed on the irishtrails.ie website, which are fully open to the public and being maintained to the appropriate national standards. Consideration is now being given to the assessment of the optimum number of trails required to provide an appropriate level of choice, quality and grade of trail for recreational users and tourists alike. This will ensure trails are developed on the basis of identified need and that the costs associated with the development and on-going maintenance of trails will be minimised. Any persons or community groups looking to establish new walking routes should consult with the relevant Local Authority, the National Trails Office or my Department for advice.
124. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding the future of Development Partnership staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38943/13]
View answerThere are 50 Local Development Companies (LDCs) contracted, on my Department’s behalf to deliver the Local and Community Development Programme (LCDP), with 35 of those also delivering the LEADER elements of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 (RDP) throughout the country.
The LDCs are independent companies with their own board of management and memoranda and articles of association. My Department has no role in the internal operations of LDCs and, therefore, does not have a role in relation to staff or employment matters, which are for the Board of each company, as the employer, to manage.
The objective of the LCDP is to tackle poverty and social exclusion through partnership and constructive engagement between Government, and its agencies, and people in disadvantaged communities. It is a key tool of Government in providing supports for the ‘harder to reach’ in the most disadvantaged areas and communities. The funding provided under the LCDP may, however, be used towards statutory redundancy costs in certain circumstances. Also, my Department has made a separate Technical Assistance Budget available on two previous occasions, in 2009 and 2011, to fund statutory redundancy costs arising within the LCDP.
In the context of the RDP each LDC is permitted to spend 20% of its total Programme expenditure on administration and overhead costs including any employment related overheads.
The Government recognises that like all other sectors, the Community and Voluntary Sector has faced financial constraints in recent years, with implications, inter alia, around the capacity of the sector to pay redundancy payments. Discussions between my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform are on-going on the nature of an appropriate response.
I believe that the recommendations on alignment between Local Government and local development made by an expert Steering Group represent a balanced way forward and they recognise the key strengths of LDCs, which will continue to be utilised in partnership with Local Government, to bring greater strategic coherence to the broad range of local and community development supports at local level, for the benefit of our citizens and communities.
Future co-ordination arrangements between Local Government and LDCs are under consideration by an Alignment Working Group, which includes representatives of the Irish Local Development Network as well as the City and County Managers Association and Pobal.
125. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on whether local authorities will lose their powers over planning and housing from 1 January under his new local authority reform structures and that this will lead to a lack of accountability between the local authority and the general public; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38958/13]
View answerThe Action Programme for Effective Local Government sets out Government decisions for a range of local government reform measures. It does not seek to remove powers in relation to planning or housing from local authorities. The Action Programme includes a new system of municipal governance at sub-county level. Elected members will perform certain reserved functions at district level without duplication of decision-making at county level, while other decisions will be taken by members at council level.
The division of functions between county and district levels will be decided by what is relevant to each level. Local matters will be dealt with at district level while those of wider strategic application will be dealt with at county level. Any matter that is to be decided within the municipal district jurisdiction will be dealt with on a fully devolved basis and will not be submitted to county level for approval, subject to certain requirements in relation to consistency.
The provision for decisions to be taken at the appropriate level of governance within the county will enhance rather than diminish accountability between the local authority and the general public.
126. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the eligibility for citizenship in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 8; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38849/13]
View answerI am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) that a valid application for a certificate of naturalisation has been received from the person referred to by the Deputy.
The application is being processed with a view to establishing whether the applicant meets the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation, such as good character and lawful residence, and will be submitted to me for decision as expeditiously as possible.
The Deputy may wish to note that queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been established specifically for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response from INIS is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
127. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the current residency status in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38851/13]
View answerThe person concerned arrived in the State on 19 June 2008 and made an application for asylum. The Refugee Applications Commissioner refused her a declaration of refugee status by letter dated 30 December 2008. This decision was subsequently upheld by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal and this was notified to her on 29 June 2010.
On 10 August 2010 she was informed that it was proposed to make a Deportation Order in her case and she was invited to apply for Subsidiary Protection and to make representations under section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999. Having considered the Subsidiary Protection application and representations under section 3, a Deportation Order was signed on 4 May 2011. The person concerned was notified by letter dated 1 June 2011.
