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Wednesday, 2 Apr 2014

Written Answers Nos. 116-123

EU Funding

Questions (116, 117)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

116. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the allocations for Ireland under each of the ERDF and ESF programmes for 2014-20. [15553/14]

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Pearse Doherty

Question:

117. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the contact person or agency for citizens seeking information for each of the ERDF and ESF 2014-20 programmes. [15554/14]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 116 and 117 together.

Last year, in the context of the agreement on the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), Ireland was successful in securing €1.2 billion of Cohesion policy funding for the period 2014-2020.  It should be noted that this represents an increase in 8% in real terms over the 2007-2013 programming period, at a time when the overall EU budget for Cohesion policy was cut by 8%.  In particular, the Government was successful in negotiating two special allocations, €100m (2011 prices) for the BMW Region, in recognition that it is now classified by the EU as a more developed region, and €150m (2011 prices) towards a new Northern Ireland PEACE programme.

Of this €1.2 billion, some €951 million is for European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF) co-funded programmes in Ireland, with the balance being for European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) programmes, including the Northern Ireland PEACE Programme, the Ireland/Northern Ireland/West of Scotland INTERREG Programme, the Ireland/Wales INTERREG Programme and a number of smaller transnational programmes in which Ireland participates.

The draft ERDF operational programmes for 2014-2020 are being prepared by the Managing Authorities located in the BMW and Southern & Eastern Region Assemblies, while the ESF operational programme for 2014-2020 is being prepared by the Department of Education & Skills.

I will shortly be bringing proposals to Government concerning the allocation of funds between the ERDF and ESF programmes.

Office of Public Works Expenditure

Questions (118)

Thomas P. Broughan

Question:

118. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount of expenditure on rent by the Office of Public Works in the years 2011, 2012, 2013 and to date in 2014 on a property in north Dublin (details supplied); and when the next rent review will take place. [15582/14]

View answer

Written answers

The amount of rent/service charges expended on the Probation Centre, Donaghmede Shopping Centre, Dublin 13, on behalf of the Probation and Welfare Service by the Office of Public Works during these years was as follows:

Year

Rent €

Service Charges €

2011

160,000

101,030.77

2012

160,000

98,404.36

2013

160,000

98,326.03

2014 to date

40,000

The Commissioners of Public Works do not release certain information relating to leases as such information is commercially sensitive.

Architectural Heritage

Questions (119)

Brendan Griffin

Question:

119. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the projected opening date for the refurbished Derrynane House; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15668/14]

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Written answers

The projected opening date for the newly refurbished Derrynane House for visitors will be, Monday, 21 April, 2014 (Easter Monday). An 'official opening' event will take place later in the summer.

Flood Relief Schemes Expenditure

Questions (120)

Brendan Griffin

Question:

120. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the list of applications and amounts involved that his Department has received from Kerry County Council under the current minor flood prevention works programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15669/14]

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Written answers

Details of applications received from Kerry County Council under the Office of Public Works Minor Flood Works and Coastal Protection Scheme in the period 2009-2013 are shown in the following tables.

Minor Works Scheme applications submitted by Kerry County Council 2009-2013

Approved Works

Project Location

Project Details

Funding Approved €

Date

Approved

Ballyard

Works – Remove silt and accumulated stone from river & install additional drainage culvert.

13,500

20/10/09

Caherleheen

Works – Widen culvert to Caherheen Bridge & incorporate river flow improvements.

27,000

20/10/09

Cappaclough,

Camp

To clean silt and sand from drainage channels and river

5,400

02/08/11

Cromane

(Coastal)

Embankment strengthening works

100,000

23/02/12

Cullavaw River, Rathmore

The removal of bushes, shrubbery & overhanging branches along the channel for 5.5 kms

Some removal of deposition from the channels

40,000

14/10/13

Emlaghslat,

Ventry

To clean silt and sand from rivers & estuary of rivers

4,500

02/08/11

Emlagh West

To clear channel to increase hydraulic capacity

6,300

02/08/11

Fenit Road

(Coastal)

Fenit Road Coastal Protection Scheme – Rock revetment & buttressing embankments

765,000

30/09/09

Feoghanagh

Clean silt and sand from rivers and estuaries

5,400

20/10/09

Gallarus,

Ballydavid

To clean silt and sand from rivers & estuary of rivers

6,300

02/08/11

Glenflesk

Study of recurring flooding in Glenflesk Village and N22

13,500

20/10/09

Goulane-Maherees

Clean silt and sand from rivers and estuaries

9,000

20/10/09

Incherea

(coastal)

