Written Answers Nos. 205-211
205. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 523 of 24 May 2016, when payment will issue to a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13994/16]
View answerThe person named submitted an application under the 2015 Young Farmers Scheme to my Department. Under EU Regulations governing the scheme administrative and on farm checks must be completed before applications are cleared for payment. All such checks are now complete, the application has been finalised and payment is due to issue shortly to the person named.
206. Deputy Jim Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when payment will issue to a person (details supplied) under the basic farm payment scheme for each of the years 2013 to 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13995/16]
View answerFollowing a recent review of the Single Farm Payment applications of the person named for the years 2013 and 2014, I can confirm that processing has now been completed and payment will issue shortly.
The 2015 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) application is currently under review in light of the finalisation of the allocation of entitlements under BPS and an official from my Department will be in direct contact with the person named to clarify the position.
207. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when Granaghan Beg, Newmarket-on-Fergus, County Clare, will have fibre optic cable for broadband service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13937/16]
View answerThe National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to deliver high speed services to every city, town, village and individual premises in Ireland. The Programme for a Partnership Government commits to the delivery of the NBP as a matter of priority. This is being achieved through private investment by commercial telecommunications companies and through a State intervention in areas where commercial investment is not forthcoming.
The High Speed Broadband Map 2020, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie shows the extent of the State Intervention area, which is the subject of procurement. The areas marked BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services. The Department continues to monitor the commercial deployment plans in the BLUE area where commercial operators have committed to providing services, to ensure that those services are delivered. The areas marked AMBER on the High Speed Broadband Map represent the target areas for the State Intervention and includes the townland of Granaghan Beg, County Clare. Members of the public can view whether their premises are in the BLUE or AMBER area by accessing the High Speed Broadband Map and entering their Eircode. The map provides information on a county by county basis with a breakdown of coverage across the townlands in every county.
Over 750,000 premises are the focus of the procurement process, which formally commenced in December 2015 with the publication of the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire ('PQQ') and Project Information Memorandum. Five responses were received from prospective bidders to this stage of the competitive procurement process by the deadline of 31 March 2016. The five responses are being assessed in line with the criteria set down by the Department with a view to shortlist of qualified bidders proceeding to the next stage of procurement.
The second stage in the procurement process will be a formal invitation to Participate in Dialogue (ITPD) to shortlisted bidders. I expect that my Department will move to this stage in the next month. The third stage of the procurement process involves the issue of final tender documentation which follows the dialogue process. Following the submission of final tenders by bidders, a winning bidder(s) will be selected for the contract which will comprise one or two lots as set out in the NBP Intervention Strategy. The Department will then enter into formal contract negotiations with the winning bidder(s). It is expected that contract(s) will be awarded by June 2017.
In preparation for the procurement stage of the process my Department investigated how different technical solutions could be used to deliver high speed broadband. In line with EU State Aid rules, the process must be "technology neutral" and it is not therefore possible to specify what technology should be used to build the network. As part of the procurement process bidders will be asked to propose solutions which meet the NBP service requirements. It is recognised however, that a significant fibre build will be required, regardless of what technology is used to provide services to individual premises. Once the successful bidder or bidders is chosen the technology to be deployed will be made clear.
As part of the competitive process, the Department will engage with winning bidder(s) on the best rollout strategy, in order to target areas of particularly poor service, business needs and/or high demand. This will need to be balanced with the most efficient network rollout plan. A prioritisation programme will be put in place in this regard, in consultation with the Minister for Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and the Gaeltacht. Once contract(s) are in place, I expect to publish a detailed rollout plan for the network.
The Programme for a Partnership Government commits also to measures to assist in the rollout of the network once a contract is awarded. In this regard, Minister Humphreys will lead on the establishment of county or regional broadband taskforces, working with Local Authorities, Local Enterprise Offices, LEADER Groups and other relevant agencies to help accelerate the broadband network build in rural Ireland, once contract(s) have been awarded.
208. Deputy John Brassil asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans to ensure that the development of the liquefied natural gas terminal at the Ballylongford land bank in County Kerry is fully supported, given its strategic commercial and employment importance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13938/16]
View answerSince 2002, the regulation of the gas market has been the responsibility of the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER), which is independent in the performance of its functions. I have no direct statutory function in relation to liquefied natural gas projects, including specific projects such as the Shannon LNG project, which is a commercial private sector initiative.
An LNG facility would provide additional security of supply to Ireland, in that it would bring diversity to Ireland's gas supply sources and would bring connectivity to the global LNG market.
This Government is supportive of the proposal to construct a LNG terminal near Ballylongford and the Programme for Government commits to examining if there are ways to facilitate liquid natural gas on the island of Ireland.
As part of implementing my Department's Energy Policy Paper, "Ireland's Transition to a Low Carbon Energy Future", our dependency on imported gas, particularly in the context of electricity generation, will be examined. The potential role of LNG will form part of this analysis. However, final investment decisions are a commercial matter for project promoters to take.
209. Deputy Frank O'Rourke asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the legislation governing the making of pay-parking by-laws by local authorities; the statutory instrument stating that modifications by local authority executives to by-laws must entail a full review; if he will change this statutory instrument to make the changing of these by-laws by local authorities more flexible. [13846/16]
View answerThe making of pay-parking by-laws by road authorities, under section 36 of the Road Traffic Act 1994, is a reserved function of each authority.
Guidelines issued by the Minister under that section provide assistance to authorities when making pay-parking by-laws, including examples of the structure and content of such by-laws. Where changes are being made to existing by-laws, other than those relating to fees, new by-laws must be made.
This obliges road authorities to consult with the Garda Commissioner, give public notice of the authority's intention to make new by-laws and the consideration of any observations or objections arising from that process. This requirement ensures that any significant changes to pay-parking by-laws are carried out in an open and transparent way, with the public having the opportunity to be involved in the process.
I do not have any plans to alter that requirement.
210. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will consider lowering speed limits outside rural schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13902/16]
View answerLocal authorities already have the necessary statutory powers under section 9 of the Road Traffic Act 2004 to provide for a Special Speed Limit of 30 km/h outside of schools if they deem such a limit to be appropriate and necessary. A Special Speed Limit may also include a periodic speed limit which can be designed to apply and operate at specified periods, for example when children are arriving at, or leaving a school during term time. The consent of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) is required when Special Speed Limits are being applied on national roads.
To assist local authorities in the application of Special Speed Limits, my Department's Guidelines for Setting and Managing Speed Limits in Ireland, published in March 2015, provides detailed guidance on the application of Special Speed Limits outside of schools and is available to all local authorities. These Guidelines reiterate that the making of Special Speed Limit by-laws is a matter for the Elected Members of local authorities, subject to following Department Guidelines and to the consent of TII in the case of national roads.
In consideration of a nationwide 30km/h speed limit outside schools during term time, in view of the statutory provisions already available to local authorities, it is my view that the introduction of Special Speed Limits can be best addressed through discussions between all interested parties locally, including council officials and Elected Members, community groups, An Garda Síochána and TII rather than being centrally imposed.
211. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the procedure whereby a holder of a British driving licence can change to an Irish licence; and the documentation that is required (details supplied). [13903/16]
View answerThis is procedural information already available in the public domain at www.ndls.ie. Any specific difficulties which the individual may have should be resolved by contacting the National Driver Licensing Service (NDLS) directly as I cannot intervene in individual cases.
