Written Answers Nos. 146-153
146. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the steps being taken to encourage local authorities to acquire National Asset Management Agency houses to help with addressing the shortage in available social housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3006/14]
View answerMy Department, the Housing Agency and NAMA continue to work together with housing authorities and approved housing bodies towards identifying suitable NAMA housing units and bringing them into social housing use. It continues to be my Department's objective to maximise the delivery of social housing using all of the resources available. To that end, I have contacted each housing authority to advise them of the establishment of a special purpose vehicle by NAMA and of the priority that I have placed on securing as many NAMA sourced units as possible for the purposes of social housing.
By the end of December 2013, of the 4,374 units identified by NAMA as being potentially suitable, some 2,055 units have been confirmed by local authorities as being suitable for social housing.
Completed housing unit transfers stand at 492, with a further 104 units that have been contracted and where completion work is on-going. This brings the overall total delivery of social housing from NAMA sourced units to 596 units (completed or contracted) since the process began.
Further information in relation to the delivery of NAMA sourced units, including a full breakdown by county of units delivered by quarter, is available at the Housing Agency’s website: www.housing.ie/NAMA .
147. Deputy Billy Timmins asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the funding that was given by Irish Water to local authorities; if he will provide a breakdown by local authority; and the purpose it was to be used for. [3016/14]
View answerThe Water Services Act 2013 provided for the establishment of Irish Water as a subsidiary of Bord Gáis Éireann, to be formed and registered under the Companies Act.
The Water Services (No.2) Act 2013 transferred statutory responsibility for water services to Irish Water and provided for local authorities to act as agents for Irish Water, with this relationship being expressed through Service Level Agreements. These agreements have now been signed by each authority and Irish Water and each included operational budgets appropriate to the cost of providing water services within each authority area.
The Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services 2014 provides an amount of €490 m for Irish Water from the Local Government Fund in 2014; the final outturn figure for 2014 is likely to be slightly less than this amount. This amount provided will fund water related expenditures incurred heretofore by local authorities, and met by them from their own resources and general purpose grants. Within this overall framework, the agreement of budgets with local authorities and the payments for services provided is a matter for Irish Water. The Annual Financial Statement of each local authority for 2014 onwards will explicitly detail the cost of services provided to Irish Water and the related payments received in each financial year.
148. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an exemption from water charges for households where an occupant has Crohn’s disease; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3080/14]
View answerThe Programme for Government sets out a commitment to the introduction of water charges based on usage above a free allowance. The Government considers that charging based on usage is the fairest way to charge for water and it has, therefore, decided that water meters should be installed in households connected to public water supplies. An inter-departmental working group has been established to advise the Government on the appropriate method for addressing affordability issues which may arise with the introduction of domestic water charges. The group is examining the issues arising for those with specific medical conditions, which require high water usage, in the course of its work.
The group comprises my Department and the Departments of the Taoiseach, Social Protection and Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance. The group will submit a final report for consideration by Government when it has completed its examination of the issues involved. This will allow for decisions on the proposed approach to be taken in advance of proposed public consultation by the Commission for Energy Regulation on the approach to the design of domestic water tariffs during 2014.
149. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the local government auditor in his annual auditors reports has in recent years consistently expressed concern about the financial performance of Sligo County Council and its increasing level of debt; if it has been brought to his attention that SCC has had a significant deficit in its revenue account budget for the years ending 31 December 2008-2012 (details supplied); if he recognises that Donegal County Council has acted responsibly and adopted balanced budgets in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 and in that regard if he will explain the reason his Department, in addition to the general purpose grant for 2014, provided a €1 million top-up to SCC to include in its draft budget for 2014; the reason that council is being rewarded for its behaviour, while Donegal County Council has not been provided with any additional funding. [3088/14]
View answerIt is a matter for each local authority, including Sligo and Donegal County Councils, to determine its own spending priorities in the context of the annual budgetary process having regard to both locally identified needs and available resources. The elected members of a local authority have direct responsibility in law for all reserved functions of the authority, which includes adopting the annual budget, and are democratically accountable for all expenditure by the local authority.
While it is a matter for individual local authorities to manage their own day-to-day finances in a prudent and sustainable manner, my Department is in regular and ongoing consultation with both Sligo and Donegal County Councils in relation to their financial positions.
