Tuesday, 3 Dec 2013

Written Answers Nos. 269 - 283

Leader Programmes Applications

Questions (269)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

269. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 487 of 18 July 2013, if the further investigations and legal advice as a result of the decision of the Ombudsman in respect of a project (details supplied) are now completed; the outcome of those investigations; if the Ombudsman made a recommendation that funding should be paid in respect of this project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51893/13]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

In line with the ‘bottom-up’ approach to rural development under the LEADER elements of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013, there are 35 Local Action Groups (LAGs) contracted, on my Department’s behalf , to deliver the Programme throughout the country. These groups are the principal decision-makers in relation to the allocation of project funding. Such decisions are made in the context of the local development strategy of the individual groups and in line with the Programme’s Operating Rules and EU regulations. My Department is charged with ensuring that all decisions made at local level are compliant with both the National and EU regulatory frameworks and that there is a robust system in place to facilitate this. This includes a system of control checks as well as a subsequent appeals system on foot of such controls.

The project referred to in the question was subject to such control checks and was deemed ineligible. The initial decision was subject to the review and appeals process in place in my Department and the decision was upheld at each stage of this process. The matter also involved a review by the office of the Ombudsman. Following receipt of the Ombudsman’s decision, and legal advice, further investigations have been undertaken. The results of these investigations will be made available once complete.

Leader Programmes Funding

Questions (270, 271)

Brendan Smith

Question:

270. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when he will provide additional funding to the Cavan-Monaghan Leader group (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51941/13]

Brendan Smith

Question:

271. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide additional funding with immediate effect to the Cavan-Monaghan Leader group as the reduction in funding of €2.1 million last May is having a very negative effect on a number of projects which have good employment potential and such projects are important to local communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51944/13]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

I propose to take Questions Nos. 270 and 271 together.

During 2011, the European Commission approved a change in the maximum co-funding rate from 55% to 85% in relation to LEADER. This had the effect of reducing the available funding under the Programme from €427 million to an estimated €370 million. It was therefore necessary to carry out a comprehensive review of the level of commitments and expenditure across the Programme in order to apportion the remaining funds among the Local Development Companies (LDCs), taking into account the level of commitments already entered into.  The redistribution of funding was conducted in as fair and equitable a manner as was possible.

On 20 May 2013, Cavan Monaghan LEADER was awarded a revised allocation of RDP funding of €9,923,866. My Department is keeping the funding position under constant review. I expect that there will be a small amount of uncommitted LEADER Programme funding available for re-distribution to LDCs before year end; I will review the options available for distributing these funds and make allocations in the coming weeks.

Planning Issues

Questions (272)

John Deasy

Question:

272. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if attic or internal conversion was intended to be included in the development contributions attached to planning permissions; if this is being implemented by each local authority; his views that it is fair to implement such a charge where the work being carried out is internal only; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51949/13]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Deputy Jan O'Sullivan)

The statutory basis for the operation of development contribution schemes is set out in the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2010 supplemented by additional guidelines issued by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government under Section 28 of the Act. Under the Acts, the making of development contribution schemes is a reserved function of the elected members of the relevant planning authority. As such, the content of individual development contribution schemes is a matter for each planning authority to determine within the overall framework of the relevant legislation.

NAMA Social Housing Provision

Questions (273)

Barry Cowen

Question:

273. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a county breakdown of the National Asset Management Agency properties transferred to local authorities and voluntary organisations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51955/13]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (Deputy Jan O'Sullivan)

To the end of September this year 4,319 units have been identified by NAMA as being potentially suitable for social housing. Of these some 1,900 have been confirmed as being suitable and 443 of these units have been completed or contracted. A full breakdown by county of the units identified, deemed suitable and completed or contracted, is shown in the table. Further information, including quarterly updates, in relation to the delivery of NAMA sourced units is available at the Housing Agency’s website www.housing.ie/NAMA.