The strengthening and raising of an existing embankment

80,000

23/02/12

Kenmare Town

Flood Ass & hydrometric study of the River Finnihy

Removal of beam / drain under Finnihy Bridge / Installation of gauges / Establish monitoring programme

(not proceeding with the removal of beam/drain)

112,500

20/10/09

23/02/12

Lough Guitane, Killarney

To construct a RC flood defence wall

13,950

30/11/12

Milltown Village

Study

2,700

01/06/10

Sneem

Flood Ass & hydrometric study of Sneem/Ardshellhane River

18,000

20/10/09

Note 1: the amounts approved in the above table were not the amounts requested by the Council in all cases.

Non-Approved Works

-

-

-

Non-Approved Works

Project Location

Project Details

Funding Requested

Application Year

Cromane

Embankment works (additional funding request)

90,000

2012

Sneem

Flood Study

20,000

2011

Fossa, Killarney

Works

150,000

2009,2010,2011

Tralee

Town Flood Relief Scheme Review

30,000

2011

Killarney

Flood Study

80,000

2011

Milltown Village, Ashullish Stream

Works

10,000

2011

Abbeydorney Village

Flood Study

18,000

2011

Ardfert*

Works

287,760

2010,2011

Akeragh Lough

Flood Study

50,000

2010, 2011

Gortnacooka Bridge, Ballylongford

Works

75,000

2011

Flesk & Deenagh Rivers

Flood Study

80,000

2010

N70 Caherleaheen

Road related and bridge Works

234,890

2010

Caher, Castlegregory

Road related Works

15,000

2009

Cappalough

Road related Works

6,000

2009

Emlaghslat

Road related Works

5,000

2009

Gallurus

Road related Works

7,000

2009

Akeragh Lough

Study & Works

130,000

2009

* Application under consideration

Note 1: The table above for Non-Approved Projects includes applications that were submitted and re-submitted by the Council in different years for the same works or slight variations on the works eg Fossa, Ardfert.

Note 2: In May 2012 the criteria for Coastal applications under the Minor Works Scheme were revised and local authorities were asked to resubmit applications for any Coastal works for assessment under the new criteria. There were a number of coastal applications that Kerry County Council had submitted prior to this change but which the Council did not resubmit following the change. The earlier applications are deemed to have lapsed and are not shown in the above table.

The above tables do not include any applications that Kerry County Council submitted to the OPW to date in 2014 in relation to the damage to coastal defence infrastructure caused by the severe weather in the December 2013 – February 2014 period.

The Government decided on 11 February 2014 to make available up to €69.5 million for a programme of repair and remediation works to roads, coastal protection and flood defence and other public infrastructure damaged in the storms from 13 December 2013 to 6th January 2014 based on estimates provided by the local authorities concerned. Of the total amount being made available, up to €19.6 million is available via the Office of Public Works for the repair of damaged coastal protection and flood defence infrastructure. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government has written to Kerry County Council indicating, based on the estimate submitted by the Council to that Department, that up to €1,226,920 is being made available to the Council via the OPW to undertake the necessary repair works to damaged coastal protection and flood defence infrastructure.

The Council must submit overall programmes of works to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government detailing how it proposes to spend the total allocation that is being made available. The Council must also submit the relevant elements of its programme to each Department from whom funding will be made available for consideration of technical aspects of the proposed works. When the Council's programme of coastal protection and flood defence projects is received by the OPW it will be reviewed having regard to related guidance issued by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to the local authorities. The OPW has written to the local authorities indicating that in order to assist them in a practical way and to avoid any potential cash-flow issues, it will consider requests for advance funding of up to 80% of the estimated cost of approved projects where a contract for works has been made.

Architectural Heritage

Questions (121)

Brendan Griffin

Question:

121. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the position regarding the projected opening date for Skellig Michael; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15671/14]

View answer

Written answers

As I indicated in my reply to Question No. 355, Ref No: 8715/14, on 25 February last, the opening date for Skellig Michael this year is 16th May. The closing date will be 29th September. The normal advertisements and other publicity measures usually undertaken will be put in place shortly.

