Vol. 882 No. 1
6. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to revise the planning legislation on the taking in charge of housing developments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22059/15]
I notice the Deputy is carrying an injury and I suggest he stays sitting.
I would not be comfortable sitting, a Cheann Comhairle.
As the Minister of State will know, sadly, I come from the capital of the country when it comes to unfinished housing estates with four times the national average. Under section 180 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, an estate can be taken in charge through two mechanisms. Either the developer can make a request or the majority of residents in the estate can do so. The original law specified the majority of people who were on the register of electors. This was amended and it is now the majority of the owners. In some cases, there are a substantial number of absentee landlords or people in financial difficulty with banks who cannot get the deeds for the property or do not want to do so. This makes it very difficult, where there is no developer, to have these estates taken into charge. Will the Minister of State amend the legislation?
I thank the Deputy for tabling the question. I know the Roscommon men are resilient - they had a good win in the hurling last week, so the Deputy's injury will not stop him.
Section 180 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, provides that for estates, which have been completed to the satisfaction of the planning authority in accordance with the planning permission, the planning authority must, if requested to do so by the developer or by the majority of the owners of the houses involved, initiate the procedures for taking the estate in charge.
In the case of estates which have not been completed to the satisfaction of the planning authority and enforcement proceedings have not been commenced against the developer within seven years of the expiration of the planning permission relating to the development, section 180 also provides that the planning authority must, if requested to do so by the majority of the owners of the housing units, initiate the taking-in-charge procedures. That was outlined by the Deputy.
My Department is currently reviewing, in the context of the forthcoming planning and development (No. 2) Bill, the section 180 provisions on the taking in charge of housing estates with a view to improving and streamlining the relevant procedures. A particular focus of the review will be the time limits for the taking in charge of housing estates and my Department will consult with planning authorities in this regard. It is intended that the planning and development (No. 2) Bill will be enacted by the end of the year. There will be further opportunity for detailed debate during the passage of the Bill through the Houses of the Oireachtas, which I expect to take place in the autumn.
When the Minister of State is responding, he might address the question I have asked. Will he revert back to the original legislation?
I bring a second issue to the attention of the Minister of State on the taking-in-charge process. I refer to the drawdown of bonds where the developer is gone and the estate is incomplete. In a number of instances in my part of the country, insurance companies are not releasing the bonds. They are licensed here to operate in this jurisdiction. One, in particular, that is causing significant problems is HCC International, which will not engage with the local authorities.
It is not just the insurance companies. Bank of Ireland is very slow to engage, as is IBRC, which has stated it will not deliver on the bonds in place for developments. How can we get local authorities to finish out these estates and ensure that people can live in a habitable housing estates if pillar banks are dragging their heels, if the State-owned IBRC is not honouring bonds and if insurance companies licensed by the State and have bonds here are not willing to release those bonds to have those estates completed in line with the agreements in place?
I again confirm that we will revise the planning legislation in the autumn and plan to strengthen and streamline the taking-in-charge protocols and processes to assist local authorities to deal with the many legacy issues the Deputy has outlined.
Strong progress has been made with estates that local authorities have registered as unfinished. More than 3,000 such unfinished estates were registered in 2011. They have been resolved to the extent that there are now fewer than 900 throughout the country with the help of the special resolution funds and funds put in place by local authorities. That is not to confuse it with the taking in charge of estates where there are many legacy issues, including infrastructure deficits, and developers or builders having gone off site. Those legacy issues have to be dealt with by the local authorities, which have the appropriate powers to pursue developers to ensure that those estates are finished to a proper standard. Every citizen living in an estate is entitled to a house that is finished to a high quality and a proper standard. Developers and builders have a responsibility in this regard. Local authorities have the appropriate powers to pursue them in the interests of citizens.
I have no difficulty with the local authorities living up to their responsibilities. However, in a large number of estates in counties Galway and Roscommon, the developer is gone and is not to be found. When the planning permission was granted, IBRC, which is owned by the State, put bonds in place for some of these developers. Now this State agency is not honouring these bonds. The insurance companies that were licensed by the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority issued commitments and bonds that they are not honouring. Even pillar banks, such as Bank of Ireland, are dragging their heels over releasing bonds in cases where there is no developer and people are living in what are still building sites.
