Written Answers Nos. 262 - 271
262. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of extra new staff who have been brought in to work in the housing section of Kildare County Council since 2011, excluding any staff brought in to replace those who retired or were off on sick leave since 2011. [28003/15]
View answerMy Department has approved 317 staffing requests for Kildare County Council since the beginning of 2011. Of these approvals 30 were given in 2015 for housing staff, which include staff to facilitate the delivery of the Government's Social Housing Strategy. With regard to approvals sanctioned prior to 2015, housing - specific information is not held by my Department. My Department works closely with Kildare County Council in relation to the Council’s overall staffing requirements. However, under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, it is the Chief Executive of the Council who is responsible for staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority.
263. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he is aware of a report that a portion of the revenue raised by the local property tax is being spent on a mayoral chain of office in County Kildare municipal districts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28004/15]
View answerThe Government has given full effect to its policy commitment in relation to the local retention of Local Property Tax for 2015. 80% of LPT is retained locally to fund public services, with the remaining 20% redistributed to provide top-up funding to certain local authorities that have lower property tax bases due to the variance in property values across the State. These measures are necessary to create a balanced system of funding across local authorities. No local authority will receive less income from LPT in 2015 than they received from the Local Government Fund in 2014, unless of course, the authority itself decides to reduce their local basic LPT rate and forfeit the income.
It is a matter for the elected members of Kildare County Council to decide how to spend this funding, 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 includes adopting the annual budget, and are democratically accountable for all expenditure by the local authority.
264. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason the next move community employment scheme, which has been successfully run in County Sligo for several years, was suddenly withdrawn with effect from 3 July 2015 and applicants for the course have been advised that this course has ceased because of financial cutbacks. [28031/15]
View answerI am advised that the initiative referred to in the Question has not been funded by my Department. It should be noted that a similar business start-up training course was funded under the LEADER elements of the Rural Development Programme 2007-2014 until December 2014 in Co. Sligo.
265. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when a tenant purchase scheme will be introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28091/15]
View answerPart 3 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 provides for a new scheme for the tenant purchase of existing local authority houses along incremental purchase lines, similar to the schemes currently operating for local authority apartments and certain new local authority houses. The Government’s Social Housing Strategy 2020 includes a commitment to make the Regulations necessary for the scheme’s introduction, setting out the full details involved. I expect that the new scheme will commence at the earliest possible date following the making of the Regulations which are at an advanced stage of preparation.
266. Deputy Michael McCarthy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will address the concerns outlined in correspondence (details supplied) regarding regulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28185/15]
View answerThe review of the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014 following the first twelve months of their operation is now well advanced. The impact of the regulations on the cost of single dwellings (including self builds) forms an important element of this review. Some 170 submissions were received during the public consultation process which concluded on 15 May 2015. A report prepared by my Department following its review of the submissions received is currently under consideration. On this basis, I expect to definitively conclude the review this month with a view to ensuring that any changes deemed appropriate will be effected as a matter of priority.
267. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources further to the recent announcement by Eircom for improved broadband service in parts of County Limerick, if a townland (details supplied) in County Limerick is included; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28032/15]
View answerDetails relating to the commercial investments referred to in the Deputy's Question are publicly available on the Company's website at www.eircomWholesale.ie. The Government's National Broadband Plan aims to ensure that every citizen and business, regardless of location, has access to a high quality, high speed broadband service. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investments by eircom and other competing networks providers and a State led intervention in areas where commercial services will not be provided.
Last November I published a national high speed coverage map for 2016. This map is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. The map shows Ireland with two colours, BLUE and AMBER. The areas marked BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers plan to deliver high speed broadband services. The AMBER area on the map shows the target areas for the State intervention. All premises within the AMBER areas will be included in the State's intervention.
Based on information provided by commercial operators 96% of Kilfinane and 100% of Kilmallock will be covered by commercial section. The remaining 4% of Kilfinane, 100% of Ballyorgan and 100% of Keale, Co Limerick will be part of the State intervention.