On 8 August 2011 she made an application pursuant to section 17(7) of the Refugee Act 1996 to be re-admitted to the asylum process. Her application was considered and she was notified by letter dated 7 September 2011 that it was refused. She requested a review of that decision on 21 September 2011. A review was carried out and she was notified by letter that it had been refused on 4 October 2011.
She instituted Judicial Review proceedings on 20 October 2011 challenging the refusal of the section 17(7) application and, accordingly, as the matter is sub judice, I do not propose to comment further.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response from INIS is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
128. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the current residency status in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 24; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38858/13]
View answerThe person concerned is a failed asylum applicant. Arising from the refusal of his asylum application, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), the person concerned was notified, by letter dated 14th May, 2009, that the then Minister proposed to make a Deportation Order in respect of him. He was given the options, to be exercised within 15 working days, of leaving the State voluntarily, of consenting to the making of a Deportation Order or of making written representations to the then Minister setting out the reasons why a Deportation Order should not be made against him. In addition, he was notified of his entitlement to apply for subsidiary protection in accordance with the provisions of the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006.
The person concerned submitted an application for subsidiary protection. When consideration of this application has been completed, the person concerned will be notified in writing of the outcome.
In the event that the application for subsidiary protection is refused, the position in the State of the person concerned will then be decided by reference to the provisions of Section 3 (6) of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended) and Section 5 of the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended) on the prohibition of refoulement. All representations submitted will be considered before a final decision is made. Once a final decision has been made, this decision, and the consequences of the decision, will be conveyed in writing to the person concerned.
Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to the INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been specifically established for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response from the INIS is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
129. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons that have been deported from Ireland to the Democratic Republic of Congo in each of the years from 2010 to date in 2013; the reason ten deportations from Ireland to DRC took place in June, 2013; if more deportations to DRC are likely to take place in 2013-2014; if any follow-up has taken place to ascertain the well-being and safety of the deportees since their deportations from Ireland to DRC; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38859/13]
View answerI am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that in 2010, 2 asylum seekers were deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), 5 were deported in 2011, 1 in 2012 and 10 were deported in 2013 to date.
As outlined in my detailed response to Parliamentary Question Number 223 on 4th July, on 16th June last the 10 failed asylum seekers were deported from Ireland to Kinshasa in the DRC on a chartered flight which was organised through the EU FRONTEX network. Belgium, France and Germany also participated in this joint return operation.
In enforcing the law in this respect, Ireland is no different to other countries who also remove individuals who have no lawful right to remain within their territory. Ireland, like other EU member states, uses deportation of illegal immigrants and failed asylum seekers as the policy of last resort. The process leading to a deportation is extensive with many avenues of appeal, including judicial review in the High Court, open to persons subject to Deportation Orders. It should also be noted that a Deportation Order requires a person to remove themselves from the State and it is only where they fail to do so that the State is forced to remove them and enforce the rule of law.
Deportations take place within the provisions of the Immigration Act, 1999, as amended, and after each case has been fully considered with regard to the eleven considerations contained in Section 3 (6) of that Act and Section 5 Prohibition of refoulement) of the Refugee Act, 1996. The safety of returning a person, or refoulement as it is commonly referred to, is fully considered in every case when deciding whether or not to make a deportation order i.e. that a person shall not be expelled from the State or returned in any manner whatsoever to a State where the life or freedom of that person would be threatened on account of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. My Department uses extensive country of origin information drawn from different independent sources in evaluating the safety of making returns to third countries, including the DRC.
Each asylum application received from a citizen of the DRC is considered on the basis of the facts, individual circumstances and merits of the case presented and a final decision is reached following a comprehensive examination and investigation of these facts, merits and circumstances taking full account of the political and human rights conditions prevailing in DRC and the latest reports of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
The enforcement of a Deportation Order is an operational matter for the Garda National Immigration Bureau. In general, removals are either carried out using commercial flights which usually involves transit through other European airports as Ireland does not have direct flights to most of the countries of return. Alternatively, chartered flights organised through the EU FRONTEX network are often led by another EU State and this determines the timing of specific operations including to the DRC.