Those bonds were a condition of the planning permission. Fees were paid by the developer to ensure a bond was put in place. Now we find that some of the supposedly most reputable organisations in the country are washing their hands of it and letting people remain in these half-finished estates without releasing the money to get them completed.
The bonds were put in place almost as an insurance policy. Where a developer does not complete an estate to a proper standard, they can be drawn down. It is the responsibility of the local authority to ensure that those bonds are put in place in a comprehensive and secure way. It is also the responsibility of the local authority, in the interest of the citizens who live on such estates, to pursue the developers. If the developers have gone off site and cannot be pursued further, the local authority must engage with the credit institutions, banks and insurance firms that are providing those bonds. The local authorities have the power to pursue those and it is their responsibility to do so.
In the planning Bill that will come to the House in the autumn, we hope to strengthen that process and we are open to proposals from the opposite side, including the Deputy's views. I look forward to further engagement at that time on how we can strengthen the hand of local authorities. These are further legacy issues we need to address. We are making strong progress in many estates. Some are outstanding and it is very frustrating, but local authorities must continue to pursue those who are responsible. They cannot always fall back on the taxpayer to bail out the developers who went off-site without finishing the estates. Local authorities have the power to pursue them and those banks have responsibility to pay them also.
If I give the Minister of State the details, will he use his offices to engage with companies?
The Deputy should talk to the Minister of State privately as we are over time.
7. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide details of the planned spending from the Dormant Accounts Fund this year; the net inflow of funds expected into the fund this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22062/15]
I have been very concerned that every year money is being transferred from banks into the Dormant Accounts Fund, but the money is not being used for the purposes provided for in the legislation.
It is just accumulating in Government coffers. My question is how much money is expected to come in this year, net of outflows. It normally comes in during April. What are the plans this year to spend the Dormant Accounts Fund on social and economic disadvantage, educational disadvantage and on disability?
Under the dormant accounts legislation, balances on dormant accounts with banks, building societies and An Post and the net encashment value of certain life assurance policies are paid into the Dormant Accounts Fund, which is managed by the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA. The primary purpose of the legislation is to reunite the original account holders with their moneys, including all interest due. In addition, the legislation provides that disbursements from the fund may be made for charitable purposes or for purposes of community benefit, as the Deputy outlined.
Financial institutions transfer dormant funds to the NTMA, generally as one block transaction on 30 April each year. Information from the NTMA as of the end of April 2015 indicated inflows of approximately €36 million this year. The 2012 Dormant Accounts (Amendment) Act provides for an action plan to give effect to the scheme and full details of the measures adopted under the action plan in 2014, which continue to be rolled out this year, are available on my Department’s website.
The current plan includes some €26 million of measures across a range of Departments and agencies that will provide diverse supports for disadvantaged communities. The planned expenditure for 2015 will support a range of measures, including emergency support services training and other supports for vulnerable and disadvantaged young people, and health-related supports to assist young people with disabilities, as well as other community-based initiatives.
To give effect to the plan, there is a total allocation in excess of €18 million in the Estimates for 2015 across seven Departments. That includes almost €6 million for measures under my Department. Under the plan, Pobal will administer new measures on behalf of my Department that will promote social enterprise and innovation, both urban and rural, and youth employment, employability and entrepreneurship in disadvantaged areas. Applications will be open to eligible community and voluntary sector organisations, local development companies and statutory and other public agencies from 1 July next with a closing date of 22 July.
Pobal also administers new training and support services for home carers on behalf of the Department of Social Protection and a range of measures on behalf of the Department of Health. Applications under these measures can also be made during the same period by eligible community and voluntary sector organisations, local development companies and statutory and other public agencies. As part of the support for these new measures, Pobal will hold a series of four regional pre-application information meetings which will take place later this month. Full details on each of the measures, the online application process, and how to register for the pre-application meetings are available on Pobal’s website.
