Written Answers Nos. 201-210
201. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount of bonus remuneration paid to staff in his Department and in agencies under his aegis to date in 2015; the number of persons to whom these payments were made and their purpose; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32535/15]
View answerBonus payments are not made to staff members in my Department or to staff in any of the non-commercial semi state agencies under the aegis of my Department.
Irish Water is the only commercial semi-state Company under the aegis of my Department and operates the Ervia pay model. This model provides for a Performance Related Award (PRA) which is an element of “pay at risk”. While the award of PRA is subject to certain conditions, and is at the sole discretion of the company, a decision was made by the company in November 2014 that PRAs would not be paid in respect of 2013 and 2014. Irish Water has not paid a PRA to any of its employees in 2015. The Labour Relations Commission issued a recent recommendation on the Irish Water pay model which is subject to ballot by the Group of Unions in early October 2015. In the event that the proposals are accepted, a temporary incremental pay model will apply to Irish Water until 31 December 2016. From January 2017 the Ervia pay model in its entirety will apply to Irish Water.
202. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will consider replacing windscreen display discs for motor tax, insurance and the national car test with number plate recognition technology; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32600/15]
View answerI am assuming that windscreen tax is a reference to motor tax.
Enforcement of motor tax, insurance and roadworthiness obligations and the instruments used to facilitate enforcement measures including the application of number plate recognition technology are a matter for An Garda Siochána. Any changes to the requirement for display of the discs referred to on vehicle windscreens would need to be considered in the context of the application of number plate technology by An Garda Siochána generally, in order to ensure that adequate enforcement levels are maintained.
203. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he is aware of the current inadequacy of options available to local authorities in dealing with problems associated with derelict or abandoned buildings when the owner of a building cannot be identified; and his plans to address this problem. [32628/15]
View answer214. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the extent to which he has sought or received correspondence from the various local authorities regarding streetscape decay and commercial urban blight; whether it is possible to isolate the causes with a view to resolution, thereby enhancing the visual and commercial value and appearance of towns, cities and villages, which appear to have been affected in some cases by such blight for several years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32679/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 203 and 214 together.
The Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015, which was enacted in July and commenced earlier t his month, provides for the introduction of a vacant site levy to encourage the development of vacant, under utilised sites in designated urban areas with a view to breathing life back into such areas, thereby addressing urban decay and bringing vacant sites forward for residential or regeneration use.
The levy - which will be collected and applied by local authorities with effect from January 2019 and every year thereafter as long as the site remains idle – is a significant and innovative new measure which will be charged on the registered owners of vacant sites exceeding 0.05 hectares in urban areas designated by local authorities in their local development plans, at a rate of 3% of the market value of each site, with reduced or zero rates applying in specific circumstances. This lead-in period is intended to allow site owners sufficient time and opportunity to obtain planning permission, initiate development or alternatively sell their sites in order to avoid becoming liable to the levy. The levy proceeds will be earmarked for regeneration and the provision of housing in the local areas concerned.
Supplementary to the vacant site levy, the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015 amends Section 10(2) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, to provide that the current objective incorporated in local authority development plans for the “development and renewal of areas in need of regeneration” is broadened to provide that such objective should in future be for the explicit purposes of preventing –
- adverse effects on existing amenities in such areas,
- urban blight and decay,
- anti-social behaviour, or
- a shortage of habitable houses or land suitable for residential use or a mixture of residential or other uses.
This is intended to stimulate local authorities to adopt a more holistic approach in relation to urban decay and regeneration in the adoption of their local development plans.
In addition to the recently enacted vacant site levy, the Derelict Sites Act 1990 requires that local authorities take all reasonable steps, including the exercise of appropriate statutory powers, to ensure that any land within their functional area does not become or continue to be a derelict site. Local authorities have substantial powers under the Act in relation to any such sites, including powers to require specified measures to be taken in relation to a derelict site, to impose a levy on derelict sites, or to compulsorily acquire any derelict site. Under the provisions of the Urban Regeneration and Housing Act 2015, the Derelict Site levy will not be payable in respect of any land on which the vacant site levy is payable.
In 2014, in its Partnership Agreement with the European Commission, the Government agreed that an urban development fund would be established. The Designated Urban Centres Grants Scheme (subsequently launched in July 2015) will enable investments in our main urban centres to the order of €80 million for the period 2014-2020. This investment in sustainable urban development recognises our main cities as the engines of the regional economy, and specifically seeks to increase the number of integrated regeneration initiatives that will improve the urban environment and revitalise Irish urban areas.
In tandem with this urban focus, the Government has this week reaffirmed its commitment to rural Ireland with the announcement of a new €30m investment in rural towns and villages in the years ahead. The new scheme will support the revitalisation of our rural towns and villages, increase their attractiveness and sustainability, with the aim of improving the living and working environment in rural communities and enhancing their potential to support increased economic activity into the future.
