Written Answers Nos. 306-325
306. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform what steps have been taken by the Office of Public Works in identifying a suitable location for a Garda station in Castletroy, Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12988/24]
View answerThe OPW will seek a suitable site for a new Garda Station in the Castletroy/ Annacotty area of Limerick when the Business Case process is complete and the long term requirements of An Garda Síochána in the area are confirmed.
A Business Case is required to comply with the provisions of Public Spending Code where it is considered that the acquisition of a property is required. It is the responsibility of the Sponsoring Agency, in this case An Garda Síochána, to prepare this Business Case. An Garda Síochána are preparing an initial Business Case for nine sites, including Castletroy, throughout the country and the Office of Public Works have been engaging with them in this regard over the last number of months.
307. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if he will provide in tabular form, all projects with a value of over €20 million that are currently under construction and their anticipated complete data; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13065/24]
View answerAs Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform I am responsible for the allocation and management of voted expenditure across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at Departmental level. The responsibility for the management and delivery of individual investment projects, within the allocations agreed under the National Development Plan 2021-30 (NDP), rests with the individual sponsoring Department in each case.
The information the Deputy is requesting is contained in the Investment Projects and Programmes Tracker which is publicly available on www.gov.ie/2040. The Tracker draws from data provided by relevant Government Departments and agencies and focuses mainly on projects and programmes with costs greater than €20 million. The data is a snapshot in time and reflects the situation at the time of publication in February 2023. The tracker includes comprehensive details on almost 320 large scale projects and 140 individual programmes. The Tracker contains project updates detailing a considerable amount of information, for example the Tracker provides a brief outline of the project; the Department or Body responsible for delivering the project; the location and region of the project; the type of investment which links it to specific sectors; the alignment of the project with the National Planning Framework’s 10 National Strategic Outcomes; the current status of the project; the construction commencement date of the project; the completion or anticipated completion date of the project; the current stage of the project lifecycle and finally, there is also information on the project cost range.
Officials in my Department are currently liaising with their counterparts in other Departments to update the data contained in the Tracker with a view to publishing the updated data in the coming weeks.
308. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform his views on a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13127/24]
View answerRoss Castle, Monument No 534 is a National Monument in the ownership of the Minister. The Office of Public Works (OPW) have been liaising with National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in relation to the provision of toilet facilities at Ross Castle. The OPW understands that temporary facilities are now in place for visitors to the Park. The Office of Public Works is committed to providing a quality experience to visitors to Ross Castle and will continue to work with our colleagues in NPWS to address the issues and reach an appropriate solution.
309. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to provide details on all planned PPP projects and ongoing PPP contracts; the status of each project; the anticipated or known capital cost; the anticipated or known cost to the Exchequer over the lifetime of the contracts; the annual total payment of PPP unitary charges and the percentage share of the total capital budget for his Department and all public bodies under the aegis of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13201/24]
View answerMy Department has not sponsored any PPP projects, however, the OPW under the aegis of my Department manages the Convention Centre Dublin on behalf of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media who are the sponsors of the project.
In terms of costs for the completed projects, the payments made by the State over the life of the PPP contract (typically 25 years after construction) include not just the cost of design and construction but also the cost of financing, operating and maintaining the facility (including services such as planned and reactive maintenance, grounds maintenance, cleaning, caretaking, security and waste management). The PPP company must provide a fully maintained facility for the duration of the contract and carries the risk in relation to rectification of any construction defects that occur during the term. If a facility is not available or services are not provided in accordance with the standards set out in the contract, the State is entitled to reduce its monthly payment until the required standard is restored. Further information on the total contract values and project payments for all State PPP projects is available at: www.gov.ie/en/publication/6f72b-projects/.
310. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to provide details on all energy performance contracts implemented or in development across the public sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13207/24]
View answer313. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to provide an update on expanding the role of the NDFA to lead procurement of energy performance contracts (EPCs) for the public sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13211/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 310 and 313 together.
Energy Performance Contracts (EPCs) are a form of Public Private Partnership (PPP), but are significantly different from ‘traditional’ PPPs. Under an EPC, an Energy Service Company (ESCO) takes responsibility for undertaking the energy efficiency upgrade of a building. In return, an agreed proportion of the resulting energy bill savings accrue to the ESCO rather than to the building owner. EPCs are very complex instruments, combining elements of a rental, a service, a lease, a purchase and a loan agreement. For EPCs to be worthwhile, it would need to be established that delivery capacity exists to actually achieve the desired volume of retrofit, in addition to all other NDP funded investments. The responsibility for the management and delivery of any individual energy performance contracts would rest with the individual sponsoring Minister and Department in each case.