County	Identified	Suitable	Complete/Contracted
Carlow	137	82	55
Cavan	47
Clare	169	19	7
Cork	471	271	36
Cork City	419	202	53
Donegal	95	59
Dublin City	628	252	55
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown	328	122	58
Fingal	203	45	20
Galway	84	44
Galway City	117	117	45
Kerry	90	52	15
Kildare	243	97	57
Kilkenny	167	96
Laois	98	10
Leitrim	35
Limerick	112	9	9
Longford	31	11
Louth	27	27	27
Mayo	66	58
Meath	203	38
Monaghan	35	30
North Tipperary	13
Offaly	79	64
Roscommon	91	1
Sligo	46	15
South Dublin	60	42
South Tipperary	24
Waterford	65	27
Westmeath	42	29	4
Wexford	90	74	2
Wicklow	36	7
Total	4,351	1,900	443

Community Development Initiatives

Questions (274)

Richard Boyd Barrett

Question:

274. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the details of the planned changes to funding the community sector. [51958/13]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

Budget 2014 makes provision of €102.44 million for Community and Rural Development, reflecting the Government’s commitment to the sector notwithstanding the very difficult choices which have had to be made over a number of years now to address our economic crisis. I am very aware of the great work being done in communities and the need to continue local development initiatives to the greatest extent possible. With that in mind, I have prioritised the Local and Community Development Programme (LCDP) and the 2014 provision will be €47.7 million. This will allow some 14,000 people who are distanced from the labour market to receive direct one-to-one labour market training and supports. I also anticipate that in the order of €50 million will become available to carry forward into 2014 to fund LEADER projects.

There are some reductions to a number of specific budget lines within the Community vote, reflecting a range of considerations, including the scale of spending in previous years, the maturity of particular programmes, and the balance required to meet EU co-funding needs. For example, there will be reductions of between 5% and 7% to the RAPID and Supports for Community and Voluntary Sector allocations for 2014.  The Interreg programme will be reduced by 8%. The Programme for Peace and Reconciliation will have reduced current funding but its capital funding will be increased by 27%.  I am satisfied that these allocations will fully meet 2014 commitments.

In respect of the local development sector, the vision and focus underpinning the Government’s decisions is in Putting People First – Action Plan for Effective Local Government, to achieve a more joined-up approach to service delivery at local level, with responsibility for what is being done – and being spent – in the area of local and community development devolved to local level. This will be underpinned by new local governance arrangements that will seek to enhance involvement by citizens and communities in the design, implementation and targeting of services. Local Community Development Committees are being established as participative committees which will be tasked with developing a 6 year City/County Local and Community Plan for its local authority area encompassing all state-funded local and community development interventions.

Pyrite Remediation Programme

Questions (275)

Clare Daly

Question:

275. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government noting that Homebond prior to the establishment of an insurance backed structural guarantee in 2008 collected significant funds, and now has a surplus of €25 million, and in view of the lapse since 2008 of elements having a five year guarantee that there will be no call on that surplus other than possibly isolated structural damage cases, his views on whether the Homebond surplus should be handed over to the Pyrite Resolution Board to fund remedial works on houses damaged by pyrite-induced heave which Homebond had guaranteed against major strucural damage prior to walking away from the so-called guarantee in 2011. [51811/13]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

HomeBond is a private limited company which provided a structural guarantee scheme to purchasers of new homes; since November 2008 the scheme is underwritten by Allianz Insurance. As a private company my Department has no role or function in its operations.

