Thursday, 26 May 2016

Written Answers Nos. 101-110

Disability Support Services Funding

Questions (101)

Michael Healy-Rae

Question:

101. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on funding for persons with disabilities (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12483/16]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

My Department allocates significant resources to ensure that students can participate fully in their academic courses and are not disadvantaged by reason of a disability. The Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) is managed by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on behalf of my Department and provides funding to students in approved colleges for further and higher education for the delivery of key services, reasonable accommodations and supports for learners with disabilities on full-time, approved courses in eligible further and higher education institutions.

School Transport

Questions (102)

James Browne

Question:

102. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Education and Skills given the assurance from Bus Éireann that any surplus received for the operation of school transport services is ring-fenced and exclusively used on school transport such as information technology and new school buses, the amount spent, including expenditure from this surplus, with a value of over €25,000 for each item, and if the expenditure went out to public tender under law or Government guidelines, in each of the years 2005 to 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12493/16]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills

The detailed information requested by the Deputy is not readily available and will involve a very significant amount of administrative time to compile.

In this regard I have requested Bus Éireann to liaise directly with the Deputy.

Pupil-Teacher Ratio

Questions (103)

Jack Chambers

Question:

103. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Education and Skills to permit a school (details supplied) to maintain its existing pupil-teacher ratio; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12497/16]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts for the 2016/2017 school year is set out in Circular 0007/2016. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the 30 September 2015.

The school referred to by the Deputy will have a mainstream teaching post suppressed for the 2016/17 school year due to falling enrolments. The staffing process includes an appeals mechanism for schools to submit an appeal under certain criteria to an independent Primary Staffing Appeals Board. My Department has not received a staffing appeal from the school referred to by the Deputy.

The configuration of classes and the deployment of classroom teachers are done at local school level. My Department's guidance to schools is that the number of pupils in any class is kept as low as possible taking all relevant contextual factors into account (e.g. classroom accommodation, fluctuating enrolment etc.). School authorities are also requested, where possible, to use their autonomy under the staffing schedule to implement smaller class sizes for junior classes.

Motor Tax

Questions (104)

Dara Calleary

Question:

104. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will change the motor tax system in certain circumstances (details supplied); if the rules in these circumstances could be viewed as being unfair; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12443/16]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

Vehicles registered prior to 2008 are taxed on the basis of engine capacity. Vehicles registered from 2008 are taxed on the basis of carbon emissions (CO2). The basis of determining CO2 emissions for the latter category is the level provided on the Certificate of Conformity for the vehicle. This is the level emitted in terms of grams per kilometre driven, which is generally only measured at the manufacturing stage of a new vehicle, and which is not measured as part of the NCT.

Tenant Purchase Scheme

Questions (105, 107, 111)

Michael D'Arcy

Question:

105. Deputy Michael D'Arcy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government why persons (details supplied) in receipt of a social protection retirement pension cannot avail of the Incremental Purchase Scheme to purchase their home from Wexford County Council. [12271/16]

Ruth Coppinger

Question:

107. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 376 of 17 May 2016, if he will repeal subsection 9 of section 3A of the Water Services Act 2014 to enable council tenants to participate under the tenant purchase scheme, given the commitment to suspend water charges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12323/16]

Declan Breathnach

Question:

111. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government why the banking sector is not willing to make mortgages available to persons who meet the eligibility and banking requirements under the new tenant purchase scheme as they are not satisfied with the conditions laid down under the scheme. [12409/16]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

I propose to take Questions Nos. 105, 107 and 111 together.

The new Tenant (Incremental) Purchase 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 a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum.

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 Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014. 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 lives in the house with them.

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 financing of any house sold under the Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme is a separate matter from the eligibility criteria for the scheme. In order to participate in the scheme, the tenant must, in the first instance, meet the eligibility criteria as set out in the relevant legislation, including having a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum. If the tenant is deemed eligible under the scheme, he or she may fund the purchase of a house from one, or a combination of, own resources or a mortgage provided by a financial institution or a local authority house purchase loan.

My Department met with the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland during the course of the development of the new scheme and will continue to liaise with them as issues arise.

Section 48 of the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015, which commenced on 1 January 2016, inserts a new section 3A into the Water Services Act 2014, subsection (9) of which provides that a housing authority shall not complete the sale of a dwelling under a tenant purchase scheme until the tenant provides to the authority a certificate from Irish Water confirming that any charge under section 21 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 in respect of that dwelling payable by the tenant has been paid. Therefore, tenants of local authority houses who wish to participate in the scheme must provide the relevant certificate from Irish Water, in order for the sale of the house to be completed.

Under the confidence and supply arrangement agreed in the context of facilitating a minority government, the Government is committed to introducing and supporting legislation in the Oireachtas, within six weeks of its appointment, to suspend domestic water charges for a period of nine months from the end of the current bill cycle. This is to allow for the Oireachtas to decide on the enduring funding model for Irish Water. I intend to publish the draft legislation shortly.

The new Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme is in the very early stages of implementation and the 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, it is intended to undertake a review of the scheme following the first 12 months of operation and to bring forward any changes to the terms and conditions of the scheme which are considered necessary based on the evidence gathered at that stage.

Housing Assistance Payment

Questions (106)

Éamon Ó Cuív

Question:

106. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if and when he will increase the rent caps under the housing assistance payment scheme in Galway city and county; if so; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12304/16]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme is being rolled out across the country on a phased basis and is currently operational in 19 local authority areas. I believe the HAP scheme is operating well, with more than 9,500 households currently in receipt of housing support under the scheme.

