JOINT COMMITTEE ON THE ENVIRONMENT, HERITAGE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 23 Mar 2010

Business of Joint Committee.

Chairman

The first item on the agenda is the minutes of the meeting of 9 March 2010 which have been circulated. Are they agreed? Agreed.

Next is correspondence. Item 767 is a discussion paper on the environment and energy from Friends of Europe, a European policy group. We note that. Item 768 is a letter from Ms Eileen Shanahan, resident of Macroom regarding flooding. We note that and will consider it when preparing a report on flooding. Item 769 is a copy of a speech by the Minister of State with responsibility for housing from the press office of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. We note that. Item 770 is Europe's World Newsletter. We note that. Item 771 is GLOBE environmental newsletter. We note that. Item 772 is a press release from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government regarding Local Government (Dublin Mayor and Regional Authority) Bill 2010. We note that. Item 773 is a submission on housing policy by Mr. Dennis Barrett, a UCC student. We note the correspondence and this is a follow on from our meeting of 4 February, which he attended. Item 774 is correspondence regarding the flooding from Mr. Paudie Barry, engineering surveyor from Cork city, whom we met when we were in Cork. We will include that as part of our consideration for our report on flooding. Item 775 is a reply from Cork City Council regarding issues raised on flooding in Cork city by the ESB at our last meeting. We note that and will consider it as part of our work when drafting a report on flooding.

Item 776 is a request from Amnesty International for this joint committee to play a role in developing a cross-departmental approach to mental health. I have not had an opportunity to study that. Some people consider that local authorities have a role as agents of the Government at local level but I will refer it to the Joint Committee on Health and Children. Item 777 is a press release from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government on the recent provision of €100 million to improve the homes of older people and people with a disability. We note that. Item 778 is Europe's World Newsletter. We note that. Item 779 is a press release from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government regarding funding for heritage. Item 780 is a list of proposals for EU legislation from the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny. We note that. Item 781 is a copy of the agenda of the latest Council of the European Union (Environment) meeting which was forwarded by the Joint Committee on European Scrutiny. We note that. Item 782 is follow up information from Met Éireann following its meeting with the joint committee on 16 February. We note that correspondence and will include it as part of our programme of work when we deal with the report on flooding. Item 783 is a reply from Iarnród Éireann and Roscommon County Council to a letter sent by the joint committee at the request of Deputy Frank Feighan about a bridge in Castlerea. We note that and we will send a copy of the letter to Deputy Feighan, who is not present.

Item 784 is a response from the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland to our letter, seeking views on a possible national policy on radon gas. We note that and will hold it for our ongoing work programme and will include it when we are dealing with the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, which is under the aegis of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Item 785 is a letter from Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan regarding a follow-up request to visit the site of the Easter Rising on Dublin's Moore Street. The joint committee agreed in principle to visit the site at noon on a Tuesday before we commence our committee meeting. I will ask the clerk to the committee to liaise with Deputy O'Sullivan on a suitable date and then inform members. Item 786 is a request from Laois County Council seeking our assistance in raising the level of litter fines. Littering is becoming a significant issue right across the country.

Deputy Christy O’Sullivan

I suggest we have a meeting to deal specifically with this issue. Littering is becoming a major problem all over the country and is not confined to any area. The cost of disposing of litter is rising and has gradually been increasing in the past 12 months. We must tackle the problem and I suggest that the issue should be discussed at length at a meeting of this committee.

Deputy Johnny Brady

I fully support that suggestion. Anybody living in rural areas and living near a forest, a bog or other amenity will be aware of the outrageous level of dumping. Voluntary groups, with the support of the county council who provided skips, went out at weekends to clean up this waste, but we now see it again 12 months later, equally as bad. Another serious problem developing in County Meath and I am sure it is happening across the country is the dumping of tyres in rivers and hedges. It is unsightly and costly for the landowner who has to get them removed. County councils should remove such tyres rather than leave it to individual property owners. A debate of that nature would be welcome.

Chairman

We agree to hold a special meeting because that is re-emerging as an issue around the country. We will set a date and talk about the format of it again. The country had cleaned up a great deal in recent years but it is going backwards again. The issue arises in many local authorities but it would be good for the committee to deal with it at a national level. We will set a date for the meeting after the Easter break. We will consider the correspondence from Laois County Council in the context of the meeting.

No. 787 is the Chambers Ireland yearbook. We note that. The next item is the newsletter from the Irish Property Owners' Association. We note that. The following item is the national renewable energy action plans. We note that. The next item is a newsletter on EU programmes, "euroPA bulletin" on INTERREG and EU programmes. We note that.