I have made my position very clear on the issue of responsibility for providing a resolution of the pyrite problem for affected homeowners. I believe that the parties identified in the report of the independent Pyrite Panel as having a direct or indirect responsibility for the pyrite problem should contribute to the resolution of the problem. It was against this background that I engaged in protracted discussions with the key stakeholders, including HomeBond, to try and put in place a framework within which those parties could bring about a resolution of the problem; regrettably, this did not prove possible. However, the Pyrite Resolution Board remains in discussions with HomeBond with a view to agreeing an open and transparent process for them to make a positive contribution to the implementation of a pyrite remediation scheme.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Questions (276)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

276. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which this country is obligated to conform to international agreements in respect of carbon emission reductions; the extent to which we remain on target in this regard; the consequences in the event of failure to meet targets in this regard in respect of carbon-related penalties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51673/13]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

Ireland is subject to legally binding greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets, pursuant to the Kyoto Protocol under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in respect of the period 2008 to 2012 and as part of its membership of the European Union, pursuant to the so-called Effort Sharing Decision (Decision No 406/2009/EC) in respect of the period 2013 to 2020. Specifically, under the Kyoto Protocol, Ireland must limit the growth in its GHG emissions to 13 per cent above 1990 levels over the period 2008 to 2012. Under the Effort Sharing Decision, which applies to GHG emissions outside the scope of the European Union’s Emissions Trading System, Ireland must limit the growth in its GHG emissions to 20 per cent below 2005 levels over the period 2013 to 2020. Ireland is on course to confirm compliance with its target for the purposes of the Kyoto Protoco l in the commitment period 2008 to 2012.

In light of the ambitious target set for Ireland to reduce its GHG emissions over the period 2013 to 2020, I am aware that this will prove challenging to achieve. However, I am satisfied that Ireland is on course to comply with the mitigation trajectory in the first half of this compliance period. I will review progress in terms of meeting the compliance challenge in the years 2017 to 2020, having regard to the outcome of the ongoing programme for the development of national climate policy and legislation. Consistent with the Government’s commitment to meeting Ireland’s obligations and its progressive approach to the development of national climate policy, the focus on securing compliance with European Union law in the period to 2020 will be on domestic mitigation rather than the purchase of additional carbon credits.

Deportation Orders Re-examination

Questions (277)

Jack Wall

Question:

277. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding an appeal in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51297/13]

Written answers

Minister for Justice and Equality

Given that the person concerned had no valid basis to remain in the State, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), he was, by letter dated 20th June, 2011, notified that the 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 Minister setting out the reasons why he should not have a Deportation Order made against him. Written representations have been submitted by the person concerned. The position in the State of the person concerned will now 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 of my Department 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.

Prisoner Diversions

Questions (278)

Terence Flanagan

Question:

278. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of prisoners in prisons here out of the total population that have access to TV and games consoles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51345/13]

Written answers

Minister for Justice and Equality

I have requested the information sought from the Director General of the Irish Prison Service and I will revert to the Deputy when this information is to hand.

Prisoner Data

Questions (279)

Terence Flanagan

Question:

279. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number and proportion of prisoners that have left prison in the past five years that served their full sentence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51347/13]

Written answers

Minister for Justice and Equality

It is not possible to provide the number and proportion of prisoners that have served their full sentence in custody in the past 5 years as this would require the manual examination of records. Such an examination would require a disproportionate and inordinate amount of staff time and effort and could not be justified in current circumstances where there are other significant demands on resources.

Review meetings take place at regular intervals in each of our prisons where the Governor, other members of senior management and representatives from the professional therapeutic services discuss individual cases and then make recommendations to an official from Prison Service Headquarters as to how the sentence management of a case should proceed. This may at times include a recommendation that the person engage in the school, work with the addiction services, etc but may also at times recommend that a prisoner be considered for a transfer from a closed prison, that they be considered for daily temporary release to attend a training programme or at times that they be granted supervised reviewable temporary release.

Prisoners serving short sentences, i.e. under 12 months, may be moved to an open centre shortly after committal. Other longer term prisoners being prepared for the transition back into the community man be considered for moves with about 2 years left in their sentence. Exceptional prisoners who are engaging strongly with the therapeutic services can sometimes be considered for a transfer with up to 4 years left to serve in their sentence. For prisoners serving sentences in excess of 8 years recommendations on their sentence management including transfers to open centres or temporary release are made to me by the Parole Board. It is very important to note that it does not necessarily follow that a prisoner will receive a transfer to an Open Centre or temporary release even if the recommendation is to that effect.