The maximum rent limits for different household classes that apply in each local authority where HAP has been commenced are set out in Regulations and are generally based on the Rent Supplement limits as set out by the Department of Social Protection (DSP). In prescribing these limits, household size and prevailing rents in the relevant areas are taken into consideration. My Department works closely with DSP and monitors data which it gathers, along with PRTB data, and data gathered through HAP pilot authorities, in relation to the rent limits applying.

In recognition of the need for additional discretion in areas of high rental demand, an additional 20% flexibility above the maximum rent limits that apply for the purposes of HAP has been provided in the administrative areas of Galway County Council and Galway City Council since the introduction of the scheme in those areas. This additional flexibility facilitates a greater number of qualifying households to source suitable accommodation in these local authority areas. The Programme for a Partnership Government commits to extending the capacity of Local Authorities to make such discretionary payments, while providing a framework for the review of both Rent Supplement and Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) limits taking account of geographic variations in market rents. My Department is working closely with the Department of Social Protection to ensure that any revised rent limits will be introduced as early as possible, subject to agreement by Government.

Question No. 107 answered with Question No. 105.

Waste Management

Questions (108, 109)

Fergus O'Dowd

Question:

108. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if, in conjunction with the Department of Social Protection, he will arrange for a specific support for a waiver or other support system for larger families with low incomes who have been estimated as being part of the five per cent of households who have five or more members who will be affected by the increased charges they will have to pay as a direct result of the pay-by-weight system for waste disposal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12401/16]

Fergus O'Dowd

Question:

109. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will introduce a waiver system for larger families with low incomes who have been estimated as being part of the five per cent of households who have five or more members who will be affected by the increased charges they will have to pay as a direct result of the pay-by-weight system for waste disposal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12403/16]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

I propose to take Questions Nos. 108 and 109 together.

Government waste policy is predicated on the waste hierarchy as set out in the EU’s Waste Framework Directive. A number of specific measures have been, and will continue to be, introduced to reduce the amount of waste generated in the State and to increase the segregation of waste which cannot be prevented in line with Government policy. The introduction of pay-by-weight charges for the collection of household waste is one such measure.

During the period in which local authorities were directly involved in the collection of household waste, a minority of individual Councils offered different levels of discount to selected households, based on different qualification criteria.

As local authorities exited the waste collection market, some required the private operators which took on the Councils’ customers to provide a level of discount for existing waiver customers only, and even then for a limited time. The vast majority of such contractual commitments for private operators to provide a waiver have now expired. In that context, the number of households in receipt of waiver discounts is likely to decline further over time, especially as some householders were able to take advantage of special reduced offers elsewhere which actually undercut the waiver price. However, selected private operators still offer some level of discount to former waiver customers on a voluntary basis.

In addition, a very limited number of local authorities make financial contributions toward the cost of the collection of waste from certain households. Again, the qualification criteria and level of support differ from area to area. Such expenditure means that these local authorities divert funding from other areas to support these waiver provisions.

With the exception of one or two municipal districts, local authorities no longer collect waste and the market is now serviced by a diverse range of private operators, where the fees charged are a matter between service provider and customer and the services offered vary across the country. In that regard, it is becoming increasingly apparent that a national waiver scheme could not be imposed in the context of an open market for waste collection.

However, under pay-by- weight charging for household waste collection, there is an opportunity for everybody to have more control over their waste charges and to minimise their waste costs by preventing waste and segregating waste through using the food waste and recyclable waste bins properly. In this regard, a pay-by-weight awareness campaign, launched on 18 May, will be rolled out at national, regional and local levels in the coming weeks and will give invaluable advice to householders on minimising their waste management costs under the new charging regime.

Local Government Reform

Questions (110)

Fergus O'Dowd

Question:

110. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to introduce legislation to restore the former Drogheda borough council and the Dundalk and Ardee urban district councils in County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12404/16]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

The Programme for a Partnership Government includes the preparation of a report for Government and the Oireachtas by mid-2017 on potential measures to boost local government leadership and accountability and to ensure that local government funding, structures and responsibilities strengthen local democracy, including the issue of town or borough council status. The Government’s decision to replace town authorities with a new model of municipal governance was designed to strengthen local government within counties and to address widely acknowledged and long-standing weaknesses and anomalies in the previous system, including divided administration between town and county authorities, for example, in relation to matters such as planning, rating and charges.

Municipal districts and borough districts, where they arise, now cover the entire territory of each county, reflecting European norms, removing outdated boundaries and ending the anomaly of small towns having municipal status and dual representation, while some larger centres and rural areas lacked any sub-county governance. As well as creating a more rational and comprehensive structural arrangement, the new system will, over time, result in more effective and community-focused decision making and implementation. Moreover, under the new arrangements, there is full integration of local authority resources across each county and elimination of duplication both in administrative and electoral terms.

In 2015, a broadly based Advisory Group was convened to carry out a review of the operation of the revised local government structures, in conjunction with a Local Government Forum for engagement with the Association of Irish Local Government. Feedback from these deliberations and the results of surveys of local authority members and chief executives, indicate that the revised structures are generally operating well but will need more time to bed down fully. The results of this operational review will provide a key input to inform the consideration of issues pursuant to the Programme for a Partnership Government.