Written Answers Nos. 243-258
244. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Finance the number of dedicated spaces for breastfeeding and expressing breast milk in workplaces assigned to his Department in percentage and absolute terms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31751/20]
View answerI wish to advise that my Department does not have any dedicated spaces for breastfeeding or expressing breast milk in its offices.
245. Deputy Charles Flanagan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if guidelines have been prepared, agreed and set in place in relation to recommendations in the report of the Ombudsman on the Magdalen laundry scheme (details supplied). [31229/20]
View answerMy Department is currently working to finalise guidelines on foot of the Ombudsman's report referred to by the Deputy. The intention is that these guidelines, while not addressing any one particular issue or circumstance, will support any Department which has to consider whether the establishment of a scheme for redress might be appropriate. My Department has engaged with a number of other relevant Departments, as well as the Office of the Attorney General, in this exercise. I expect that a finalised version of the guidelines will be ready for consideration and dissemination shortly.
246. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the replacement of windows at Howth Garda station has commenced; the estimated cost of the project; and the expected duration of such works. [31164/20]
View answerI can confirm that the Office of Public Works is currently carrying out work to refurbish the windows at Howth Garda Station. The work commenced in October 2020 and is due for completion in December 2020.
The project is funded in full by the Office of Public Works under planned maintenance and the works will cost in the region of €95,000.
247. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the Office of Public Works is the competent authority with responsibility for the River Friars at Newtownsmith, County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31508/20]
View answerThe Friars River forms part of the Corrib Clare Catchment Arterial Drainage Scheme. The Office of Public Works are responsible for the maintenance of the channels on the Corrib River and the Eastern Conduit Canal, which includes the Friars River and the Middle River.
248. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the way in which it is planned that northern parts of Ireland and Northern Ireland will benefit from the next allocation of structural funds; the EU financial assistance in cross-border infrastructure plans in place or being developed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31590/20]
View answerIn May 2018 the European Commission included a special new cross-border EU funding programme, PEACE PLUS, in its proposals for the Multi-Annual Financial Framework and EU Cohesion policy for the 2021-27 period. The proposal for this special new programme demonstrates the importance placed by the EU and by the governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom on the strengthening of peace and reconciliation and the enhancement of social and economic capital in Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland.
PEACE PLUS will cover an eligible area of Northern Ireland and Counties Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan and Sligo. It will continue and build upon on the work of the current PEACE and INTERREG cross-border programmes to support North-South cooperation under the Good Friday Agreement. Provision for the PEACE PLUS programme is included in the Withdrawal Agreement between the EU and the UK, and in the Political Declaration.
The development of the draft PEACE PLUS Programme is being led by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB), in close cooperation with my Department and by the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland. SEUPB is also supported by a Programme Development Steering Group, which consists of representatives of both governments as well as of local government, business, trade union, community and voluntary sector, environment, rural and equality organisations.
Programme development is now well advanced. An extensive public consultation exercise was carried out by SEUPB between December 2019 and February 2020, which included 16 public events, held in every county in the eligible area, and the collection of over 300 written submissions. SEUPB has also been working closely with government departments from both jurisdictions to identify areas of potential cross-border activity under PEACE PLUS.
While the detailed drafting of the programme is still underway, the PEACE PLUS programme will allow for very significant cross-border investment over the 2021-27 programming period, across a wide range of areas such as enterprise, research and innovation, infrastructure, health and rural development.
249. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide a breakdown of the €70 million from the carbon tax allocated for the ten carbon tax investment programmes and the further €48 million allocated for targeted social protection interventions; the specific impact of the increase in carbon tax on each cohort concerned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31644/20]
View answerI refer the Deputy to the publication on budget.gov.ie of the document "The Use of Carbon Tax Funds 2021". This document describes the revenue that is expected to be raised by the increased carbon tax in 2021 and the allocation of these sums to particular spending programmes.
In summary, the sum of the revenues raised by the continuation of the €6 carbon tax increase announced in Budget 2020 and the additional increase announced in Budget 2021 is estimated at €238m in 2021.
As I noted in my Budget speech, all of these revenues will be returned to citizens. €100m has been allocated to increase the funding for residential and community energy efficiency in 2021. This is an 82% increase in the budget available and means that 2021 will see the largest funding amount ever allocated to these schemes.
€48m has been allocated to part-fund a social protection package of €153.5m allocated to three measures to protect the vulnerable in society from the impacts of the carbon tax. These measures are an increase to the Qualified Child Payment of €2 per week for children under 12 and €5 per week for children over 12, an increase in the Living Alone Allowance of €5 per week and an increase to the Fuel Allowance of €3.50 per week.
This allocation was informed by ESRI research commissioned by the Government to determine whether the carbon tax could be increased in a progressive manner, with impacts on lower-income households and poverty offset through additional spending on social welfare supports.