It would appear that the Minister of State is going to get in €10 million more this year than will be spent. If one looks at cash expenditure, then a total of €18 million will be unspent. For some reason the Government is holding onto the money. My understanding is that excluding the statutory reserve required to reunite people with dormant accounts, as the Minister of State put it, more than €100 million in the Dormant Accounts Fund is not being released for the purposes for which it was collected from the banks. Perhaps the Minister of State would confirm the figure on the record of the House? Why is the money being held and why are we not using it for the intended purposes?
I will give the Minister of State two examples. Could she explain why the Government ceased the operation of the scheme we had in place for RAPID areas, whereby we allocated €100,000 every year for small programmes in the most disadvantaged areas in the country.
I thank the Deputy.
I will finish the question when I ask my next supplementary.
The net value of uncommitted funds is currently €141.28 million. As the Deputy well knows, people sometimes view dormant accounts as free money or as some type of slush fund but that is far from the case.
Well said.
As the Deputy well knows, there are accounting procedures governing dormant accounts funding. He knows also that the moneys must be included in the Vote and must be included in the Estimates, and that is how we arrive at the money we can commit from the Dormant Accounts Fund. A complex accounting procedure is involved. I assure the Deputy that where moneys can be spent, they will be spent. However, he must be mindful of the requirements under the legislation for me to provide a report to the Government on the operation of the fund during the preceding year. I will do that before the end of June. We are subject to regulatory requirements in the same way as every other Government organisation.
When the Minister of State goes back to the Department she should ask the officials whether the previous Government spent the money, and if that was done in an open, fair and transparent way, and to the benefit of people. I will mention two programmes which the Minister of State could institute immediately. One is to give the money to the RAPID area implementation team, which would ensure there is no ministerial interference, to fund small projects in communities in the most deprived areas. The sum of €100,000 could be allocated between the 41 communities. The second programme we operated was a scheme which provided matching finance to either philanthropic or community funds, in particular to disability organisations for capital projects. That resulted in the provision of many very good facilities for people with disabilities. Would the Minister of State consider opening the fund for that purpose?
I know the challenges involved in the operation of the fund. They do not justify sitting on €142 million. The statutory reserve more than covers the risk of anyone who comes looking for his or her money. The Minister of State has still not explained why we are sitting on €142 million that could do so much for ordinary people around the country who suffer social and economic disadvantage, educational disadvantage and those in the disability sector.
I am sorry but we are over time.
I assure the Deputy that if I was sitting on more than €100 million and I could get my hands on it for disadvantaged communities and youth unemployment, I would do so. The programme is in place and there are commitments in that regard in the Votes. The process is governed by accounting procedures. It is not a slush fund.
I accept the point the Deputy made about RAPID areas. The other area to which he probably wished to refer is to CLÁR areas. Those programmes were good. I am due to answer a question on the RAPID programme and if the Deputy wishes I can supply him with the response also. I also refer him to the Pobal website which contains much information and some of the answers he sought.
8. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the timeframe for the announcement of the EUROSTAT market corporation test of Irish Water result; if he will outline the impact an adverse ruling would have on Government deficit and general Government balance; and to outline if any contingency plans are being put in place to protect against the impact of an adverse ruling on the deficit and the general Government balance. [22330/15]
Many issues surround the proposal that is the construct and funding model of Irish Water which is before EUROSTAT at present. Its approval, or otherwise, will generate Irish Water's direction, duty and obligation to the public and also determine the suitability of proposals by the Government on the possibility of it putting its hands into the pay packets of many throughout the country on foot of non-payment. Could the Minister provide an update and a timeline on the proposal before EUROSTAT and indicate when we can expect a response and seek resolutions thereafter?
A key component of the strategy to establish Irish Water is that Irish Water will be classified as a market corporation under EUROSTAT rules and as a result, will not, other than in respect of Government support, be included in the calculation of the general Government balance.
The Central Statistics Office, CSO, an independent body, is responsible for engagement with EUROSTAT on such matters, and my Department has engaged with that office and has provided the necessary information to facilitate its work. The CSO has confirmed that it has submitted a classification proposal on Irish Water to EUROSTAT and that the proposal envisages Irish Water being classified outside the general Government sector. The CSO has further stated that this is a closed process and that it is awaiting the final adjudication by EUROSTAT. I genuinely cannot give the Deputy a date, although I would expect an outcome in a couple of months. It is a closed process and it is a matter for the CSO to make the announcement.
