Seán Sherlock
Question:1929. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the position regarding a State pension, non-contributory, for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare. [38971/17]
View answerState Pension (Non-Contributory) Eligibility
Questions (1929)
Written answers
An application for State pension (non-contributory) was received from the person concerned on 16 August 2017. A request for further information issued to the person on 29 August 2017 and their reply was received on 4 September 2017.
The case is currently being considered by a Deciding Officer. When a decision has been made, the person concerned will be notified of the outcome without delay.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Questions Nos. 1930 and 1931 answered with Question No. 1849.
Public Services Card
Questions (1932, 1933)
Róisín Shortall
Question:1932. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the terms of the contract to supply the public services card; the changes to this contract over time; the date for renewal of this contract; her plans in this regard; the company awarded this contract; the dataset provided to produce the cards; the jurisdiction in which they operate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38978/17]
View answerRóisín Shortall
Question:1933. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the estimated cost of producing public services cards within her Department; the business case for outsourcing their production; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38979/17]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1932 and 1933 together.
My Department (on behalf of the public service) entered into a contract for the production, personalisation and distribution of 3 million Public Services Cards (PSC) by the end of 2017. To date, over 2.8 million cards have been issued. As the initiative is demand-led, it isn’t possible to predict precisely when three million PSCs will be issued. The Department is considering a number of options for continued production of the PSC when the current contract expires at the end of this year.
The contract was awarded to Biometric Card Services (BCS), an Irish registered company based in Co. Wicklow. It was a condition of award of the contract that all data and related services provision and operation be provided on-site in Ireland and subject to the jurisdiction of the Irish Courts. As a consequence, the cards are produced in Ireland. A number of changes have been made to the contract since its award, primarily to deal with the implementation of new and additional security measures, to facilitate the implementation of new Free Travel software specification, and to allow extension of the contract period to the end of 2017.
The data items sent to BCS for card production purposes are: Forename(s), Surname, Mothers Birth Surname, Birth Surname, Sex, Date of birth, Place of Birth Nationality, Title, Suffix, Address, Photo, Signature, Security Questions and Answers, SAFE Registration Level, Card Request Number, Priority, Card Type, PSC Expiry Date, Magstripe Data, Free Travel Expiry Date (if applicable), and Free Travel Ticket Type (if applicable).
Once PSCs are personalised (i.e. the data is put on a card), the data used to personalise them is not retained by BCS but is destroyed as an automatic part of the personalisation process in accordance with advice provided by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. Additionally, the systems used in the card production have been subjected to audit by external experts.
The production of the PSC is a technical process that requires specialist and expensive equipment and data security technologies. The Department does not have the relevant expertise to undertake this production and does not have the long-term scale required to warrant the level of capital investment for the equipment and facilities needed. Accordingly, the Department never considered producing the PSC within the Department and does not have estimates for same.
Departmental Communications
Questions (1934, 1935)
Róisín Shortall
Question:1934. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will direct her Department to ensure that all inquiry telephone numbers are freefone or lo-call for those calling her Department from mobile telephones in view of the fact that large numbers of persons on low incomes do not have a land-line service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38998/17]
View answerRóisín Shortall
Question:1935. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will direct her Department to ensure that all inquiry telephone numbers are freefone or lo-call; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38999/17]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1934 and 1935 together.
Telephone is the preferred method of communication for many of the Departments customers. The Department is commencing a review of the use of Lo-call numbers from a customer service perspective.
Lo-call numbers have been in operation for the Department’s scheme areas for a number of years. These have been coupled with Interactive Voice Response technology to facilitate customers making quick contact with the appropriate section of the Department at a low cost to the caller.
Customers calling the Departments LoCall numbers from a landline will only pay a local call charge. However, where calls are from a mobile they can, on occasion, be more expensive. Where lo-call numbers are displayed on our website, the Department lists the landline options first. Accordingly, the Departments’ website alerts the public to the fact the rates charged for the use of 1890 numbers may vary among different service providers.
Staff of the Department will always facilitate a call back to the customer if they have a particular concern about the call charges.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Question No. 1936 answered with Question No. 1870.
