Written Answers Nos. 689-703
689. Deputy Kevin O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if consideration will be given to permitting the sale of properties to local authority tenants under the tenant purchase scheme 2016 (details supplied). [2803/19]
View answerThe provisions of Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, were designed to better facilitate the development of mixed tenure sustainable communities. Part V homes are specifically excluded from the Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme 2016 to ensure that homes delivered under this mechanism will remain available for people in need of social housing support and that the original policy goals of the legislation are not eroded over time. The continued development of mixed tenure communities remains important in promoting social integration.
In line with the commitment given in Rebuilding Ireland a review of the first 12 months of the Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme 2016 operation has been completed and a full report has been prepared setting out findings and recommendations.
I hope to be in a position to publish the review shortly, following completion of consideration of a number of implementation issues arising.
690. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the procedure by which local authorities may amend their differential rent scheme; and if it is an executive or reserve function. [2821/19]
View answerThe right of local authorities to set and collect rents on their dwellings is laid down in section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. The making or amending of such schemes is an executive function and does not require the approval of the elected members. It is subject to broad principles laid down by my Department in Circular letter HRT 3/2002 of 6 March 2002, which states that rent levels should reflect tenants’ ability to pay.
Considerable work has been carried out by my Department in developing a draft national differential rents framework for the purposes of section 31 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, which has not been commenced to date. Such a framework has as its main aim the harmonisation of local authority rents, including a set of standardised income disregards, whilst retaining the general principle of rents related to household income. Under section 31, the making and revocation of a rent scheme would become reserved functions, while the charging of rents would remain an executive function.
This work is now being examined further in the light of the broader commitment given in the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, to review the disparate systems of differential rent for social housing in place across local authorities. The overall objective is to ensure that housing supports are fair and sustainable and prioritise those on lowest incomes.
I expect that the review will be completed in the near future.
691. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 253 of 16 January 2019, the percentage of new buildings that have an A2 energy rating as required by the nearly zero energy building standard requirements; the percentage of public buildings owned and leased by the State that are fully compliant with the standard requirements as of the end of 2018; the mechanism by which compliance with the building standards and EU legal requirements is monitored; and his views on whether the State is compliant with the standard requirements. [2934/19]
View answerUnder the current building regulations, a typical dwelling is built to an A3 Building Energy Standard (BER). Currently, based on CSO statistics, 98% of all new dwellings are built to an A3 rated BER standard.
The Nearly Zero Energy Building (NZEB) performance for new dwellings will be typically equivalent to a BER of A2.
The draft regulations and accompanying technical guidance to implement this have now completed public consultation and the regulations are expected to be signed into law shortly. Accordingly the A2 performance requirement is not currently in place. Transitional arrangements will apply when these regulations are implemented. The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive requires all new buildings to be NZEB by 31 December 2020 and all new buildings owned and occupied by public authorities to be NZEB after 31 December 2018.
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION (EU) 2016/1318 of 29 July 2016, on guidelines for the promotion of nearly zero-energy buildings and best practices to ensure that, by 2020, all new buildings are nearly zero-energy buildings, advises the following: “Experience from the construction sector shows that the timing of the end of construction or completion of a building might be uncertain and may suffer delays. Member States would need to factor in the period of validity of building permits, the length of construction and completion of building works”. This recommendation is available at the following link;
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32016H1318.
With regards to new buildings owned and occupied by public authorities, in December 2016 my Department issued a letter to all public service bodies advising them of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive requirement for all new buildings owned and occupied by public authorities to achieve NZEB performance after 31 December 2018. It was accompanied by specifications and guidelines on how this could be achieved in practice, and to apply to all buildings owned and occupied by public authorities commencing design from 1 January 2017. A workshop was held with approximately 200 representatives of the public sector in January 2017 to review these specifications and they were then made available on the website of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive requires that new Buildings owned and occupied by public authorities are NZEB. Normally it is not expected that a leased building will be owned by a public authority but the final decision on this will rest with the Public Authority.
