Written Answers Nos. 211-219
211. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide the details of the responsibilities of a director of Irish Water; if those responsibilities are any different under law from the responsibilities of directors of commercial companies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43518/14]
View answerThe appointment of directors of Irish Water is a matter for Ervia as set down in the Articles of Association of Irish Water, subject to relevant Ministerial consents. The Board of Directors operates within the relevant legislative requirements, including company law, the Articles of Association and the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies. Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives and has contacted all Oireachtas members to provide details of an improved level of service which it is aiming to provide. The team can be contacted via email to oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on a new dedicated number, 1890 578 578.
212. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the position regarding a new fire station for Kenmare, County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43524/14]
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 and equipment for use by the fire service personnel, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under section 10 of the Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003.
My Department, through the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management, 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.
The existing fire station in Kenmare was built in 1977 and the fire brigade responds to some 60 call-outs per year. In 2008, approval was conveyed to the Council in respect of a new fire station to proceed to planning stage and I understand that planning permission was granted. In February 2009, Kerry County Council was advised that the proposal was being reviewed in the context of budgetary constraints.
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 currently nearing completion. Under this scheme Kerry County Council has received delivery of a new Class B appliance at a cost of €309,619.
Given the constraints on public finances, further support from my Department’s fire services capital programme to replace Kenmare fire station will have regard to national priorities, the totality of requests from fire authorities countrywide, Kerry County Council’s priorities, the extent of previous investment in Kerry fire service, the value for money offered by proposals and the status of existing facilities in relation to the area risk categorisation.
213. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43540/14]
View answerThe implementation of projects under my Department’s Capital Assistance Programme is a matter for each individual local authority. In this case, my Department issued approval in principle last May, subject to the proposal complying with the requirements of the Capital Works Management Framework and the Public Spending Code.
Full approval can only be given by my Department when the proposal is finalised within the requirements of the Capital Works Management Framework and the Public Spending Code and further information on that aspect is currently awaited from the local authority.
214. Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an update on the funding plans for social housing in County Meath in the next three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43541/14]
View answerSocial housing is a key priority for Government, as evidenced by the increased provisions made for the area in Budget 2015. The overall social housing funding provision for 2015 has been increased by excess of €200 million, with capital funding increasing by €180 million, which will allow for significant expansion in social housing provision. The specific allocations to be provided in 2015 across all the various funding schemes and programmes will be published in the 2015 Revised Estimates Volume in December. That will include the breakdown of my Department’s Social Housing Investment Programme and at that point, my Department will be working with all local authorities , including Meath County Council, to agree individual allocations across all the social housing activities . Specific allocations for subsequent years will be part of the normal budgetary processes for those years.
More broadly, plans in relation to the future delivery of social housing are now being developed as part of a new Social Housing Strategy, which will be considered by Government shortly. The Strategy will contain clear, measurable actions to increase the supply of social housing, based on innovative solutions that will harness new funding streams, in order to continue to protect the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our society.
Pending the finalisation of social housing funding allocations for 2015 to all local authorities, they are continuing to work on projects announced in March of this year involving a local authority housing construction programme valued at €68 million nationally and delivering 449 new units of accommodation , and over €46 million allocated to Approved Housing Bodies to provide 416 units of accommodation nationally, for people with special housing needs. Funding to Meath County Council under these measures is a combined € 4.27 million , in respect of some 30 social housing units.
215. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to involve the Revenue Commissioners in the collection of water charges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43566/14]
View answer216. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the discussions his Department has had on tariffs with Irish Water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43567/14]
View answer217. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will report on discussions between his Department and Irish Water on the issue of free allowances for households or individual household members. [43569/14]
View answer222. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if his Department has carried out a detailed analysis of the distributional effect of water charges. [43574/14]
View answer223. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the criteria and process used to arrive at the figure of €4.88 per 1,000 litres for the water charges, higher than most European countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43575/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 215 to 217, inclusive, and 222 and 223 together.
With effect from 1 January 2014, Irish Water is responsible for public water services. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that Irish Water can collect charges from its customers in receipt of water services provided by it. The Act also provides that responsibility for the independent economic regulation of the water sector is assigned to the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) and the CER has been given statutory responsibility for protecting the interests of customers.
In January 2013, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) was commissioned by my Department to undertake a study into water affordability and the provision of water services in Ireland. Subsequently, an Inter-Departmental Working Group was established in October 2013 to advise the Government on the appropriate method for addressing affordability issues which might arise with the introduction of domestic water charges. The Group considered the ESRI study as part of their examination of the issues. The report of the Inter-Departmental Working Group, which includes the study carried out by the ESRI, has been published on my Department’s website and is available at the following link:
http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/Environment/Water/FileDownLoad,38146,en.pdf .
The approach to charging was outlined by Irish Water in a water charges plan which it submitted to the CER in line with the provisions of the Act. On 30 September 2014, the CER issued a determination on the plan and full details and associated documentation, including all Irish Water tariffs, are available on the CER website at the following link;
www.cer.ie/document-detail/CER-Water-Charges-Plan-Consultation/979.
In making its determination on the water charges plan, the CER had to take account of the decisions made by the Government on the funding model for Irish Water and a direction made under Section 42 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act in July 2014. This policy direction addressed a number of matters relating to domestic water charges including the provision of a free allowance of 30,000 litres of water supplied and waste water treated per annum for a primary residence on a public supply and a free allowance to cover the normal usage of water services by every child in their primary residence based on the same qualifying conditions as the child benefit allowance while customers with specific medical conditions which require increased water consumption will have their charges capped. In making its decisions, the Government took account of the work of the Inter-Departmental Working Group.
Consideration is currently being given to measures to ensure water charges are modest and affordable and to bring the necessary certainty and clarity to the charging arrangements. This consideration includes matters relating to the collection of charges.
218. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a detailed report in tabular form broken down by local authority areas on the number of households that have registered completed and returned the Irish Water packs with Irish Water. [43570/14]
View answer219. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of households that have registered with Irish Water but are not eligible to pay. [43571/14]
View answer225. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of Irish Water application packs received by Irish Water that were left blank by the sender; and the number that had incomplete information. [43605/14]
View answer226. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the percentage of Irish Water application packs issued that have been returned; the percentage of those returned that contained no PPS number; the percentage that have been returned blank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43607/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 218, 219, 225 and 226 together.
Irish Water is in the process of compiling the relevant data to ensure that customers can be billed accurately based on the tariff structure approved by the CER. Irish Water has sent validation packs to approximately 2 million households, which refer to the effective charging date and the fact that billing for domestic customers in receipt of public water services will start in January 2015. It is expected that some 23 % of households will respond indicating that they are not customers of Irish Water by virtue of the fact that they are not connected to public water or waste water systems.
Irish Water has informed my Department that as of 12 November 2014, it had received in excess of 849,000 responses . My Department does not have a breakdown on a local authority basis nor does it have any information on the number of application packs that have been returned incomplete.
Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives and has contacted all Oireachtas members to provide details of an improved level of service which it is aiming to provide. The team can be contacted via email to oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on a new dedicated number, 1890 578 578.