Pending a decision by EUROSTAT, for prudent forecasting reasons, the spring economic statement and accompanying documents are based on Irish Water being in Government. In the draft of Ireland’s stability programme: April 2015 update, table nine outlines the impact of Irish Water being included in Government on debt and deficit forecast, in order to be prudent. By 2020, the Irish Water debt, based on its capital investment proposals, would amount to just under 1% of Government debt if it was classified in Government. However, we expect it to be off balance sheet.
The Government is confident that the underlying funding model for Irish Water supports increased investment in the water sector through an off-balance sheet classification of the utility, while at the same time providing for water charges which are affordable, clear and certain. The decision is ultimately a matter for EUROSTAT.
I thank the Minister for his response. I had thought the Taoiseach, if not the Minister, had informed the House some months ago that the delay in the CSO proposal to EUROSTAT meant any decision by EUROSTAT would not be forthcoming until June. Now the Minister is saying it will be June at the earliest and may be some months thereafter. Can he confirm to the House that for a €300 million loan Irish Water has taken out in the marketplace, it is paying 150% more than the NTMA is currently paying on behalf of the Government? I believe that, while the Government may be borrowing at 1%, Irish Water may be borrowing at 2.5%. That would seem to defeat the purpose of the mechanism by which the construct was put in place in the first instance, in terms of the cost to the taxpayer. Ultimately, the cost will be borne by those who avail of the water services.
The dates and timing of this are really a matter for EUROSTAT. I do not have a date as it is not for me to decide, and I would not like to deflect from the independence of either the CSO or EUROSTAT. When they make their decision is a matter for them.
The interest rate would reflect the time at which the loan was taken out and the terms and conditions of that time. I will get that information for the Deputy and forward it on to him. A different rate would not be abnormal.
I thank the Minister for his response and look forward to him providing that information. I again ask if he would find it strange, to say the least, if Irish Water is paying 150% more than the Government for funds on the open market? That would represent a contradiction in terms for the whole construct and purpose of Irish Water, and would work against the Government's purpose of taking it off balance sheet in order for it to be less of a burden on the taxpayer when it would be 150% more of a burden.
Pending clarification, the one thing I will say is that when a loan is taken out, circumstances are obviously different. One could apply this to many different models, depending on when funding was taken out. The circumstances in every case are completely different. I would not find it strange that there are different percentages. The information will be provided to the Deputy in due course.
The Deputy who tabled Question No. 9 is not present.
10. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason there has been such an extreme delay in the issuing of updated planning guidelines governing wind farms; when he will be signing the new guidelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22318/15]
This is simply to find out why there is such delay in the updated planning guidelines on wind farms.
In December 2013, my Department published proposed draft revisions to the noise, setbacks and shadow flicker aspects of the 2006 wind energy development guidelines. These draft revisions proposed the setting of a more stringent day and night noise limit of 40 decibels for future wind energy developments; a mandatory minimum setback of 500 m between a wind turbine and the nearest dwelling for amenity considerations; and the complete elimination of shadow flicker between wind turbines and neighbouring dwellings.
The public consultation process was initiated on these proposed draft revisions to the guidelines, which ran until 21 February 2014. My Department received submissions from over 7,500 organisations and members of the public during this public consultation process, which was one of the largest ever.
It is intended that the revisions to the 2006 wind energy development guidelines will be finalised very soon. In this regard, account has to be taken of the extensive response to the public consultation in framing the final guidelines. Further work is also advancing to develop technical appendices to assist planning authorities with the practical application of the noise measurement aspects of the wind guidelines. That technical work is currently being concluded and is quite technical, as the Deputy will appreciate.
The revisions to the wind energy development guidelines 2006, when finalised, will be issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. Planning authorities and, where applicable, An Bord Pleanála must have regard to guidelines issued under section 28 in the performance of their functions under the planning Acts.
