Written Answers Nos. 655-667
655. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the funding that will be made available to Galway County Council for the purpose of developing a recycling centre in Casla, Connemara, which has been planned by it in conjunction with Údarás na Gaeltachta; the steps that need to be taken to apply and draw down such funding; and the amount of the cost his Department would fund. [34509/16]
View answerConsiderable investment was made in recycling facilities and their operation at local authority level between the years 2000 and 2015. These funding streams were brought to a close as a result of declining demand for further facilities from local authorities and reduced available financial resources. There is currently no funding support available for developments of this type.
Under the NDP 2007-2013 Waste Recycling Capital Grants Scheme and the previous scheme, which operated between 2000 and 2006, the then Department of Environment, Community and Local Government provided capital grant assistance of over €100 million to local authorities for the development of waste recycling infrastructure. Projects developed under the schemes included bring banks, composting facilities, materials recovery facilities, civic amenity sites and biological treatment facilities. As a result, the number of civic amenity facilities has risen to over 118; and the number of bring banks to more than 1,922.
Support for operating costs at recycling facilities was also made available to local authorities for a number of years by the former department responsible. The scheme made funding available for the purpose of running recycling reception centres. However, the scheme was closed in 2015. The payments made in October 2015 for the period January to June 2015 were the final tranche of payments to be made under this scheme. The County and City Management Association were informed in writing of this development in March 2016 and a further letter issued to the Regional Waste Co-ordinators in September 2016 confirming the closure of the above scheme.
656. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the proposals there are to upgrade the broadband telecommunications infrastructure in an area (details supplied); if the requests of local residents and local businesses to have an adequate and modern broadband service provided in that area without further delay can be given urgent and favourable consideration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34520/16]
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 Government commits to the delivery of the NBP as a matter of priority. This is being achieved through a combination of commercial investment by the telecommunications sector and a State intervention in those areas where commercial investment has not been fully demonstrated. The formal procurement process for the State Intervention commenced in December 2015.
To date, the commercial telecommunications sector has invested over €2bn in upgrading and modernising networks which support the provision of high speed broadband and mobile telecoms services.
Approximately 1.3m premises in Ireland can now get high speed broadband and at least one mobile operator is delivering 4G services to over 90% of the population. It is estimated that up to 42% of premises in Co. Monaghan will have access to commercial high speed broadband services provided by telecommunications operators, while the remaining 58% consisting of just over 19,000 premises in Co. Monaghan will fall within the proposed State led intervention under the National Broadband Plan.
The High Speed Broadband Map, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie shows the extent of the State Intervention area and provides information on a county by county basis with a breakdown of coverage across the townlands in every county including Co. Monaghan.
The maps shows that the townland of Drumhawan, Co. Monaghan falls within the AMBER area and will therefore be included in the State intervention procurement process. Individuals can check whether their premises is in a BLUE or an AMBER area by scrolling through the map online or entering their Eircode. The Department also has a dedicated mailbox and anyone with a query in relation to the Map should email the Department, quoting their Eircode, to broadband@dccae.gov.ie.
The Department is now in a formal procurement process to select a company or companies who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network within the State Intervention Area comprising over 750,000 premises, covering 100,000km of road network and 96% of the land area of Ireland.
Intensive dialogue with bidders is continuing and the three bidders have indicated that they are proposing a predominantly fibre-to-the-home solution. Householders and businesses may get speeds not just of 30Megabits per second but potentially up to 1000 megabits per second with businesses potentially availing of symmetrical upload and download speeds.
Earlier this year, before I came into office, the Department announced that it would be June 2017 before contract(s) were awarded under the NBP. The bidders in the process have recently indicated that they may need more time to conclude the procurement process. The timing of each stage of the procurement continues to be dependent on a range of factors including the complexities that may be encountered by the procurement team, and bidders, during the procurement process. Bidders need adequate time to prepare detailed proposals and their final formal bids and get the relevant shareholder and funding approvals at key stages of the process. It is also important to ensure that risks in this multi-million euro procurement are carefully managed. I do not propose to comment any further at this juncture, given that discussions are ongoing in the procurement process. I can assure the Deputy however, that the procurement process is being intensively managed, to ensure an outcome that delivers a future-proofed network that serves homes and businesses across Ireland, for at least 25 years. The Government considers the NBP to be one of the most significant investments in rural Ireland for decades, and one which will transform society, akin to rural electrification in the last century.
