JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE ENVIRONMENT, HERITAGE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 30 Jun 2009

Business of Joint Committee.

Chairman

We will consider the minutes of the meeting of 23 June 2009. Are the minutes agreed? Agreed.

Item No. 472 is a letter from the Comptroller and Auditor General on his reply to this committee regarding the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. Deputy Hogan is not present so we will hold it over until he has had the opportunity to consider the reply. The same applies to item No. 493, correspondence from Galway County Council, which was deferred from the last meeting. Extracts from the minutes of Galway County Council meeting concerning excessive designation in the county development plan are enclosed. Deputy McCormack was interested in this and we will hold the matter over until he is present and has had the time to review it.

Item No. 504 is a reply from the Revenue Commissioners to the joint committee regarding the assessment of materials and VAT from other jurisdictions in the adjudication of tenders for public construction contracts. Deputy Bannon raised this issue. The reply is highly comprehensive and technical. If any member of the committee can understand it, he or she might translate it for the rest of us next week. I propose to note the correspondence and people can take it from there.

The next item is an invitation to a conference of the chairs of parliamentary environment committee of the European Parliament. We referred this to the Joint Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security. Deputy Seán Barrett will represent that committee but this committee will not be represented.

Item No. 506 is a newsletter from Globe International and we note it. The next item is a press release from the Department concerning tidy towns and the best kept town competition, the North-South competition for the island of Ireland. The next item, No. 508, is a press release from the Minister on the new national directive on fire and emergency management. We note both items.

The next items, Nos. 508 and 509, are documentation from Combat Poverty publications, and we note them. Item No. 510 refers to the annual conference of the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland. Senator Glynn has expressed interest in attending this conference. Is any other member interested? It will be in the Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney, on 10 to 12 September. Any other member interested can contact the clerk. We must get approval for the trip but at the moment we will agree that Senator Glynn will attend. If another name comes forward, that will be in order.

Item No. 511 is a letter from Dr. Brendan Dunford, project manager, requesting the opportunity to make a presentation on the BurrenLIFE project in that special area of conservation. It is an area of particular interest to our committee. Deputy O'Sullivan proposes inviting him to our next meeting. I propose we invite the group to make a presentation. The Burren is one of the most important special areas of conservation in the country. I propose to list it on the agenda for our meeting on 14 July. We will not meet next week, so the meeting will take place two weeks from now.

Deputy Eamon Scanlon

Will the presentation be made at that meeting?

Chairman

Yes.

Deputy Johnny Brady

Is the meeting due to take place on 14 July at 3.30 p.m.?

Chairman

Yes. We can deal with that issue now. Given that the Dáil will be in recess at that stage, I suggest that it might be better to meet at 2 p.m. so that people might be in a position to travel to the Houses and return home again in the evening. Is it agreed that any meetings which take place during the recess be held at that time? Agreed.

The next item relates to training courses for councillors. I suggest the committee note the correspondence in this regard and members should notify the clerk if anyone indicates an interest. I am of the view that these courses are for new councillors and that the committee should just note it and pass it on.

The next item relates to Oireachtas energy awareness week and the correspondence relating to it was forwarded by the Oireachtas Management Support Unit. We will note the correspondence.

A number of circulars were received since our previous meeting. The first is a circular on revised thresholds which was issued to local authorities and which relates to the social housing investment programme acquisition programme. I propose we note the circular. Three circulars on the subsistence allowance abroad, on the local authority incentive career break scheme and on the shorter working year scheme were e-mailed to members by the Personnel Section.

Members will recall from our meeting with the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland on 17 February 2009 that we considered the possibility of statutory roles for the local authorities in monitoring radon and in devising a radon protection strategy for their constituent areas. We wrote to each local authority in respect of the radon plan and only six have still to reply. We will send reminders to those six and when they reply, we will issue a document containing all of the replies. I am sure members will be interested in reading the replies submitted by their local authorities. We will discuss the matter further at that stage.