I was one of those who made a submission. The very fact there was this level of interest shows that people wanted ground rules before there was to be large and industrial-scale wind farms, for which there are already applications in place. Part of the reason people made submissions was to ensure there was a basis and yet major applications have gone in. One application, for example, straddling a number of counties, including County Kildare, has gone to An Bord Pleanála under strategic developments. I would have thought that if something was a strategic development, the Minister would actually set out a basis for it. The guidelines are the very least that should be required. I accept that the matter is complex, the Minister wants to get it right and there are technical matters. The problem is that events are overtaking us in terms of planning applications and there is extreme urgency in getting this concluded.
I take on board the Deputy's comments. I cannot comment on an individual application, as she will appreciate, although I accept that there is a need to bring in the guidelines very quickly and that there is a need for clarity. I am well aware of the volume of applications across the country and these guidelines are necessary. It is one of the largest projects in terms of guidelines that our Department has ever undertaken, given the volume of submissions. I would also stress that it is quite technical. We cannot approach it in a one-size-fits-all manner. To facilitate good planning, we must ensure that the guidelines reflect all necessary variables and that they reflect all the issues across the country from a planning perspective. I stress again that the technical appendices to the guidelines will also be quite thorough.
Could the Minister give us an estimate of when he thinks the guidelines will be concluded and published?
I will allow Deputy Stanley to ask a quick supplementary question.
The Minister replied that it will be very soon. The point I want to raise concerns the 500 m statutory guideline he is bringing in. I spoke to the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, on this two weeks ago. My point is that the set-back distance should be governed by the height of the turbines. A distance of 500 m is fine if it is a small turbine but there is a problem if it is a very large one, like those in the midlands where there is a specific problem in Laois and Offaly and the height of turbines can be 180 m.
To answer Deputy Stanley, obviously, we are taking cognisance of all of that and I can assure him it will be dealt with as part of the guidelines. In response to Deputy Murphy, I expect to have this concluded before the summer recess, if not earlier.
As the Deputy is not present, Question No. 11 cannot be taken.
12. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government with regard to the actual delivery of new homes for those on the social housing list, if he can provide a breakdown by local authority of the number of homes he expects to be delivered by Part V in 2015, 2016 and 2017; if he will further report on how many Part VIII for social housing have been forwarded to him by local authorities for approval since his announcement of new funding in October 2014 and provide details of these, including numbers of units per local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22333/15]
The most serious crisis facing this country is the lack of affordable and social housing for people. The Government committed to delivering 15,800 social housing units this year. Can the Minister of State tell us if we are anywhere even close to those figures? Certainly, going on the experience of what is happening in Dún Laoghaire, where there will be a total of five this year, if that is indicative of what is happening in the rest of the country, these targets are a complete sham.
I thank the Deputy for the question. To correct the record, what the Deputy is referring to is just phase 1 of the local authority allocations which were announced a few weeks ago. I have already stated in the House to the Deputy that further phases of allocations will be made very shortly. The capital acquisitions scheme which will provide funding to voluntary housing bodies in association with local authorities will be announced jointly by the Minister, Deputy Kelly, and myself very shortly, and a further phase of local authority housing allocations will be announced in the coming months. This is all based on the proposals coming from the local authorities, including Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, on the priorities they have identified to address the housing challenges in their particular areas.
With specific reference to the question on Part V, the proposed legislative changes to Part V provisions have been set out in the Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015, which will be debated here in the coming days. In future, the focus of Part V will be on the delivery of completed social housing units, with a requirement for up to 10% social housing in developments of ten or more units. The Bill also proposes a more concerted focus on the delivery of completed Part V units, with other options, such as the making of cash payments instead, being discontinued. I believe the Deputy will welcome this.
While my Department does not have details on the exact number of social housing units to be delivered under Part V in future years, as this is dependent on the number of house construction projects that are commenced, it is estimated that, nationally, in the region of 4,000 additional social housing units will be delivered by 2020 under the revised Part V provisions, using a range of delivery options. I am committed to the principle of a social housing gain from private development and I believe the Part V mechanism has the potential to be a significant contributor to social housing in the context of a recovering housing market.