The ESRI research confirms that interventions of this nature will reverse the regressive impact of the carbon tax and will actually lead to a reduction in overall poverty, particularly child poverty. In fact, the ESRI found that expenditure levels of just €50m - €55m were sufficient to counteract the regressive impact of the carbon tax.
By allocating €153.5m in additional social protection spending, the Government ensures that increase in the carbon tax will actually leave a majority of households better off than they were before the increase in the tax. Analysis undertaken by the Department of Finance using SWITCH, the ESRI tax and benefit model, to simulate the impact of the reforms on households has confirmed this. The analysis suggests that households in the first five income deciles will see increases in their disposable income as a result of these measures.
Budget 2021 also allocated an additional €20m in funding to the agriculture sector. The funds will be used to create an innovative, results-based pilot scheme for farmers who improve the bio-diversity and carbon management of their land by undertaking specific actions which they report directly based on the results generated from their actions. The funds will also contribute to targeting other specific commitments in the Programme for Government, including re-wetting of peat soils and climate and biodiversity training, in measures that will be available to a broad range of farmers.
Finally, €70m in funding has been allocated to continue the 2020 carbon tax investment programme. Budget 2020 announced that ten programmes would benefit from carbon tax funding. These ranged from the creation of a Just Transition Fund, increases in the allocations to greenways and urban cycling programmes and a €2 increase in the Fuel Allowance.
The Government will continue funding these programmes in 2021 to the same level as 2020 using carbon tax revenues, with one exception. The Aggregated Housing Upgrade Scheme was a once-off pilot scheme, which is now being rolled out across the midlands. Accordingly, no additional provision has been made for an expansion of this pilot in 2021, pending the outcome of the pilot scheme.
250. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of dedicated spaces for breastfeeding and expressing breast milk in workplaces assigned to his Department in percentage and absolute terms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31749/20]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has one room in its offices in both St. Stephen’s Green House and in Tullamore where dedicated space is provided for breastfeeding and / or expressing breast milk. My Department does not provide such dedicated spaces in its other office locations.
In line with Government policy, breastfeeding employees of my Department are entitled to paid breaks of one hour per day from work, or a reduction of one hour per day working time, to facilitate breastfeeding or lactation (Circular 31/06 Implementation of the Regulations of the Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act 2004). At present, breastfeeding or lactation breaks may continue until the child is two years of age. This hour can be broken into two 30 minute breaks or three 20 minute breaks if desired. Paid breaks from work or a reduction in working hours are calculated on a pro rata basis for staff members who are working a reduced work pattern.
251. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his Department’s progress in expanding the equality budgeting programme. [31366/20]
View answerBuilt on the performance budgeting framework that has been progressively embedded into the budget cycle, Equality Budgeting in Ireland has been developed over recent years with a view to enhancing the role of resource allocation policies in advancing equality, reducing poverty and strengthening economic and social rights. The National Strategy for Women and Girls 2017-2020 also contains a related commitment.
Equality budgeting should not be regarded as something separate from the budget process; the intention is to embed equality perspectives across the whole-of-year budgetary process.
The pilot programme of equality budgeting was introduced for the 2018 budgetary cycle, anchored in the existing performance budgeting framework. Following the achievements of the pilot programme, Equality Budgeting was expanded in 2019 to further develop the gender budgeting elements and to broaden its scope to other dimensions of equality including poverty, socioeconomic inequality and disability.
Responsibility for proofing expenditure programmes, the selection of indicators, and making progress towards achieving the high-level goals articulated remains a matter for the individual line Departments in the first instance. The role of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is to facilitate and advance this initiative and provide support for Departments to clarify and to fulfil their equality-related objectives.
To further guide the rollout of equality budgeting, an Equality Budgeting Expert Advisory Group was established, holding its first meeting in September 2018. This group is comprised of a broad range of relevant stakeholders and policy experts to provide advice on the most effective way to advance equality budgeting policy and progress the initiative.
All public bodies in Ireland have responsibility to promote equality, prevent discrimination and protect the human rights of their employees, customers, service users and everyone affected by their policies and plans. This is a legal obligation, referred to as the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty, and it originates in Section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Act 2014. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) are members of the Expert Advisory group and the Public Sector Duty is reflected in all Equality Budgeting policies as appropriate.
In 2019, my Department, in liaison with the Department of Justice and Equality, commissioned the OECD to undertake a Policy Scan of Equality Budgeting in Ireland. This was published in tandem with Budget 2020. The report reviews Ireland’s equality budgeting programme and provides recommendations on its further development, in light of international experience.
Implementation of the OECD recommendations has already commenced. This work is being informed also by the views of the Equality Budgeting Expert Advisory Group, and work is well underway on the various recommendations in the OECD report.
