Written Answers Nos. 811-824
811. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the procedures the housing sections of local authorities have in place to safeguard against the spread of domestic fires in terraced houses due to interconnected flammable materials existing between dwellings. [14690/15]
View answerThe Building Control Acts 1990 to 2014 set out a clear statutory framework for construction activity based on legal standards as set out in the Building Regulations and detailed Technical Guidance Documents (TGD) outlining how compliance with the regulations can be achieved in practice. The Building Regulations set out the minimum standards for the design and construction of buildings, including dwellings. Works carried out in accordance with the guidance in the TGDs is considered, prima facie, evidence of compliance with the Building Regulations. However, an approach other than that set out in the guidance is not precluded, provided compliance with the relevant requirements can be demonstrated. The Building Regulations apply to all buildings irrespective of whether they are in private or public ownership or are privately or publicly rented.
Part B of the Building Regulations and the accompanying Technical Guidance Document B – Fire Safety (2006) sets out the fire safety requirements to be observed in the design and construction of certain buildings including terraced dwellings. In particular, the regulations require that a building shall be so designed and constructed that there are adequate means of escape in case of fire from the building to a place of safety outside the building which is capable of being safely and effectively used. Furthermore, detailed guidance is provided in TGD B in respect of both the structure and the internal linings for the purpose of inhibiting the spread of fire within a building.
More specifically, the regulations require that a wall common to two or more buildings shall be so designed and constructed that it offers adequate resistance to the spread of fire between those buildings. In this regard, each house in a terrace is to be treated as a separate building. Part B also requires that the external walls and roof of a building shall be so designed and constructed that they afford adequate resistance to the spread of fire to and from neighbouring buildings.
In the case of timber-frame dwellings specifically, the prefabricated structure should be designed and constructed in accordance with I.S. 440:2009/A1:2014 Timber frame construction, dwellings and other buildings which requires the floors and wall linings to be designed and detailed to provide the required level of fire resistance in accordance with Part B of the Building Regulations. Detailed requirements for the fire-stopping of separating walls and for any voids / cavities therein are also specified in the standard.
Under the Building Control Acts, it is the responsibility of the owners and developers of buildings (including local authorities) to ensure compliance with all relevant parts of the Building Regulations, including fire safety requirements.
812. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if those families who are awaiting placement through the homeless central placement service have homeless priority on the local authorities' housing lists; if they receive homeless priority status from the day they present to the placement service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14691/15]
View answer813. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the current direction provided by his Department to the central placement service for the four Dublin local authorities; if persons will retain their place on a Dublin City Council housing list with homeless priority if they are placed in emergency accommodation in Fingal county, for example; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14692/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 812 and 813 together.
Successfully tackling the current homelessness issue in the Dublin Region demands that a higher priority be afforded to homeless households in the allocation of housing. Accordingly, I issued a Direction to the four Dublin local authorities on 27 January 2015 to prioritise homeless and other vulnerable households. This Direction applies for six months, from 27 January 2015 to 26 July 2015.
Under this Direction each of the Dublin housing authorities must ensure that at least 50% of the dwellings available for allocation under Section 22 of the 2009 Act during the specified period will be allocated to households that are qualified for social housing support (i.e. those who are on the record of qualified households) and that, on or before 1 December 2014, have been deemed by the authority to have one or more than one of the following needs:
(i) was in an institution, emergency accommodation or a hostel (i.e. a homeless household within the meaning of Section 2 of the Housing Act 1988);
(ii) has an accommodation requirement arising from an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual impairment (i.e. households where one of its members has a disability and as such is deemed to be a vulnerable household); and
(iii) was in accommodation that was unsuitable for the household's adequate housing on exceptional medical or compassionate grounds (i.e. including households the subject of domestic violence and young people leaving State care and as such deemed to be a vulnerable household).
A copy of this Direction is available on my Department's website at:
http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/SpecialNeeds/HomelessPeople/.
Emergency accommodation funded under section 10 of the Housing Act 1988 is not classified as a form of social housing support, and the fact that a person is in such accommodation does not affect his or her homeless status on the housing waiting list. A household may apply for social housing to only one housing authority but on qualification for support, may be entered on the waiting lists of a maximum of three authorities in the city and council concerned.
814. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if persons in receipt of housing assistance payment retain their homeless priority on local authority housing lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14693/15]
View answerFurther to the enactment of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 on 28 July 2014, the first phase of the HAP statutory pilot commenced with effect from 15 September 2014 in Limerick City and County Council, Waterford City and County Council and Cork County Council. HAP commenced in Louth, Kilkenny, South Dublin and Monaghan County Councils from 1 October. Subsequently, on 18 December, Dublin City Council became part of the statutory HAP pilot, with a specific focus on accommodating homeless households. Dublin City Council is implementing the HAP pilot for homeless households in the Dublin region on behalf of all 4 Dublin local authorities. As HAP is deemed to be a social housing support under section 19 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, as amended, households in receipt of HAP are not included on the local authority waiting list for social housing support. However, HAP recipients may access other forms of social housing supports by applying to go on the local authority transfer list.
I issued a statutory direction to the authorities involved in the first phase of the HAP statutory pilot, including those involved in the HAP pilot with a specific focus on accommodating homeless households, instructing them to take the necessary steps to ensure that households benefiting from HAP can avail of a move to other forms of social housing support, should they wish to do so, through the transfer option. I also directed that HAP recipients, who apply to go on the transfer list, should get full credit for the time they spent on the waiting list and be placed on the transfer list with no less favourable terms than if they had remained on the waiting list. In practice, housing authorities inform HAP recipients in writing of their entitlement to apply to go on the transfer list when they are approved for HAP.
815. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the form of geo-engineering or climate control actions that are being performed in the County Westmeath area in view of the fact that persons have photographs of substances being sprayed in the sky and are concerned for health reasons. [14698/15]
View answerI am not aware of any instances where geo-engineering is being undertaken or planned in this country . In relation to climate change policies and action, my focus at this point in time is to put in place appropriate mitigation measures at the national level to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this regard, the Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development Bill 2015 which was published in January 2015 sets out proposed statutory provisions for the development of a National Mitigation Plan, the primary objective of which will be to track implementation of mitigation measures already underway and to identify additional measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and progress the overall national low- carbon transition agenda to 2050. In anticipation of enactment of the planned legislation, work is already underway on developing the National Mitigation Plan.
816. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when funding allocation will issue to local authorities (details supplied) in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14735/15]
View answerExchequer funding of over €37 million was provided by my Department to local authorities in 2014 for the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability. Combined with an additional 20% contribution by individual local authorities, there was an overall spend last year of €46.3 million in this area. I am pleased to confirm that the 2015 amount will increase by some 10% to give a combined spend of €50.5 million. The 2015 allocations are currently under consideration in my Department and will issue to local authorities very shortly.
817. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the checks he has in place to ensure that each local authority is in compliance with Government rules on procurement; if his Department carries out inspections or audits of local authority procurement practices; if so, the local authorities where breaches have been observed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14774/15]
View answerThe Chief Executive of each local authority is responsible for managing and controlling the administration and business of the authority; this includes matters relating to procurement. I understand that most local authorities have a designated official with responsibility for procurement. The Local Government Strategic Procurement Centre, which is part of the Local Government Programme Management Office, has put in place a programme of training and education to ensure that Procurement Officers are up to date in relation to procurement rules and trends in procurement. In addition, a full list of all procurement frameworks are circulated to each local authority, to internal auditors and to the Local Government Audit Service. The Local Government Audit Service is statutorily responsible for providing a professional audit service to local authorities. Section 116 of the Local Government Act 2001 provides that local government auditors shall be independent in the exercise of their functions. Where deficiencies regarding procurement practices are identified during the course of an audit, the auditor will include such detail in the audit report. In most cases where a deficiency is identified, the Chief Executive of the local authority will advise of steps that have been taken to address the identified deficiencies and this will be included in the audit report.
The audit reports of individual local authorities for 2009 to 2013 may be found on my Department’s website (under the section titled Local Government Auditor’s Reports ) at the following link:
http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/AuditService/#d.en.26979.
In addition, an overview of these individual audits is published annually by the Local Government Audit Service. Page 21 of the overview for 2013 sets out a summary of the findings on procurement related matters. This publication is available on my Department’s website at the following link:
http://www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernment/LocalGovernmentAuditService/PublicationsDocuments/FileDownLoad,40978,en.pdf.