On 5 May last, the Minister, Deputy Kelly, and I announced a €312 million social housing construction investment programme, with over 1,700 housing units to be built in 100 separate projects across all 31 local authority areas in the period up to the end of 2017. Based on the information supplied by the local authorities, 32 of these projects already have Part VIII planning approval, so they are shovel-ready and under way. The announcement on 5 May was only the first phase of a new social housing building programme and further projects will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Minister, Deputy Kelly, in a letter to one of our councillors, stated that 15,800 social houses would be delivered this year. As the Minister of State rightly said, the reason he cannot give us figures and the reason those houses are not being delivered is that it is dependent on construction in the private sector. That is the problem, is it not? That is why were not getting the delivery. In Dún Laoghaire, against a target of 681 units, HAP has this year delivered none; the figure for those built or acquired is none; for leasing, none; for voids, one; and for RAS, four. It is not happening, and this is because 85% of the target for this year is dependent on the private sector, which is a total mirage, is it not? The Department is not going to get anywhere even close to the target it has set for this year because it is depending on the private sector to deliver the units.
Nobody can second-guess the number of housing projects that will commence in the private sector. However, as I indicated in reply to Deputy Cowen on an earlier question, there are now very strong signs of recovery in the housing market, given the number of housing projects getting off the ground and the number of commencements and planning permissions going through.
Even if we were to pursue the Deputy's solution, which is the direct build of local authority houses alone, there would still be a timelag in providing those units. What the Department has had to do is look across a wide range of measures to respond to this housing challenge. First, we looked at the voids and vacant housing stock which were unacceptably lying vacant. These are existing local authority houses in local authorities across the country. We have ring-fenced funding and provided allocations to local authorities, and we have asked them to prioritise this and to turn units around efficiently so they are put back to beneficial use as quickly as possible. Additional funding was provided to local authorities for this. Some 2,000 units were turned around last year and another 1,000 vacant units will be provided this year. We are also providing funds for direct acquisition to local authorities and voluntary housing bodies so they can buy houses in the interim period before the new projects are built.
We have green-lighted the shovel-ready projects the Deputy is speaking about and we have provided the funding to the local authorities. We cannot magic up more projects if the local authorities are not coming forward with them. In the meantime, we are making other provisions, such as the Part V provision. In the past five years, Part V has delivered literally nil units because private construction was not happening but we are now beginning to see it happening. We are removing the ability of people to substitute with cash. We will deliver units under this scheme and we are using every mechanism available to us because it is a priority for this Government.
The Minister of State can blind us with jargon and with projections and figures. However, based on the Minister's own letter, 85% of what was promised this year is dependent on the private sector - 3,000 from leasing and 8,400 from HAP. It is not happening and it is not going to happen. The landlords are not interested in getting involved in this and the construction is not happening on the level that is needed. The Government's entire social housing policy is predicated on getting stuff from the private sector.
Can I point out something else?
Sorry, Deputy. This is Question Time so will you put your questions?
Is it not a total fantasy? On the voids, at a meeting last night we were told by someone from Women's Aid that Dublin City Council is saying it cannot get the money from the Government to turn around the voids in the Dublin City Council area.
That is not true.
Hand over the money.
I am seriously concerned if the Deputy is saying that local authorities in Dublin are not being provided with the funding to turn around vacant units. It is in the Estimates and it is on the public record. I would challenge any local authority and, indeed, I challenge the Deputy to sit down with his local authority-----
I have done it.
He should bring them forward to us. If they are not turning around voids for which this Government and the country is providing funds, then we have a problem at local authority level.
There are hardly any voids in Dún Laoghaire.
If the Deputy is stating that on the record of the House, I challenge him to bring that local authority to account. I also challenge all local authorities, including Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, to come forward with their proposals. The Department, the Minister, Deputy Kelly, and I are working proactively on a weekly basis in looking for solutions. It is all very well to come in here to say this is not working and that is not working. We are interested in finding solutions to help people who have housing problems and we are finding them.
I have been telling the Government the solution for four years - direct build.
We need the assistance of Deputies and local authorities in coming forward with them. They will find there is a very open ear in this Department in terms of the delivery of houses in an early phase. I look forward, over the coming weeks and months, to announcing more projects in Dún Laoghaire and other local authority areas around the country.
