Written Answers Nos. 432-450
433. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if persons who are having difficulty getting information from other countries regarding property ownership, and if a document which is required when submitting a housing application if required, if he will clarify if they must provide an affidavit declaring that they do not own any property; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2464/14]
View answerAs indicated in the reply to Question No. 392 of 24 September 2013, the 2011 Social Housing Assessment Regulations provide that a household is ineligible for social housing support if a household member owns alternative accommodation that the household could reasonably be expected to use to meet its housing needs, either by occupying it or by selling the accommodation and using the proceeds to secure other suitable accommodation. On foot of this provision, Part 11 of the prescribed social housing application form seeks information on property ownership in the State and abroad and a household is required, under Regulation 11 of the 2011 Regulations, to provide to the housing authority such additional information, including documents and other particulars, as is sought by the authority for the purpose of verifying information relating to its application for social housing support. It is a matter for the local authority to determine what is required in individual cases. My Department would expect that any information sought by a local authority in this regard would be appropriate, having regard to the circumstances of the household concerned.
435. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on a matter regarding shared ownership (details supplied). [2467/14]
View answer476. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the action taken to date to address the outstanding issues in respect of existing shared ownership loans and mortgages with particular reference to the extent to which the rental part of mortgage repayments has dramatically escalated with resultant hardship; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2827/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 435 and 476 together.
As Minister, it is not appropriate for me to comment on individual cases but I can confirm that the Government’s 2011 Housing Policy Statement announced the standing down of all affordable housing schemes, including the shared ownership scheme, in the context of a full review of Part V of the Planning and Development Acts 2000-2013. Details regarding the review are available on my Department’s website www.environ.ie.
The period for public submissions has closed and submissions from a variety of interested parties are now under consideration. I expect to be in a position to formulate future policy approaches and actions, taking account of the consultation process, in the near future.
In 2013, I asked the Housing Agency to conduct a standalone review of the shared ownership scheme, including identification of the main difficulties and recommendations for mitigating measures. While I have received an initial draft of the review from the Agency a number of issues have been identified that need further detailed financial analysis in order to fully assess the impact on local authority finances of possible mitigating measures. This additional work is underway and I expect to make further recommendations to bring the review process to a conclusion in the near future.
Pending full conclusion of this review, my Department recently issued a circular letter to local authorities setting out some of the options that might be explored to alleviate the difficulties of those in shared ownership distress. These include clarification on renting of rooms and the announcement of the nationwide extension of the Local Authority Mortgage-to-Rent (LAMTR) scheme following the successful completion of a pilot scheme in two local authority areas. To support the national rollout of LAMTR, with the support of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Housing Finance Agency, I will be allocating an additional €20m to the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (MARP) fund in 2014 to significantly expand the capacity of that resource to assist shared ownership households in mortgage distress.
436. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount his Department spends on an annual basis in payments to consultancy firms (details supplied). [2476/14]
View answerMy Department makes payments to Oracle, mainly for software licence updates and support for the Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) Financial Management System used by the Department; the payments to Oracle over the last three years are set out in following table.
|
Description |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
Total |
|
New Oracle EBS Licences |
- |
€374,455 |
- |
€374,455 |
|
Annual Oracle EBS Licencing and Support Services |
€165,097 |
€284,658 |
€286,096 |
€735,851 |
|
Other Oracle Licencing and Support Services |
- |
€16,140 |
€10,149 |
€26,289 |
|
Total |
€165,097 |
€675,253 |
€296,245 |
€1,136,595 |
These payments to Oracle are regarded as ICT External Service Provision within the term s of the Department of Finance Guidelines for the Engagement of Consultants and Other External Support by the Civil Service and therefore are not treated as consultancy. It is expected that payments to Oracle will amount to €270,000 in 2014 for licencing and support services. My Department did not make any payments to Accenture in the years 2011 to 2013.
437. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to re-introduce a tenant purchase scheme for those persons currently renting houses from local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2495/14]
View answerThe Government, on 17 December 2013, approved priority drafting of a Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill that will, among other things, underpin a new tenant purchase scheme for existing local authority houses along incremental purchase lines. I expect that the Bill will be enacted this year, following which I will prescribe in regulations the commencement date and the detailed terms of the scheme.