The implementation of the NZEB requirement in public buildings is the responsibility of the relevant bodies and at this early stage, data is not available on the percentage of NZEB in place in the public sector. However, apart from dwellings, it should be noted that all other buildings, public and private, which commence construction after 1 Jan 2019 must be NZEB under Part L of the Building Regulations and compliance in this regard is monitored and enforced under Building Control Regulations. It is planned to introduce NZEB for dwellings in the coming months.
Under the Building Control Acts 1990 to 2014, primary responsibility for compliance of works with the requirements of the Building Regulations, rests with the owners, designers and builders of buildings. Enforcement of the Building Regulations is a matter for the 31 local building control authorities, who have extensive powers of inspection and enforcement under the Acts and who are independent in the use of their statutory powers. This applies to all buildings, including those owned and occupied by public authorities.
Having regard to the above, I am satisfied regarding the State's compliance with relevant requirements and the associated guidance of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.
692. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the percentage at which differential rent should be calculated at by local authorities, specifically Westmeath County Council. [2979/19]
View answerAt present the making of rent schemes and the setting of rent levels is a matter for each local authority under section 58 of the Housing Act 1966. As a result the levels of rents charged vary across authorities with the result that households in similar circumstances may be charged different amounts of rent depending on the city/county they are living in.
The chief executive of the authority makes the rent scheme subject to broad principles laid down in my Department's Circular letter HRT 3/2002 of 6 March 2002, principally that rent levels should be linked to a tenant's ability to pay.
Considerable work has been carried out by my Department in developing a draft national differential rents framework under section 31 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009. Such a framework has as its main aim the facilitation of a significant harmonisation in local authority rents, whilst retaining the general principle of rents related to household income.
This work has been examined further in the light of the broader commitment given in the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, to review the disparate systems of differential rent for social housing in place across local authorities. The overall objective is to ensure that housing supports are fair and sustainable and prioritise those on lowest incomes.
I expect that the review will be completed shortly.
693. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the breakdown by each local authority and by year of the 250 homes brought back into use via the buy and renew scheme. [3089/19]
View answerThe breakdown by year and across each local authority of the social homes delivered under the Buy and Renew Scheme is outlined below, up to end Q3 of 2018, indicating a total of 235 homes delivered in this way. Additional homes have been delivered in Q4 of 2018, which will bring the total to over the 250 homes previously referred to; further details will be available once the process of validating delivery for Q4 across all local authority areas, currently underway, is finalised.
|
LA |
2018 to Q3 |
2017 |
2016 |
|
Carlow |
12 |
- |
- |
|
Clare |
10 |
2 |
1 |
|
Cork City |
10 |
- |
- |
|
DLR |
- |
12 |
- |
|
Dublin City |
- |
1 |
- |
|
Fingal |
11 |
11 |
- |
|
Kerry |
15 |
12 |
- |
|
Kildare |
- |
2 |
- |
|
Laois |
- |
3 |
- |
|
Leitrim |
2 |
- |
- |
|
Limerick |
18 |
12 |
1 |
|
Louth |
12 |
22 |
7 |
|
Meath |
5 |
11 |
- |
|
Monaghan |
1 |
- |
- |
|
Offaly |
- |
4 |
- |
|
Tipperary |
2 |
1 |
- |
|
Waterford |
- |
29 |
- |
|
Westmeath |
2 |
- |
- |
|
Wexford |
4 |
- |
- |
694. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the breakdown by each local authority and by year of the 48 homes brought back into use and tenanted under the repair and lease scheme. [3090/19]
View answerAt the end of Q3 2018, a total of 1,214 applications had been received from property owners; 48 homes had been brought back into use and were tenanted; and 122 agreements for lease had been signed. A detailed breakdown of the Repair and Lease (RLS) scheme data by local authority up to end Q3 2018 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.
