Tuesday, 1 Feb 2022

Written Answers Nos. 409-428

Hare Coursing

Questions (418)

Paul Murphy

Question:

418. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total number of hares captured during each coursing season (details supplied) in tabular form. [4987/22]

Written answers

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The number of hares captured during coursing seasons specified by the Deputy is set out in the table below.

SEASON	Hares Captured
2009/10	5443
2010/11	5734
2011/12	5820
2012/13	5676
2013/14	5812
2014/15	5644
2015/16	5348
2016/17	5207
2017/18	5044
2018/19	4973
2019/20	2920
2020/21	2301

Regeneration Projects

Questions (419)

Chris Andrews

Question:

419. Deputy Chris Andrews asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he has received a stage 1 application for the regeneration of an area (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5023/22]

Written answers

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

My Department works closely with all local authorities with a view to progressing any potential Social Housing projects. However, my Department has not yet received a funding application for the redevelopment of Glovers Court flats in York St.

It is a matter for Dublin City Council (DCC) to bring forward proposals for Department funding approval. DCC have advised that their Housing and Community Services Department are currently preparing the Stage 1 application for submission to my Department before the end of February 2022.

National Parks

Questions (420)

Michael Healy-Rae

Question:

420. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of deer in Killarney National Park; the size of the population increase between 2006 and 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5045/22]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department carries out regular surveys, censuses and reports on the distribution, population density and population structure of Red and Sika deer in our sites as appropriate. These operational reports are of sensitive content and my Department does not generally give out specific information with regard to herd populations and density on our lands as such information could be an incentive for wildlife crime (such as deer poaching).

Deer populations by their nature are mobile and have a home range that is not constrained by landownership boundaries. Where appropriate, and depending on the annual counts – or where it is evident that damage is being caused by deer to habitats, especially woodland, culls may need to be carried out to ensure that deer populations do not reach levels that would have negative ecological consequences.

While my Department licenses the hunting of deer, it does not own the deer population and is not responsible for their control on private lands or the wider countryside. The control of deer on private property is a matter for the relevant landowner. Landowners may apply to my Department for a permission under section 42 of the Wildlife Acts to cull deer where this is necessary outside the annual open seasons. These permissions offer a facility whereby a person can obtain a permit, on a case by case basis, to prevent serious damage caused by individual deer on specific lands. Permissions are only issued where there is evidence of such damage.

The NPWS actively manages deer herd on lands in its ownership. The culling of the deer herd is a regular and on-going management operation within our National Parks to ensure sustainable herd management. The table below illustrates actions in this regard over the period 2016-2021 with regard to Killarney National Park

-	2016-17 season	2017-18 season	2018-19 season	2019-20 season	2020-21 season (10/11/21)
Killarney National Park	More than 240 animals were culled between 2015 and 2018	120	272	264	234

Property Registration

Questions (421)

Paul McAuliffe

Question:

421. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to improve the efficiency of the Property Registration Authority to deal with its current backlog; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5074/22]

Written answers

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Property Registration Authority (PRA) provides essential services to support the property market. Although the National Land Register and its mapping base are fully digitised, and legal and spatial searches may be carried out through the landdirect.ie portal, the registration process itself remains paper-based because of legislative provisions prohibiting the use of digital signatures in property transactions.

Levels of completion of applications for registration in 2020 and 2021 were at circa 90 per cent of those achieved pre-pandemic. Notwithstanding this level of activity, there has been an accumulation of arrears in the period.

I recently approved the new PRA Statement of Strategy for 2022-2024, Resilience in a Changing Environment , which includes high-level objectives relating to the strategic management of case processing, the reduction of arrears in such casework, and customer–centric planning and delivery of services.

The PRA has secured additional funding for 2022 to address business continuity and arrears reduction. A new Arrears Clearance Programme has already been set in train, and cross organisational multi-disciplinary teams will be established to focus on the elimination of arrears. This programme, underpinned by project management discipline, envisages a radical, structured approach to implementation, with an emphasis on data analysis, innovation and business process improvement. The PRA intends to communicate this intent, and ongoing progress achieved, to both its internal and external stakeholders.

Housing Schemes

Questions (422, 423)

Joe Flaherty

Question:

422. Deputy Joe Flaherty asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if holders of stamp 4 status in the country will be eligible to apply for the new local authority home loan. [5075/22]

Joe Flaherty

Question:

423. Deputy Joe Flaherty asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if holders of stamp 4 status in the country were refused the Rebuilding Ireland home loan on the basis of their residency in the country. [5076/22]

Written answers

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

I propose to take Questions Nos. 422 and 423 together.

The Local Authority Home Loan is a Government backed mortgage for those on modest or low incomes who cannot get sufficient funding from commercial banks to purchase or build a home. It has been available nationwide from local authorities since 4 January 2022 for first-time buyers and fresh start applicants. The loan can be used both for new and second-hand properties, or to self-build. It is the successor to the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan (RIHL).

As part of the eligibility criteria for the Local Authority Home Loan, applicants must currently have a legal right to reside and work in the State and must be able to demonstrate that they are habitually resident in Ireland. Furthermore, there are minimum periods of residence required;

- All Irish citizens are automatically legally resident. They will also need to be habitually resident in Ireland to be eligible for assessment.

- UK citizens will be regarded as being legally resident in Ireland. They will also need to be habitually resident in Ireland to be eligible for assessment. This accords with the Common Travel Area requirements.

- All EU/European Economic Area (EEA) citizens who are legally and habitually resident in the State will not be eligible to apply for a Local Authority Home Loan for the first three months of residence in the State. Thereafter, they will be eligible to apply if they are habitually resident in the State and meet the definition of ‘worker’ in EU law or have been legally and habitually resident in the State for more than five years.