Two Dublin hospitals (The Mater Misericordiae and St. James's) undertook energy efficiency upgrades, completed in 2020 and 2021, and are implementing energy performance contracts (EPC). Fingal County Council is in the process of upgrading the energy performance of two of its large offices, Swords County Hall and Grove Road, via EPC.
SEAI, via its public sector Pathfinder programme, is expecting a number of local authority leisure centre upgrade projects to result in the award of energy performance contracts in 2024/2025. Codema (the Dublin Energy Agency) is leading on this in the mid-east Climate Action Regional Office (CARO) sub-region and for Dublin Local Authorities. The EPC bundles being proposed by Dublin Local Authorities also include non-leisure centre buildings that are suitable.
The Review of PPPs published in April 2021 as part of the National Development Plan 2021-30, noted that one potential solution to the complexity issue would be to expand the role of the NDFA to take on the task of procuring all EPCs on behalf of public sector entities.
However, further consideration of this suggestion is subject to the findings of the review my Department is currently undertaking of the budgetary treatment of EPCs. This review intends to explore whether EPCs are an attractive option to help deliver public sector retrofitting at this time and, if so, to identify what reforms may be necessary to support increased uptake of EPCs by public bodies. It is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
311. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to provide a breakdown of all non-Exchequer funding in the Public Capital Programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13208/24]
View answerAs Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform I am responsible for the management of gross voted expenditure and the annual estimates process, general sanctioning powers in relation to expenditure and policy matters relating to the appraisal, review and evaluation of expenditure. I am not responsible for the management of non-Exchequer expenditure, which mainly comprises of spending by semi-state bodies, local authorities’ own resource funds, and other state funds such as the Irish Strategic Investment Fund.
However, officials in my Department do collate non-Exchequer data from other Departments as part of the Revised Estimates for Public Services. The information is publicly available and the latest data can be found under Appendix 4, page 268 of the Revised Estimates 2024 published on the gov.ie website on 13 December 2023.
312. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to provide details on the indexation of PPP contract indexation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13210/24]
View answer317. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the average share of unitary payments that are subject to inflation increases across all sectors that use PPP contracts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13215/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 312 and 317 together.
During the life of the PPP contract (typically 25 years after construction), a portion of the unitary payment is adjusted annually by an inflation factor to reflect changes in a general inflation index specified in the contract (the Consumer Price Index or the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices). This indexable portion represents costs incurred by the PPP company over the operational period (e.g., facilities management, maintenance, and lifecycle costs); it excludes construction and finance costs. As part of the annual indexation process, the indexable portion is adjusted by the actual inflation rate over the preceding 12-month period. The indexable portion for each project depends on the specific features of the project, i.e., the operational period costs as a proportion of the total costs will differ by project. For the PPP projects procured by the NDFA up to 2024, the average indexable portion is circa 34%.
314. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if there is a cap on the aggregate level of annual expenditure on PPP unitary payments, relative to the Exchequer capital envelope; if any work has been carried out this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13212/24]
View answer315. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the percentage level of PPP unitary payments as a share of each vote capital budget, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13213/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 314 and 315 together.
PPPs have been very useful in facilitating the delivery of important infrastructure, particularly in previous years when the Exchequer was seriously constrained in terms of its ability to fund infrastructure directly. PPPs, and their use of private finance on an off-balance sheet basis, enabled projects to proceed which would not otherwise have been deliverable on the basis of Exchequer funding alone.
A new Investment Policy Framework for PPPs was introduced in 2015 which sought to limit the total financial exposure associated with all PPPs (existing plus new/planned) in any individual year to 10% of the aggregate Exchequer capital allocation for that year. Following a review by an expert group carried out in 2018 it was recommended that the policy should return to the original budget control mechanism, whereby, the capital value of PPPs should be charged to the capital allocation of Departments, effectively meaning that there will be no distinction between procurement options for budgetary control purposes and the 10% cap on PPP costs introduced in 2015 should no longer apply.
