Written Answers Nos. 111-124
111. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide an update on pay and conditions for retained firefighters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11888/23]
View answerThe provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003. My Department supports fire authorities through setting general policy, providing the legislative framework, running a central training programme and issuing guidance on operational and other related matters and providing capital funding for priority infrastructural projects. The National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management (NDFEM) manages fire service issues in my Department.
Fire services in Ireland are provided by the local authorities in accordance with the provisions of the Fire Services Acts, 1981 and 2003. Under this legislation, 31 authorities provide fire prevention and fire protection services for communities through 27 service delivery structures. Approximately 3,300 local authority staff engaged at 217 fire stations nationwide deliver local authority fire services, 16 of these stations being staffed by full-time firefighters, a further 4 are mixed full-time and retained, and 197 are staffed by retained firefighters, with approximately 2,065 retained firefighters around the country. It is important to note that the numbers of fire service front-line staff have been maintained at a constant high level throughout the economic challenges of the past number of years, even when staffing numbers, by necessity, were reduced in other areas of the local authority sector.
In May 2021, I directed the Management Board of the NDFEM to review the delivery and sustainability of the local authority ‘Retained’ Fire Services, with particular emphasis on the recruitment and retention of personnel.
Following the recommendation of the NDFEM Management Board, I approved the review report for publication by my Department in December 2022. The report can be accessed on my Department's website at the following link:
www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/242869/d04df987-07f5-40d5-8121-e9767141de49.pdf#page=null
Publication of this review builds on the progress made implementing the “Keeping Communities Safe” policy, setting the future strategic direction of the Retained Fire Service.
The review report is the culmination of:
- the comprehensive engagement of retained firefighters with an independent research survey conducted during 2021. (Over 900 members of the retained firefighting service both serving and those recently retired/ resigned took part)
- the comprehensive engagement of senior fire service management with an independent research survey during 2021
- a comparative analysis of service delivery models with other EU fire services.
- further direct engagement with staff representatives throughout the process via the Fire Services National Oversight and Implementation Group (Retained), facilitated by the Local Government Management Association (LGMA).
It is clear from the findings of the review that the work/life balance for retained firefighters should be addressed to make the retained fire service a more attractive employment option. It is important that as we move to improve recruitment and retention, we also endeavour to prioritise inclusion and diversity within the Fire Service. The significant challenge in delivering change is balancing the organisational requirement and ability to respond with the life needs of the individual retained firefighters.
In order to align the future of retained Fire Services with the needs of the communities they serve, there is a need to review the terms and condition of retained firefighters to position the role as an attractive proposition for serving firefighters and potential new recruits from within the respective communities.
With a view to progressing implementation of all recommendations, engagement is proceeding via the established forums for the relevant stakeholder representative bodies.
The Local Government Management Authority (LGMA) are leading discussions on behalf of the local authorities with staff representative groups on the priority IR issues with two recent engagements on 27 January, 22 February of this year.
I trust that all stakeholders will work together in the coming weeks and months on the implementation of each of the recommendations outlined within the report, to achieve an equitable resolution of the issues identified, thus ensuring sustainable and effective retained fire services into the future.
112. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the details of any analysis carried out by his Department into the operation of the choice-based letting system; what measures are in place to assist older persons and persons with disabilities in accessing the system, particularly in local authority areas in which the online choice based system is used; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11938/23]
View answerWhile the management and operation of Choice Based Letting (CBL), including measures in place to assist older persons and persons with disabilities access online CBL systems, is a matter for the local authorities, in line with the commitment in Housing for All (September 2021) and the Housing for All Action Plan Update (November 2022), my Department monitors and promotes the roll-out of CBL.
To this end, five annual surveys have been undertaken since 2017 to assess the progress of roll-out, the most recent in September 2022.
Currently, more than half of local authorities operate CBL. Of these, 14 implement an online system, namely Clare, Cork City, Cork County, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, Galway City, Galway County, Kildare, Leitirm, Louth, Meath, South Dublin, Tipperary and Waterford.
While several local authorities offer paper-based systems, others offer both paper-based and online services. Generally local authorities are helpful in assisting applicants apply for their services, including through paper-based and online CBL systems, and anyone having difficulties in this regard should contact their local authority.
Given the benefits offered by CBL, including fewer refusals and greater choice for qualified households, my Department will continue to liaise with the local authorities to support as wide a roll-out of CBL as possible across the country and to explore the feasibility of a national online CBL system.
113. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 90 of 26 January 2023, the status of the development of the promised section 28 guidelines for planning in Gaeltacht areas; the status of the screening assessments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11939/23]
View answerAn Interdepartmental Group (comprising officials from my Department; the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts Gaeltacht, Sport and Media; and Údarás na Gaeltachta) is in place to support and accelerate the ongoing work in relation to planning in Gaeltacht areas.
