Written Answers Nos. 193-199
193. Deputy Michael McCarthy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of persons who are currently on the housing waiting list in County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47624/14]
View answerIn the latest statutory Summary of Social Housing Assessments there were 3,809 households on housing waiting lists in County Louth as of 7 May 2013. The full results of this assessment are available on my Department’s website at: http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/Housing/FileDownLoad,34857,en.pdf.
The Social Housing Strategy 2020 launched last month contains a number of actions to reform the delivery and management of social housing, including the preparation of annual summaries of social housing assessments, commencing in 2016. Furthermore, Action 1 of the strategy requires the agreement of targets for delivery of social housing next year and in subsequent years. These specific targets will be agreed through the governance structure, which is currently being put in place, in collaboration with local authorities and with input from the approved housing body sector.
194. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if it has been drawn to his attention that section 136(2) of the Local Government Act 2001, as inserted by section 51 of the Local Government Reform Act 2014, places an obligation on the chief executive of a council to prepare a monthly management report on the performance of their executive functions during the preceding calendar month; if it has been further drawn to his attention that in the case of Sligo County Council, in compliance with departmental guidelines, the council resolved that the management report should include details of major expenditure and income lines for each service division, including performance against figures provided in the adopted annual budget and against expected income and expenditure profiles; if he will provide details relating to the performance of the council's revenue collection levels including aged debt analysis; if he will provide details relating to recourse to the council's overdraft facility, number of days per month and interest incurred; if it has been drawn to his attention that the monthly management reports issued by the chief executive officer of Sligo County Council for October 2014 and for November 2014, did not include any of the above important information; if he will consider amending local government legislation to ensure the council executive provides such information to the elected council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47626/14]
View answerMy Department, pursuant to section 136(4) of Local Government Act 2001, as inserted by section 51 of the Local Government Reform Act 2014, issued guidelines to local authorities in July of this year, regarding the preparation of monthly management reports. These reports are prepared by the chief executive of each local authority and furnished to the elected members on or before the seventh day of each month or on a date in each month that is set by council resolution. While the form and content of the monthly management report is not prescriptive, it has been recommended that the reports should, inter alia, include:
- Major expenditure and income lines for each service division (including performance against figures provided in the adopted annual budget and against expected income and expenditure profiles);
- Performance of local authority revenue collection levels (including aged debt analysis);
- Recourse to overdraft facility (number of days per month and interest incurred);
- Emergency capital works not provided for in the annual budget (including estimated financial liability);
- Operation/progress of the Local and Community Development Committee;
- Performance of Local Enterprise Offices based on reports to Enterprise Ireland;
- Progress in preparing reports/material requested by the Council.
While section 136 of the 2001 Act makes no provision for the elected members to specify additional elements that they would wish to see in the monthly management report, if there is a locally-seen requirement for specific reporting to be included in the report, the Chief Executive should, in consultation with the Corporate Policy Group, seek to provide this additional information.
Notwithstanding the requirement to prepare reports on a monthly basis, there should be cognisance of the need to avoid duplication of work, particularly with regard to the current methodologies of financial management reporting through the Strategic Policy Committees, to the Corporate Policy Group and on to the full Council.
The latest audited information that is available for Sligo County Council relates to the financial year 2012. The information requested regarding revenue collections is set out in the Local Government Audit Service Activity Report for 2012, published in February 2014, which is available at: http://www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernment/LocalGovernmentAuditService/PublicationsDocuments/FileDownLoad,36881,en.pdf.
An analysis of the aged debtors is not available in my Department.
On 25 September 2014 my Department issued a letter to Sligo County Council conveying sanction to borrow €13.5 million by way of overdraft from 1 October 2014 to 31 March 2015. The information regarding the number of days per month that the authority has recourse to its overdraft and the interest incurred is not available in my Department.
195. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if it has been drawn to his attention that under section 134 of the Local Government Act 2001, as amended by section 49 of the Local Government Act 2014, in an election year, the local authority corporate plan must be prepared and brought before the council for consideration within six months of the annual general meeting, that is, by 6 December 2014 in the case of Sligo County Council; if has been further drawn to his attention that the Sligo County Council executive indicated to elected councillors that recent guidelines issued by his Department suggested that local authorities could extend the period for the preparation of the corporate plan; if his attention has been drawn to such guidelines; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Sligo County Council has not prepared a corporate plan; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that at its monthly meeting on 1 December 2014 the council unanimously adopted the following motion, "That this council, aware of its statutory and legal obligation to adopt its 2015-2019 corporate plan on or before 6 December 2014, hereby resolves to call on the chief executive to prepare the corporate plan in consultation with the corporate policy group, arrange a schedule of meetings for that purpose and provide such assistance as may be practicable to assist in the preparation of the corporate plan and in its consideration by the corporate policy group"; and to ensure the corporate plan is submitted to the elected council for approval without further delay; where a corporate plan is not prepared and submitted to the council in accordance with the Local Government Act 2001, the action that will be taken to ensure the corporate plan is prepared; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47627/14]
View answerMy Department, pursuant to section 134(10) of Local Government Act 2001, as amended by Section 49 of the Local Government Reform Act 2014, issued supplementary guidelines to local authorities on 24 November 2014, regarding the preparation of local authority corporate plans for the period 2015-2019.
