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Thursday, 5 Jul 2018

Written Answers Nos. 354-364

Emergency Accommodation Data

Questions (354)

Jan O'Sullivan

Question:

354. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of the 3,826 homeless children listed in the May 2018 homelessness report in emergency accommodation in hotels, bed and breakfast accommodation or hostels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29770/18]

View answer

Written answers

My 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 individual housing authorities.

Monthly homelessness data reports are produced by housing authorities using the Pathway Accommodation & Support System (PASS), the single integrated national data information system on State-funded emergency accommodation arrangements overseen by housing authorities. My Department collates this information into monthly national homeless reports, which are available on my Department’s website at the following link: http://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/homelessness/other/homelessness-data.

While these monthly reports include a breakdown of adults based on accommodation type at regional level, details in relation to families and dependents are not available in my Department and are a matter for the relevant housing authorities.

Departmental Staff Training

Questions (355)

Micheál Martin

Question:

355. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the training his Department and agencies under its aegis will receive on GDPR legislation; when it will be completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29850/18]

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Written answers

This year, in preparation for the implementation of the GDPR, Information Officers were appointed in each business unit across my Department, with GDPR training being provided to these officers as well as to senior management. The Department has had a Data Protection Officer in place since the beginning of the year who is committed to raising awareness in relation to GDPR. The DPO, working with the Department's Training Unit, is putting arrangements in place to extend training on the principles of data protection to all other staff of the Department; this should be completed over the course of the second half of the year.

GDPR training in the agencies under the aegis of my Department is an operational matter for each agency. Arrangements have been put in place by each agency to facilitate the provision of information by State Bodies directly to members of the Oireachtas.

The contact email address for each agency is as follows:

Agency

Email address

An Bord Pleanála

Oireachtasqueries@pleanala.ie

Ervia, Gas Networks Ireland

oireachtas@ervia.ie

Housing Sustainable Communities Agency

publicreps@housingagency.ie

Housing Finance Agency

oireachtas.enquiries@hfa.ie

Irish Water

oireachtasmembers@water.ie

Local Government Management Agency

corporate@lgma.ie.

Ordnance Survey Ireland

Oireachtas@osi.ie

Property Registration Authority

reps@prai.ie

Residential Tenancies Board

OireachtasMembersQueries@rtb.ie

Valuation Office

reps@valoff.ie

Social and Affordable Housing Provision

Questions (356, 357, 358)

Micheál Martin

Question:

356. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of meetings he and his departmental officials have had with Dublin local authorities on utilising State-owned lands for building affordable and social housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29859/18]

View answer

Micheál Martin

Question:

357. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of meetings he and his departmental officials have had on utilising lands owned by local authorities in counties Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford for building affordable and social housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29860/18]

View answer

Micheál Martin

Question:

358. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if he expects building of affordable and social houses on State-owned lands in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29861/18]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 356 to 358, inclusive, together.

My Department meets on an ongoing basis with all local authorities at a range of levels, both individually and collectively, to advance housing delivery. Such engagements cover, inter alia, progress on social housing and mixed-tenure projects, and the active management and utilisation of local authority and the wider public land bank, and they have been a feature of the work in this area for many years.

Notwithstanding this regular and structured interaction with local authorities, to add further impetus and drive to housing delivery on local authority and State lands, on 3 July, I held a Third Housing Summit with the Chief Executives of each local authority, including the four Dublin local authorities, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. The development of the local authority land bank for social and affordable housing was a key theme at the summit and the Chief Executives participated actively on the issue.

Following on from the Summit, I announced a number of key outcomes and actions to further accelerate and increase the delivery of social and affordable housing. Details can be found at http://rebuildingireland.ie/news/statement-by-minister-murphy-following-the-third-housing-summit-with-local-authority-chief-executives/.

Moreover, a follow-up meeting between my Department and the local authority Directors of Service with responsibility for housing delivery, is planned to take place on 11 July to further build on the outcomes of the Summit.