The following table sets out the amounts allocated towards PPP costs in 2024 relative to the overall allocation given on an individual Vote basis.
|
Vote |
2024 Allocation €000 |
2024 PPP Costs €000 |
PPP Costs as % of 2024 Allocation |
|
DFHERIS |
652,848 |
39,000 |
6.0% |
|
Education |
940,150 |
70,000 |
7.4% |
|
Housing |
3,886,265 |
30,000 |
0.8% |
|
Health |
1,234,030 |
17,000 |
1.4% |
|
Transport |
2,679,450 |
97,000 |
3.6% |
|
OPW |
288,000 |
23,000 |
8.0% |
|
Courts |
67,514 |
39,383 |
58.3% |
|
Total* |
13,015,866 |
315,383 |
2.4% |
* Total is the overall capital allocation to Departments in 2024.
316. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if all PPP unitary payments are classified as capital expenditure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13214/24]
View answerI can confirm to the Deputy that all PPP unitary payments are classified as capital expenditure. PPPs are generally considered to mean projects financed and constructed by the private sector and remunerated by deferred annual payments (unitary payments) from the Exchequer for the design, build, operation and maintenance of the project. Upon completion of the construction of the project it is made available for public use and is paid for by the State and/or users over an extended period (typically 20-25 years), after which the asset comes into State ownership. When a PPP is classified as ‘off balance sheet’ from a General Government perspective, the initial capital cost of the project does not impact on the General Government Balance (GGB) over the construction period, nor does the debt associated with the project impact on General Government Debt (GGD). Rather, the cost of such projects is spread over the lifetime of the projects, by way of annual unitary payments.
318. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the status of the Morell flood relief scheme at Killeenmore and Turnings, Sallins/Straffan, County Kildare; whether the works are almost complete; what further works are planned; what impact the works have had on local flooding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13217/24]
View answerThere is a history of flooding in the Morell catchment since the early 1990s. Considerable flooding occurred in 1998, 2000, 2008, 2009 and 2010 causing significant damage to homes, farms, businesses and flooding of roads, including the N7. In recent years, the severity and frequency of the flood events have resulted in severe hardship for residents and business owners.
The Morell River Flood Relief Scheme includes embankments and flood defence walls along the Morell and Painestown rivers and is expected to provide protection against a 100-year flood event (1% Annual Exceedance Probability) for 30 properties, the M7 motorway, with an additional 60 plus properties being positively affected by the scheme.
Kildare County Council (KCC), in consultation with the Office of Public Works (OPW), engaged consulting engineers to carry out a Full Feasibility Study, Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA), and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Lower Morell River and the surrounding river catchment in order to resolve the outstanding localised flooding issues in the Straffan area. A Steering Group which comprises representatives of KCC, OPW and the consultants, was set up to advance the project. Planning for the Scheme was granted in April 2018 by An Bord Pleanála (ABP).
Construction began on 1st September 2020 and construction works are being undertaken by OPW East Region Construction team. I can confirm some 58% of the construction works are now complete and a design change at Killeen Golf club was approved by ABP in November 2023 and works have commenced at Killeen Golf Club. Further works to be carried out include the construction and completion of flood defence embankments and walls, and the remediation of an existing flood defence embankment in the following townlands: Turnings, Killeenmore, Painestown, Baronrath and Sherlockstown Common.
The consultants have a full understanding of the flow regime in heavy rainfall events and have strategically advised on the sequencing in which works should be carried out, to ensure no consequential up stream additional properties are put at risk from flooding during such events.
Completed works are in the process of being handed back to Kildare County Council. The Scheme is programmed for completion by Q4 2025.
Further information can be found on the schemes website www.morellfms.ie.
319. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will transpose the EU directive on adequate minimum wages into Irish law; the implications of this directive for early years educators; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11538/24]
View answerThe Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages in the European Union was published on 19th October 2022 and must be transposed by 15th November 2024. The Directive aims to ensure that workers in the Union are protected by adequate minimum wages allowing for a decent living wherever they work.
The Directive includes three sets of measures:
1. One of the goals of the Directive is to increase the number of workers who are covered by collective bargaining on wage setting. It will require Ireland to develop an action plan to enhance collective bargaining coverage by the end of 2025.
2. To ensure minimum wages are set at adequate levels, the Directive also requires countries with statutory minimum wages (as in Ireland) to put in place clear and stable criteria for minimum wage setting, indicative reference values to guide the assessment of adequacy, and to involve social partners in the regular and timely updates of minimum wages.