Timescales for the adoption of corporate plans are laid down in Sections 134(2) and 134(5) of the 2001 Act. However, timescales can be adjusted to allow adequate time to provide for matters such as revised governance arrangements and the introduction of new strategies. In this context local authorities were advised that, on account of the recent significant changes to the structures, governance and functions of local authorities (particularly the enactment of the Local Government Reform Act 2014) and the need to align corporate plans with recent central Government strategies, particularly the Social Housing Strategy, they may consider availing of the procedure provided for in section 134(4)(b) of the 2001 Act to enable the period for the preparation and adoption of the Corporate Plan 2015-2019 to be extended.
Where a local authority has availed of this procedure, the Cathaoirleach and Chief Executive must make a joint submission to the elected members, outlining the steps to be taken to ensure completion of the corporate plan and indicating when it is proposed to submit it to the elected council.
196. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Sligo County Council has been incurring revenue deficits in its budget over the past six years and that the cumulative revenue debt stands at €19.67 million while the council's long-term debt is in excess of €120 million; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the assistant secretary of his Department in a letter to the chief executive of Sligo County Council dated 11 November 2014 highlighted the fact that legislation provides that a county council audit committee should have been in place within three months of polling date, by 23 August 2014 and that the audit committee should be made aware of the gravity of the council’s financial situation; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a council audit committee was eventually established at the monthly meeting of Sligo County Council on 1 December 2014; if his Department will now consider providing additional funding to the council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47628/14]
View answerIt is a matter for each local authority, including Sligo County Council, 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 include adopting the annual budget and authorising borrowing, and are democratically accountable for all expenditure by the local authority. To enhance the financial management and audit control systems in local authorities, an audit committee, with both councillor and expert external membership, should now be in place in each local authority. I note that Sligo County Council have addressed this requirement in recent weeks. The functions of an audit committee are to review financial and budgetary reporting practices and procedures within a local authority, foster the development of best practice in the internal audit function, review auditors’ reports and special reports and assess follow-up action by management, assess and promote efficiency and value for money, review risk management systems and make such recommendations to the authority as the committee considers appropriate in respect of such matters.
The continued deterioration of Sligo County Council’s financial position is of serious concern to me. Some €1 million in additional funding for 2014 has been made available for Sligo County Council. This is fully conditional on a realistic and achievable financial plan, which charts a path to long term financial sustainability, being agreed between my Department and the Council. 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 consultation with the Council in relation to its financial position, including in relation to the agreement of a long term financial plan, which would address the Council’s revenue deficit and long term debt issues; this process is ongoing.
198. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the level of debt Irish Water will take on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47686/14]
View answerThe Water Services Act 2013 and the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provide that Irish Water may borrow money for the purposes of carrying out its functions but before borrowing any money, the consent of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform is required.
Consent for Irish Water to enter into a two year €250 million bridging loan facility with the National Pensions Reserve Fund was provided in July 2013 and this loan facility was recently extended by €50 million to €300 million by further ministerial consent. Ministerial consent was also given to Irish Water to enter into an overdraft facility with a commercial bank in the amount of €50 million on 8 October 2014.
In accordance with the Water Charges Policy Direction 2014, the Commission for Energy Regulation has included a figure of €200 million for the transfer of balances from local authorities to Irish Water in Irish Water’s opening Regulated Asset Base (RAB).
This estimate of €200m includes both financial and non-financial amounts, and is subject to further verification and due diligence by Irish Water. To the extent that any local authority financial balances transfer to Irish Water in 2015, it is anticipated that it will be less than the €200 million estimate.
It is anticipated that significant levels of debt with be raised by Irish Water over the years ahead to underpin a strong programme of investment in water services infrastructure. To this end, Irish Water is currently in the process of raising committed debt facilities from a number of Irish and international banks, the terms of which have not yet been finalised.
199. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will ensure that the scheme involving householders in County Kildare regarding pyrite will be extended to the rest of the State. [47698/14]
View answerThe Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 provides the statutory framework for the pyrite remediation scheme and while the Act provides that the scheme may, subject to my approval, be amended, replaced or revoked, this can only be done in accordance with the scope of the Act. Any proposal to amend the scheme would, in the first instance, be a matter for the Pyrite Resolution Board and any such proposal would require detailed consideration of the evidence deemed necessary to support the case for an amendment to the scheme.
The pyrite remediation scheme, which was published by the Pyrite Resolution Board in February of 2014, was developed having regard to the recommendations set out in the report of the independent Pyrite Panel and in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Pyrite Resolution Act 2013. The Panel was established in September 2011 to explore options for a resolution to the problem of pyrite in the subfloor hardcore material which at that time had manifested itself in dwellings in a number of areas. The Panel reported in July 2012.
It is a scheme of “last resort” and is limited in its application and scope. The scheme is applicable to dwellings which are subject to significant damage attributable to pyritic heave established in accordance with I.S. 398-1:2013 Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1: Testing and categorisation protocol. In addition, applicants under the scheme must be able to demonstrate to the Board that they have no practicable options, other than under the scheme, to secure the remediation of their homes.
The scheme applies to dwellings in the five local authority areas identified in the pyrite report - Meath, Kildare, Offaly and the administrative areas of Dublin City and Fingal. The inclusion of those areas in the scheme followed an extensive consultation process by the Pyrite Panel and was premised on a number of pertinent factors. In this regard, similar factors would need to be examined in advance of extending the scheme to any other area, given that the scheme is ultimately one of last resort.