In parallel, and in accordance with commitments in the Programme for Government, Minister Humphreys is leading on the establishment of two regional action groups to help accelerate the broadband network build in rural Ireland, once a contract(s) has been awarded.
In July, I established a Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce with my colleague Minister Humphreys to address immediate issues in relation to the quality of mobile phone and broadband coverage. I expect the Taskforce to report by end 2016.
I have also secured €8m for RTE which will allow it to free up the 700MHz spectrum band. In addition, I recently signed Regulations allowing ComReg to proceed with an early 2017 auction of the 3.6GHz radio spectrum band, to provide an 86% increase in total spectrum available for mobile and fixed wireless services.
These initiatives should assist in significantly improving the quality of broadband and mobile phone services across Ireland, putting Ireland to the forefront internationally in terms of connectivity.
657. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment further to Parliamentary Question No. 1641 of 16 September 2016, if he will review correspondence regarding concerns about a waste company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34524/16]
View answerMy role as Minister is the maintenance and development of the policy and statutory framework within which the relevant environmental regulatory authorities viz the Environmental Protection Agency, local authorities, the National Waste Collection Permit Office and the National Transfrontier Shipments Office, discharge their respective regulatory and enforcement functions under the Waste Management Acts, in order to ensure that Ireland meets its legal obligations under waste legislation.
As I stated in reply to Question No. 1641 of 16 September 2016, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is the statutory independent body responsible for the enforcement of domestic and EU competition law in the State as well as matters pertaining to consumer protection. In line with the objectives of European and national waste policy, the European Union (Household Good Waste and Bio-Waste) Regulation 2015 were designed to promote the segregation and recovery of household waste and the correct use of 'black bins' and 'brown bins' to divert food waste from landfill and the opportunity for such waste to be presented for composting or anaerobic digestion or treatment in way that fulfils a high level of environmental protection.
658. Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to supply a high speed broadband service in an area (details supplied) in County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34532/16]
View answer659. Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to supply a high speed broadband service to an area (details supplied) in County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34534/16]
View answer660. Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to supply a high speed broadband service to an area (details supplied) in County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34536/16]
View answer661. Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to supply a high speed broadband service to an area (details supplied) in County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34537/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 658 to 661, inclusive, together.
The National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to deliver high speed services to every city, town, village and individual premises in Ireland. The Programme for Government commits to the delivery of the NBP as a matter of priority. This is being achieved through a combination of commercial investment by the telecommunications sector and through a State intervention in those areas where commercial investment has not been fully demonstrated. The formal procurement process for the State Intervention commenced in December 2015.
The procurement process aims to identify an entity or entities to build, rollout, operate and deliver high speed broadband of at least 30 Megabits per second upload and 6 Megabits per second download speeds to all premises within the intervention area. The three bidders in the procurement process have indicated that they are proposing a predominantly fibre-to-the-home solution for rural Ireland under the National Broadband plan intervention. Householders and businesses may avail of speeds not just of 30 Megabits per second but potentially 1000 Megabits per second, with businesses potentially availing of symmetrical upload and download speeds. This is a solution that will endure for 25 years and beyond.
The High Speed Broadband Map, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie, shows the extent of the State Intervention area and provides information on a county by county basis with a breakdown of coverage across the townlands in every county including Co Louth. Individuals can check whether their premise is in a BLUE or an AMBER area by scrolling through the map online or entering their Eircode. The Department also has a dedicated mailbox and anyone with a query in relation to the Map should email the Department, quoting their Eircode, to broadband@dccae.gov.ie.
The townlands of Ballagan and Whitestown, County Louth including the eircodes referred to by the Deputy fall within the AMBER area and will therefore be included in the State intervention procurement process. This means that the premises are not within a BLUE area receiving services from commercial broadband providers.
The rollout of services by commercial operators in the BLUE area is being kept under constant review by the Department to ensure that all premises can get access to services, either through commercial investment or the State intervention.
Over 750,000 premises are currently within the State intervention area. This includes over 15,000 premises in County Louth.
The Department is now in a formal procurement process to select a company or companies who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network to over 750,000 premises in Ireland, covering 100,000km of road network and 96% of the land area of Ireland.
