Written Answers Nos. 112-118
112. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he is aware that Veterinary Ireland has set up a specialised group which has reviewed the current Control of Dogs Act 1998 regulations; and if he will seek the advice from both Veterinary Ireland and other experts, including a person (details supplied) regarding the current regulations. [11009/16]
View answerI understand that Veterinary Ireland is undertaking an in-depth policy review at present, which includes, inter alia, an examination of the effectiveness of the Control of Dogs Regulations 1998. As this review, which is a matter solely for Veterinary Ireland, has not yet been finalised, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this time.
113. Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to extend the purchase incremental scheme to cover houses that were acquired under the Part V social and affordable scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11011/16]
View answer114. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to set down in tabular form the categories of social protection recipients who are automatically excluded from the 2016 tenant purchase scheme. [11020/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 113 and 114 together.
Provision was made in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 for a new Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme for existing local authority houses. Following the necessary preparatory work the new Scheme came into operation on 1 January 2016. The Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme. To be eligible tenants must meet certain criteria, including having been in receipt of social housing support for a minimum period of one year and having a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum. The scheme applies to all existing local authority houses, other than excluded dwellings.
All tenants of houses included in the scheme, who meet the eligibility criteria, can apply to purchase their house, provided they are not disqualified from doing so under the provisions of the legislation. Reasons for disqualification include rent arrears, participation in a previous tenant purchase scheme or engagement in anti-social behaviour.
The minimum reckonable income for eligibility under the Scheme is determined by the relevant housing authority in accordance with the detailed provisions of the Ministerial Direction issued under Sections 24(3) and (4) of the 2014 Act. In the determination of the minimum reckonable income, housing authorities can include income from a number of different sources and classes, such as from employment, private pensions, maintenance payments and certain social welfare payments, including pensions, where the social welfare payment is secondary to employment income.
In determining reckonable income, the income of the tenants of the house, including adult children that are joint tenants can be included, as can the income of the spouse, civil partner or other partner/co-habitant of a tenant who live in the house with them.
A number of income sources, including certain social welfare payments, are disregarded for the purposes of determining reckonable income. The list of income disregards is included in the Ministerial Direction which can be accessed at the following link:
http://www.environ.ie/search/archived/current?query=ministerial%20direction%20%20reckonable%20income .
In order to ensure the sustainability of the scheme, it is essential that an applicant’s income is of a long-term and sustainable nature. This is necessary to ensure that the tenant purchasing the house is in a financial position, as the owner, to maintain and insure the property for the duration of the charged period, in compliance with the conditions of the order transferring the ownership of, and responsibility for, the house from the local authority to the tenant.
The provisions of Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, are designed to enable the development of mixed tenure sustainable communities. Part V units are excluded from the Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme to ensure that units delivered under this mechanism will remain available for people in need of social housing support and that the original policy goals of the legislation are not eroded over time. The continued development of mixed tenure communities remains very important in promoting social integration.
The new Scheme is in the very early stages of implementation and my Department is monitoring the operation of the scheme in consultation with housing authorities. In line with the commitment in the new Programme for a Partnership Government to make the scheme more attractive for social housing tenants and to raise new funds for housing development, I intend to undertake a review of the scheme following the first 12 months of operation. I will bring forward any changes to the terms and conditions of the scheme which are considered necessary based on the evidence gathered at that stage.
115. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when he will provide funding for the construction of SI houses to local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11029/16]
View answerAs housing authorities, local authorities are responsible for the identification of the social housing need in their area and the development of appropriate responses to the need identified. This can include the development of single rural dwellings where identified and prioritised by local authorities.
Targets in respect of social housing delivery via a combination of building, buying and leasing schemes, were set for each local authority out to 2017 and are available on my Department’s website, along with the associated provisional funding allocations, at the following link: http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,41016,en.htm.
Following the notification of targets, approvals for a substantial number of new social housing projects were announced in May 2015, July 2015 and January 2016. Between these three announcements, almost €680 million has been allocated for over 3,900 social housing new builds, turnkey developments and acquisitions.
I am keen that all local authorities advance these projects as soon as possible and I have assured them that funding is available to fully support their efforts in this regard. Details of these project approvals are available on my Department’s website at the following links:
http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,41340,en.htm
http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,42225,en.htm
http://www.environ.ie/housing/social-housing/ministers-kelly-coffey-announce-further-1000-social-housing-units.
Local authorities are continuing to develop further construction schemes to deliver new social housing units and I am committed to supporting them in this regard, whether through the delivery of single rural dwellings, small to medium scale projects or larger construction schemes.
116. Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to outline in tabular form the details of the arrears of commercial rates owed to Louth County Council in Dundalk, Ardee and Drogheda; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11032/16]
View answerLocal authorities are under a statutory obligation to levy rates on any property used for commercial purposes, in accordance with the details entered in the valuation lists prepared by the independent Commissioner of Valuation under the Valuation Act 2001. The levying and collection of rates are matters for each individual local authority.
Rates income data are published by local authorities in their Annual Financial Statements. 2014 is the latest year for which audited local authority Annual Financial Statement data are available. These are published as a matter of course on local authority websites.
The value of commercial rates outstanding to Louth County Council at 31 December 2014, sourced from audited Annual Financial Statements, was €18,376,977. The information requested in relation to Dundalk, Ardee and Drogheda is not available in my Department.
117. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to set down by county and by month in tabular form the number of persons who have presented as homeless for each of the past two years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11048/16]
View answerMy Department’s role in relation to homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the role of housing authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. Statutory responsibility in relation to the provision of accommodation and related services for homeless persons rests with individual housing authorities.
The official homelessness data provided by housing authorities are produced through the Pathway Accommodation and Support System (PASS). These data capture details of individuals utilising State-funded emergency accommodation arrangements that are overseen by housing authorities. Quarterly reports from lead housing authorities are published on my Department's website as soon as these are available. In addition, lead housing authorities provide monthly reports on homelessness which identify the number of people utilising State-funded emergency accommodation on a regional and county basis and also broken down by the number of families and dependants; my Department collates this information into monthly homeless reports. The specific data sought in the Question is not available in my Department. However, both the quarterly and monthly reports are available on my Department’s website at the following link:
http://www.environ.ie/housing/homelessness/other/homelessness-data.
118. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if Irish Water has taken responsibility from local authorities for dealing with complaints relating to the provision of water services that predate its existence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11075/16]
View answerSince 1 January 2014, Irish Water has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. They may be contacted via email at oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on 1890 578 578.
The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that responsibility for the independent economic regulation of the water sector is assigned to the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) and that the CER must perform its functions in a manner that best serves the interests of customers of Irish Water.
Similar to the approach it has taken in the electricity and gas industries, the CER has required Irish Water to submit a Customer Handbook outlining the minimum requirements of customer service standards they will provide to their customers. The Customer Handbook comprises Irish Water’s Customer Charter, Codes of Practice and the Terms and Conditions of supply. Following a public consultation on the document in 2014, the CER published the approved Irish Water Customer Handbook on their website, at
http://www.cer.ie/docs/000956/CER14364%20Irish%20Water%20Customer%20Handbook.pdf.Furthermore, the Water Services Act 2014 includes a provision that the CER will provide a dispute resolution service for registered customers of Irish Water. This will be similar to the service operated by the Commission for the gas and electricity markets.