I remain committed to working collaboratively with local authorities and I will continue to take the opportunity, when meeting with both local elected representatives and the respective executives, to emphasise the high priority that must be assigned to developing housing projects on publicly-owned lands.

I want to see local authorities realise new social and affordable homes from their lands without delay, with particular emphasis on prioritising those sites with the greatest potential to deliver housing at scale, in the short to medium term. Many local authorities already have well-developed plans for many of their sites. Supported by €6 billion in Exchequer funding under Rebuilding Ireland, significant progress is being made in ramping up the social housing programme. The most recent details of the social housing construction programme are published on the Rebuilding Ireland website and can be accessed at the following link: http://rebuildingireland.ie/?s=Q4+construction+status+report.

In order to support local authorities to get their sites ready for affordable housing, I am providing increased funding of €75 million for enabling infrastructure, via the Serviced Sites Fund. I have recently invited applications under the Fund.

Repair and Leasing Scheme

Questions (359)

Darragh O'Brien

Question:

359. Deputy Darragh O'Brien asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the yearly target for the repair and lease scheme; the estimated expenditure per annum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29951/18]

View answer

Written answers

The Repair and Leasing Scheme (RLS) has been developed to assist local authorities or Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) to harness the accommodation potential that exists in certain vacant dwellings across Ireland.

The RLS is targeted at owners of vacant dwellings, who cannot afford or access the funding needed to bring their dwellings up to the required standard for rental property. Subject to the suitability of the dwelling for social housing, and the agreement of the property owner, the cost of the necessary repairs will be met upfront by the local authority or an AHB.

At the end of 2017, a total of 820 applications had been received under the scheme. Local authorities were engaging with the property owners in relation to 573 properties, 31 agreements for lease had been signed and 9 homes had been delivered and tenanted. A detailed breakdown of the RLS scheme data up to end Q4 2017 is available on my Department’s website at the following link:

http://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/social-housing/social-and-affordble/overall-social-housing-provision.

I am making €32 million available for the scheme in 2018 and I expect local authorities and AHBs to continue to implement the scheme locally. Expenditure for 2017 is set out in the following table.

2017 Year End RLS Expenditure

Local Authority

€ - Current

€ - Capital

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council

€8,809

€4,987

Waterford City and County Council

€17,371

€191,398

Wexford County Council

€4,009

-

Total

€30,189

€196,385

Over the period 2016 to 2021, the national target is for the delivery of an additional 50,000 social housing homes through Build, Acquisition and Leasing Schemes. The ambition is for 33,500 of these homes to be delivered through new build programmes including Part V; for 6,500 to be delivered through Acquisition programmes including the Housing Agency Acquisition Programme; and for the remaining 10,000 homes to be delivered under a range of leasing initiatives including the RLS. Out of the total 10,000 homes to be delivered under Leasing, it is expected that 2,000 will be leased by local authorities in 2018 under a range of initiatives, including the Repair and Leasing Scheme, long term leasing and the new Enhanced Lease.

I wrote to all Local Authorities on 18 April 2018 setting out their social housing delivery targets for build, acquisition and leasing for 2018, and for the period 2018-2021. The targets are published at the following link: http://rebuildingireland.ie/news/minister-murphy-publishes-social-housing-delivery-targets-for-local-authorities-2018-2021/.

The RLS data for end Q1 2018 are currently being collated and will be published shortly.

Social and Affordable Housing Funding

Questions (360)

Darragh O'Brien

Question:

360. Deputy Darragh O'Brien asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government when the special purpose vehicle research project for the investment of credit union funds in social housing will be completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29952/18]

View answer

Written answers

In line with the commitments in the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, an Innovation Fund was established to assist Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) to develop structures, policies and new funding mechanisms. One of the projects being funded, which is being undertaken by the Irish Council for Social Housing, is the development of a Special Purpose Vehicle to facilitate investment into the AHB sector by private investors, including the Credit Union movement. The project was approved in May last year and is being undertaken by the ICSH in 3 phases. The first two phases have been completed and the third phase is due to be completed by the end of September 2018.

