Written Answers Nos. 160-168
160. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Communications; Energy and Natural Resources the expected total legal costs to be incurred in his Department in 2012; his proposals to reduce these costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44062/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraProvision of approximately €200,000 is made in the administrative budget of my Department to cover legal costs in 2012. Expenditure of €99,000 has been incurred from this provision to the end of September 2012.
Other legal costs can arise that are funded from the relevant programme areas within my Vote. In the time available, it was not possible to gather information on these costs. My Department is in the process of identifying and assembling the information and I will revert to the Deputy as soon as possible.
161. Deputy Michael McCarthy asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government the position regarding the non principal private residence and household charge in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43662/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Local Government (Household Charge) Act 2011 provides the legislative basis for the household charge. Under the Act, an owner of a residential property on the liability date of 1 January 2012 is liable to pay the household charge, unless otherwise exempted or entitled to claim a waiver. The household charge is on a self-assessment basis and it is a matter for an owner of a residential property on the liability date to determine if he or she has a liability and, if so, to declare that liability and pay the household charge. The household charge applies to residential property generally, including those properties that are liable to the €200 charge on non-principal private residences.
The payment date for payment of the household charge was 31 March 2012. The penalties for late payment are proportionate to the level of the household charge and are similar to the provisions that apply under Revenue legislation in respect of the late filing and payment of certain taxes. Failure to pay by the due date results in late payment interest and late payment fees.
The Local Government (Charges) Act 2009, as amended, introduced a charge on non-principal private residences. The charge is set at €200 and liability for it falls, in the main, on owners of rental, holiday and vacant properties. Payment of the charge for 2012 was due on or before the 30th June 2012. However, the charge has been in place since 2009 and therefore substantial payment and late payment fees may be owed from previous years. Under the Act, it is a function of a local authority to collect non-principal private residence charges and late payment fees due to it, and all charges and late payment fees imposed and payable to a local authority are under the care and management of the local authority concerned. In this regard, application of the legislation in particular circumstances is a matter for the relevant local authority.
It should be noted that failure to declare a liability in respect of, or to fail to pay, the household charge and/or the charge on non-principal private residences, are offences. I would urge all liable parties who have not paid the household change and/or the charge on non-principal private residences to contact their local authority as a matter of urgency. Property owners who are unsure of their liability should, in the first instance, contact their local authority.
162. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government the reason the amalgamation of South and North Tipperary county councils is being progressed, when the reality is that the savings targets will not be met and when the only reform will be less services at more cost; the savings targets that he expects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43587/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraWork on the amalgamation of North Tipperary and South Tipperary County Councils is proceeding on foot of a Government decision in July 2011 that a unified council would be established to replace the existing local authorities by mid-2014. An Implementation Group was established in September 2011 to oversee planning, preparatory work and initial implementation of the reorganisation process. The Group submitted an Implementation Plan in June 2012, which is available on my Department’s website at www.environ.ie.
The Implementation Group identified estimated savings of €6.15m per annum arising from amalgamation. The Implementation Plan proposes estimated once - off costs of €1.79m and annual costs of €0.56m arising from harmonisation of rates across both Councils. The Implementation Plan proposes that savings be thoroughly reviewed during the implementation phase and I have asked that the potential to maximise savings be examined in that context, including scope for new arrangements, efficiencies and economies of scale in the context of the unified authority.
The Implementation Plan also sets out details of a new service delivery model for a unified council which involves the streamlining of functions, while also addressing issues such as the duplication of services, maintaining local service delivery and improving council/customer interaction. I am satisfied that the amalgamation of authorities in Tipperary will provide for a more effective and coherent delivery of services, reduced administrative costs and overheads and, most importantly, stronger and more efficient local government in the county.
163. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government the number of water meters that will be installed in homes in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43497/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government has decided that Irish Water, a new State-owned water company to be established as an independent subsidiary within the Bord Gáis Éireann Group, will be responsible for the metering programme. In addition, the Government has recently approved the preparation of legislation to assign the necessary powers to allow Irish Water to undertake the metering programme. The objective is to have the Bill enacted by the end of this year. Pending enactment, my Department will be working with the local authorities to progress aspects of the metering programme including the carrying out of surveys of domestic connections and will also be progressing the tender documentation for elements of the meter infrastructure.
164. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government the position regarding capital housing allocations in respect of County Kerry (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43563/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis year I allocated some €8.643 million to Kerry County Council in respect of the various measures supported under my Department’s Social Housing Investment Programme (SHIP). In addition to this I allocated €2.606 million in respect of the Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability. I recently allocated a further €420,000 to the Council for the construction of rural houses over the period 2012 – 2014. Having regard to the existing high level of commitments under the SHIP, I am not in a position to approve additional funding for Kerry County Council at this time.