I will refer briefly to the circulars issued by the Department to local authorities in recent weeks. The first is the local authority service indicators report. There is one on the local authority enforcement measures grant scheme; the classification of electric vehicles for motor tax; the subvention of operating costs of recycling facilities; security of motor tax documents; a housing leasing clarification circular; a circular on the joint homelessness consultative forum management group; a list of all circulars and one on Traveller accommodation. There is nothing special among them. We will note them all.

The next item on the agenda is the travel report. A draft report has been circulated——

Deputy Eamon Scanlon

Has there been any response from the National Parks and Wildlife Service on the request for maps made at a meeting some months ago on turf cutting? There is much confusion at the moment. I have been contacted by a number of people as this is the time of year to get bogs ready for cutting turf. I wrote to the Minister recently about two bogs in north Leitrim and the response I received was that due to industrial action no one was in a position to reply. That is not fair. It is not good enough for the people who depend on turf for their winter fuel. Is it possible that we might be able to get a response from somewhere? People are beginning to get ready to cut turf in the next two or three weeks. It is unfair that they do not know what is going on. The maps were requested from the National Parks and Wildlife Service last October or November almost six months ago. We requested maps on a county basis to show exactly what bogs are affected. In fairness, people are entitled to at least be told.

Chairman

We were given an undertaking but we have not received the maps yet.

Deputy Denis Naughten

I endorse what Deputy Scanlon said. It is a disgrace that we cannot get maps outlining the areas affected. The Department's website has a bog in County Roscommon which is in the wrong province. The map attached to it is in County Tipperary. Some of the SIs on the Department website do not have the maps or some of the information. It is nearly impossible for people to know which lands are included and which lands are covered by the ten year derogation in the current and subsequent years. I highlighted the issue at the previous meeting on the flooding on the Shannon. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government presented a map that excluded one of the designated bogs, a significant land bank that was designated within the Shannon Callows. The Department cannot even get its own act together in terms of presenting basic maps to the committee. The Department must get its act together and provide detailed maps on a county basis of the bogs that have been designated.

Deputy Michael Fitzpatrick

I do not know how we can do it but it is unfair that we do not have the map to which the Deputy refers. At this time of year people are starting to cut their turf. I appeal to the powers that be not to interfere with people cutting turf on their own bog at this time given that we have not been able to get the maps to identify them. I am aware of one case where a man was prosecuted for cutting turf on bog and his machine was seized. I do not know how it is possible to stop that but we have been trying to get a handle on the matter and we have not been able to do so. The powers that be should be advised that no action will be taken against people operating on their own bogs.

Chairman

We will immediately contact the Department.

Deputy Johnny Brady

I fully support Deputy Scanlon and the other speakers. I attended a meeting last night in Moylagh near Oldcastle. Four people present were concerned about turf cutting. As Deputy Scanlon stated, the turf cutting season begins in the next few weeks and because of all of the confusion and the fact that the maps have not been provided people should be allowed to cut turf this year. I hope the maps will be available by this time next year but from the looks of things they may not be. The people who have been cutting turf on those bogs for generations should be allowed to continue to do so this year. They have been left in limbo, which is not good enough.

Has any correspondence been received from the local authorities on the issue raised by Senator Hannigan some months ago, namely, the report by local authorities on derelict sites? Some councils, including Meath County Council, listed no derelict sites in their reports which was not a true reflection of the situation. Senator Hannigan and I were very concerned about that because there are derelict sites in all towns and villages in County Meath. We should follow up the matter. Perhaps we should invite local authorities that made untrue reports of zero derelict sites to attend a meeting.

Chairman

We have not received a reply to the straightforward question we asked several months ago. I will have to verify whether we contacted the local authorities directly or if we wrote to the Department. Whatever the case was we will follow up the matter through both channels. We want a reply to the matter.

Deputy Johnny Brady

We should write directly to the councils concerned.

Chairman

We will write directly to them.

Deputy Johnny Brady

How many indicated they had zero derelict sites?

Chairman

It was only a handful, perhaps four. We will write directly to the councils even if we have already done that and ask for the information to be supplied as quickly as possible. That concludes the correspondence.

No. 3 is a travel report. A draft report has been circulated on the visit by a delegation of the joint committee to the AMAI, Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland, spring seminar in Sligo, from 12 to 13 February 2010. Our thanks to Senator Glynn for representing the committee. Is it agreed to approve the draft report and lay it before both Houses of the Oireachtas? Agreed.

Sitting suspended at 4.08 p.m. until 4.09 p.m.