Written Answers Nos. 309-319
309. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number and grades of staff who have transferred from his Department to Irish Water since its establishment. [20280/14]
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. Irish Water is currently recruiting to build up the internal capabilities required within the organisation and the employment of staff 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. No staff have transferred from my Department to positions in Irish Water. Five employees of Irish Water worked in my Department immediately prior to taking up posts in Irish Water, which they secured through a competitive recruitment process.
310. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding the Per Cent for Arts scheme; if he will clarify the questions raised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20296/14]
View answerThe Waterville Water and Sewerage Scheme was funded under my Department’s Water Services Investment Programme. Funding for the project included an amount for the Per Cent for Arts Scheme. Since 1 January 2014 Irish Water has responsibility for the delivery of water services capital infrastructure. The further progression of all water services capital projects and issues pertaining to them is now a matter for Irish Water. Irish Water has confirmed to my Department that it has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. The team can be contacted via email at oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on 1890 278 278.
311. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the progress in designing and implementing the new housing assistance payment; if the new payment system will support persons who have recently found new employment following a period of unemployment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20304/14]
View answerOn 18 July 2013, the Government approved the introduction of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). This new scheme is being designed so as to bring all of the social housing services provided by the State together under the local authority system, with local authorities being responsible for all households with an established housing need and ensuring significant efficiencies in the provision of rental assistance. On 30 April 2014, Government approved the publication of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014 which will, when enacted, provide the legislative framework for the introduction of HAP. My Department and the Department of Social Protection continue to work closely on the legal, policy and operational issues involved in developing and introducing HAP.
HAP will provide a new framework for the provision of rental assistance, and will support the removal of existing barriers to employment by allowing HAP recipients to remain in the scheme if they gain full-time employment. In that context a household which is eligible for HAP will, having sourced appropriate accommodation, pay a rental contribution to the local authority based on the differential rent scheme for the relevant local authority. The local authority differential rent scheme is an income based scheme which relates the amount of rent a household must pay to the household’s income and therefore their ability to pay. The planned introduction of a harmonised rents framework coupled with a phased reduction in rental assistance will go some way towards providing additional security to households in the early stages of returning to employment.
Following an administrative and statutory pilot phase in 2014 which involves 7 local authorities, roll out to the remaining local authorities is scheduled to begin on a phased basis in 2015. It is intended that the pilot and implementation phase will prioritise, as much as is possible, the transfer to HAP of long-term unemployed rent supplement recipients, or those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
312. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when a reply will issue to correspondence (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20313/14]
View answerThe correspondence in question relates to proposals for enhanced alignment between local government and local development arising from the Local Government Reform Act 2014. A detailed reply has now issued.
313. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of persons in each local authority area who turn down offers of housing; if the reasons underpinning such refusals are recorded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20319/14]
View answerRegulation 12 of the Social Housing Allocation Regulations 2011, made under section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, sets down a common approach to refusals by households of offers of social housing tenancies. A household that refuses two reasonable offers of such tenancies in any twelve-month period, other than an offer made under the choice-based letting procedure, will not receive any further offers from any housing authority for a period of one year from the date of the second refusal and the latter period is not subsequently reckonable for the purposes of determining the household’s relative priority for another social housing tenancy. An offer is deemed to be reasonable where the dwelling concerned would, in the opinion of the authority, meet the housing needs of the household and, except in an emergency, is located in an area of choice specified by the household.
The 2011 Regulations also empower a housing authority to adopt a choice-based letting approach to the allocation of social housing, whereby a housing authority considers allocating a particular tenancy only to households that have applied for that tenancy. A household that refuses a tenancy offered under choice-based letting will not be entitled to apply for another tenancy under that system for a period of one year from the date of its refusal. My Department does not collate information on the number of, or reasons for, refusals by households of offers of social housing tenancies.
314. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an update regarding Priory Hall (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20356/14]
View answerMy Department, having participated with officials from the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Finance in the recent consultations with key stakeholders, is of the view that the delivery of the Priory Hall Resolution Framework represents the best possible outcome for the complex having regard to the unique circumstances that have arisen in relation to Priory Hall. As agreed by the key stakeholders, the course of action now being pursued by Dublin City Council is the refurbishment of the Priory Hall complex, with support from the Government, in a manner that will make the complex a desirable, high quality, safety assured residential location that will accommodate, as with the original development, a combination of private, social and other forms of housing.