Details of the amounts allocated under the various housing measures together with details of the amounts recouped to the Council by my Department are set out in the following table:
|
Measure |
2012 Allocation |
Amount Recouped* |
|
Regeneration |
€4,500,000 |
€1,540,932 |
|
Housing Construction |
€1,480,000 |
€0 |
|
Capital Assistance Scheme |
€1,617,250 |
€28,096 |
|
Energy Efficiency |
€637,500 |
€143,586 |
|
Housing Adaptation Grants |
€2,606,292 |
€1,716,017 |
|
IWILs/Extensions |
€195,832 |
€0 |
|
Remedial Works |
€190,000 |
€47,696 |
|
Travellers |
€23,429 |
€17,067 |
*Recoupment period 1 January 2012 – 30 September 2012.
165. Deputy John Lyons asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government if he will consider relaxing the rules on sub-letting properties in respect of persons who received mortgages from local authorities via the Housing Finance Agency and who are experiencing mortgage difficulties and are in negative equity. [43592/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraWhile the terms and conditions governing local authority loans do not prohibit an affordable home owner from renting a spare room in his/her home, a local authority may attach conditions to the contract with the purchaser pertaining to subletting of the unit and its use by the purchaser as his/her normal place of residence. A breach of contract conditions would be a matter for a local authority to pursue as it considers appropriate given the particular circumstances involved. The administration of the various affordable housing schemes is a matter entirely for local authorities.
166. Deputy John Lyons asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government if he will consider allowing persons who received mortgages from local authorities via the Housing Finance Agency and who are experiencing mortgage difficulties and are in negative equity to take part in long-term leasing of their homes back to local authorities, as is an option for some home owners with mortgages from private institutions. [43593/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraLocal authorities have long been the lenders of last resort servicing the housing loans needs of less affluent members of society. In the present economic circumstances it is to be anticipated that the ability of some borrowers to service housing loans may become restricted and that a number of loans may fall into arrears. Section 34 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 provides local authorities with powers to deal flexibly with distressed borrowers, and they have demonstrated sensitivity over the years in dealing with such cases. In March 2010 my Department issued guidelines to local authorities, based on the Central Bank’s first Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears, which continued the tradition of handling arrears in a manner that is sympathetic to the needs of the particular household, while also protecting the position of the local authority concerned.
To reflect the content of the Central Bank’s revised Code of Conduct – which replaced the previous code from 1 January 2011 and was informed by the deliberations of the Expert Group on Mortgage Arrears and Personal Debt – my Department issued updated guidance in July 2012 to local authorities in consultation with the County and City Managers Association. This will further enable local authorities to provide a range of flexible repayment options for households in difficulty.
In particular, the introduction of a Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (MARP), which closely mirrors the suite of options available in the commercial sector, will present borrowers in difficulty with a range of alternative payment agreements, which can be accessed to ease the particular circumstances of each case. This process will feature a standard set of options including, in cases of certain unsustainable mortgages, the facility of mortgage-to-rent. Local authorities have been restructuring loans for some time using their own internal practices. The introduction of these revised guidelines will standardise the approach across the whole sector, introduce a systematic structure to this area and provide borrowers with a transparent and accessible model for arrears resolution. I expect that the adoption of these revised guidelines will serve simultaneously to help resolve mortgage difficulties for both local authorities and their borrowers.
167. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government the actions, if any, he has taken on foot of the recommendations in the report by the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht entitled "Eight proposals urgently required to tackle flooding on the River Shannon, it's tributaries and the waters feeding into it"; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43612/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe recently published report of the Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht contains a number of proposals on the issue of flooding on the river Shannon and its tributaries. The majority of the proposals come within the remit of other Departments and agencies. In relation to proposal 6, in so far as it addresses emergency management, progress has been made in recent years in addressing the specific issues mentioned in the report i.e. forecasting and communications. My Department published The Report on the Review of the Response to Exceptional Severe Weather Events of 2009-2010 in August 2011. The Report is available on my Department’s website at www.environ.ie. It describes the response to the exceptional severe weather events of 2009-2010 and made recommendations to improve preparedness for, and resilience to, future severe weather events. Implementation of the recommendations, some of which have been completed and some which are ongoing, is coordinated and monitored by the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning.
My Department’s National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management co-ordinates the response at national level to severe weather emergencies. At local level, the Principal Response Agencies (An Garda Síochána, the HSE and Local Authorities) operate under their own Major Emergency Plans and co-ordinate their response to flooding in accordance with the 2006 Framework for Emergency Management. The Framework requires local authorities to prepare severe weather plans and flood emergency plans, as sub-plans of their Major Emergency Plan. I understand that all local authorities have Severe Weather Plans in place and, where appropriate in accordance with local risk assessment, Flood Emergency Plans. Local authorities are provided with information from a number of systems including the Public Service Weather Warnings from Met Éireann and river and coastal flood warning systems where these are in place.
168. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government when the Thornhill Teport will be published and made available to the public. [43667/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraAn independently-chaired Inter-Departmental Expert Group was established to consider the structures and modalities for an equitable local property tax to replace the household charge. The Group has submitted its report to me and proposals will be brought to Government as soon as possible. It will then be a matter for the Government to decide on the details of implementation taking into account the modalities involved including the publication of relevant material. The Government has decided that the local property tax will be collected and administered by the Revenue Commissioners.