Question No. 1937 withdrawn.
Questions Nos. 1938 and 1939 answered with Question No. 1870.
Motor Tax Yield
Questions (1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944)
John Lahart
Question:1940. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the amount of motor tax collected in each of the years 2011 to 2016 and to date in 2017. [36909/17]
View answerJohn Lahart
Question:1941. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of persons who pay their tax in a once-off yearly payment; and the amount that is accrued from the motor tax. [36910/17]
View answerJohn Lahart
Question:1942. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the percentage of persons who pay motor tax quarterly or half yearly. [36911/17]
View answerJohn Lahart
Question:1943. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the yield to the Exchequer from the excess charged to persons who do not pay their motor tax in one payment but spread it over the year with quarterly or twice yearly payments. [36912/17]
View answerJohn Lahart
Question:1944. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the cost per year if motor tax was charged at the same rate to every person regardless of whether they pay on a yearly, twice yearly or quarterly basis. [36913/17]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1940 to 1944, inclusive, together.
Total gross receipts from motor tax collected each year from 2011 to 2016 and for 2017 (up to 31 August) are set out as follows:
|
Year |
Total gross motor tax receipts |
|
2011 |
€1.010bn |
|
2012 |
€1.054bn |
|
2013 |
€1.137bn |
|
2014 |
€1.159bn |
|
2015 |
€1.124bn |
|
2016 |
€1.051bn |
|
2017 (to 31 August) |
€726m |
There were 2.6m vehicles under current taxation at 31 December 2016. Information on the percentage of motorists availing of the half-yearly and quarterly options is not collated – motorists can tax annually, half-yearly or quarterly and may avail of more than one option in respect of the same vehicle over the course of a year. The total number of discs issued in 2016 and the relevant percentages for each option were as follows:
|
Annual |
1,648,737 |
33% |
|
Half-yearly |
683,652 |
13.8% |
|
Quarterly |
2,654,977 |
53.2% |
|
Total number of discs issued 2016 |
4,987,366 |
Total receipts from those availing of the annual option in 2016 were €494.5m.
Based on motor tax receipts in 2016, receipts from the surcharge associated with the half-yearly and quarterly options was €55.4m and, accordingly, the cost of abolishing the surcharge would be likely to be of that order in a full year.
Motor Tax Collection
Questions (1945)
Bernard Durkan
Question:1945. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the basis upon which motor tax must be retrospectively paid on a commercial vehicle that has been off the road for one year in circumstances in which it would not have been tested for road safety during that year as it was off the road; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37115/17]
View answerWritten answers
The Non-Use of Motor Vehicles Act 2013 came into effect on 1 July 2013. The primary purpose of the Act is to replace the system whereby a vehicle was declared off the road retrospectively with a system under which the vehicle must be declared off the road in advance. The system of making retrospective declarations had become a means of evasion of motor tax estimated to have cost some €50m annually.
The Act provides that a vehicle can be declared off the road for a minimum period of three months and a maximum period of twelve months. Where the owner of a vehicle wishes to make a declaration of non-use, he or she must do so during the final month of an existing tax disc or a previously made declaration of non-use.
Where a declaration of non-use is not made in the final month of a tax disc or previously made declaration of non-use, a vehicle must be taxed for the minimum period provided for in motor tax legislation for the category of vehicle concerned, in this instance three months, irrespective of the reason for the vehicle being off the road. Any arrears of motor tax payable in respect of the vehicle must also be paid. A new declaration can then be made at any stage during the final month of the new motor tax disc if the vehicle is thereafter not going to be in use in a public place.
In respect of roadworthiness testing, the Act contains a provision that a vehicle may be used during the period of a declaration of non-use solely for the purpose of bringing it to or from a test centre or to or from a premises for repair where an appointment has been made with an authorised tester subsequent to the repairs being carried out.
Local Authority Finances
Questions (1946)
Michael Healy-Rae
Question:1946. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the criteria for borrowing money (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37460/17]
View answerWritten answers
Borrowing of money by local authorities is governed by section 106 of the Local Government Act 2001 (as amended). The decision to borrow is a reserved function of the elected members of local authorities, who have direct responsibility in law for all reserved functions and are accountable for all expenditure by the local authority. As such, it is a matter for each local authority to determine its own spending priorities in the context of the annual budgetary process, having regard to both locally identified needs and available resources.