438. Deputy Seán Kenny asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide funding to replace the breathing apparatus within Dublin Fire Brigade as a number of firefighters have reported serious safety issues with the breathing apparatus over the past number of years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2528/14]
View answerThe provision of a fire service, including the provision of fire fighting and emergency equipment, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities as set out in the Fire Services Act, 1981. My Department supports fire authorities through the setting of general policy and the provision of capital funding, including the recoupment (within the overall funding available) of costs incurred by fire authorities in relation to the approved purchase of fire appliances and equipment.
My Department, through the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management, engages on an on-going basis with fire authorities to assist them in meeting their statutory responsibilities while also complying with the requirements of the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.
There are a number of initiatives to ensure that persons working in fire services are properly equipped and trained, have appropriate procedures and are supervised so that, in so far as is reasonably practicable, their safety at work is ensured and local authorities comply with the relevant legislative requirements. My Department has published National Guidance to assist fire authorities to provide consistent and safe training in the use of breathing apparatus. In this regard, The Use of Breathing Apparatus in the Fire Service ( 2007) and Guidance on the Provision and Assessment of Breathing Apparatus Training (2010) are both available on my Department’s website at www.environ.ie.
Also, as part of the national policies for the future direction of fire services set out in Keeping Communities Safe (KCS), which was published in February 2013, a "Managing Safety in Fire Services” support document is being developed as part of the KCS implementation process to ensure that occupational health and safety in fire services is fully aligned with recently adopted local government Safety Management System policy.
I understand that Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) has an investigation under way to examine the latest reported incidents involving breathing apparatus in use, and has kept the Health and Safety Authority briefed on reported incidents. Pending completion of the investigation, it would be premature to consider replacement of standard equipment which complies with relevant international standards. Although replacement equipment is not generally funded through the capital programme, there are no outstanding requests currently with my Department from the City Council for additional fire appliances or fire fighting equipment.
439. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if consideration will be given to combining the water charge and the local property tax into one payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2540/14]
View answerQuestions relating to the Local Property Tax are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Finance. The Programme for Government sets out a commitment to the introduction of domestic water charges based on usage above a free allowance and to establish Irish Water, a new state company to take responsibility for water services provision. The Government considers that charging based on usage is the fairest way to charge for water and it has decided that water meters should be installed in households connected to public water supplies. The Water Services Act 2013 provides for the establishment of Irish Water as an independent subsidiary within the Bord Gáis Éireann Group and assigns the necessary powers to allow Irish Water to undertake the metering programme.
The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides for the transfer of responsibility for the delivery of water services from the 34 water services authorities to Irish Water and provides that Irish Water can collect charges from its customers in receipt of these water services. The Act also provides for the establishment of an economic regulator for water services within the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER). Under the Act, the CER will have the power to set charges for both domestic and non-domestic customers. The primary role of the CER will be to protect the interests of customers and to ensure a consistent and appropriate level of service is provided to them.
Irish Water will be required to have a range of options in place to assist householders who have difficulties in paying their bills. In addition, an inter-Departmental working group has been established to advise the Government on the appropriate method for addressing water poverty and water affordability issues which may arise with the introduction of domestic water charges. The group is to prepare a report for consideration by the Government to enable decisions on the proposed approach to be taken, in advance of proposed public consultation by the CER on the approach to the design of domestic water tariffs during 2014.
440. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the timeframe for the next round of Leader funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2562/14]
View answerPreparations for Ireland’s Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 (RDP) have begun and public consultation on the overall Programme will commence shortly with a view to the programme commencing in 2015. My Department is holding its own targeted stakeholders’ consultation meeting on the LEADER elements of the 2014-2020 RDP on 30 January and a public consultation meeting in February.
Within the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 a separate financial allocation will be allocated for LEADER activity. This allocation will comprise of some €153 million EU funding which will be co-financed by Exchequer funding. The Exchequer allocation is subject to discussion between my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, following which I will announce the overall value of the LEADER elements of the Programme.
441. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide details of the level of Leader funding made available to Gaeltacht areas in the most recent round of redistribution; the rate of increase or decrease this funding represents on the funding previously available in each area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2563/14]
View answerBefore Meitheal Forbartha na Gaeltachta (MFG) went into liquidation in 2011 my Department had paid €3.37m to the company under the LEADER elements of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 (RDP) . Following legal advice and discussions with the European Commission in late 2012 the areas which had been previously served by MFG were transferred to the contiguous Local Action Groups (LAGs ).
In May 2013 I allocated the contiguous LAGs a ring-fenced allocation of €6 million for the Gaeltacht areas and again in December 2013 I provided another ring-fenced €1 million. In total the Gaeltacht areas have been provided with €10.4 million in funding under the Programme.
The distribution of the funding under the December allocation and the percentage increase is detailed in the table:
|
Local Action Group |
Total €6m Gaeltacht allocation May 2013 |
Additional €1m Gaeltacht allocation December 2013 |
% increase on May 2013 allocation |
|
Comhar na nOileán |
€2,122,427 |
€393,400 |
19% |
|
Donegal Local Development Company |
€1,332,153 |
€289,700 |
22% |
|
Mayo North East LEADER Partnership |
€925,548 |
€70,500 |
8% |
|
Meath Partnership |
€245,952 |
€20,700 |
8% |
|
North & East Kerry LEADER Partnership |
€483,183 |
€74,700 |
15% |
|
South Kerry Development Partnership |
€196,009 |
€27,500 |
14% |
|
South West Mayo Development Company |
€341,111 |
€56,900 |
17% |
|
Waterford LEADER Partnership |
€107,920 |
€20,900 |
19% |
|
West Cork Development Partnership |
€245,697 |
€45,700 |
19% |
|
- |
€ 6,000,000 |
€1,000,000 |
- |
443. Deputy Seán Kenny asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when former community workers whose employment were funded through Pobal will receive the enhanced redundancy payments awarded to them by a Labour Court Rights Commissioner. [2593/14]
View answerMy Department has no role in the internal operations of any organisations funded through Pobal and, therefore, does not have a role in relation to staff or employment matters, which are for the Board of the company, as the employer, to manage. However the Government recognises that like all other sectors of our economy, the community and voluntary sector has had to deal with reduced funding and financial shortages in recent years. Issues have arisen around the capacity of the sector to pay enhanced redundancy payments. The Government is considering a cash limited scheme to address this issue. Discussions between my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform are on-going in that regard.
444. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if there is a national carbon control strategy for all the buildings in the State portfolio. [2612/14]
View answer445. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if there is a monitoring system for the carbon control strategy for all buildings in the State portfolio. [2613/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions No. 444 and 445 together.
The Government is committed to minimising greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide emissions, from building stock in State ownership. In 2012, I published, in tandem with my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Green Tenders, the national action plan on green public procurement. Green Tenders notifies public authorities both of their existing statutory obligations in terms of the environmental impacts of their procurement activities, and of how they can continually improve on their performance.
Green Tenders is available to download on my Department’s website, www.environ.ie. The following extracts are particularly relevant:
“The Building Energy Rating (BER) methodology should be used to assess new buildings. A BER, which is effectively an energy label, is required at the point of sale or rental of a building. In addition, for public buildings, a further energy rating is documented in an annual Display Energy Certificate (DEC) which shows the actual energy consumed in the building compared to a benchmark on a scale from A1 to G. The DEC is intended to encourage public authorities to adopt environmentally responsible and efficient use of energy in buildings. They will be used to monitor on-going energy use and assess the effect of renovation works and energy management initiatives.
Since January 2009, public bodies occupying buildings over 1,000m2 are obliged to exhibit a DEC, in a prominent place, clearly visible to the public. Regulation 15(1) of the European Communities (Energy End-use Efficiency and Energy Services) Regulations 2009 (S.I. No. 542/2009) requires public bodies to only purchase or lease buildings with a BER of B3 or higher (from 1 January 2012) and A3 or higher (from 1 January 2015), unless specified exemptions are invoked. In addition, the European Communities (Renewable Energy) Regulations 2011 require public bodies to fulfil an exemplary role (in the context of Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources) when constructing or renovating public buildings after December 31st, 2011.”