A breakdown of the 48 homes delivered under the scheme by year and Local Authority is set out below:
Table 1: RLS Delivery
|
Local Authority |
Units Delivered - 2017 |
Units Delivered - Q1-Q3 2018 |
|
Carlow County Council |
0 |
2 |
|
Dun Laoghaire - Rathdown County Council |
1 |
0 |
|
Fingal County Council |
0 |
3 |
|
Limerick City & County Council |
0 |
7 |
|
Meath County Council |
0 |
1 |
|
Monaghan County Council |
0 |
4 |
|
Roscommon County Council |
0 |
2 |
|
Waterford City & County Council |
6 |
11 |
|
Wexford County Council |
2 |
9 |
|
Total |
9 |
39 |
695. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht further to Parliamentary Question No. 289 of 6 December 2018, the date on which the report commenced; the date on which the report was formally completed; if she was presented with a copy of the report; if a draft copy of the report was made available to her; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2342/19]
View answerI assume the Deputy is referring to the review of the Department’s management procedures in respect of sensitive assets referenced in the previous question. The audit of sensitive assets with a review of the Department’s management procedures in respect of both firearms and ammunition was commenced in 2017 and completed in 2018. The Deputy will be aware that this is an internal Departmental management report detailing sensitive operational matters with security implications and it would not be appropriate for me to comment further.
696. D'fhiafraigh Deputy Pearse Doherty den Aire Cultúir, Oidhreachta agus Gaeltachta an bhfuarthas comhfhreagras ó Údarás na Gaeltachta ina bhfuil tuairim na Roinne á lorg faoi thogra i nDún na nGall (sonraí tugtha); an dtig léi a dhearbhú go bhfuil oifigigh na Roinne i mbun cainteanna foirmiúla leis an Údarás i dtaca leis an togra sin; agus an ndéanfaidh sí ráiteas ina thaobh. [2345/19]
View answerMar is eol don Teachta, tionóladh cruinniú faoin ábhar atá luaite aige ar 5 Nollaig 2018, a raibh mé féin i láthair aige.
Ag eascairt as an gcruinniú sin, aontaíodh go n-iarrfaí ar Údarás na Gaeltachta cás gnó i leith fhorbairt an togra ar mhaoin an Údaráis a chur i dtoll a chéile. Tá cáipéisíocht ina leith faighte ón Údarás ó shin atá mar ábhar plé faoi láthair idir fheidhmeannaigh mo Roinne agus an Údaráis.
Ar nós tograí caipitil eile cosúil leis an gceann seo, beifear ag féachaint chuige sa chás seo go bhfaightear an luach is fearr ar infheistíocht phoiblí ar leas an phobail go ginearálta i gcomthéacs, dár ndóigh, riachtanais an Chóid um Chaiteachas Poiblí.
Fáiltíodh go ginearálta roimh an dul chun cinn a rinneadh ag an gcruinniú thuasluaite agus is féidir leis an Teachta a bheith cinnte de go ndéanfar cúram cuí go céimiúil den togra seo, i gcomhar le hÚdarás na Gaeltachta agus páirtithe leasmhara eile.
697. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if the parties in a case (details supplied) have agreed to a full and final settlement of the appeal process in a High Court judgment; if so, the terms of such a settlement; and the expenditure and expenses to date arising from the decision to appeal same. [2357/19]
View answerThe State’s appeals against the High Court judgments in this case were heard over three days and two written judgments were handed down by the Court of Appeal on the 14 February 2018 that upheld the State’s appeals in all respects. There was no appeal against the judgments of the Court of Appeal. That litigation is now concluded. The judgments are in the public domain and on the website of the Court Services. Issues beyond that are confidential.
698. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht when the last survey of archaeological monuments was conducted after a survey (details supplied); the names of subsequent reports; when an updated study will be conducted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2580/19]
View answerThe Archaeological Survey of Ireland within my Department’s National Monuments Service (NMS) maps and updates the data on our archaeological resources on an ongoing basis. Information on over 140,000 monuments across the country is currently stored in the Department's Sites and Monuments Record. NMS is assisted in this task by, inter alia, members of the public and the third-level education sector who provide notifications of potential new archaeological sites. The content of the Sites and Monuments Record is presented digitally, and is available to the public, through the Historic Environment Viewer, maintained by NMS. Monuments on the Sites and Monuments Record are also featured in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's LPIS and IFORIS land mapping systems and are part of the Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions requirements of the Common Agricultural Policy. In this way up to date information on all known archaeological sites and monuments, including new discoveries, is widely available and readily accessible to all interested parties.