Under section 106, borrowing by a local authority must be sanctioned by the appropriate Minister, i.e. the Government Minister with policy responsibility for the policy area concerned. If the borrowing is in respect of matters which relate to the responsibility or interest of only one Minister then it is the responsibility of that particular Minister. If the matter relates to the responsibility or interest of two or more Ministers, it is the responsibility of the Minister which has the greatest interest in the matter. In the event that there is no clear sanctioning Minister my Department may also sanction loans or co-ordinate a loan approval request seeking observations from a number of Departments on different aspects of a loan sanction request.
All sanctioning Departments are required to engage with my Department, which will provide an assessment of the financial viability of potential loans insofar as individual local authorities are concerned, and an assessment as to whether the borrowing can be accommodated within the context of the fiscal rules.
Upon receipt of an application my Department initiates a process of assessment. The purpose of this is to provide the sanctioning Department with observations on the suitability of sanctioning the loan both from a General Government Balance and a financial and affordability perspective. In reviewing requests for sanction, priority is given to loans for infrastructural investment and contractual commitments.
Tribunals of Inquiry Expenditure
Questions (1947)
Thomas P. Broughan
Question:1947. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if there are ongoing fees being paid relating to the Flood and Mahon tribunals; the areas of expenditure and the amount, for example, legal fees and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37522/17]
View answerWritten answers
The information requested is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy in accordance with Standing Orders.
Social and Affordable Housing Funding
Questions (1948)
Joan Burton
Question:1948. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the progress his Department has made in respect of the EUROSTAT investigation into the establishment by the Government of a bond to finance social housing investment suitable for credit unions to invest their surplus funds in; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38048/17]
View answerWritten answers
The Programme for a Partnership Government recognises the potential role that credit unions can play in housing finance and supports the efforts of the Registrar of Credit Unions at the Central Bank to gradually lift current lending restrictions as appropriate, including for housing. The Programme further provides for consideration, with all stakeholders, as to how credit unions can support the delivery of social housing.
Credit Union bodies have set out proposed means by which funding could be provided by credit unions to Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) for the development of social housing. My Department and the Department of Finance have met with the credit union representative bodies on a number of occasions to examine how their sector can assist in the area of financing social housing delivery.
Conscious of the independence of the Central Bank in its regulatory role in respect of credit unions, bilateral engagement has taken place between my Department and the Department of Finance to consider the potential regulatory and legislative implications of credit union involvement in the social housing sector. Both Departments have also met with the Central Bank to provide information of a technical nature in relation to social housing funding arrangements. This was with a view to assisting the Central Bank in understanding how these arrangements operate, as it deals with issues arising from proposals put forward for credit union investment in social housing.
I note the publication in May 2017 by the Central Bank of the Consultation on Potential Changes for the Investment Framework for Credit Unions. The potential changes that are provided for would allow for investment by credit unions in the delivery of social housing by the larger Approved Housing Bodies which are categorised as ‘Tier 3’ under the voluntary regulation framework for the AHB sector.
The Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme provides a means whereby properties can be built or bought by AHBs with the combined use of State and private funding, and leased by AHBs and Local Authorities from private providers, for the provision of social housing. This scheme which is underpinned by a lease and other legal agreements, provides that rental payments are made by the State over an agreed long-term period, typically 20 years. In return, the housing unit is made available for social housing purposes.
Changes are now being proposed to this scheme in order to facilitate larger institutional private investors to become involved in the financing of social housing. Subject to other regulatory requirements being met, this could include credit unions.
The National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) is acting as financial advisor to my Department in this work and has undertaken market engagement in the development of the scheme. The new arrangements arising from this process are being tested to ensure that there is no negative impact arising from how they are viewed and treated in respect of the State’s General Government Balance. As part of this process, the proposed changes have been examined by Eurostat. Work on the scheme is well advanced, with details expected to be announced later this year.
The Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness emphasises the need to look at new ways of funding social housing delivery, in particular the need to provide structural, funding and policy supports to increase delivery of social housing by Approved Housing Bodies. In that context, it states that support will be provided to an Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH)/sector-led new special purpose vehicle, involving investors which could potentially include the credit union movement.
In May 2017, my Department announced funding of €49,000 for the ICSH to support this initiative, with the aim of establishing a sector-led financial vehicle to allow AHBs to expand and to facilitate the delivery of additional housing units. Ultimately, the funding structure required to facilitate credit union involvement in the financing of social housing will have a neutral impact on General Government Debt, or be “off balance sheet” using the more commonly applied term.
The mechanisms to be used in the deployment of investment funds will have to be agreed by credit unions, with the support of their members and with the agreement of the Central Bank. My Department remains available to provide any necessary technical advice and support.
Water Quality
Questions (1949, 2039)
Ruth Coppinger
Question:1949. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if he will report on the actions being taken to improve water quality in rivers following the Environmental Protection Agency's report on river quality in Ireland, 2010 to 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38247/17]
View answerRuth Coppinger
Question:2039. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the assistance he will provide to Fingal County Council to improve the quality of the water in the River Tolka in view of the recent report from the Environmental Protection Agency (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38246/17]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1949 and 2039 together.
The EU Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy) establishes a common framework for the protection of inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater. The overall aim of the Directive is to maintain high and good status waters where they exist and to restore waters that do not currently adequately support aquatic ecosystems. River basin management planning, structured in six-year cycles, is the tool prescribed by the Directive for achieving these aims.
As part of the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in Ireland, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with, inter alia, the monitoring of water status in order to establish a comprehensive overview of water status within each river basin district. The EPA’s most recent report in this regard, Water Quality in Ireland 2010-2015, was published on 31 August 2017. The report provides an update on the status and trends in status of Irish waters following the completion of the first six-year cycle of the Water Framework Directive (2010–2015).
The overall finding of the report is that the quality of our surface waters has remained static since 2007-2009, with 57 per cent of rivers achieving either good or high status. In this regard, nationally, there has been a 1 per cent decline in the number of high or good status river water bodies in 2010-2015 compared with the status reported in 2007-2009.
The second-cycle River Basin Management Plan (RBMP), for the period up to the year 2021, is currently under preparation, with a draft Plan having been published in February 2017 for a mandatory six-month public consultation process (available at:
http://www.housing.gov.ie/water/water-quality/river-basin-management-plans/public-consultation-draft-river-basin-management).
The draft RBMP sets out comprehensive programmes of more than sixty measures to protect and restore water status. These programmes of measures are specifically designed to address the significant pressures on water quality, such as agriculture, domestic waste water systems, urban waste water, urban run-off, forestry, the extractive industry, invasive species, physical modification, abstractions/diversions, industry, waste, historically polluted sites and water treatment. Within these programmes of measures and in order to make best use of available resources, the implementation priorities are:
(i) full implementation of existing EU Directives;
(ii) preventing deterioration;
(iii) meeting the water-related objectives for protected areas;
(iv) protecting and restoring high status objective waters; and
(v) targeted actions in focus catchments.
Local authorities will play a critical role in the implementation of the programmes of measures. In particular, the Local Authority National RBMP Office, supported by five regional committees, will have responsibility for co-ordinated delivery of measures at regional and local level. This Office will be supported by a dedicated staffing resource, organised on a regional basis, to assist with measures to improve water quality and to conduct further technical work and investigation, as necessary. My Department is currently working with the Local Authority sector regarding the establishment of this Office.
In the context of the development of the second-cycle RBMP for Ireland, there will be a single, national River Basin District (RBD) resulting from a merger of the Eastern, South Eastern, South Western, Western and Shannon RBDs that had been provided for in the first-cycle RBMPs. As such, the draft second-cycle RBMP applies to all water bodies in the State, including the former Eastern RBD, of which the River Tolka forms part.
The finalised second-cycle RBMP is due for completion by the end of 2017, following a consideration of all the submissions received as a result of the public consultation process.