An implementation group, chaired by Dr Martin McAleese, has been put in place to oversee the effective implementation of all aspects of the agreed Framework. The implementation group includes representatives of both former residents and buy-to-let owners, thereby ensuring that all of the Priory Hall homeowners are fully engaged and fairly treated. While the implementation group is actively progressing all aspects of the framework and is understood to be making good early progress, the overall resolution framework remains at a relatively early stage of delivery. However, I also understand that Dublin City Council has made good progress in surveying the individual apartment units at Priory Hall in advance of the necessary remediation works and that a competitive tender process for procuring remediation solutions has been publicly advertised in recent weeks.
315. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if his attention has been drawn to the fact that post mortem examinations required by the coroner are not carried out in Sligo Regional Hospital on many weekends; if it has been brought to his attention that if a person dies in Sligo on a Friday and a post mortem examination is required by law, the deceased person is transported to Navan, County Meath, for the autopsy; if it has been further brought to his attention that the cost of having the post mortem in Navan can be in the region of €800; the reason post mortem examinations required by the coroner are not available in Sligo Regional Hospital on many weekends; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20236/14]
View answerThe arrangements made for the carrying out of post-mortems are a matter for the relevant coroner. In this context the Deputy will appreciate that a coroner is a statutory officer exercising quasi-judicial functions in relation to which he or she is independent and neither I nor my Department has any role in the coronial process in particular cases. The costs associated with the provision of services for coroners are met by local authorities.
316. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the way joint policing committees will fit into the new municipal district structures in local government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20243/14]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, I initiated a review of the operation of Joint Policing Committees in the context of the commitment in the Programme for Government to build on existing community policing partnerships. My Department, together with the Garda authorities and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government has examined the feedback obtained during the review process, as well as related issues arising from the broader process of local government reform. In this context, the Deputy will be aware that as part of the process of local government reform the existing town councils will be replaced as part of a new model of governance, and it follows that this will have implications for the number of JPCs in the future.
Under the terms of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, JPCs operate in each local authority area. Therefore, with the reduction in local authority areas as a result of local government reform JPCs will remain in city and county areas only. I should point out that a feature of the feedback received during the recent review of JPCs was that the number of committees needed to be rationalised to ensure that they maintained a proper focus on strategic policing issues.
As part of the present JPC review process and in consultation with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Garda Commissioner, I will take account of all relevant developments in local government structures with a view to ensuring that the structures which support local policing are as effective as possible. I can advise the Deputy that recommendations concerning revisions to the JPC guidelines are at an advanced stage of preparation.
317. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if a deportation order will be reviewed in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20027/14]
View answerI am informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that following a comprehensive and thorough examination of the asylum claim and application for subsidiary protection, and a detailed examination of the representations he submitted for consideration under Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), a Deportation Order was signed on 29 July 2011 in respect of the person referred to by the Deputy. The person concerned initiated judicial review proceedings challenging the Deportation Order made in respect of him. Those proceedings were struck out in favour of the Department on 7 February 2013 and accordingly, the Deportation Order stands.
Representations were received from the person concerned asking that his Deportation Order be revoked. This application is under consideration at present. When a decision has been made on that application the outcome of that 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 by Email 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.
318. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will examine a naturalisation application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20037/14]
View answerI am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that a valid application for a certificate of naturalisation has been received from the person referred to by the Deputy. As the Deputy will appreciate, the granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights and entitlements not only within the State but also at European Union level and it is important that appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process. While most cases are now generally processed within six months, the nature of the naturalisation process is such that, for a broad range of reasons, some cases will take longer than others to process. In some instances, completing the necessary checks can take a considerable period of time. I am informed that this application is being processed with a view to establishing whether the applicant meets the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation, such as good character and lawful residence, and will be submitted to me for decision as expeditiously as possible.
The Deputy may wish to note that queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been established specifically 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 INIS is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.
319. Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the course of action in criminal law that is available to a person who is the victim of a crime but the Garda and DPP have not brought criminal proceedings against the perpetrator of that crime; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20097/14]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware responsibility for the bringing of prosecutions is a matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that the DPP is entirely independent in carrying out her functions as provided in the Prosecution of Offences Act 1974. As Minister for Justice and Equality, I have no role with respect to reviewing the decision to prosecute in any given criminal case, or in providing legal advice on such matters. However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy I might direct her to the information published by the DDP, including information on procedures which may be relevant to the matters referred to, which is available on www.dppireland.ie.