The Record of Monuments and Places compiled under the National Monuments Acts affords automatic statutory protection to over 120,000 recorded archaeological sites and monuments in the State. Anyone proposing works in relation to a monument that is included in the Record of Monument and Places must give my Department two months’ advance notice of such work. The Acts also allow me to place a Preservation Order on any other important archaeological sites or monuments that may be at risk, including mew discoveries. My Department records and investigates all reports of damage or threats to archaeological features, including referring them to an Garda Síochána for investigation and prosecution where appropriate.
Archaeological excavations are regulated under section 26 of the National Monuments Act 1930, as amended. All excavation licences are issued on the basis that the investigations are for the purpose of searching for archaeological features and to provide for their subsequent recording or protection. A standard licence condition requires a report to be submitted to my Department on the results of each investigation.
My Department also liaises regularly with the utility and infrastructure providers and has agreed codes of practice in place with a number of these agencies, including Transport Infrastructure Ireland, Bord na Móna and ESB Networks, aimed at safeguarding archaeological sites and monuments. In addition, there are programmes with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Teagasc and farm organisations with the aim of raising archaeological awareness within the farming community which is the principal custodian of our archaeological heritage.
699. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will publish the airline costs for her Department for 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2688/19]
View answerThe total airline costs incurred by my Department in 2018 was €51,863.
700. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will publish the cost of newspapers in her Department in 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2705/19]
View answerI am advised that the expenditure incurred by my Department for newspapers in 2018 was €11,004.
My Department makes every effort to ensure that costs in this respect are kept to a minimum.
701. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans in place to bring forward legislation on island-proofing at all levels of policy making in view of the 68% decline in the population of offshore islands during the period 1926 to 2016. [2810/19]
View answerAs Minister with responsibility for the islands, I note with regret the decline in the population of our offshore islands. I believe the reason for this to be multi-layered and not attributable to any one cause.
Undoubtedly, socio-economic factors are a contributor to this decline and this was particularly identified in the report of the Inter-departmental Committee on Island Development - A Strategic Framework for the Development of Ireland's Islands from 1996 under the Department of the Taoiseach.
This report pointed to below standard access infrastructure for the islands - both transport and pier infrastructure - as significant elements of this. It is in this context that my Department has invested heavily in pier infrastructure and in ferry and air transport services in the last two decades. This work continues. In addition to other projects, my Department, under the islands programme will oversee four significant projects under the National Development Plan, Project Ireland 2040.
In combination with policies that are being implemented by other state bodies in the areas of health, education and community development I believe that there is a de facto island proofing already in place and further legislation is not required at this time. However, it is an area that my Department commits to keeping under review.
702. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the estimated cost in 2019 if the budget for the Irish Film Board was increased by 11%. [2898/19]
View answerIn June 2018, the Irish Film Board was renamed Screen Ireland.
Details of the financial allocations for 2019 to bodies under the aegis of my Department are published in the Revised Estimates for Public Services (REV) 2019 which is available at the following link: https://www.per.go.ie/en/rev/
For ease of reference, the figures for Screen Ireland are reproduced below.
|
Year |
Allocation |
Change |
|
2018 |
€18,022,000 |
|
|
2019 |
€20,040,000 |
+ 11.2% |
The increased allocated to Screen Ireland in 2019 is therefore €2,018,000, or just over 11%, higher than in 2018.
703. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the budget allocation to the Arts Council in 2018 and 2019, in tabular form. [2899/19]
View answerDetails of the financial allocations for 2019, including those to bodies under the aegis of my Department, are published in the Revised Estimates for Public Services (REV) 2019 which is available at the following link:
https://www.per.gov.ie/en/rev/.
The table hereunder shows the allocation to the Arts Council in 2018 & 2019
|
Allocation |
€m |
|
2018 |
68,213 |
|
2019 |
75,002 |