One example is recommendation 9, which calls for the development of an equality data strategy to further bolster the impact of equality budgeting. Monitoring and reporting from a given dimension of equality is only possible if the necessary disaggregated data is available. With this in mind, the CSO have conducted a data audit to evaluate the quality of existing administrative datasets from an equality perspective. This audit has been guided by a sub-group of the Equality Budgeting Expert Advisory Group, and is published on the CSO website at: https://www.cso.ie/en/methods/methodologicalresearch/rp-eda/equalitydataaudit2020/. Having a comprehensive understanding of the data landscape is a necessary prerequisite to implementing the remaining recommendations of the OECD report.
In the Programme for Government, the Government has also set out its commitment to develop a set of well-being indices to create a well-rounded, holistic view of how Irish society is faring; use these well-being indicators, as well as economic indicators, to highlight inequalities and ensure that policies are driven by a desire to do better by people; and ensure that the well-being framework will be utilised in a systematic way across government policymaking (at local and national levels) in setting budgetary priorities, evaluating programmes and reporting progress (as an important complement to existing economic measurement tools).
The introduction of wellbeing budgeting will also bring a framework, which will inform equality budgeting development to areas of most need, and link departmental action to national and international equality goals, in line with OECD recommendation number 1.
At present, officials in my Department are developing the programme of work that will support the Government in meeting this commitment with regard to well-being. This work programme will be progressed on a cross-Governmental basis in liaison with the Department of the Taoiseach, Department of Finance and other government departments as well as key stakeholders and experts in this area.
Once developed, the Government will promote the use of a well-being framework in a systematic way across the spectrum of public policy-making in Ireland, including in setting budgetary priorities, evaluating programmes and reporting on progress. This will be an important complement to existing economic measurement tools that are in place to support well-being and outcomes-based approaches to policy making.
One such existing tool is the ESRI’s SWITCH Model, which will continue to be utilised to help Government understand the impact of proposed reforms on households. Moreover, initiatives such as the Spending Review process, which is a key platform for evidence-informed policymaking across the Civil Service, will continue to produce evidence relevant to the wellbeing and outcomes of people, households, businesses and sectors of the economy.
Taken as a whole, a broad range of initiatives are under way to advance the objectives of equality budgeting, deliver on the OECD recommendations step-by-step, and in particular to promote transparency and accountability in reporting across the budget cycle.
252. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if teenagers and young persons can be permitted to play sports without spectators present during level 3 due to the important role that sport plays in their development and mental health; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31018/20]
View answerUnder the Roadmap for Resilience and Recovery the application of the public health advice measures to suppress the disease transmission is intended to minimise the risks to public health while striking an appropriate balance in:
- prioritising some activities over others, including health and social care services, education and other essential needs; whilst:
- protecting work and economic activity, and other key societal interests such as sports and important family gatherings, thereby allowing as much of society and business to continue as much as possible while continuing to make every effort to suppress the virus.
Due to prioritising of activities under level 3 of the Government’s framework, no matches or events are to take place. There is an exemption for professional and elite sport along with inter-county GAA which can continue to train with matches/competitions for those individuals. Definitions for those involved in professional and elite sports have been provided to the sports sector.
While there are restrictions on matches and events, participants (including teenagers) can engage in the following activities under level 3.
- Outdoors, no contact in a pod of up to 15
- Indoors, individual training can be conducted.
In view of the benefits to physical and mental health, while balancing the risks to public health due to the current prevalence of the virus, the provision for outdoor non-contact training in pods of 15 has been maintained in the new Level 5 provisions announced last night for underage grades.
253. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the status of the review on the Wild Atlantic Way that was carried out approximately two years ago (details supplied). [31583/20]
View answerThe development and promotion of the Wild Atlantic Way, including reviews of the route, are operational matters for the Board and Management of Fáilte Ireland. I have asked Fáilte Ireland to contact the Deputy directly with further information. Please contact my private office if you have not received a reply within ten working days.
254. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she will support efforts to provide sporting outlets for those over 35 years of age to keep them active and interested in sports in view of a number of examples (details supplied); her views on the idea; and if her Department will consider grant aiding such efforts. [30978/20]
View answerI recognise the importance of sport and physical activity for our society and the need to ensure that opportunities are in place to allow all members of society to participate in sport. Sport Ireland, which is funded by my Department, is the statutory body with responsibility for the development of sport, including the promotion of sports participation. Sport Ireland provides funding to the National Governing Bodies of sport (NGBs) and the network of Local Sports Partnerships (LSPs) to deliver policies and actions, including some of the examples of programmes mentioned by the Deputy, to encourage participation by people of all ages.
I am arranging for Sport Ireland to provide the Deputy with a comprehensive outline of its participation activities with particular reference to those over 35 years of age. Please contact my office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.
255. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if her Department will work with the arts, entertainment and events community to help, financially and logistically establish socially distant concerts as Ireland lives with Covid-19 for the foreseeable future. [31024/20]
View answerThe 'Resilience and Recovery Plan for Living with COVID-19' is a cross-government approach to managing the pandemic for the coming months. It sets out a framework on managing and living with COVID-19 and includes restrictive measures to help us to go about our daily lives as much as possible, while managing the virus. The framework sets out five levels of response, each with a number of measures designed to help us all lower COVID-19 transmission and setting out what is permitted at that moment in time
One of the Government's priorities is to keep schools and childcare services open, while keeping people safe. Concerts are classified as indoor and outdoor events under the Plan and are not permitted under Level 5 as no organised indoor gatherings should take place.
It is hoped that the country will move from Level 5 in due course. In the interim, the Arts and Culture Recovery Taskforce, which I appointed, is expected to report. This Report should inform the Government's future decision making around live performance and concerts.
In Budget 2021, the Government announced the provision of support for live entertainment in the amount of €50m. This will include measures for the commercial entertainment sector and will support live entertainment across the country. It will be informed by this year's pilot live performance scheme which was introduced as part of the July Stimulus. There will be further supports for music, building on the phenomenal demand for support, also under the July stimulus, for the Music Scheme operated by First Music Contact. A scheme of capital grants for equipment will also operate in 2021. Combined with measures announced by the Minister for Finance, this will provide additional supports to a sector severely impacted by COVID-19. Officials in my Department will engage with the sector on the detail of how these new supports will operate, and I hope also to announce the recipients of the pilot scheme shortly.
256. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media when it is expected that details of a grant scheme will be announced (details supplied); the level of funding to be provided for the scheme nationally; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31063/20]
View answerThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on Ireland's sport and leisure sector. I regret that the necessary public health restrictions have presented serious challenges for the operators of sports and recreation facilities. As part of the July Jobs Stimulus, I announced a special fund of €2.5 million to support the reopening of publicly accessible swimming pools in recognition of the particular challenges pool operators face in reopening to the public. This funding will be administered by Sport Ireland.
The funding will be distributed to swimming pools through an open and transparent application process administered by Ireland Active (the association for leisure, health and fitness in Ireland). Sport Ireland expects applications to open shortly for the fund with a three week window for applications to be submitted. Ireland Active will run workshops throughout this process to assist potential applicants. A Steering Group of Sport Ireland, Swim Ireland and Ireland Active has been established to oversee, assess and monitor the process.
It is expected, at this point, to communicate the outcome of the process in early December. This is dependent on the volume of applications received.
257. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the estimated full-year cost if the budget for Tourism Ireland's regional co-operative market access scheme was doubled. [31181/20]
View answerFunding for the regional cooperative market access scheme is allocated to Tourism Ireland under the Tourism Marketing Fund. The funding available had been doubled this year and €2,500,000 had been allocated to the scheme prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, using the 2020 allocation as a base, a 100% increase would cost a further €2,500,000 on a full year basis and increase the fund to €5,000,000.
258. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she will provide additional sound and vision funding to the radio sector covering the period September 2020 to February 2021 similar to the scheme rolled out in April 2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31457/20]
View answerThe Sound and Vision Scheme is primarily funded through the TV licence fee rather than exchequer funding. The Broadcasting Act, 2009 provides that 7% of net licence fee receipts are paid to the Broadcasting Fund which is administered by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) and supports both the Sound and Vision (S&V) and Archiving Schemes.
During 2020, the BAI held two closed rounds for radio, targeted at the independent commercial and community radio sectors respectively. In June 2020, the BAI awarded €2.5m Sound and Vision funding to 32 independent commercial radio stations across the country supporting public awareness and understanding of COVID-19. This was in addition to a waiver on the broadcasting levy for the independent radio sector for Q1 and Q2 2020 which saved the sector €1m.
In addition, the BAI distributed €750,000 this year in a special round for the community radio sector.
The purpose of the Sound and Vision Scheme is to support eligible content across the broadcasting sector as a whole, ensuring a balanced and fair approach. In light of the going challenges faced by the sector, I secured an additional €2m in exchequer funding for the Sound and Vision Scheme under the July Jobs Stimulus Package. This greatly enhanced the funding available for the final round of the Scheme this year (round 37), bringing its total value to €4.5m. This funding round is open to those elements of the radio sector that were not eligible for the rounds to commercial and community radio earlier in the year, namely independent audio producers and public service radio. In addition, the round is open to independent audiovisual producers, and commercial, community and public service television stations.
The BAI are currently assessing the applications with an announcement on awards expected shortly. Additional information is available at https://www.bai.ie/en/broadcasting/funding-development-3/sound-vision-4/#al-block-2.
The details of funding rounds to be held in 2021 are a matter for the BAI to decide, and these will be announced in the course of the year.