One of the key aims of this group is to ensure that procedures and systems will be tailored, as appropriate to facilitate an effective and consistent approach by the relevant local authorities in managing planning related issues in Gaeltacht areas.
The Interdepartmental Group has been examining how current practices in the application of these provisions could be strengthened in the overall interest of the Irish language in the Gaeltacht and in the interests of proper planning and sustainable development, underpinned by a policy being finalised by the Department Tourism, Culture, Arts Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. This policy is critical to the development of the Section 28 Guidelines for planning in Gaeltacht Areas, which my Department is in the process of finalising a draft for my review.
Once draft guidelines are finalised they must then be subject to screening for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), as well as for the purposes of Appropriate Assessment (AA). Subject to the completion of the screening assessments, a draft of the guidelines will be published for public consultation in Q2 2023.
114. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a complaint has been received about unauthorised works in a priority habitat (details supplied); the action that is being taken by his Department as a consequence of the complaint; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11970/23]
View answerI can confirm that the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department received a complaint of works being carried out at the site mentioned, however, none of the habitat where those works were taking place is mapped as Annex I habitat. There were no unauthorised works, and no consent was required as the works were not within a protected site. I can also confirm that the works were carried out in February, and therefore there is no offence under the Wildlife Acts in relation to bird nesting season. My Department will not be taking any further action in relation to the matter.
115. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will confirm whether a contract for security work at 90 North King Street from his Department has been awarded to a firm (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11971/23]
View answerMy Department initiated a procurement competition for Security Services for 90 North King Street, Smithfield, Dublin 7 on 1 December 2022, utilising Lot 2 of the Multi Supplier Office of Government Procurement Framework agreement for Security Services.
After reviewing and evaluating the tender responses received against the specific award criteria, the company referenced was chosen and awarded the contract which commenced on 6 March, 2023, in line with current central procurement guidelines and regulations.
116. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total number of staff allocated to housing, local government and heritage in County Wexford, detailed by his Department’s different remits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11976/23]
View answerThere were 1,621 (1,576.39 FTE) staff serving in my Department at the end of January 2023, 258 (253.36 FTE) of whom are located in County Wexford.
The Wexford staff headcount by Division is set out in the table below.
|
Division |
Headcount |
FTE |
|
Corporate & Business Support |
53 |
51.63 |
|
Heritage |
48 |
46.93 |
|
Housing Policy, Legislation & Governance |
19 |
18.4 |
|
Housing Affordability, Homelessness and Inclusion |
2 |
2 |
|
Local Government |
28 |
27.6 |
|
Planning |
3 |
2.8 |
|
Social Housing Delivery |
51 |
51 |
|
Water |
54 |
53 |
|
Total |
258 |
253.36 |
117. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total number of staff allocated to housing, local government and heritage nationally, detailed by his Department’s different remits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11977/23]
View answerThere were 1,621 (1,576.39 FTE) staff serving in my Department at the end of January 2023.
The staff headcount by Division is set out in the table below.
|
Division |
Headcount |
FTE |
|
Corporate & Business Support |
262 |
254.53 |
|
Heritage |
556 |
534.71 |
|
Housing Policy, Legislation & Governance |
69 |
68.00 |
|
Housing Affordability, Homelessness and Inclusion |
85 |
82.46 |
|
Local Government Audit Service |
41 |
40.13 |
|
Local Government |
97 |
95.41 |
|
Met Éireann |
218 |
214.63 |
|
Planning |
70 |
67.92 |
|
Social Housing Delivery |
120 |
118.76 |
|
Water |
103 |
99.83 |
|
Total |
1,621 |
1,576.39 |
118. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of additional staff allocated to housing in County Wexford from 2019 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11978/23]
View answer119. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of additional staff allocated to housing nationally from 2019 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11979/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 118 and 119 together.
Under Section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he/she is responsible. My Department oversees workforce planning for the local government sector, including the monitoring of overall local government sector employment levels. To this end, my Department gathers aggregate quarterly data on staff numbers in each local authority on a whole time equivalent basis.
However, granular data, in terms of the detailed breakdown of the numbers and grades of the overall number of staff allocated to specific work areas within local authorities is not collected and consequently is not available in my Department. The relevant information would be available from each local authority.
That said, Housing for All commits to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to initiate, design, plan, develop and manage housing projects and recognises that it requires the resourcing of housing services of local authorities. In this context, I approved funding for 250 posts for local authority housing teams to support the delivery of social housing. I believe there have been delays in some areas but recruitment is well underway and that over 180 posts have been filled to date. Funding has been approved for a five-year period from 2022 to 2026 with a potential to extend the funding to 2030, subject to the availability of the capital funding as well as the delivery of targets in each local authority area.
