Written Answers Nos. 141-51
141. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the current position regarding the progress of appeal in respect of basic supplementary welfare allowance or alternative in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 24; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47589/13]
View answerThe Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that the supplementary welfare allowance and disability allowance appeals from the person concerned were referred to an Appeals Officer who has decided to convene an oral hearing of both cases. I am advised that the oral hearing is likely to take place before the end of November 2013 and that the person concerned will be informed as soon as arrangements for the oral hearing have been made.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements.
142. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the reason one-parent family allowance has been terminated in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47590/13]
View answerThe person concerned was requested to submit information in relation to an allowance she is currently receiving. The information was requested on the 18 October 2013 and on the 22 November 2013. To date this information has not been received and her claim has been suspended until the information requested has been supplied.
143. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection if an oral hearing will be arranged to determine eligibility in respect of guardianship payment in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47591/13]
View answerI am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that an Appeals Officer, having fully considered all of the available evidence, disallowed the appeal of the person concerned by way of a summary decision dated 5th March 2013. The person concerned was notified of the Appeals Officer’s decision on 15th March 2013 and was provided at that time with a detailed explanation of the basis for the Appeals Officer’s decision to disallow the appeal. Under Social Welfare legislation, the decision of an Appeals Officer is final and conclusive and may only be reviewed in the light of additional evidence or new facts. The appeal, in this case, was closed on 15th March 2013 and I am advised that the person concerned made no further contact with the Appeals Office since that date.
In view of the lapse of time since the Appeals Officer made his decision and the decision was communicated to the person concerned, I am advised by the Social Welfare Appeals Office that it is not proposed to re-open the appeal in this case. However, in the event that the person concerned has additional evidence or new facts in support of her application for a guardian’s payment, it is open to her to make a new claim to the Department of Social Protection.
The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements.
144. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will provide a detailed progress report on events planned for the 1916 centenary celebrations; the major events that are planned for County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47451/13]
View answerI am committed to working with all interested partners to ensure that the centenary commemorative programme is comprehensive, authentic and inclusive. The Easter Rising and the Proclamation of the Irish Republic will be at the centre of the programme. In keeping with the development of an authentic programme, I anticipate that all the principal sites relating to the Rising and ensuing events will feature in the commemorations. I am working with the Expert Advisory Group on Commemorations and partners in Government to bring forward projects such as the online release of the Military Service Pensions Archive, which will provide unprecedented public access to primary source material about the Rising.
A number of other special decade of centenary projects are in preparation, which will support research and inform discussion as we approach the centenary of the Rising in 2016. It is my belief that the Rising can best be commemorated by placing it in the broader cultural and historical context. In this regard, we have brought forward projects such as the Century Ireland initiative, in association with RTÉ and Boston College, which is already charting the lives of the participants in the Rising from their first appearances in public life through to the Rising itself.
The centenary of the founding of the Irish Volunteers will be commemorated this month. On this point, I met a number of local historians on Monday 2 September 2013 at the County Library in Tralee to explore the possibility of arranging a lecture to commemorate the founding of the Volunteers. It was decided to arrange a lecture to take place on Thursday 28 November at the County Library in Tralee.
Initiatives in 2014 will include the commemoration of the founding of the Irish Citizens' Army and Cumann na mBan, and special commemorative arrangements are being prepared for these organisations. For the comprehensive exploration of Irish life in the revolutionary period, I am keen that the programme would pay special attention to the economic and social conditions of the time. I am very grateful for the support of the Women's' History Association of Ireland in developing the arrangements for the centenary of Cumann na mBan and the wider issues of women in society at the time, including the campaign for electoral reform.
The arrangements to be brought forward for Easter 2016 throughout the country are under development at this time. Clearly, the centenary of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic will be a most important anniversary and I anticipate that the special arrangements for the occasion will be of interest internationally too. I would welcome the Deputy's views on the commemoration of the Rising and would be happy to discuss any proposals he may have.
145. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will take steps to have an application for payment in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath in respect of a designated bog to which they are entitled to compensation and whereby a map has already been prepared showing the area in question and which no subsequent reply has been received in respect thereof, if same will now be reviewed and this person’s entitlements furnished to them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47480/13]
View answerThe individuals referred to in the Deputy’s Question have applied to sell their interest in land within a site designated as a special area of conservation, under the voluntary bog purchase scheme administered by my Department. I am advised that no map identifying the site or evidence of title have been received by my Department to date. An official of my Department spoke with the applicants’ solicitor in February last to request evidence of title and to indicate that no map had been received in relation to this application. My Department will be in a position to consider the application further once these documents have been received.
146. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the technical reasons for EirGrid's decision to pursue a general policy of not undergrounding electricity power lines in Grid 25; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47526/13]
View answerNeither the Government nor I seek to direct the energy infrastructure developers to particular technologies, sites or routes as was made clear in the July 2012 Government Policy Statement on the Strategic Importance of Transmission and Other Energy Infrastructure. That statement emphasises that these are matters for the developers and for the forward planning process through regional and local development plans and at project level through the development management process. In this context, energy infrastructure developers are encouraged to work with the forward planning processes at regional and local levels to set clear contexts for assessment of individual applications for planning consent and to facilitate as wide a degree of consensus as possible as to how and where to meet grid development needs. The Government, as detailed in the July 2012 Policy Statement expects the companies in making their choices of project specific technologies and routing, as well as mitigation measures, to take account of all relevant national and international standards, to follow best practice and ensure value for money and be informed by detailed consultation at local level. My understanding is that there is no single solution for any particular development and that technical solutions must be project specific. I also understand that conventional overhead line is still the most common solution adopted worldwide and still offers significantly lower investment costs than any underground alternative.
147. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the action that can be taken to deal with high commercial rates and assist small businesses (details supplied). [47516/13]
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. The levying and collection of rates are matters for each individual local authority. The annual rate on valuation (ARV), which is applied to the valuation for each property determined by the Valuation Office, to obtain the amount payable in rates, is decided by the elected members of each local authority in the annual budget and its determination is a reserved function. Rates income is a very important contribution to the cost of services provided by local authorities such as roads, public lighting, development control, parks and open spaces. Locally elected members adopt the annual rate on valuation they consider necessary in order to provide the required services.
I am acutely aware of the pressures on businesses at the present time. Local authorities have been asked by my Department to exercise restraint or, where possible, to reduce commercial rates and local charges for 2013. Local authorities have responded well to such requests in recent years and in 2013, 87 out of the 88 rating authorities have either reduced their ARV or kept it the same as in 2012. The reorganisation of local governance structures, set out in the Action Plan for Effective Local Government – Putting People First and to be given effect through the Local Government Bill 2013 currently before the House, provides an opportunity to achieve a more coherent approach to rates and charges on a county-wide basis having regard to funding requirements and the need to support employment and business competitiveness.
Local authorities have a leading role in creating a pro-enterprise supportive environment to generate new jobs and sustain existing ones. They are committed to local economic development, and are best placed to meet many of the needs of businesses, in terms of infrastructure, local promotion and other key enabling measures. Under the Action Plan for Jobs, the local government sector has developed a sectoral strategy, Supporting Economic Recovery and Jobs – Locally, to promote employment and support local enterprise, including measures in the area of business charges, local enterprise and business support arrangements, procurement support, local development and community-based initiatives, the Green Economy and participation in employment support schemes.
As is evident from the local government sectoral strategy and the 2008 Forfás report, the cost of running retail operations in Ireland, commercial rates, on average, account for less than 5% of overall business costs. Notwithstanding this, I will continue to keep the approach to rates by local authorities under active review, and am determined that every avenue will be pursued to optimise efficiency and contain costs in the local government sector.
148. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide details of the number of personnel-WTE attached to the processing of drivers licences in each local authority for that year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47421/13]
View answerMy Department gathers quarterly data on staff numbers in local authorities. The data gathered do not provide detail in respect of individual grades or job titles within each local authority, and accordingly, the information requested is not available in my Department.
149. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will review regulation guidelines made pursuant to section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 which pressurises a husband and wife who are separated, where one remains in the family home which is in their joint names, to enter into a formal legal separation or divorce in order for the spouse vacating the family home to be deemed eligible for social housing support even if they have no other available accommodation which they can afford without State assistance and have a housing need in accordance with criteria laid down; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47450/13]
View answerIt is a matter for each housing authority to determine the eligibility of individual households for social housing support, in accordance with section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 made thereunder. Regulation 22(1) of the 2011 Regulations provides that a household with alternative accommodation that would meet its housing need is ineligible for social housing support. Paragraph (2) of the Regulation clarifies that paragraph (1) does not operate to exclude from eligibility for social housing support an applicant who owns accommodation that is occupied by his or her spouse, from whom he or she is separated under a court order or deed of separation. As part of an on-going review of the 2011 Regulations, my Department is examining the issue of whether specific provision is required in respect of separated persons applying for social housing support who own dwellings occupied by spouses from whom they are separated, but where no court order or deed of separation is in place.
150. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the options open to a local authority tenant who has been offered the possibility of purchasing the home from the local authority but where the valuation put on the property by the authority appears to be excessive; the rights the tenant has to challenge the valuation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47456/13]
View answerIn the case of the 1995 tenant purchase scheme for existing local authority houses, which is now being terminated, a tenant who believes that the value of the house under the relevant regulations is lower than the housing authority’s valuation may submit a property valuation by a qualified valuer to the authority concerned. It is a matter for the authority to decide the extent, if any, to which it revises its valuation on receipt of such a valuation. Where there is a significant difference between the two valuations the case should be referred to the Valuation Office for a definitive valuation.
In the case of the incremental purchase schemes for local authority apartments and newly-built local authority houses, where a prospective purchaser believes that the value of the dwelling under the relevant regulations is lower than the housing authority’s valuation, the property value is determined by a valuer nominated by the prospective purchaser from a panel of valuers established by the authority.
151. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that legal advice presented to the current mayor of Sligo confirms that a meetings administrator designated by a county manager who fails in the obligation to issue notification to councillors for statutory meetings of the borough council is in clear breach of statutory duty; if it has been drawn to his attention that legal advice presented to the previous mayor of Sligo clearly stated that the county manager or his designated officials have a bounden duty to adhere to the mayor's directions in relation to the convening of meetings of the borough council and that the county manager is not entitled to subvert both the standing order of the council and the legislation in relation to the convening of borough council meetings; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Sligo county manager failed to ensure that his designated meetings administrator issued notification to elected councillors for statutory meetings of Sligo Borough Council which were to take place in April, May, September, October and November 2013; if it has been drawn to his attention that the Sligo county manager did ensure that his designated meetings administrator issued notification to elected councillors for statutory meetings of the borough council in June and July 2013; if it has been drawn to his attention that the manager failed to ensure that his designated meetings administrator issued notification to councillors for borough council meetings requisitioned by the mayor of Sligo for 21 October and the 4 November 2013; if he will consider introducing legislation which will prevent a county manager and his or her designated meetings administrator from subverting local democracy and from subverting local government legislation enacted by the Oireachtas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47512/13]
View answerI refer to the reply to Questions Nos. 681 and 706 of 5 November 2013, which sets out the position. I am not aware of any legal advice to the current or previous mayor of Sligo Borough Council. I do not intend to introduce legislation as suggested.
