Written Answers Nos. 24-31
24. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the position regarding funding for the construction and upgrade of rural group water schemes such as those in County Mayo that experienced a shortfall in funding since the abolition in 2010 of the CLÁR programme and as a consequence necessary works have not been carried out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11704/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraResponsibility for the administration of the Rural Water Programme, which includes group water schemes, has been devolved to local authorities since 1997. The selection and approval of individual scheme proposals for advancement and funding under the programme, within the overall priorities set by my Department and subject to the block grant allocations provided, is therefore a matter for the local authorities, Mayo County Council in this case. The block grant allocations under the 2014 Rural Water Programme will be notified to local authorities as soon as possible.
There are particular issues with regard to the putting in place of some new group water schemes where the costs involved call into question the viability of the scheme. At present, grants of up to 85% of cost, subject to a maximum grant of €6,475 per house, are available towards new group water schemes. The National Rural Water Services Committee, which has a role in advising me in relation to policy and investment in rural water services, has been considering the issue of funding of new group water schemes. Last month, I approved proposals by the committee for the carrying out of an exercise to estimate the number and costs of new group water schemes that might have gone ahead if CLÁR funding remained in place. The results of this exercise, which is underway, are awaited.
26. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the functions that will be transferred from central government to local government after the local property tax is retained in local areas from 2015 onwards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11883/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraA key objective of the Government’s Action Programme for Effective Local Government is to develop a system of local government that will act as the primary vehicle for governance and public service at local level. To achieve this, the Action Programme, together with the Local Government Reform Act 2014, has sought to address the significant weaknesses in the current local government system and set out a realistic and progressive pathway over the coming years to broaden the scope of public service delivery through local government.
Already, a significant enhancement of the local government role is being achieved through the establishment of Local Enterprise Offices to provide the local micro-enterprise support service under legislation currently before the Oireachtas. The Local Government Reform Act 2014 also provides for further significant enhancement of the local government role in economic development at regional and local levels and for alignment of the local and community development sector with local government.
In addition, section 45 of the 2014 Act provides for an expansion of the provisions of section 72 of the Local Government Act 2001, to enable the functions of State Bodies, as well as Government Departments, to be devolved to local authorities, subject to prior consent by the relevant Ministers and approval by Government. It is envisaged that various central government functions, as set out in the Action Programme, will be devolved at an early date , for example in areas such as tourism, ports, national parks, and rural transport. Devolution will proceed on the basis of assurance that adequate funding, staffing and any other necessary resources will be available to enable local authorities to perform effectively any additional functions. The Action Programme also provides for central retention of existing overall responsibility for policy, funding and accountability where a function transfers to local government.
The initial devolution measures will form part of a more substantial long-term widening of the role of local government, as the measures in the reform programme to strengthen the structures, funding, governance and operational efficiency of local government take effect, and the capacity of the system generally increases.
27. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of housing estates that cannot be taken in charge by local authorities, but are not classified as unfinished estates; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that in most of these estates significant issues like the provision of street lighting remain a problem for residents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11896/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraFollowing the insertion of subsection (2A) into section 180 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, by the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2010, planning authorities are not prevented from taking in charge any housing estate even if it has not been completed to the satisfaction of the planning authority in accordance with the planning permission. My Department has no information on the number of estates which have not been classified as unfinished estates.
I am aware that the satisfactory completion and maintenance of public lighting systems in housing developments, both finished and unfinished and not taken in charge, is an on-going issue of concern for both the residents of housing developments and the relevant local authorities. In this regard, local authorities have been addressing this and other related issues as part of their roles and responsibilities in planning enforcement, the taking in charge process and implementing the Government’s Action Programme on Unfinished Housing Developments.
29. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he intends to tender out the provision of the successor programme to the local and community development programme, LCDP, to both the private and the not-for-profit community sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11703/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Local and Community Development Programme (LCDP) is the largest social inclusion intervention, of its kind, in the State. The current Programme officially ended at the end of 2013 having operated for four years. It is being implemented by the Local Development Companies (LDCs) on a transitional basis for 2014 pending the roll-out of a new Programme in January 2015. Management of contracts and Programme oversight will transfer to the Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) of the Local Authorities from 1 July next.
LCDCs are being established in each local authority area over the coming months in line with the provisions in the recently enacted Local Government Reform Act 2014. These Committees will bring together both statutory and not-statutory partners, including the community sector, to bring greater co-ordination to area-based activity in their respective areas. The Committees will have responsibility for community and local development programmes funded by my Department and I am confident they will bring a strong, strategic focus to their implementation.
This implementation will involve local development actors and, therefore, the skills and experience that has been built up will continue to be available and utilised locally. In the case of the Local Community Development Programme and in accordance with public procurement rules, the LCDCs will procure the programme locally. All proposals received will be assessed in accordance with the assessment criteria notified with the tender documentation and the contract or contracts will be awarded on the basis of that assessment. While I cannot pre-empt the outcome of such a procurement process, I expect, given their experience, that LDCs will apply to deliver the programme in their areas.
30. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount allocated to the local government fund from his Department’s budget in the years 2010 to 2013, inclusive; and the projected allocation for 2014. [11707/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Local Government Fund accounts are audited on an annual basis by the Comptroller and Auditor General. Full details of all income to the Local Government Fund are available from the audited accounts of the Fund, published on my Department’s website, www.environ.ie. The most recent audited accounts of the Fund are for the year 2012. The estimated income to the Local Government Fund in 2013 and 2014 is published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in the Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services 2014.
No allocations were made from my Department’s Vote to the Local Government Fund in either 2012 or 2013 and there is no indication at this time that an allocation will be made in 2014. The following table sets out the information requested for 2010 and 2011:
|
2010 |
€241,403,000 |
|
2011 |
€175,000,000 |
