JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE ENVIRONMENT, HERITAGE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 3 Feb 2010

Business of Joint Committee.

Chairman

I ask everybody to turn off their mobile telephones. Do not just put them on silent mode, as they affect the public address system. The first item on the agenda is the minutes of the meeting of 19 January 2010, which have been circulated. Are they agreed? Agreed. The matter arising is the visit to Cork on Thursday and Friday. The detailed schedule has been given to the members who are travelling to examine the flooding and the Inniscarra dam. Is that agreed? Agreed.

The first item of correspondence received since the last meeting is No. 2010/720, a European world newsletter. We note that No. 2010/721 is from the Institute of Public Health regarding a seminar on the health effects of climate change on 25 February in St. Andrew's Street, Dublin. The committee will not be sending anybody, but members are free to attend individually if they wish. No. 2010/722 is the GLOBE international newsletter, which we note.

The next item is from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, an interim value for money and policy review of the Department's rental accommodation scheme. We will note that but we will include it in our work programme. We will be coming back to our work programme.

The next item is No. 2010/724 and is from Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan and Senator David Norris on solicitors acting for the relatives of the signatories of the 1916 Proclamation, regarding a request to allow them to meet the committee to discuss the designation of sites at Dublin's Moore Street as a national monument to the 1916 Rising. I understood there was a presentation in the House last week, in the AV centre.

Senator Camillus Glynn

This is a very important item, Chairman. The committee should take cognisance of the sentiments expressed by Deputy O'Sullivan and others.

Chairman

The particular issue is the subject of a planning appeal to An Bord Pleanála at present. We will not get involved in the planning issue. We will note the item and members can raise it again. However, there was a presentation in the House, arranged by other Members of the House.

The next item is a request from Deputy Tom Sheahan and Councillor Michael Healy-Rae in connection with the Killarney National Park to allow a delegation of jarveys to make a presentation to the joint committee regarding the issue of equine nappies, although I do not know the correct term for that topic. Perhaps Deputy O'Donoghue can advise me.

Deputy John O’Donoghue

I am an authority on it, Chairman. It is known as a dung catcher.

Chairman

Should we receive a presentation from the delegation in due course? I was trying to be polite in my language. We will meet the delegation in due course; we cannot set a time today.

The next item is a report from the EPA, Water Quality in Ireland 2007-2008. We will note that. The next item is the financial report of the National Building Agency Limited. The organisation is in our work programme. We will note that and include it in the programme.

No. 728 is a visit to the flooded areas in Cork. It is a letter from the Minister of State with responsibility for trade and commerce in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment seeking a meeting to include residents of the Inniscarra area. We are visiting Inniscarra. If we happen to meet residents, we will be happy to talk to them. The schedule is agreed but we might fit it in informally. That is what we will say at this stage and we might pass that information back to the Minister of State concerned.

No. 729 is a notice of the replacement of Deputy Ciarán Cuffe by Deputy John O'Donoghue on the committee. We note that. I welcome Deputy O'Donoghue as a new member of the committee.

No. 730 is a newsletter from the European Urban Knowledge Network. We note that.

No. 731 is a list of decisions taken at the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny. Nothing has been referred to this committee for further examination and, therefore, we will note the correspondence.

Finally, we have a list of circulars issued by the Department since our last meeting. The committee is given a copy of all the circulars in order that we are aware of what is happening at local government level. There are circulars on waste water for single houses, the Pensions Ombudsman, local authority public sector pay deduction, returns of expenditure to Revenue for enforcement statistics from July to December 2009, the extension of the home choice loan scheme for second-hand houses, the local authority mortgage protection insurance scheme under the shared ownership programme, the quarterly staffing returns and staffing movements form, the report on spot checks of capital projects carried out by Ernst & Young on behalf of the Department, the ethics framework in local government, the landfill levy, which came into effect on 1 February, and statutory instruments regarding the temporary suspension of the open season order under the Wildlife Act 1976, the Housing (Home Choice Loan) Regulations 2009 and the European Communities Environmental Objectives (Groundwater) Regulations 2009. Is it agreed to note all of them? Agreed.