My Department continues to liaise closely with industry and relevant other Departments and agencies to assist in the commercial deployment of telecommunications networks. The commercial telecommunications sector has invested over €2bn in upgrading and modernising networks which support the provision of high speed broadband and mobile telecoms service, including parts of Co. Meath. These investments will further improve the coverage and quality of broadband and mobile voice and data services throughout the country.
In parallel, and in accordance with commitments in the Programme for Government, Minister Humphreys is leading on the establishment of two regional action groups to help accelerate the broadband network build in rural Ireland, once a contract(s) has been awarded.
In July, I established a Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce with my colleague Minister Humphreys to address immediate issues in relation to the quality of mobile phone and broadband coverage. I expect the Taskforce to report by end 2016.
I recently signed Regulations allowing ComReg to proceed with an early 2017 auction of the 3.6GHz radio spectrum band, to provide an 86% increase in total spectrum available for mobile and fixed wireless services. I have also secured €8m for RTE which will allow it to free up the 700MHz spectrum band, to provide enhanced mobile services.
These initiatives should assist in significantly improving the quality of broadband and mobile phone services across Ireland including County Louth.
662. Deputy Mary Butler asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to lift the salmon and the drift net ban; his plans to carry out a further study on salmon stocks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34543/16]
View answerThe status of each of Ireland 147 individual salmon stocks is reviewed each year. The Standing Scientific Committee (SSC) for salmon provides independent advice to Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) as regards the annual individual stock assessments for Ireland’s wild salmon fisheries. This independent scientific advice underpins the annual management decisions and advice of IFI as regards all aspects of the angling and commercial season for salmon on an individual river basis.
The SSC is a statutorily independent committee comprised of scientists from IFI, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, the Loughs Agency, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Marine Institute, the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (Northern Ireland), and other State bodies and third level institutions.
In 2006 a decision of the Government determined that the wild salmon fishery is to be managed in line with the scientific advice in the interests of conservation of stocks. Since 2007, the harvest of salmon, by commercial and recreational (angling) means, has been restricted to those individual river stocks that are meeting their conservation limits.
The individual river management strategy is based on the fact that each of Ireland’s salmon rivers has its own unique stock of salmon which migrates to sea as juveniles and returns to the same river in adulthood to spawn and create the next generation of fish exclusive to that river. Fisheries are only considered in rivers where the estimated returns are above the conservation limit for the river.
The annual Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme Regulations, made pursuant to Sections 69 of the Inland Fisheries Act 2010, provide for the management of Ireland's wild salmon and sea trout fishery by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI). These Regulations are revised on an annual basis, taking account of advice from IFI, the SSC and any submissions received from a 30 day public consultation for the following season. I have already commenced the 30 day public consultation for the 2017 Regulations.
A copy of the draft regulations, which are available on the Department’s website, www.dccae.gov.ie, is open for public inspection at the offices of the Department in Cavan and also at the offices of Inland Fisheries Ireland. Any person may submit observations on the draft regulations at any time during the period of 30 days concluding on 11 December, 2016
The commercial (draftnet and snapnet) season commences in May each year and conservation measures for the fishery will be introduced in advance of the season under the Control of Fishing for Salmon Order and associated bye-laws.
663. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if his attention has been drawn to the current situation whereby haulage for Bord na Móna has been outsourced; his views on the impact of this decision for current employees of the company; his plans to take action to secure the jobs with the company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34805/16]
View answerBord na Móna is a commercial State company operating under the Turf Development Acts 1946 to 1998 and industrial relation matters are the responsibility of the Board and management of the Company and not ones in which I, as Minister, have any role.
I am advised by Bord na Mona that the matter referred to has been passed to the Company’s internal dispute resolution mechanism, the Joint Industrial Relations Council (JIRC). This Council was established as part of the wider agreement between management and Unions that was reached in February 2016 under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission.
664. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will consider a voluntary buy out scheme for snap net fishermen on the rivers Barrow, Nore, Suir and Slaney, if the fishermen were prepared to relinquish their licences in favour of compensation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34960/16]
View answer665. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will consider a voluntary buy out scheme for drift net fisherman on the estuaries to the rivers Barrow, Nore and Suir, if the fisherman were prepared to relinquish their licences in favour of compensation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34961/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 664 and 665 together.
The Salmon Hardship Scheme was introduced following a Government decision in 2006 to cease, for conservation reasons, the commercial salmon mixed stock fishery. Under the scheme, fishermen active in the commercial salmon fishery, could opt to voluntarily cease fishing and undertake not to seek a licence in the future. Payments to individuals were based on verifiable track record and recorded catches in the five years prior to its introduction.