- Non-EEA applicants from any other countries must be legally and habitually resident in Ireland for a period of 5 years; or have leave to remain extending to potentially permit five years reckonable residence; or have indefinite leave to remain in the State.

In terms of a Stamp 4 visa, not all holders of a Stamp 4 visa meet the criteria set out in relation to non-EEA applicants nor have the required period of residence. However, if the Stamp 4 visa holder does meet the criteria, they may be eligible to apply. The Department does not maintain records of refusals on grounds of residency.

The final decision on the Local Authority Home Loan applications is a matter for the relevant local authority. Decisions on all housing loan applications must be made in accordance with the Regulations establishing the scheme and the credit policy that underpins the scheme, in order to ensure prudence and consistency in approaches in the best interests of both borrowers and the lending local authority.

Further information on the scheme is available on the dedicated website: www.localauthorityhomeloan.ie.

Question No. 423 answered with Question No. 422.

Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence

Questions (424)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

424. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question Number 307 of 25 January 2022, the further three domestic violence refuges that are at an early stage of advancement; and the stage each project is at. [5077/22]

Written answers

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The domestic violence refuge proposals that are at early stages of advancement, further to Parliamentary Question Number 307 of 25 January 2022, are as follows:

Local Authority	Approved Housing Body/Service Provider	Location	Project Status
Wexford Co Council	Wexford Women's Refuge	Wexford Town	Pre Tender (Stage 3)
Louth Co Council	Women's Aid, Dundalk	Dundalk	Design Stage (Stage 2)
Meath Co Council	Meath Women's Housing Association	Navan	Design Stage (Stage 2)

Planning Issues

Questions (425)

Alan Kelly

Question:

425. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage when the details of Article 10(6)(a) will be published for local authorities given that the previous provisions for this planning guideline expired on 31 December 2021. [5097/22]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Planning and Development (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2018, which came into operation on 8 February 2018, provide for an exemption from the requirement to obtain planning permission in respect of the change of use of certain vacant commercial premises to residential use, including the conversion of vacant areas above ground floor commercial premises to residential use. This measure was aimed at facilitating the productive re-use of qualifying vacant commercial buildings as homes, while also facilitating urban renewal and the bringing on stream of increased housing supply. The original expiry date of the Regulations was 31 December 2021 which was subsequently extended to 25 February 2022 arising from the Covid-related shutdown of the planning system for 8 weeks during the period March to May 2020, which extended all planning timelines by 8 weeks.

The Government's plan for housing Housing for All commits to reviewing and extending the 2018 Regulations to the end of 2025.

Under section 262(4) of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, legislative proposals in relation to exempted development require the approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas before they can be signed into law. It is intended to submit draft regulations in this regard to the Oireachtas for approval shortly.

Wastewater Treatment

Questions (426)

Ivana Bacik

Question:

426. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 490 and 491 of 19 January 2022, the timeline for the publication of the report mentioned. [5142/22]

Written answers

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Bathing Water Task Force, chaired by Dublin City Council, has informed my officials that the initial report is complete and is available from Dublin City Council ([e-mail]). I will arrange for a copy to be sent to the Deputy directly.

I understand that the report outlines in detail the areas of the catchment to be subject of further investigation for sources of pollution and it identifies the relevant stakeholders involved. Stakeholders have been engaged and a programme of necessary investigative works has been agreed. Some works have commenced and others are due to commence in the Spring. The works involved are localised misconnection surveys, targeted river and surface water sewer sampling, and CCTV surveys of culverted sections of the Elm Park Stream. The works include engagement with local private property owners. Landowners are being cooperative and proactively engaging with their respective local authority. The work will require time to take effect.

Electric Vehicles

Questions (427)

Éamon Ó Cuív

Question:

427. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to assist local authorities to make charging points for electric vehicles available in local authority owned apartments, duplex complexes and houses to encourage persons to change to clean energy away from fossil fuels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5157/22]

Written answers

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive requires the installation of appropriate infrastructure, to enable the installation at a later stage of recharging points for Electric Vehicles, for new residential buildings and non-residential buildings and those undergoing major renovation, with more than ten parking spaces. In addition, non-residential buildings with more than ten parking spaces must ensure the installation of at least 1 recharging point.

The Directive also requires that Member States shall lay down requirements for the installation of a minimum number of recharging points for existing non-residential buildings with more than twenty parking spaces, by 1 January 2025.

Regulations to introduce these requirements were introduced in July of 2021 and are available at the following link: www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2021/si/393/made/en/pdf.

Technical guidance to accompany these regulations is available on my Department's website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/83fdc-energy-performance-of-buildings-regulations-2021-technical-guidance/.

These regulations apply to both private and local authority owned dwellings.

In 2022 it is planned to introduce requirements for EV recharging infrastructure for all new dwellings with less than 10 parking spaces and for dwellings with their own car parking within the curtilage.

Water Services

Questions (428)

Holly Cairns

Question:

428. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on using section 19 of the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5178/22]

Written answers

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Policy Paper on Water Sector Transformation (February, 2021) sets out clearly the approach planned by Government to proceed with the integration of public water services within Irish Water's organisation structure and thereby deliver a publicly owned, stand-alone, regulated, national water utility tasked with modernising and transforming the delivery of water services in Ireland.

There are significant issues for the workforce to be addressed in integrating the day-to-day operation and delivery of water services within Irish Water. To resolve these, I asked the Workplace Relations Commission to engage with all parties aimed at reaching a collective agreement on a Framework for the future delivery of water services. This process is ongoing at present. The Government believes it will be possible to reach a collective agreement which addresses the interests and concerns of all parties.