Furthermore, an initial tranche of 69 affordable housing staff posts were approved in October 2022 and communicated to each of the respective local authorities with an affordability constraint. This is a key requirement to underpin affordable housing delivery and ensuring the required structures are in place to enable affordable housing delivery as a matter of priority. My Department and the Housing Delivery Coordination Office in the Local Government Management Agency will be monitoring this programme further to a review of any additional supports being examined in 2023.
In total six additional posts have been approved for housing delivery in Wexford County Council: three administrative and three technical, all of which have been filled.
120. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has spoken with the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Ireland to date in 2023. [11707/23]
View answerIreland enjoys excellent bilateral relations with the Czech Republic.
A resident Czech Embassy opened in Dublin in 1995, the same year in which the Irish Embassy was established in Prague. The current Czech Ambassador, HE Petr Kynštetr has been in post since March 2018 and presided locally over the Czech Presidency of the EU in the second half of 2022. While I have not had any formal bilateral meetings with the Ambassador so far this year, my officials regularly engage with the Ambassador and his Embassy colleagues on a range of EU and other issues.
121. Deputy David Stanton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will provide an update on the status of the new initiative on sexual and reproductive health and rights as outlined in the policy for international development, A Better World; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11721/23]
View answerThe Government's international development policy, A Better World, was launched in 2019 and includes a commitment to the development of an initiative on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). The Department expects to launch this initiative in the second half of this year.
Access to health services, including access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, is fundamental to transforming women’s health outcomes, is inherent in the right to health, and, is needed if we are to achieve full gender equality.
Improving the quality and availability of maternal health, engagement on the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS, and our work internationally on the prevention and treatment of sexual and gender-based violence have been long-standing elements of Ireland’s development cooperation. We are currently reviewing our existing work and identifying areas where there is scope to do more:
There is a need to scale up efforts to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies especially among adolescent girls. The Department of Foreign Affairs has this year increased Ireland's core contribution to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to €4.5million. We will also provide additional support to the UNFPA Supplies Partnership to reduce the unmet need for safe modern contraception in 54 countries. The investment will contribute towards a reduction in the 121 million unintended pregnancies recorded annually, and in turn will reduce the number of unsafe abortions and improve maternal health outcomes for women.
The forthcoming initiative will seek to protect access to sexual and reproductive rights in crisis settings, in recognition that access to all elements of health care, including sexual and reproductive health, are most severely compromised during conflict and humanitarian crises.
Our renewed focus on SRHR will also respond to the impact COVID-19 has had on progress towards key targets defined for Sustainable Development Goal 3, Health and Well-Being.
122. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will give detailed consideration to all the issues outlined in a recent publication (details supplied); if he will raise these issues in appropriate fora such as the EU Foreign Affairs Council and the United Nations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11983/23]
View answer123. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will seek a specific discussion at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in relation to the concerning issues outlined in a recent publication (details supplied) about the persecution of Christians around the world; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11984/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 122 and 123 together.
My Department has received a copy of the Church in Chains Global Guide and is currently considering its content and findings. Ireland strongly condemns all forms of persecution on the basis of religion or belief, irrespective of where they occur or who the victims are.
The promotion of freedom of religion or belief is a priority for Ireland and the EU's human rights engagement at both bilateral and multilateral level, as reaffirmed in The Global Island: Ireland's Foreign Policy for a Changing World.
During our Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2013, Ireland played a key role in the development and adoption of the EU guidelines on Freedom of Religion or Belief, which provide a framework for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief in the EU's external human rights policy. Ireland continues to work with EU partners to address the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities through the EU Action Plan for Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024, which includes an express reference to stepping up action to combat discrimination on any ground, including religion or belief.
Ireland has also spoken out at the UN Security Council to raise issues relating to freedom of religion or belief. In March 2021, Ireland shared its experience from the Northern Ireland peace process on the role which religious leaders played as mediators in conflict. Once again, Ireland condemned the use of religion or belief to create a hierarchy of humanity from which Christians and other religious communities can be subjected to violence and persecution.
Ireland consistently co-sponsors resolutions on freedom of religion or belief at the UN General Assembly and at the UN Human Rights Council. Ireland is also a member of the International Contact Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
My Department will consider how best to most effectively continue Ireland's engagement on the issue of freedom of religion or belief, including in relation to the issues raised by the Church in Chains Global Guide.
124. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence if he has spoken with his Canadian counterpart to date in 2023. [11696/23]
View answerTo date, in my capacity as Minister for Defence, I have not spoken with the Canadian Minister of National Defence, Ms. Anita Anand PC MP.
However, I intend to engage collectively and bilaterally with international colleagues as and when the opportunities present themselves. In that regard, I look forward to an opportunity to speak or meet with the Canadian Minister of National Defence.