Members of the public can consult the map to establish for themselves the precise location and status of individual premises.
More generally I can confirm that broadband services have been upgraded by commercial operators, to over 48,000 premises to date in Co Limerick with a further 14,000 premises expected to be upgraded. Approximately 33,000 premises in the region are the target for the proposed State intervention under the National Broadband Plan.
The Department has recently received updated information from operators in respect of further commercial roll-out of high speed services. The Department is now reviewing all of the data provided by operators for 2016 - 2020 with a view to validating and updating commercial coverage plans and revising the map as appropriate.
In the meantime intensive design and planning work is underway in my Department to produce a detailed intervention strategy for the AMBER area. Following a public consultation process on the draft Intervention Strategy this summer, I hope to move to formal procurement phase towards the end of this year in order to select a preferred bidder or bidders.
I expect the physical build of the network to begin in late 2016, and it will take 3-5 years to fully complete – depending on the details of the bid or bids selected.
This complex and ambitious project is a key priority for Government and aims to conclusively address current broadband connectivity issues in mainly rural parts of the country.
269. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the position, by location, regarding waiting times for the national car test; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28013/15]
View answerThe Road Safety Authority (RSA) has overall responsibility for the operation and delivery of the National Car Testing Service. As a result of capacity enhancements put in place by the NCTS earlier this year, I understand that the vast majority of test centres have either no waiting list or a very short one.
However, the statistics relating to NCT waiting times by location are a matter for the RSA and I have therefore referred the Deputy's Question to the Authority for direct reply. Please advise my Office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.
270. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views on the growing number of rickshaws now in operation in Dublin; whether this mode of transport is safe; whether there is a need for regulation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28049/15]
View answerCurrently, rickshaws are not specifically defined in law, nor is there any legislation to regulate carriage of passengers by these vehicles. However, they are bound by road traffic legislation and must obey the rules of the road.
Rickshaws that are powered solely by the physical exertions of the driver fall under the definition of pedal cycles for legal purposes. Any rickshaw which is mechanically propelled on the other hand falls subject to the provisions of road traffic law relating to mechanically propelled vehicles.
Dublin City Council has written to me regarding the need to regulate rickshaws from a number of perspectives but primarily health and safety. However its legal advisors have advised that the type and extent of regulation proposed would appear to go beyond what a local authority would usually wish to regulate by bye-laws under the Local Government Act 2001. The Council sought that provision be made through primary legislation to regulate the operation of rickshaws.
As it is a requirement that a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) be prepared in respect of any proposal to Government seeking permission to regulate through primary legislation and given that rickshaws are a local matter, I have responded to the Council that it would be appropriate that the Council prepare a RIA. The purpose of the RIA is to establish more clearly the issues that need to be addressed and the kind of regulatory initiative that is most appropriate to deal with those issues. The RIA would include, amongst other things, an assessment of the measures that could be adopted within the existing bye-law making powers of local authorities and also help determine whether any proposal for primary legislation should be dealt with as a matter of road traffic legislation or local government legislation.
271. Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will examine the speed limits around school areas and how they are enforced and monitored; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28055/15]
View answerWhere it is considered necessary and appropriate, whether near schools or at other locations, road authorities have the necessary power to vary the default speed limits on any roads, or sections of road, within their functional areas. Section 9 of the 2004 Road Traffic Act sets out the range of Special Speed Limits that may be set by such authorities through bye-laws. To assist local authorities in the application of Special Speed limits, I launched my Department's updated Guidelines for Setting and Managing Speed Limits in March last and these are available on the Department's website. These Guidelines reiterate that the making of bye-laws for Special Speed Limits is a matter for the Elected Members of local authorities, subject to following Department Guidelines and to the consent of the NRA in the case of national roads.
Enforcement of speed limits is a matter for An Garda Síochána.