In terms of mitigating carbon emissions arising from buildings in State ownership, it is expected that energy efficiency measures and the use of renewable energy will play a key role. Policy development and implementation in relation to energy efficiency and renewable energy are matters for my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. The Office of Public Works also has relevant functions in relation to ownership, management and efficiency of State buildings.
446. Deputy Tom Barry asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of appointments apart from Bord Gáis Éireann and local authority employees that were made to Irish Water. [2615/14]
View answer455. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the anticipated spending on bonuses for staff in Irish Water; if his Department approved the budget for such bonuses; the date on which approval occurred; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2716/14]
View answer456. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if his Department approved spending for a new gym at the Irish Water headquarters; the estimated expenditure involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2717/14]
View answer461. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if Irish Water has taken on staff through the JobBridge scheme; the number of staff involved; the duration of their employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2722/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 446, 455, 456 and 461 together.
The Water Services Act 2013 provided for the establishment of Irish Water as a subsidiary of Bórd Gáis Éireann to be formed and registered under the Companies Act.
Irish Water is currently recruiting to build up the internal capabilities required within the organisation and the numbers of staff employed is an operational matter for the organisation. It was agreed by the Steering Group for the Water Sector Reform programme that, to ensure skills within the sector were fully availed of in building up the new organisation, competitions for positions in asset management, capital delivery and operations would be restricted to staff in the partner organisations i.e. Bord Gáis Éireann, local authorities and my Department in the first instance. Open competitions are held for all other positions and details of these are available on Irish Water’s website www.water.ie.
Data supplied by Irish Water indicates that at present 310 staff appointments have been made in Irish Water. The breakdown of these staff in terms of their employment immediately before recruitment is as follows: 59 were recruited from Bord Gáis Éireann; 107 from Local Authorities; 5 from my Department and the balance, 139, were externally recruited.
In addition to the staff employed directly in Irish Water, one hundred people are directly employed on the National domestic water metering programme and 871 people have been employed through Regional Contractors on that programme. The Irish Water Call Centre employs 44 people.
Neither Irish Water nor the Metering Programme have employed anyone under the JobBridge programme. However, a social inclusion commitment formed part of the regional management contractors’ contracts with Irish Water and included requirements for a defined percentage of people working on the domestic water metering programme to be drawn from SMEs, the unemployment register, apprentices, graduates or school leavers.
The employment terms and conditions for Irish Water staff are a matter for the company and I understand that these are in line with the arrangements applying with Bord Gáis Éireann. I also understand that no bonuses have been paid to Irish Water staff, but I have asked the company set out the basis and content of the model as applied to Irish Water contracts of employment, including the criteria against which high performance will be evaluated and the kinds of targets (at company and division or grade levels) against which such performance may be bench-marked. The management of facilities including Headquarter and regional offices is an operational matter for the company and one in which I have no role.
447. Deputy Ann Phelan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason the proposal for a new fire station for Graignamanagh, County Kilkenny, as part of the national fire appliance fleet, has not been considered under the fire service capital allocation fund, in view of the fact that the present building was built in the 1950s and is classified as substandard (details supplied) and should the county boundaries change, as is imminent, the catchment area served by Graignamanagh fire station will increase; if he will detail the fire stations that are currently being given priority as part of the national fire appliance fleet; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2633/14]
View answerThe provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under section 10 of the Fire Services Act 1981. My Department supports the fire authorities through setting general policy, providing a central training programme, issuing guidance on operational and other related matters and providing capital funding for priority infrastructural projects.
Under the 2008 fire service capital programme, a proposal by Kilkenny County Council to build a new two bay fire station in Grauigenamanagh was approved in principle. The Council was subsequently approved to prepare detailed design and tender documents in relation to the project. These have been received in my Department for consideration. Continued investment in the fire appliance fleet has been identified as one of the key national priorities for the fire services capital programme. In that context and in order to deliver cost efficiencies, a programme involving fire authorities aggregating demand and jointly procuring 17 fire appliances is now nearing completion, under which Kilkenny Fire and Rescue Service has received an allocation for a new appliance which is under construction.