Insolvency Service of Ireland Data

Questions (122)

Stephen Donnelly

Question:

122. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will publish in full the recommendations on the laws of insolvency applying to small and medium enterprises made to him by the Company Law Review Group; the way his Department has dealt with these recommendations to date; the steps he intends to take; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15456/14]

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Written answers

The Company Law Review Group (CLRG) publishes all of its Reports in full and these are available on its website – www.clrg.org. Its Report entitled “CLRG Report on reducing the costs of rescuing viable small private companies 2012” is published as a separate report and also included in the CLRG Annual Report 2012. This Report contains recommendations regarding the application of examinership to small and medium enterprises.

Based on the recommendations of the CLRG, the Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 was enacted in December 2013 which contains provisions designed to make the examinership procedure less costly for small private companies. The Act provides for small private companies to apply directly to their local Circuit Court for the appointment of an examiner, rather than having to do so through the High Court. These measures are due to be commenced shortly, following procedural issues being completed regarding the new Rules of Court to apply in the Circuit Court.

It is my intention, as indicated in the Dáil debate on the Deputy’s Private Member’s Bill, that various issues in relation to examinership that were debated at that time, including CLRG recommendations, will be examined further to assess their viability.

IDA Jobs Data

Questions (123)

Éamon Ó Cuív

Question:

123. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of jobs created by IDA Ireland in each NUTS II and NUTS III area in each of the past six years; the number lost in IDA Ireland assisted businesses broken down on the same basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15521/14]

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Written answers

Ireland’s NUTS-II regions are defined as:

- Border, Midland and Western NUTS-II Region and

- Southern and Eastern NUTS-II Region

The BMW Region NUTS II also contains three NUTS III regions:

Border: The counties of Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan and Sligo.

West: The counties of Galway, Mayo and Roscommon.

Midland: The counties of Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath.

Similarly, the Southern and Eastern NUTS II Region, contains five NUTS III regions:

Mid-East: The counties of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow.

Dublin: The city of Dublin, and the administrative counties of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin.

South-East: The counties of Carlow, Kilkenny, South Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford.

South-West: The counties of Cork and Kerry.

Mid-West: The counties of Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary.

The Forfás Annual Employment Survey reports on the number of jobs gained and lost in the enterprise development agencies. The survey is conducted on an annual basis and aggregated at county level. Details of the number of jobs created, lost and net jobs change in each of the NUTS-II and NUTS III regions in the past six years are set out in the following tabular statements.

There have been significant gains in employment in both Regions over the past six years. Since 2008, IDA clients have employed almost 73,000 new staff across Ireland.

I am pleased to say that employment losses in IDA clients have been falling over the same period from 13,654 in 2008 to 6,296 in 2013.

Under the Action Plan for Jobs 2014, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland are working with my Department to develop a framework for a Regional Enterprise Strategy to better integrate the efforts of enterprise agencies and the other regional stakeholders in building enterprise based on sustainable competitive advantage of the region. This exercise will complement the in-depth analysis of our FDI strategy which is currently being undertaken by Forfás and which will take account of factors such as key trends emerging in FDI best practice internationally, Ireland’s strengths in attracting FDI and any changes to the EU’s State Aid Rules, which will come into effect on 1 July 2014. The results of these two exercises will form the basis of IDA Ireland’s strategy from 2015 onwards.