The focus for improvements eligible under this scheme will extend to the enhancement of villages, small towns and the surrounding countryside. Actions will be particularly aimed at enhancing the environmental, amenity and surface structural aspects of these communities and is intended to support complementarity particularly with tourism and conservation of the local heritage measures supported under initiatives such as the LEADER Programme which will also see a further €250m invested in rural Ireland.
The types of projects qualifying for funding support under the towns and villages scheme will include initiatives such as:
- greenways, cycleways, blueways and other environmental initiatives that support economic activity in the area;
- upgrading of parks, civic areas, river walks etc;
- remedial works, general surface upgrading and renovation of relevant derelict buildings;
- access facilities to amenities; and
- property acquisition for site assembly/rationalisation and subsequent redevelopment.
I am confident that this expanded package of measures - some of which have only been recently announced - which are now available to local authorities and communities will assist in providing a much needed impetus towards revitalising our main urban centres as well as our rural towns and villages in the coming years, so that they are better positioned to take advantage of the upturn in our economy.
204. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide, by local authority area, in tabular form, the number of persons with disabilities currently living in social housing, who have been waiting for housing adaptations for less than six months; for more than six months but less than 12 months; and for more than 12 months. [32643/15]
View answer205. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide, by local authority area, in tabular form, the number of persons with disabilities who have been waiting for housing adaptations for less than six months; for more than six months but less than 12 months; and for more than 12 months. [32644/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 204 and 205 together.
The administration of these schemes, including the receipt of applications and their assessment and approval, as well as the payment of grants to applicants, is a matter for individual local authorities and, therefore, detailed information in relation to waiting lists for each authority is not available in my Department.
The support provided by my Department to local authorities for adaptations and extensions to social housing for tenants with a disability, meets 90% of the costs, with each local authority providing the remaining 10%. The support provided for adaptation grants for private houses is to fund 80% of the costs involved, with a 20% contribution from the resources of the local authority.
206. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide, by local authority area, in tabular form, the number of social housing units that were allocated to persons with disabilities in 2014. [32645/15]
View answer207. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide, by local authority area, in tabular form, the number of persons with disabilities who are currently on the housing waiting list. [32646/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 206 and 207 together.
The allocation of social housing supports is a matter for each housing authority in accordance with its allocation scheme made under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009. My Department does not hold information on the allocation of social housing to individual households or groups on the waiting list.
The results of the statutory Summary of Social Housing Assessments, published by the Housing Agency in 2013, and accessible at the link below, provides details of the number of households qualified for social housing support on a local authority by local authority basis. Table A2.6 in the Summary outlines the specific accommodation requirement, including disability-related, by local authority.
http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/Housing/FileDownLoad,34857,en.pdf
The numbers on housing lists will fluctuate, including because of new households being approved to join the lists while other households come off the lists when they are accommodated. In order to have the most up to date position on housing needs, the Social Housing Strategy 2020, published in November 2014, includes a commitment to undertake the Summary of Assessments on annual basis from 2016 onwards.
208. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of local authorities that pay for private occupational therapy assessments, in order to speed up the application process for housing and accommodation applications or modifications. [32647/15]
View answerAs the detailed administration and implementation of the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability scheme is a matter for the local authorities, my Department does not have information on the number of local authorities that pay for private occupational therapy assessments for applications. It is in the interests of the applicant and the local authority alike to ensure that adaptation works are appropriate to the long-term circumstances of the applicant and I understand that occupational therapists are routinely engaged by local authorities to assess the needs of applic ants for grants under the scheme. In addition, where an applicant engages a private sector occupational therapist, the costs are recouped to the applicant as part of the total grant paid, subject to a limit of €200 per assessment.
209. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide, in tabular form, the allocation for each local authority for the provision of housing adaptation grants for each year from 2008 to 2015. [32650/15]
View answer210. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide, in tabular form, the expenditure for each local authority on housing adaptation grants for each year from 2008 to 2015. [32651/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 209 and 210 together.
The Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability were introduced on 1 November 2007. Information on Exchequer funding provided by my Department in respect of the expenditure by each local authority in relation to these grants is available on my Department's website at the following link:
http
://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/StatisticsandRegularPublications/HousingStatistics/
by selecting ‘Social and Affordable Housing’, ‘Housing Adaptation Grants by Area 2008 to date’.
In relation to funding for adaptations to social housing, the Exchequer funding provided in respect of the expenditure by each local authority from 2008 to 2014 is as follows:
|
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
|
€4,715,797 |
€10,482,638 |
€5,957,390 |
€8,808,413 |
€8,278,846 |
€6,843,469 |
€7,914,175 |
The 2015 allocations for adaptations to social housing are available on my Department’s website at the following link: http://www.environ.ie/en/GeneralNews/MainBody,41581,en.html.