Given the constraints on public finances, further support from my Department’s fire services capital programme to replace Grauigenamanagh fire station will have regard to national priorities, the totality of requests from fire authorities countrywide, Kilkenny County Council’s priorities, the extent of previous investment in Kilkenny fire service, the value for money offered by proposals and the status of existing facilities having regard to risk categorisation.
In 2013, I published a policy document titled: Keeping Communities Safe (KCS), which sets the future direction of fire services in Ireland. This is intended to ensure that Ireland continues to manage its fire risk effectively and that the downward trend in the level of fire loss recorded annually continues. KCS includes, inter alia, the re-alignment of structures to deliver effective fire services. This provides for fire services to remain as a local authority function, but service delivery is to be reshaped from the current 30 fire services to 21, with 14 single fire authorities and 7 ‘shared services’. Carlow / Kilkenny is included among the ‘shared services’.
There is significant experience among fire authorities of delivering aspects of their services on a ‘shared service’ basis. This experience, coupled with the work already underway to integrate fire services in Tipperary, Limerick and Waterford, will provide a solid basis for developing an appropriate model of shared services for fire authorities, based on populations in the range of 120,000 to 200,000.
448. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in view of the changes to the housing aid for older people scheme, if a local authority can now reject an application on the basis that a person under the age of 65 who is not the applicant or the partner or spouse of the applicant is living in the house for which the funding is applied for; if so, the support that is available to an applicant in such circumstances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2664/14]
View answer449. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if the means test for the housing aid for older people will be applied in the same way in every local authority area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2665/14]
View answer450. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if a local authority can introduce its own criteria to the application process for the housing aid for older people scheme to make it more difficult for an applicant to qualify than would be the case if the Department's published criteria alone were used; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2666/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 448 to 450, inclusive, together.
The changes recently notified to Local Authorities apply to new applications received after 1 January 2014. Any person who applied for a grant prior to January 2014 will have their application processed in accordance with the guidelines in place at that time. These applicants will not be affected by the changes to the terms of the schemes.
The changes were made on foot of the report of a review group, established last year by my Department, to examine the terms and conditions governing the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability. Membership of the group included members of both the County and City Managers’ Association (CCMA), the Housing Practitioner Network, Local Authority housing personnel and officials from my Department. Consultations were held with organisations working with older people and people with a disability, including the Irish Wheelchair Association, ALONE, HSE, Ataxia Ireland, the Irish Society for Autism and the National Disability Authority. The aim of the review was to spread the benefits of the schemes as widely as possible and to ensure fairness and value for money in their operation.
There has been no change to the maximum grant available under the Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability which remains at €30,000 or the Mobility Aids Grant which remains at €6,000. In the case of the Housing Aid for Older People, the maximum grant has been reduced from €10,500 to €8,000. The average grant paid under this scheme in 2011, 2012 and 2013 was €4,162, €4,106 and €3,995 respectively, well below the maximum available. The age limit for eligibility has been increased from 60 to 66 years. However, a lower age limit may apply at the discretion of the local authority in certain cases.
Changes have also been made with regard to the assessment of means of applicants. To bring it into line with the means assessment for applicants for social housing, all household members’ income, with certain exceptions, will be included in the assessment of means. The level of income beyond which no grant is payable has been reduced from €65,000 to €60,000. In the case of an applicant where a household member is aged under 65, there is no impact on grant eligibility. However, where appropriate their income will be taken into account in accessing household income.
I have increased the level of funding available for the grant schemes by 12% in 2014 to €38.4 million. Every local authority has increased funding for grants compared to the initial allocation in 2013. The detailed administration of these schemes, including the assessment, approval and payment of grants to applicants under the various grant measures, is the responsibility of the relevant local authority. The terms and conditions of the schemes must be applied uniformly and consistently across all local authority areas.