3. The Directive provides for improved enforcement and monitoring of the minimum wage protection established in each country. The Directive introduces reporting by Member States on its minimum wage protection data to the European Commission.
The Directive will be transposed into Irish law. My officials are assessing our obligations under the Directive and are considering transposition options, including through legal advice.
The directive does not seek to establish the level of pay or set a harmonised minimum wage. For early years educators, with effect from 15 September 2022, two new Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) were commenced which provide for minimum hourly rates of pay and other conditions of employment for various roles in the Early Learning and Childcare Sector. An increased allocation for the second year applies from September 2023 to August 2024. This was the first time an ERO had set minimum wages for roles in this sector and more than 70% of approximately 27,000 staff working in the sector received a pay increase following the agreement. The minimum rates set out in the EROs are available on the Workplace Relations Commission website.
As the minimum wage is set by primary law, this takes precedence over the rates in an ERO, which is set by Ministerial Order. Therefore, should the minimum wage rate increase to a point that is higher than the rate provided for in an ERO, then the higher minimum wage rate will come into force.
320. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to the Dáil debate on the forty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Agreement on a Unified Patent Court) Bill 2024, the source of the Minister for State’s statement that “for every redundancy that has been announced, there have been four jobs created” in the technology sector; the timeframe this is based over; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11579/24]
View answerI understand the comments made by my colleague Minister Richmond during the Dáil debate on the Forty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Agreement on a Unified Patent Court) Bill 2024, were referring to a press announcement regarding the Q4 2023 Labour Force Survey and latest Monthly Unemployment Release, and the significant positive trend of employment, rebalance and overall growth statistics for 2023.
The Minister for Finance and I announced on the 22 February 2024 that Ireland had seen significant employment growth of almost 90,000 additional jobs during 2023, bringing the total employment level in Ireland to 2.71 million.
I commented that:
"2023 was an exceptional year for the Irish labour market, which finished strong in the final quarter with 2.7 million people employed in our country, another historic high. In January 2024, the monthly unemployment rate stood at 4.5%. It is encouraging to see record numbers of women availing of opportunities for employment, with female participation rates in the labour market trending upwards in recent years.
The Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath TD also commented, saying:
“Today’s figures indicate the continued strength of the labour market in the fourth quarter of 2023.
“The official level of employment reached another record high of 2.71 million in the fourth quarter, with almost 90,000 jobs added in the year to Q4 and around 15,000 added in the fourth quarter alone. Almost three-quarters of our working age population are now in employment. Continuing the trend seen in recent quarters, the strong growth in employment in the fourth quarter was driven by additions to labour supply, by net inward migration and as well as increased participation.
“Notwithstanding this, today’s figures point to some easing of the tight conditions that have characterised the labour market over the past year. While the unemployment rate - at 4.5 per cent - remains low by historical standards, the increase in the rate in the second half of 2023 is in keeping with a general softening in economic conditions, with external conditions particularly challenging in the face of many headwinds. With labour demand having eased in recent months and labour supply remaining robust, the labour market now appears to be returning to a more balanced position, a welcome development that should help alleviate some of the concerns relating to overheating pressures.”
321. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his Department has had the need to contact An Garda Síochána due to verbal, written (including electronically) or physical threats being addressed to staff or Ministers, at any level, working within the Department during the period 2020 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11592/24]
View answerMy Department engaged with An Garda Síochána in 2022 in relation to a matter involving written allegations and threats to an individual staff member.
322. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if a response will issue to matters raised in correspondence in relation to the new sick pay scheme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11779/24]
View answerThe Sick Leave Act 2022 commenced on 1 January 2023 and introduced a new statutory right to employer-paid sick leave. This Act provides a minimum protection to employees who do not have access to a more favourable employer sick leave scheme, many of whom are low-paid and cannot afford to miss work.
As you are aware, the minimum days were initially set at 3 days for 2023 and this was increased to 5 days in January 2024.
It is important to note that in order to claim statutory sick pay an employee is required to be certified as not just unwell but as medically unfit for work. Additionally, an employer is required to provide sick pay in respect of a medically certified absence at the lower of 70% of the employee's wage or €110 per day.
A response to the correspondence has been issued directly .
323. Deputy Johnny Mythen asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if there is an established action plan prepared or being prepared regarding the transposition of the EU Directive on an adequate minimum wage, including the facilitation to exercise collective bargaining; if so, when this plan will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11935/24]
View answerThe EU Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages includes two key areas: Minimum Wages, and Collective Bargaining. The Directive requires Ireland to develop an action plan to enhance collective bargaining coverage by the end of 2025.