In excess of €25 million was allocated to the scheme to facilitate payments to fishermen, with a further €5 million provided for community development projects. The scheme closed for applications on 31 December 2007 and ceased in 2008. I understand that all funds were expended and there are currently no plans to revisit such a scheme.
666. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will examine an issue (details supplied) regarding broadband in Cootehill; if this can be expedited; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34973/16]
View answerThe State can only intervene to ensure access to broadband services in cases of clear market failure.
The National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to deliver high speed services to every city, town, village and individual premises in Ireland. The Programme for Government commits to the delivery of the NBP as a matter of priority. This is being achieved through a combination of commercial investment by the telecommunications sector and a State intervention in those areas where commercial investment has not been fully demonstrated. The formal procurement process for the State Intervention commenced in December 2015.
The High Speed Broadband Map, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie shows the extent of the State Intervention area:
- The areas marked BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have previously indicated plans to deliver high speed broadband services.
- The areas marked AMBER on the High Speed Broadband Map represent the target areas for the State Intervention which are the subject of the current procurement process.
The map provides information on a county by county basis with a breakdown of coverage across the townlands in every county including Co. Cavan.
The maps shows that Cootehill in the townland of Killycramph is included in the BLUE area where commercial providers are either currently delivering or previously indicated that they have plans to deliver high speed broadband services. Individuals can check whether their premises is in a BLUE or an AMBER area by scrolling through the map online or entering their Eircode.
Investment decisions by the commercial electronic communications network infrastructure providers in that market, including the timing and location of infrastructure upgrades to make high speed broadband services available, are taken on commercial grounds by each network operator. Neither my Department nor the Commission for Communications Regulation, the independent market regulator, have statutory authority to oblige any particular network provider to invest in the provision of upgraded broadband services.
My Department is however actively monitoring the deployment plans in the BLUE area. Direct feedback from consumers is important and if customers in Cootehill County Cavan cannot access high speed broadband services, I would encourage them to contact my Department directly at broadband@dccae.gov.ie, quoting their address and Eircode, and giving details of providers they have contacted with a view to obtaining services. If investment from commercial operators is not forthcoming, the Department has reserved the right to include the premises in question as part of the procurement process.
The Department is now in a formal procurement process to select a company or companies who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network within the State Intervention Area comprising over 750,000 premises including over 24,000 premises in County Cavan, covering 100,000km of road network and 96% of the land area of Ireland.
The procurement process commenced in December 2015. In July, 3 consortia were shortlisted as bidders and invited to participate in formal dialogue. All three bidders involved in dialogue are proposing a predominantly fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network solution to connect rural Ireland. This means that consumers in rural Ireland could have access to services of up to 1,000 megabits per second, with businesses availing of symmetrical upload and download speeds. It will involve the building of a new network in rural Ireland, spanning the equivalent of up to 100,000km of road.
Through this combination of commercial investment by telecoms operators, and the State Intervention, the National Broadband Plan aims to deal conclusively with Ireland’s connectivity challenges.
667. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to continue to provide funding for a project (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34979/16]
View answerThe Protecting Uplands & Rural Environments (PURE) Project was established on a pilot basis in January 2006 to combat the escalating problem of fly-tipping and small scale illegal dumping in the scenic area encompassed by the Wicklow and Dublin Uplands. PURE is a regional environmental partnership initiative which unites statutory and non-statutory interests in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands including the relevant local authorities, Coillte, the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS), Fáilte Ireland and a number of non-statutory organisations represented by the Wicklow Uplands Council.
My Department originally agreed to provide funding of €350,000 over the three year lifespan of the pilot project (2006-2008) through the Environment Fund. The original three year period expired at the end of 2008 and, following a positive review of the effectiveness of the project, the Department agreed to extend the lifetime of the project for two further three year terms, 2009-2011, 2012-2014, and then for an additional two year period from 2015-2016. An allocation of funding in the amount of €90,000 per annum was provided over the most recent funding commitment, which runs until December 2016.
My Department recently received a proposal to extend the lifetime of the PURE project for a further term. The proposal is being examined in the context of my Department’s consideration of Environment Fund allocations for 2017, and I expect to make a decision shortly.