The Deputy will appreciate that in all cases where prisoners have applied for a transfer to an open centre, early or compassionate release, or other concessions, there are safety, security, operational and logistical considerations that must be taken into account by the Irish Prison Service when deciding whether to approve or refuse the application. There is no automatic entitlement to concessions for prisoners at a specific point in their sentence or in light of specific conduct. Each case is examined on its individual merits.

Magdalen Laundries

Questions (280)

Clare Daly

Question:

280. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the reason he is denying health care to nine survivors of the Magdalen laundries based in the United States. [51355/13]

Written answers

Minister for Justice and Equality

Legislation is required in order to implement Judge Quirke's recommendation with regard to the provision of medical services to the women who were admitted to and worked in the Magdalen Laundries, St Mary's Training Centre Stanhope Street and House of Mercy Training School, Summerhill, Wexford. My Department, in consultation with the Department of Health is working on the preparation of the necessary legislation. The issue of providing medical services to women, eligible under the Scheme, who reside outside the State will be considered by the Minister for Health.

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (281)

Terence Flanagan

Question:

281. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of officials in his Department that are receiving the cost of club membership fees, including sports clubs and professional bodies, as part of their contract of employment; the total cost per year to his Department of paying these fees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51369/13]

Written answers

Minister for Justice and Equality

My Department will only cover the cost of membership of professional bodies' fees on behalf of staff where that membership has a direct relevance to the individual's role, or can be considered to have a benefit to the work of the Department. The cost of these payments for 2013, to date, is approximately €8,400.00. My Department does not cover the cost of any other form of club membership fees on behalf of staff.

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (282)

Terence Flanagan

Question:

282. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if his Department is paying for any of its employees to receive third-level qualifications; if so, the annual cost for each of the past five years; if the employee will receive a financial bonus as a result of receiving this qualification; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51383/13]

Written answers

Minister for Justice and Equality

My Department is committed to supporting a continuous learning and development environment in which staff are presented with opportunities to improve their skills and qualifications so as to better equip them to make a positive and dynamic contribution to the business needs of the Department. Financial assistance is offered to staff pursuing a variety of courses in accordance with the provisions of Department of Finance circular 23/07: Post-Entry Education. Applications are considered with reference to the following criteria: relevance and significance of the course to the applicant's role and to the work of the Department; the number of applications received; the overall cost; and previous investment, by the Department, in the applicant’s education and development. My Department does not sanction any additional payments to staff who gain a third-level qualification under the scheme. The annual investment in staff under the scheme for each of the past 5 years is set out in the table.

Year	Spend on third-level qualifications taken by staff €
2009	379,457
2010	360,324
2011	308,715
2012	205,058
2013 (to date)	152,094

My Department will, as far as possible, continue to provide support for the continuous professional development of staff. However the Deputy will appreciate that reductions in public expenditure, necessary to restore our country's fiscal position, have impacted on the level of support that my Department can provide to individuals pursuing a third-level (or higher) qualification.

Road Traffic Offences

Questions (283)

Michael Healy-Rae

Question:

283. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding a fine in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry. [51403/13]

Written answers

Minister for Justice and Equality

The Deputy will appreciate that I have no direct role in the administration of the fixed charge notice system which is a matter for An Garda Síochána. The time limits with respect to accepting payments in respect of Fixed Charge Notices issued are set out in legislation and no discretion is permitted with regard to extending these time periods. Where a fixed charge notice relates to a penalty point offence, the declaration section has to be completed and signed by the driver in question before payment can be processed. Where payment cannot be made in person, payment can be made by post to the address provided on the notice, together with the completed and signed declaration. I understand that the Garda authorities have advised that the fixed charge notice be posted or emailed to the driver in question.