Written Answers Nos. 117-23
117. Deputy Shane Ross asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the way his departmental contracts for taxi companies for the purposes of taxis for the use of departmental staff are decided and allocated; if there is a public tender process for taxi companies wishing to apply for these contracts; the process for allocating the contracts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4638/14]
View answerMy Department has no contractual arrangement for the provision of taxi services with any company. However, taxis are used from time to time, in accordance with guidance issued by my Department, to staff on the use of taxis for official purposes. To facilitate making payments in these cases, my Department maintains an account with a taxi service company but there is no contract involved. Expenditure on taxis is kept to a minimum. The guidance issued to staff states that taxis may be used for official purposes if they provide best value for money in relation to attendance at meetings or where other forms of transport would be impractical.
118. Deputy Anthony Lawlor asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht when the Canals Act 1986 (Amendment) Bye-Laws 2014 will come into effect once the public consultation has been completed; his views on whether the by-laws as currently proposed will have a negative impact on the tourism industry and canal cruising community; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4689/14]
View answerWaterways Ireland commenced a public consultation process on the proposed bye laws, the Draft Canals Act, 1986 (Amendment) Bye-Laws, 2014, on 6th January 2014. This consultation process is currently open to the public for a period of 21 working days in accordance with section 7(1) of the Canals Act, 1986 (No 3 of 1986) as amended by section 56 of the Maritime Safety Act, 2005 (No. 11 of 2005).
Accordingly, the public consultation process closes at 3pm on the 3rd of February, following which Waterways Ireland will consider all written submissions before finalising the approach they intend to take in relation to the new bye-laws. A final outcome may be either to refrain from making the byelaws or with my consent make the bye laws with or without modification. As the consultation process is still underway, it is not possible at this time to give an accurate assessment of how long the subsequent review will take.
Our waterways make a vital contribution to tourism, attracting visitors from around Ireland and from abroad. There are over 14,000 registered boat owners on the seven waterways managed by Waterways Ireland. The proposed bye-laws are intended to support the investment already made by Waterways Ireland in new infrastructure and facilities along the canals. They will enhance Waterways Ireland’s ability to manage, care for and maintain the canals and to help to develop them as a vibrant recreational and tourist amenity for all waterway users.
119. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will investigate the inadequate broadband service being provided to customers under the national broadband scheme in an area (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4629/14]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware from my reply to Parliamentary Question No 467 of 28 January last, the broadband service under National Broadband Scheme (NBS) is a basic, affordable, scalable product in keeping with EU State Aid clearance for the Scheme in September 2007. Under the terms of the contract with Hutchison 3G Ireland Ltd (trading as “3”), the NBS mobile wireless service currently offers minimum download and upload speeds of 2.3Mbps and 1.4Mbps respectively, subject to a maximum contention ratio of 18:1.
My Department has well-established monitoring arrangements in place to ensure that the NBS delivers the minimum specified service or better to all users. The NBS contract guarantees service levels and imposes a service credit regime on “3”, with significant financial consequences in the event that minimum specification service levels are not met. The NBS contract also provides that where NBS customers do not receive the minimum guaranteed service, as set out in the terms and conditions of their contract, they are entitled to service rebates.
As part of 3’s network operations oversight, traffic and utilisation performance data, including site availability across the entire NBS network, is reviewed by "3" on a continuous basis. Remedial action can be taken remotely or 3’s field engineering staff will resolve performance issues at individual sites, depending on the nature of the incident. Annual site maintenance inspections are carried out by "3" on each of its sites.
I understand from "3" that the sites serving the area referred to by the Deputy have been performing as expected, apart from one outage on 27 December last due to an electricity supply failure. My officials are not currently aware of any service performance issues with the NBS service in the area. Where NBS customers experience problems with their NBS service, they are advised to contact 3's customer care centre, 24 hours a day 7 days a week, by phone at 1913 (free of charge), via email to nbssupport@three.ie or by post to 3 Customer Services, Hutchison 3G Ireland Limited, PO Box 333, Dublin 2.
My Department has a role where customers have fully utilised the established complaints process and consider that their complaint has not been resolved. My officials operate a dedicated NBS mailbox, which NBS customers can contact by email at nationalbroadbandscheme@dcenr.gov.ie, with any comments or complaints they may have about their NBS service. My Department will then liaise with “3” personnel at its Head Office in Dublin to ensure that any service performance issues, which are brought to its attention, are addressed as quickly as possible.
120. Deputy Shane Ross asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the way his departmental contracts for taxi companies for the purposes of taxis for the use of departmental staff are decided and allocated; if there is a public tender process for taxi companies wishing to apply for these contracts; the process for allocating the contracts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4640/14]
View answerMy Department has in place a contract for the provision of taxi services at discounted, competitive rates. The provision of service is scheduled to be reviewed again in 2014 in line with public procurement guidelines. In that regard, it is intended to avail of central arrangements for transport services planned by the Office of Government Procurement following its establishment. My Department also makes available a number of bicycles for business use by officials at its two Dublin locations. As a result of this voluntary initiative, and under current taxi contract arrangements, the cost of taxi use has been reduced by 46 % from almost €28,000 in 2008 to €15,000 in both 2011 and 2012. Expenditure last year was some €19,000 due mainly to additional requirements in servicing the EU Presidency.
121. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will reconsider the proposed levy for a compulsory angler registration charge on every angler in the country (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4671/14]
View answerI refer to the replies to Question No. 219 on 3 December 2013, No. 309 on 10 December 2013, and Nos. 455 and 188 of 15 and16 January 2014, respectively. These responses definitively addressed the issue raised by the Deputy, making it absolutely clear that a the issue does not arise. The legislative framework governing inland fisheries is extensive, but quite dated. While the principal instrument is the 1959 Inland Fisheries Act, there are a myriad of other provisions, and the whole array is a patchwork. I made clear some time ago my intention to work to bring forward a legislative code fit for the Twenty-first Century and have been working on this with my Department. This is an extensive project, and an opportunity to modernise a range of measures, including decriminalising minor offences, create a new and better way to clarify fisheries title and overall to better manage the resource. As part of this review, I organised a series of public information and consultation meetings (Drogheda, Carrick-on-Shannon, Tuam, Clonmel and Dublin), where proposals and options were transparently outlined. There were of course a range of views, but overall the process was engaged with positively. I have undertaken to carefully consider points made before developing specific legislative proposals and the submissions received in the course of the public consultation sessions are available on the Department's website, www.dcenr.ie.
A question of how funding could be mobilised for the development of the sector was posed as part of this consultation, and it was made clear that any such funding would have to be carefully ring-fenced and returned to individual sub-sectors in proportion to funding raised (coarse angling, Salmon angling, etc.). Not surprisingly there were diverse views on this, some in support, others disagreeing. Some have sought to characterise such an approach as a ‘Rod Licence’ – I want to make it absolutely clear that no rod licence was proposed, nor is it intended to introduce such a licence. A funding instrument will only really work if it has very broad support across the angling sector and equally must not be divisive as between the different associations. I have undertaken to have further stakeholder engagement and will not finalise legislative proposals before this is concluded, I want to repeat, no rod licence has been proposed and neither will such be brought forward by me. I would reiterate that I am undertaking further stakeholder engagement and will not finalise any legislative proposals before this is concluded.
123. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the extent to which electricity generation capacity from non-fossil fuels needs to be increased in the future in the event of a 3.5% annual increase of economic growth; the means by which such capacity can be increased indigenously; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4806/14]
View answerI refer the Deputy to my reply to Question 30 of 30 January 2014.