To enhance the financial management and audit control systems in local authorities, an audit committee, with both councillor and expert external membership, is now in place in each local authority. The functions of an audit committee include reviewing financial and budgetary reporting practices and procedures within a local authority; reviewing auditors’ reports and special reports and assessing follow-up action by management; assessing and promoting efficiency and value for money, reviewing risk management systems and making such recommendations to the authority as the committee considers appropriate in respect of such matters.
818. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide, in tabular form, the names of each firm of solicitors that has been appointed by each county council to provide legal services since 2010; the names of those firms that subsequently were retained by each of the councils; the reason there is a practice of appointing firms to a panel and subsequently not using their services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14775/15]
View answer819. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide, in tabular form, the amount of money spent by each local authority in the State on legal fees and services in each of the years 2010 to 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14776/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 818 and 819 together.
The information requested is not held by my Department. The provision or procurement of legal services is the responsibility of individual local authorities.
820. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason interest rate decreases have not been passed onto mortgage holders who are part of the affordable housing or shared ownership scheme with local authorities since April 2012; and the way it was decided not to authorise local authorities to pass on the three decreases since then. [14785/15]
View answerRates charged to local authority borrowers offer exceptional value by comparison to rates charged by commercial lenders. The current rate of 2.75% is approximately 1.5% lower than standard variable mortgage rate (saving borrowers €1,500 per annum on a €100,000 loan) and is the lowest rate available currently in the domestic mortgage market. The Housing Finance Agency (HFA) provides loan finance to local authorities and voluntary housing bodies for housing and related purposes. The interest rates the Agency must pay are not predicated on base rates afforded by the European Central Bank (ECB) as its funding is sourced through a variety of market sources, including the European Investment Bank. Independently of the ECB rate cuts, the Agency has reduced the rate it charges to local authorities by 0.8% since September 2012. This has allowed for the establishment of a Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (MARP) premium to begin to accumulate reserves. Such financial resources are necessary to ensure that local authorities can continue to offer the range of restructuring options to local authority borrowers in arrears that are included in the MARP.
My Department issued revised guidelines to local authorities for dealing with mortgage arrears within the local authority sector in June 2014. Dealing with Mortgage Arrears – A Guide for Local Authorities is available on my Department’s website at:
http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/Housing/FileDownLoad,30943,en.pdf.
821. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the issue of a private dwelling eviction case (details supplied) which has been referred to the Private Residential Tenancies Board as a dispute over rent increase; the rental market percentage increase in the past two years and whether it is well short of 47%; the procedure for a tenant who is faced with an excessive rent increase; the timeframe it takes the board to adjudicate on a rent increase dispute case; what happens in the meanwhile; if the existing rent will continue; if an agreed increase is implemented; if the board provides a guidance on what a temporary increase should be; the minimum notice period for a tenant of two years' duration; if a landlord issues a notice of termination while a dispute on a rental increase of 47% is being processed by the board; the way the system can handle a landlord of many properties acting unfairly who issues a termination notice just because a request for a 47% rent increase is referred to the board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14822/15]
View answerThe Residential Tenancies Act 2004 regulates the landlord-tenant relationship in the private rented sector and sets out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants relating to, inter-alia, security of tenure, termination of tenancies, rent and rent reviews. The 2004 Act provides that rents may not be greater than the open market rate and may only be reviewed upward or downward once a year unless there has been a substantial change in the nature of the accommodation that warrants a review. Tenants must be given 28 days’ notice of new rent and can make an application for dispute resolution to the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) where they feel the rent increase is in excess of the market rent. These provisions have effect notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in a lease or tenancy agreement. The PRTB, as an independent statutory body, will adjudicate each dispute on its own facts and merits, and may grant redress and give specific direction as appropriate on foot of a determination. In May 2013, the PRTB launched a national rent index available at http://www.prtb.ie/landlords/rent-index-dec-2014. Compiled by the ESRI and based on the PRTB’s own register of over 300,000 tenancies, this valuable source of information indicates the actual rents being paid for rented properties throughout the State. The rent index is updated quarterly and shows the percentage change in rents over the previous quarter and over the previous twelve months.
