Written Answers Nos. 264-268
264. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the status of the building of new accommodation at a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21053/19]
View answerMy Department issued Stage 3 pre-tender approval in November 2018 for a proposal under the Capital Assistance scheme to provide accommodation for persons with a disability adjacent to the school referred to. The proposal will involve the redevelopment of a property previously used as a day care facility, to provide a five bedroomed unit to permanently accommodate four residents and a caretaker.
It is now a matter for the Approved Housing Body, the Saint John of God Housing Association, to progress the project to tender.
265. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the status of the Commission for Regulation of Utilities' review of the proposed scheme to develop a water supply network from the Shannon regions to the eastern areas of the State; when the review will be complete; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21067/19]
View answerThe Eastern and Midlands Water Supply Project has been in development since the mid-1990s, originally under Dublin City Council and under Irish Water since January 2014. It is the first comprehensive upgrade of Ireland’s water infrastructure in over 60 years.
An additional 330 million litres of treated water a day is estimated to be needed in the Greater Dublin and Eastern and Midlands Region by 2050. In 2015, Irish Water embarked on an extensive public consultation process to identify a new source of water supply for the region. Overall, ten options were assessed on technical environmental and economic grounds. The abstraction of raw water from the Parteen Basin and the Lower River Shannon was ultimately identified as the preferred option.
The Water Services Act 2013 requires the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, in conjunction with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, to provide consent for all commitments for capital expenditure above a certain threshold. Given the scale and importance of the Eastern and Midlands Water Supply Project, and recognising the statutory role of the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) as independent economic regulator of Irish Water, including its role of reviewing Irish Water’s capital investment plans, I have requested the CRU to undertake the review to support my decision as Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, in relation to the capital consent that will be required in the event that planning approval is obtained for the project. The request to the CRU is consistent with the CRU’s role under Section 40 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 to advise the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government on the development and delivery of water services. The review has commenced and I expect to receive a report by the end of 2019.
The Terms of Reference for the review are available on the CRU website at the following link:
https://www.cru.ie/document_group/water-supply-project-eastern-and-midlands-region/.
266. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the reason he has not released funding to local authorities for the Rebuilding Ireland programme; when this funding will be released; if his attention has been drawn to the impact of the decision on local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21115/19]
View answerThe Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan launched on 1 February 2018. Prior to its launch, an initial tranche of €200 million of long-term fixed-rate finance was borrowed by the Housing Finance Agency to provide funds for the scheme to local authorities.
When the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan was initially being developed, it was estimated that the drawdown of loans under the scheme would be approximately €200 million over three years. From the data collated on the scheme to date, the RIHL has proven to be more successful than initially anticipated, as a result of which, the scheme would require a further tranche of funds to be borrowed by the HFA in order to enable its continuation.
My Department is currently in discussions with the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance with regard to the amount of a second tranche, which I anticipate, will be finalised soon. When these discussions are concluded I will be in a position to make an announcement on the matter. However, the scheme remains open and all local authorities have been advised to continue to receive and process applications up to and including the issuing of loans. An announcement on the amount of additional funding to be provided is not inhibiting the running of the scheme in any way.
267. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if he has received an application regarding the group sewerage scheme for an area (details supplied) from Westmeath County Council; and if so, when same will be approved. [21140/19]
View answerDetails of the measures being funded under the Multi-annual Rural Water Programme 2019-2021 were notified to local authorities by my Department on 8 February 2019. Local authorities were invited to submit their bids for the funding of schemes or projects in their functional areas, with the deadline for receipt of proposals set as 14 March 2019.
Westmeath County Council has included the scheme in question in its application to my Department under the new Programme.
My Department is currently considering local authorities' bids for funding allocations. An Expert Panel has been put in place to support the evaluation process. In addition to providing an expert perspective, the Panel brings independence, openness and transparency to the bids evaluation process which is done on a national prioritised basis. The Expert Panel’s membership includes Departmental, stakeholder and independent representation.
The Expert Panel will make recommendations to my Department on the suitability of schemes and projects for funding, based on objective criteria which are set out in the Framework document issued to local authorities when proposals under the programme were sought. My Department will then consider the recommendations of the Panel, and based on these, will propose allocations for my consideration as Minister. I expect this process to be completed later in the second quarter of 2019.
268. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her plans to ensure that a site (details supplied) will be afforded the status of preservation in situ as opposed to preservation by record in view of the fact that a Bronze Age burial site and settlement has been discovered at the site; her further plans to ensure that the site is protected from development in order that the archaeological findings may be preserved for the benefit of the wider community; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21170/19]
View answerI refer the Deputy to my reply to Questions 518, 519, 520 and 522 of 14 May 2019.
Archaeological test excavations, licensed by my Department under the National Monuments Acts, were carried out on the site by privately engaged consultant archaeologists. Archaeological assessments are a normal part of the pre-planning phases of new development proposals. The objective of such assessments is to verify that an appropriate approach is taken in relation to any archaeological material that may be present.
The assessment in this case, comprising of a geophysical survey and archaeological test excavations, identified the presence of a subsurface archaeological enclosure in one area of the development site. In light of these findings, my Department subsequently approved a licensed excavation of the enclosure site in accordance with the provisions of the National Monuments Acts.
The excavation licence provided for the archaeological excavation and recording of the archaeological enclosure. While my Department received an interim progress report during the course of the excavation work, a standard condition of all such licences requires a formal report to be submitted to both the Department’s National Monuments Service and the National Museum of Ireland setting out the results of the excavations and subsequent scientific analysis. The licensee is also required to publish a concise account of the excavation on the excavations.ie website.
The National Monuments Service and the National Museum of Ireland will receive the preliminary report of the excavation findings in the coming weeks and a final report will be submitted in due course. I will be happy to share these reports with the Deputy when they are received in my Department.
Under the Planning and Development Acts, planning authorities also refer development proposals that may impact on archaeological heritage to my Department for comment so that recommendations may be made, as appropriate, to avoid or mitigate any such impacts. My Department has recently responded to such a referral in relation in this case and has asked for further information to be obtained from the applicant with regard to the results of the archaeological assessment carried out to date and of such further assessment as may be appropriate in relation to the work to which the planning application relates. The Department has also recommended that the applicant be asked to undertake an Ecological Impact Assessment and Bat Survey of the site. My Department will respond as appropriate on receipt of further information from the planning authority.
Any submission made by a prescribed body to a planning authority may be taken into consideration by the authority when making its determination on a planning application. The final decision is, however, a matter for the planning authority itself.