The next item on the agenda is travel. A draft report on the visit by a delegation of the joint committee to the Local Governments for Sustainability World Congress 2009, entitled "Advancing Local Action for Sustainability", held in Edmonton, Canada, from 14 to 18 June, has been circulated. Our thanks to Deputies Bannon and Fitzpatrick and to Senator Glynn for representing the committee at the congress. Is it agreed to approve the draft report and lay it before both Houses of the Oireachtas? Agreed.

Deputy Johnny Brady

The committee may invite different groups to come before it during the recess. When the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, appeared before the committee on a previous occasion, I raised with him the issue of derelict buildings in certain towns that are listed for preservation. The town in which I live, Kells, which is an ancient settlement, is a good example of this. Kells is a heritage town but unfortunately buildings that are derelict have been listed for preservation. Only the shells of these buildings remain intact and anti-social behaviour is taking place adjacent to and inside them. People cannot sell these properties because, due to the fact that they are listed, the cost of refurbishing them is prohibitive.

We should invite the relevant officials from the Department or An Taisce. The latter organisation is extremely good at objecting to the redevelopment of properties such as those to which I refer. There is a great deal of havoc, unrest and anti-social behaviour associated with these derelict buildings and certain streets in particular towns are being given a bad name as a result. This type of problem is rife in towns throughout the country. What is happening is crazy and it must stop.

Chairman

I will deal with the schedule now. We have agreed already that we will not meet during the final week of the Dáil but will meet at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 July. A delegation from the BurrenLIFE project will appear before the committee on that date.

An advertisement appeared in the newspaper on a compensation scheme for those in special areas of conservation who can no longer cut turf on raised bogs. I propose that we bring in officials from the Department on Tuesday, 21 July to give us a clear update on special areas of conservation, raised bogs and the prohibitions on turf cutting.

Deputy Pádraic McCormack

Did the secretariat receive a letter from the BurrenLIFE project?

Chairman

It has been invited to appear before the committee on 14 July 2009. However, I propose that we invite officials from the Department that makes recommendations on special areas of conservation to appear before the committee on Tuesday, 21 July. I propose that we invite the Housing Finance Agency to come before us on 8 September, as members have requested this a few times.

Deputy Pádraic McCormack

Will there be other meetings during the summer?

Chairman

Do members wish to meet on 28 July?

Deputy Pádraic McCormack

The Galway Races.

Chairman

The meeting is on Tuesday and the races only get going that evening. We will have the Deputy home for the evening races.

Deputy Pádraic McCormack

Then the press will say we are on holidays all year.

Chairman

We will wait and see who is available. It may be preferable to schedule for September the meeting with the officials from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to discuss listed buildings.

Deputy Johnny Brady

It might be.

Chairman

Twenty-eighth July is very close to the end.

Deputy Johnny Brady

I may not be here that day.

Chairman

I propose that a report from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government on listed building be ordered for 8 September. It may be possible to get An Taisce to make a presentation on their input to that whole process.

Deputy Pádraic McCormack

Will the secretariat circulate the plans?

Chairman

Member should put it in their diaries. We will propose that for 8 September and will deal with the Housing Finance Agency at the following meeting after that but we will check the Dáil timetable.

Deputy Ciarán Lynch

There may be other correspondence and we might tighten up on some of the arrangements.

Chairman

That is a draft and we will confirm the arrangements at our next meeting.

The County and City Managers Association appeared before the committee and mentioned the significant reduction in the number of appeals to An Bord Pleanála. I propose to draft a letter from the committee to An Bord Pleanála asking for a breakdown of the time of appeals. I am aware of appeals that are ongoing for 18 months. I propose to ask An Bord Pleanála to quantify the number of appeals, the reduction in the number from last year and how many are in the system over 12 months; 18 months and two years. We will confirm the arrangement at our meeting of 14 July 2009.