In respect of the development of specific SPVs by the credit unions to enable them to make investments in the sector, it is a matter for the credit unions themselves to make the necessary arrangements.

Hen Harriers Threat Response Plan

Questions (361)

Michael Healy-Rae

Question:

361. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her views on a matter (details supplied) regarding the hen harrier scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29807/18]

View answer

Written answers

Farmers who are participants in GLAS or the Hen Harrier Scheme are required to operate according to their Farm Plan or Action Plan as per the terms and conditions of those schemes. My Department understands however that the person referred to is not in GLAS, the Hen Harrier Scheme or the NPWS Farm Plan Scheme.

There are only three activities which require consent for the Special Protection Area. These are

1. Construction, removal or alteration of fences, stone walls, hedgerows, banks or any field boundary other than temporary electric fencing. [Consent is not required for normal maintenance.]

2. Agricultural improvement of heath or bog.

3. Off-road recreational use of mechanically propelled vehicles.

None of the actions set out in the question appear to fall within the Activities Requiring Consent. However my Department's advice wherever landowners are unclear on such matters is to contact the local Conservation Ranger.

Turf Cutting Compensation Scheme Applications

Questions (362)

Michael Healy-Rae

Question:

362. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the status of an application by a person (details supplied) under the cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29748/18]

View answer

Written answers

An application for compensation under the cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme was received by my Department on 20 June 2018 from the individual referred to in the Deputy’s Question.

With respect to 53 raised bog special area of conservation sites, the qualifying criteria for the scheme are that:

- The applicant must have had a legal interest (ownership or a turbary right (right to cut turf)) in one of thee sites on 25 May 2010 and must have had the right to cut and remove turf from the property on that date;

- The applicant must have been cutting turf on the land in question during the five year period up to 31 December 2011;

- The turf resource on the site has not been exhausted; and

- No turf cutting or associated activity is ongoing on the property.

I am advised that my Department has contacted the applicant and is examining the application in view of the qualifying criteria for the scheme.

Departmental Staff Training

Questions (363)

Micheál Martin

Question:

363. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the training her Department and agencies under its aegis will receive on GDPR legislation; when it will be completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29843/18]

View answer

Written answers

I understand that my Department appointed a Data Protection Officer (DPO), earlier this year in line with the requirements of Article 37 of the GDPR. To date, the DPO has undergone comprehensive training in data protection and is responsible for the oversight of arrangements for transition to the new regulatory regime, including revision of the Department’s existing Data Protection Policy, and the identification of training needs across the Department as well representing the Department on the Inter-Departmental Committee on Data Issues, chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach.

As the Deputy is aware, my Department was already subject to existing Data Protection regulatory provisions prior to the coming into effect of the GDPR. The requirements of the new GDPR legislation have been notified to all staff of the Department, and a number of staff in key areas within the Department have already been facilitated in attending external GDPR training and seminars. Further training requirements will be identified on the basis of the exercise and will be rolled out on a phased basis to a wider cohort of staff as part of the Department's ongoing Learning and Development programme.

Bodies and Agencies under the aegis of the Department are also subject to the GDPR and are engaged in the process of adapting procedures, including the provision of appropriate training to staff, to ensure compliance with the new legislative regime as part of their 2018 work programmes.

Ministerial Meetings

Questions (364)

Seán Sherlock

Question:

364. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the date she met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade regarding a centre (details supplied); the persons present at the meeting; if the meeting was minuted; and the outstanding legal issues related to funding the project. [29864/18]

View answer

Written answers

I had a meeting with the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade on 22 June, along with relevant officials from my Department, to discuss this project. A minute was kept of the meeting. Officials from my Department also continue to engage with the local authority as this project is being developed and managed by the local authority.

The project has significant procurement, state aid, legal and match funding complexities and the Department’s aim is to ensure that this flagship development is delivered in line with legal requirements and in accordance with the Public Spending Code.

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