The Final Report of the expert group on the transposition of the Directive, released in November, will be helpful in guiding how Ireland should transpose the Directive.
To this end, a technical working group has been established with the social partners to progress Ireland’s implementation of the Directive in relation to collective bargaining and the development of the action plan. The first meeting of the working group has already taken place and a second meeting will take place shortly.
I understand that my Department, through Ireland's Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels, is engaging with other Member States to share best practice with regard to the development of the action plans.
The development of policy in this area must also be mindful of the fact that Ireland has one of the highest minimum rates of pay in the EU with the Government objective to phase in a statutory living wage by January 2026, which will be set at 60% of the hourly median wage.
324. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to outline the situation with respect to the transposition into Irish law of EU Directive 2019/1152 on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11949/24]
View answerEU Directive 2019/1152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions in the European Union has been transposed. The European Union (Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions) Regulations 2022 (S.I. No 686 of 2022) became law on 16 December 2022.
Ireland pre-empted many provisions of the Directive through the enactment of the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018 (No. 38 of 2018). The 2018 Act had already introduced anti-penalisation provisions, stronger penalties for non-compliance, restriction of zero hours contracts and the provision of more precise information on hours of work and other core terms of employment to employees at an earlier stage in the employment relationship.
325. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the take-up rate of the LEO energy efficiency grant, by the number of businesses issued with a grant, the number of businesses supported per local authority, and the funding issued per local authority, in tabular form. [11951/24]
View answerIntegrating Decarbonisation and Net Zero Commitments is a key policy priority for the White Paper on Enterprise. The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are actively engaged in pursuing this priority through the LEOs suite of supports of competitiveness and productivity supports for small businesses.
The ‘All in a Day’s Work’ campaign by the LEOs highlights the benefits of making a business more efficient, productive, and sustainable, particularly focusing on how the Lean, Green and Digital products offered by the LEOs can help businesses to save time, money, and energy.
The Energy Efficiency Grant, available through the Local Enterprise Offices, provides funding to small businesses to invest in more energy efficient technology. It supports the investment in technologies and equipment identified through a green consultancy assignment, aiming to reduce the impact of enterprises on the environment, thereby increasing the agility and resilience of these business. The grant is 50% of eligible costs, up to a maximum grant of €5,000. The Government has recently announced that it intends to increase the maximum grant amount to €8,000 for applicants in the retail and hospitality sector.
Businesses must complete a free Green for Business programme from the Local Enterprise Offices as a first step in receiving the EEG. This enables a business to receive advice and technical support on resource efficiency, how to better understand their carbon footprint, and how to implement an environmental management system to reduce costs and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Actions identified in this first step can then be implemented through the EEG funding.
The tables below set out that 35 clients were approved for the Energy Efficiency Grant since its launch in May 2023, to the sum of €137,423.31. There were over 550 approvals for Green for Business in 2023, indicating a strong pipeline of businesses that can avail of the Energy Efficiency Grant in 2024.
Energy Efficiency Grant - 01.01.2023 to 31.12.2023
|
LEO |
Clients Approved - Energy Efficiency Grant (2023) |
Approved Amount - Energy Efficiency Grant (2023) |
|
Carlow |
5 |
€16,385.30 |
|
Clare |
1 |
€4,800.00 |
|
Cork City |
2 |
€5,819.00 |
|
Cork South |
1 |
€5,000.00 |
|
Donegal |
1 |
€5,000.00 |
|
Dublin City |
1 |
€2,200.00 |
Energy Efficiency Grant - 01.01.2024 to date.
|
LEO |
Clients Approved - Energy Efficiency Grant (2024) |
Approved Amount - Energy Efficiency Grant (2024) |
|
Carlow |
3 |
€5,687.63 |
|
Cavan |
2 |
€10,000.00 |
|
Clare |
2 |
€9,385.00 |
|
Cork City |
2 |
€7,493.00 |
|
Cork South |
2 |
€10,000.00 |
|
Donegal |
2 |
€10,000.00 |
|
Galway County/City |
1 |
€5,000.00 |
|
Meath |
2 |
€20,000.00 |
|
Roscommon |
1 |
€5,000.00 |
|
17 |
€82,565.63 |