Local authorities’ cost and income bases vary significantly from one another. General purpose grants are structured to bring about equalisation over time, that is a position of balance where the financial needs of local authorities are met by their resources and they are able to provide an appropriate level of service to their customers. In determining these grants a number of factors are taken into account including the overall funding available for this purpose, the estimated cost to each authority of providing a reasonable level of services to their customers, the income each authority should generate from local sources and the necessity to provide each authority with a baseline allocation that supports its financial stability.
€1m was held back from the original general purpose grant allocation to Sligo County Council. The subsequent letter from my Department made the allocation of this €1 m conditional on an agreed long-term financial plan to address the Council’s accumulated deficit being adopted by the Council in early 2014. The allocation of the €1 m in 2014 is fully conditional on a realistic and achievable plan which charts a path to long-term financial sustainability being agreed between my Department and the Council in the first quarter of 2014. A similar approach was not adopted in relation to Donegal County Council as it continues to implement a long-term financial plan in consultation with my Department.
151. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will ensure that immediate funds are put in place for the progressing of a sewerage scheme in Kilcummin, Killarney, County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3154/14]
View answerThe Kilcummin Sewerage Scheme was included in my Department’s Water Services Investment Programme 2010 – 2013 as a scheme to advance through planning. The most recent proposal from the Council in relation to this scheme was received in my Department in June 2012. My Department examined this proposal and requested further information from the Council.
Kerry County Council did not submit the information requested and the scheme had not progressed to the next stage prior to the transfer of responsibility for the delivery of Water Services Capital Infrastructure to Irish Water on 1 January 2014. Irish Water is currently preparing its Capital Investment Plan for 2014 – 2016 and this will provide for the transition of projects which were included in my Department’s 2010 - 2013 Water Services Investment Programme.
152. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in view of the serious local authority housing crisis affecting County Kildare with particular reference to north Kildare, the extent to which the local authorities in the county can avail of a substantial portion of the €30 million allocated in budget 2014 for the capital house building programme; when such moneys can be drawn down; if purchase of existing housing accommodation can be undertaken to meet the emerging emergencies; the extent to which such funds have been requested by the local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3160/14]
View answerIn 2013 my Department provided funding of over €6 million to Kildare County Council in respect of their social housing investment programmes which included €3.64 million for the purchase of properties to meet housing need.
This year, in addition to the funding levels set out in the Abridged Estimates 2014 in respect of my Department’s social housing investment programme, a further €30 million has been approved for the delivery of social housing. Some €15 million of this is being set aside for the construction of new infill developments by local authorities in areas with high demand for social housing. A further €15 million will be invested in bringing boarded-up houses back into productive use. I expect the €30 million investment to deliver up to 500 homes for families on housing waiting lists.
My Department is currently examining proposals received from local authorities, including Kildare County Council, with a view to shortlisting projects for inclusion in a programme of new house construction over the 2014-2016 period. I intend to announce details of the projects to be progressed under this measure very shortly.
153. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which the local authorities in County Kildare can avail of the funding provided for in budget 2014 in respect of unfinished estates where bonding arrangements are insufficient to meet completion costs; the number of such estates identified under this heading in County Kildare; when the relevant funding is likely to be made available; the extent to which such funds have been requested; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3161/14]
View answerBudget 2014 contains a special provision, in the form of a targeted €10 m Special Resolution Fund (SRF), to further assist in addressing the legacy of unfinished housing developments. The Local Government (Household Charge) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 prescribe such developments, 58 of which are located in Co. Kildare.
The SRF has been proposed to encourage the resolution of the remaining tranche of unfinished developments identified in the National Housing Development Survey 2013 and, particularly, those developments not likely to be resolved in the normal way through solely developer/owner/funder action because of the presence of specific financial barriers. It is envisaged that the SRF should be particularly targeted to address the remaining unfinished developments with residents living in them and, in particular, any developments that local authorities identified, for the purposes of the Local Property Tax waiver, as in a seriously problematic condition.
In December 2013, my Department wrote to local authorities, including Kildare County Council, seeking proposals for funding support under the SRF and the deadline for receipt of applications is 28 February 2014. Submissions will then be evaluated by my Department and funding allocations made to local authorities as soon as possible thereafter.
My Department will support SRF proposals capable of delivering significant and lasting impact in relation to the quality of the resolution process itself and improved conditions for residents. It is hoped that the SRF will enable very substantial progress to be made in resolving as many of the remaining unfinished developments as possible.
