Written Answers Nos. 34-46
36. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his plans to issue a circular to local authorities advising them on the maximum amount of time a family with children should be housed in emergency hotel and bed and breakfast accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35466/16]
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 housing authorities.
It is fully recognised that the period of time that families spend in emergency hotel and bed and breakfast accommodation should be minimised. This is reflected in the commitment in Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness that by mid-2017, hotels should only be used in limited circumstances for emergency accommodation for families. This will be achieved by meeting their housing needs through the enhanced Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme and general housing allocations, and by providing new supply to be delivered through an expanded Rapid Delivery Housing Programme and a Housing Agency initiative to acquire vacant houses. My Department is working closely with housing authorities and the Housing Agency towards the achievement of these actions and initiatives. I have no plans to issue a circular to housing authorities in relation to the matter raised in the Question.
37. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his views on the reduction in Dublin City Council's housing stock over the past five years; and his views on whether there is a need to increase the targets for local authority construction and acquisition across the greater Dublin area. [35422/16]
View answerIn 2011, Dublin City Council had a social housing stock of 26,750. In September 2016, stock numbers were 25,602 units (a difference of 1,148). Over this period, complexes in Charlemont St., Ballymun, St. Teresa’s Gardens, Dolphin House and O’Devaney Gardens were demolished as part of the regeneration of these complexes/areas. In addition, over the period in question, the City Council supported Approved Housing Bodies to provide an additional 991 homes for applicants from its waiting list, while also sourcing over 1,400 units under the Rental Accommodation Scheme.
With the publication of Rebuilding Ireland: An Action Plan on Housing and Homelessness, the Government has committed significant additional funding for social housing delivery and my Department has been working closely with all local authorities over the last number of months to support them in accelerating the delivery of social housing.
Based on the results of the Summary of Social Housing Assessments 2016, new targets will be, formally, allocated to all local authorities, beyond 2017. The Summary is well advanced and will provide updated data on the level of social housing need across all local authorities. Using this data will ensure that new social housing targets and funding are directed in line with housing need.
The funding that will be provided to all local authorities, including those in the greater Dublin region, to support the delivery of social housing will be commensurate with the targets set. It should be noted that the existing Dublin City Council target for 2015-2017 is 3,347 units and, to date, the Council has delivered in excess of 3,600 units.
38. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his views on whether town councils should be restored; his further views on whether there is sufficient local democracy and well-functioning administration in large towns here; and if he is examining proposals to implement new administrative bodies for large towns in the national planning framework strategy. [35468/16]
View answer82. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his plans to establish town councils for towns with a significant population and for the restoration of former town councils in general. [35233/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 38 and 82 together.
The decision to replace town authorities with a new model of municipal governance under the Local Government Reform Act 2014 was designed primarily 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 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 enables more effective and community-focused decision making and implementation. 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.
More effective democratic representation and local decision making is provided by the new system in which a wide range of local functions are devolved to the elected members at district level with more strategic matters decided by the plenary county. Unlike the uneven patchwork of separate town councils with outdated boundaries which it replaced, this is a comprehensive sub-county system, with membership in common between district and county levels, rational allocation of functions between levels, and a single administrative and operational structure.
In 2015, which was the first full year of the revised local government structures, a broadly based Advisory Group was convened to carry out a review of their operation, 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 the consideration of issues in the preparation of a report for Government and the Oireachtas by mid-2017, pursuant to the Programme for a Partnership Government, 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.
Initial scoping work in relation to this report is being undertaken in my Department, and will identify in greater detail the specific issues and options which will fall to be addressed and the approach to be followed in relation to consultation. Decisions will be a matter for the Government and the Oireachtas, as appropriate, following consideration of the report.
Separately, and in line with the PPG commitment, the development of the National Planning Framework is underway and will take into account all of the relevant inputs and statutory requirements. It would be inappropriate at this early stage to comment on the likely content of the Framework, until sufficient preparatory and consultative work has been undertaken.
39. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the position regarding a small social housing scheme in Kells, which had been ready to go to tender but has been postponed; and when it will be constructed. [35232/16]
View answerI refer to the reply to Question No. 59 of 5th October 2016, which sets out the position in this matter.
41. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the amount of money allocated under his capital budget to Limerick City and County Council for regeneration projects for 2016; if that budget will be spent; if there is, as yet, an allocation for 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35234/16]
View answerAn allocation of €30 million was provided for the Limerick Regeneration Programme in 2016 and it is expected that this will be spent by year end. As with all allocations, funding for this programme in 2017 will be linked to delivery; while there is currently a strong programme of projects being advanced, the exact likely funding requirement for this work programme for 2017 has not yet been finalised.
42. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the status of the ongoing review of the social housing approval, procurement and tendering process committed to in action 2.11 of the action plan; and if he will respond formally to the four recommendations contained in a policy briefing paper that his office received on 3 November 2016. [35454/16]
View answerIn line with the commitment in Rebuilding Ireland: An Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, a review of the processes and procedures in place for approving and advancing housing construction projects is well advanced and will be finalised over the coming weeks.
The Deputy can be assured that I and my Department are committed to working together with local authorities and all stakeholders to accelerate the delivery of social housing and to streamline approval processes and procedures, where possible. My Department is, of course, also committed to the achievement of value for money and the delivery of high quality housing as part of sustainable communities.
In relation to the policy briefing paper, Social Housing: Approval, Procurement and Tendering, referred to by the Deputy and forwarded to my office by Deputy Ó Broin on 3 November 2016, the recommendations in that policy briefing paper are currently being examined by my Department.
43. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he anticipates that the current housing needs assessment will result in an increase or decrease in the numbers on housing lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35472/16]
View answerIn accordance with a commitment given in the Social Housing Strategy 2020, the Summary of Social Housing Assessments will be prepared on an annual basis from 2016 onwards.
Preparation of the 2016 summary is well advanced and an overall national figure of housing need will be available shortly. As part of the 2016 summary process, all local authorities are required to submit their returns electronically to a central IT system managed by the Local Government Management Agency which will then be verified by the Housing Agency and a report collating the Summary findings will be submitted to my Department.
Pending completion of the verification process and the collation of the report, it is not yet possible to indicate how the 2016 findings will compare to the results of the last summary undertaken in 2013.
44. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the way he proposes to ensure that the €90 million underspent allocation, as of the end of October 2016, to his Department will be spent, particularly in the context of the acute shortage of houses and the growing number of homeless families; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35235/16]
View answerThe Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services 2016, published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in December 2015, provided for gross capital expenditure of € 545 million in respect of my Department in 2016. Following the transfer of functions from my Department in 2016 to the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, the gross capital allocation to my Department in 2016 stands at €473m. In addition, €32m is available for capital spending in my Department in 2016 following a carryover of unspent funding from 2015 giving a total available capital of €505m in 2016.
Spending in respect of capital programmes in my Department in 2016 currently stands at €233m. I expect significant further expenditure to take place by end 2016; traditionally, a very significant proportion of the Department’s capital spend takes place in the final months of the year when projects and initiatives come to a conclusion. If any savings emerge in the finalisation of Department spending in 2016, consideration will be given, in consultation with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, to the appropriate use of the resources concerned.
45. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will review the income cap for eligibility for those applying for social housing. [35227/16]
View answerThe Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011 prescribe maximum net income limits for each housing authority, in different bands according to the area, with income being defined and assessed according to a standard Household Means Policy.
The income bands and the authority area assigned to each band were based on an assessment of the income needed to provide for a household's basic needs plus a comparative analysis of the local rental cost of housing accommodation across the country. The limits also reflect a blanket increase of €5,000 introduced prior to the new system coming into operation, in order to broaden the base from which social housing tenants are drawn and thereby promote sustainable communities.
I am satisfied that the current income limits generally provide for a fair and equitable system of identifying those households unable to provide accommodation from their own resources. These limits will continue to be kept under review by my Department, as part of the broader social housing reform agenda set out in the Social Housing Strategy 2020.
46. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the position regarding the Balyna group water scheme in north-west Kildare; if the scheme will go ahead; and if the scheme does not proceed, if his Department intends to refund the many households in the area that contributed financially to the scheme during the setup phase. [35356/16]
View answerMy Department engaged with Kildare County Council on costs associated with the Ballyna Group Water Scheme in 2015. Kildare County Council did not include this scheme in its bid for funding under the Multi-Annual Rural Water Programme 2016-2018.
I understand that proposals for the Ballyna Group Water Scheme are dependent upon related investment in major public water supply infrastructure by Irish Water. Since 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. The team can be contacted via email to oireachtasmembers@water.ie or by telephone on a dedicated number, 1890 578 578.