Table 1 shows Job Gains in IDA client companies by NUTS-II Region

NUTS-II

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

BMW

1,354

685

2,261

3,115

2,098

2,577

S&E

9,072

5,332

11,724

11,052

12,851

10,790

Total

10,426

6,017

13,985

14,167

14,949

13,367

Table 2 shows Job Losses in IDA client companies by NUTS-II Region

NUTS-II

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

BMW

2,492

2,912

2,471

914

941

1,210

S&E

11,162

17,405

9,696

7,365

6,806

5,086

Total

13,654

20,317

12,167

8,279

7,747

6,296

Table 3 shows Net Jobs Change by NUTS-II Region

NUTS-II

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

BMW

-1,138

-2,227

-210

2,201

1,157

1,367

S&E

-2,090

-12,073

2,028

3,687

6,045

5,704

Total

-3,228

-14,300

1,818

5,888

7,202

7,071

Table 4 shows Job Gains in IDA client companies by NUTS-III Region

NUTS-III

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Carlow

89

32

87

197

132

91

Cavan

14

30

92

5

10

15

Clare

175

55

24

77

76

15

Cork

2,074

1,583

2,672

2,179

2,388

2,143

Donegal

61

98

281

277

164

177

Dublin

5,078

2,887

6,279

7,351

8,464

6,862

Galway

474

198

1,209

1,921

923

1,098

Kerry

75

53

51

171

120

101

Kildare

133

32

1,443

349

546

276

Kilkenny

9

0

78

1

125

80

Laois

0

17

14

2

0

0

Leitrim

131

0

77

24

0

31

Limerick

357

161

258

253

556

560

Longford

27

26

22

6

44

25

Louth

88

30

104

242

401

595

Mayo

116

105

94

152

96

242

Meath

111

38

50

88

53

68

Monaghan

7

7

45

0

7

29

Offaly

97

4

26

41

54

21

Roscommon

40

5

5

96

59

28

Sligo

92

58

84

187

163

184

Tipperary North

19

0

16

22

1

21

Tipperary South

300

254

63

25

67

180

Waterford

376

166

246

144

117

172

Westmeath

207

107

208

162

177

132

Wexford

126

10

285

111

100

149

Wicklow

150

61

172

84

106

72

Total

10,426

6,017

13,985

14,167

14,949

13,367

Table 5 shows Job Losses in IDA client companies by NUTS-III Region

NUTS-III

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Carlow

78

53

224

0

1

1

Cavan

49

70

71

28

54

8

Clare

13

106

21

22

31

76

Cork

1,877

3,093

1,180

1,189

1,113

1,002

Donegal

68

46

252

25

42

24

Dublin

4,768

7,451

6,316

3,407

4,289

2,377

Galway

1,460

1,189

819

114

229

393

Kerry

110

445

126

187

12

68

Kildare

742

1630

352

628

575

468

Kilkenny

11

119

3

14

0

35

Laois

23

9

1

27

24

0

Leitrim

44

63

81

197

189

57

Limerick

2,076

2,825

426

142

64

271

Longford

88

91

126

67

6

20

Louth

222

308

352

75

59

91

Mayo

130

210

42

106

73

51

Meath

313

159

66

32

119

58

Monaghan

40

18

17

66

11

12

Offaly

40

173

344

76

0

26

Roscommon

0

96

80

4

0

0

Sligo

73

122

257

61

215

351

Tipperary North

65

325

98

2

8

3

Tipperary South

48

142

165

301

69

518

Waterford

599

635

455

1,066

284

120

Westmeath

255

517

29

68

39

177

Wexford

69

127

54

110

136

62

Wicklow

393

295

210

265

105

27

Total

13,654

20,317

12,167

8,279

7,747

6,296

Table 6 shows Net Jobs Change by NUTS-III Region

NUTS-III

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

Carlow

11

-21

-137

197

131

90

Cavan

-35

-40

21

-23

-44

7

Clare

162

-51

3

55

45

-61

Cork

197

-1,510

1,492

990

1,275

1,141

Donegal

-7

52

29

252

122

153

Dublin

310

-4,564

-37

3,944

4,175

4,485

Galway

-986

-991

390

1,807

694

705

Kerry

-35

-392

-75

-16

108

33

Kildare

-609

-1,598

1,091

-279

-29

-192

Kilkenny

-2

-119

75

-13

125

45

Laois

-23

8

13

-25

-24

0

Leitrim

87

-63

-4

-173

-189

-26

Limerick

-1,719

-2,664

-168

111

492

289

Longford

-61

-65

-104

-61

38

5

Louth

-134

-278

-248

167

342

504

Mayo

-14

-105

52

46

23

191

Meath

-202

-121

-16

56

-66

10

Monaghan

-33

-11

28

-66

-4

17

Offaly

57

-169

-318

-35

54

-5

Roscommon

40

-91

-75

92

59

28

Sligo

19

-64

-173

126

-52

-167

Tipperary North

-46

-325

-82

20

-7

18

Tipperary South

252

112

-102

-276

-2

-338

Waterford

-223

-469

-209

-922

-167

52

Westmeath

-48

-410

179

94

138

-45

Wexford

57

-117

231

1

-36

87

Wicklow

-243

-234

-38

-181

1

45

Total

-3,228

-14,300

1,818

5,888

7,202

7,071

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