Section 86(1) of the 2004 Act provides that pending the determination of a dispute that has been referred to the Board, the rent payable under the tenancy continues to be payable and, if the dispute relates to the amount of rent payable, no increase in the amount of the rent may be made. This does not apply if, where awaiting the outcome of the dispute case, the parties agree to payment of the rent being suspended or if they agree to an increase in the amount of the rent being made. Subject to section 86(2), section 86(1) also provides that a termination of the tenancy concerned may not be effected pending the determination of a dispute.
Security of tenure under the 2004 Act is based on rolling four-year tenancy cycles. Where a tenant has been in occupation of a dwelling for a continuous period of 6 months and no notice of termination has been served in respect of that tenancy before the expiry of the period of 6 months, the tenancy is established for the remainder of the four year period. This is referred to in the Act as a ‘Part 4’ tenancy. Landlords and tenants may not contract out of any of the provisions of Part 4 of the Residential Tenancies Act and no lease, tenancy agreement, contract or other agreement may operate to vary or modify the provisions of Part 4 of the Act.
A landlord may not serve a notice of termination except in very clearly defined circumstances set out in the Act, such as a failure by the tenant to comply with his or her obligations in relation to the tenancy. Notice periods for the termination of a tenancy by the landlord vary depending on the duration of the tenancy but periods of up to 112 days are provided for under section 66 of the Act. Where there is a dispute regarding the appropriate period of notice to be given in respect of a tenancy or the validity of a notice of termination, or where the tenant does not comply with the notice of termination, the dispute may be referred to the PRTB for resolution.
According to the PRTB Annual Report for 2013, adjudication processing times were an average of 7 months in 2013 compared to 12 months in 2012. For 2014, I understand adjudications were taking an average of 5 to 6 months to process. Late 2013 also saw the introduction of a pilot telephone mediation service as an alternative means to address disputes. Processing times for mediation cases are typically 10 to 12 weeks.
Having regard to the quasi-judicial nature of the work of the PRTB, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the specifics of any individual case.
822. Deputy Áine Collins asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason responsibility for supplying security for elderly and disabled persons has been given to Pobal; the reason its cost will escalate from €66 yearly to €35 monthly; and whether the service will provide other information on health issues for the persons involved. [14847/15]
View answerMy Department manages the Seniors Alert Scheme which encourages community support for vulnerable older people in our communities by providing grant assistance towards the purchase and installation of personal monitored alarms to enable older persons, of limited means, to continue to live securely in their homes with confidence, independence and peace of mind. The scheme is administered by local community and voluntary groups with the support of my Department. My Department undertook to consider new approaches to the Seniors Alert Scheme in 2014 and arising from this, it was decided that the scheme be managed by Pobal, given that organisation’s significant experience delivering programmes on behalf of Government.
Pobal’s management and administrative services for the Scheme included an invitation to tender for the supply and installation of personal monitored alarms, which was publicly advertised on eTenders on 20 October 2014. The tender included a requirement for suppliers to set out their value added services. The tender process, which is being led by Pobal, is almost complete. Following on from this, a panel of regional suppliers will be contracted to provide the equipment within specific regional areas. The tender was broken down into 10 regional lots to ensure that SME’s were not disadvantaged due to excessively large lot sizes.
A monitoring services panel has also been advertised via eTenders on 6 November 2014. This process will engage a panel of quality checked monitoring suppliers who will outline the costs they charge and the service they provide. This information will be provided to the community groups and individuals to ensure they can make the best choice in relation to their monitoring services supplier. The use of this panel is voluntary; the older person will be responsible for choosing the monitoring supplier of their choice, either from the panel or outside the panel.
The renewed scheme will focus on broadening the social inclusion element of the scheme by reducing the administrative burden of procurement on the local community organisations therefore enabling them to focus their resources on more engagement with the older people. This will facilitate increased community support and the social inclusion of vulnerable older people in our communities.
While Pobal will manage the Scheme on behalf of my Department, the strategic policy direction of the Scheme will remain my Department’s responsibility. My Department will also have an oversight role in relation to Pobal’s delivery of the Scheme, and will ensure that the valuable community support for elderly persons provided by the many hundreds of community and voluntary groups across the country will be maintained.
