Written Answers Nos. 547-61
547. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his Department's proposals to amalgamate the library services in Cork city and County Cork; the discussions that have taken place with service users and staff members and their representatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3807/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra548. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his Department's proposals to amalgamate the library services in counties Sligo, Roscommon and Leitrim; the discussions that have taken place with service users and staff members and their representatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3808/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra549. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his Department's proposals to amalgamate the library services in counties Cavan and Monaghan; the discussions that have taken place with service users and staff members and their representatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3809/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra550. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his Department's proposals to amalgamate the library services in counties Carlow and Kilkenny; the discussions that have taken place with service users and staff members and their representatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3810/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra551. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his Department's proposals to amalgamate the library services in counties Longford and Westmeath; the discussions that have taken place with service users and staff members and their representatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3811/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra552. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his Department's proposals to amalgamate the library services in counties Laois and Offaly; the discussions that have taken place with service users and staff members and their representatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3812/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 547 to 552, inclusive, together.
I refer to the reply to Question No. 557 of 20 January 2015 which sets out the position in this matter.
Senior management in local authorities and library service managers have been consulted throughout the process. Consultations with unions have taken place from the initial stages of the review and are ongoing. The report, Managing the Delivery of Effective Library Services, identifies the strong staffing structure necessary to deliver the services and provides the commitment to implement this across the country.
The report implements Government policy under the new national public library strategy 2013-2017, Opportunities for All. The development of the national strategy involved wide consultation with library users of all ages and all other public library stakeholders, as well as formal national public consultation. Managing the Delivery of Effective Library Services seeks to establish stronger, more effective and efficient public libraries and deliver better library services to local communities and citizens, with front-line service continuing to be locally focused and people-centred, and presents opportunities for enhanced individual and community support services and engagement, with no detriment to library services. Against that background, and as the policies, priorities and budgets for library services in each local authority remain the responsibility of the elected members, no separate national consultations were undertaken in the development of this report.
553. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the status of an application to Mayo North East LEADER partnership by an organisation (details supplied); if the application will be expedited in order to allow the project to progress; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3829/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised that Mayo North East LEADER Partnership have recently received outstanding information from the promoter with regard to this project.
I understand that the project will be submitted to my Department shortly, for assessment and written approval, which is a requirement for grant applications in excess of €150,000 value.
554. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the legal basis for the HomeBond scheme; his views on the role of the State in the matter; his further views on the way the scheme is operating; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3841/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraHomeBond is a private limited company providing structural guarantees for new houses and, since November 2008, the HomeBond Insurance scheme is underwritten by Allianz Insurance. As is the case for any private company, its operations are a matter for its management and Board of Directors. My Department understands that HomeBond Insurance Services Ltd. is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. As it is a private company, my Department has no role or function in its operations.
I understand that HomeBond is operated by the National House Building Guarantee Company which is a private company established in 1978 by the Irish Home Builders Association and the Construction Industry Federation. My Department supported the establishment by the industry of a guarantee scheme to protect purchasers of newly built houses and, up to early 2004, participated at Board meetings in a non-voting observer capacity.
On foot of the establishment of HomeBond, to ensure national coverage of the guarantee scheme and to facilitate an independent assessment of construction standards, inspectors, already engaged by my Department for grant-related work, carried out inspections on a fee basis on houses registered, up to the end of 2003, with the scheme outside the Dublin area. The costs of these inspections were recouped by HomeBond to the Department.
555. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the position regarding a mortgage to rent case in respect of persons (details supplied) in County Cork; the next steps in the process; the estimated timeframe for its completion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3842/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI refer to the reply to Question No. 169 of 16 July 2014 where I outlined that an application for provisional approval in the case referenced was received by my Department on 9 June 2014 and this provisional approval was granted the following day.
In an effort to increase the numbers delivered under the scheme a new protocol between all parties in the process was agreed and came into operation in June 2014. The protocol includes such measures as the provision of a single independent valuation for the purpose of agreeing the purchase price. The valuation and condition surveys will now be carried out earlier in the process to give more certainty to all parties in the process including the borrower. The new protocol is endeavouring to ensure that as much certainty is being provided as early as possible in the process to minimise uncertainty and late withdrawals from the scheme.
I understand that a valuation under this new protocol has been requested on the property referred to in the Question. Once this valuation is received by the Housing Agency, and subject to the eligibility criteria for the scheme being met, the property will then be offered to the approved housing body panel for expressions of interest. Once an appropriate approved housing body has been identified, a further submission for full funding approval can be made to my Department.
556. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason there is a continuing delay in processing a payment by Mayo North East LEADER Partnership to an organisation (details supplied) in County Mayo; if the payment will be expedited so as to prevent any negative impact on the promoter's cash flow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3859/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by Mayo North East LEADER Partnership that they are awaiting the submission of outstanding information by the project promoter in order to progress the claim for payment.
557. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the progress that has been made with the new Leader programme; when it will be launched; the criteria involved; and when projects will be lodged. [3871/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is currently working with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the European Commission to finalise the text of the Rural Development Programme. I met with the European Commission in this context on Wednesday 21 January 2015, and I can assure the Deputy that significant progress in terms of finalising arrangements for the programme has been made over the last number of weeks.
I hope to be in a position shortly to begin the process whereby I will accept Expressions of Interest from local development and community groups to design and implement LEADER Local Development Strategies for the Rural Development Programme. The LEADER Local Development Strategy selection process will be open to any entity that can show broad local and community participation and that has a coherent vision for the development of its area.
While the Government’s preferred outcome is one Local Development Strategy for each area, there will be no limit on the number of groups that can express an interest from within a sub-regional area. The Expressions of Interest will be evaluated and entities will be selected to develop prospective Local Development Strategies through a process of assessment by an independent Evaluation Committee, comprising an independent chair, officials from my Department and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, along with external rural and local development expertise.
Notwithstanding the level of work to be done in advance of the programme becoming operational, I expect that the programme will be in a position to start selecting Local Development Strategies for implementation by mid-2015.
558. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the staffing issue at his Department which is delaying funding to volunteer centres, including salaries; and if the separate issue of the loss of a funding stream due to the restructuring of the local development structures has been addressed so that volunteer centres can proceed with plans for this year and the important work that the centres do across the country. [3883/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra561. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to inform Volunteer Ireland and volunteer centres across the country regarding their funding for 2015; the reason there has been a delay to date; if he will organise the relevant budgetary allocations as soon as possible so that staff will be paid and services will be maintained; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3929/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 558 and 561 together.
The Government continues to advance a range of measures that support volunteering and active citizenship. My Department funds a network of 21 volunteer centres. It also provides funding to Volunteer Ireland, the national volunteer development agency. The focus of Volunteer Ireland is to create an enabling environment for volunteering, to develop an ethos of volunteerism across all sectors of society and to be an independent and legitimate voice for volunteering.
The volunteer centres act as 'brokers' between potential volunteers and organisations seeking volunteers. They also work with organisations to develop their volunteer management capacity and facilitate Garda vetting for smaller organisations.
My Department has recently provided funding to each Volunteer Centre and will be in contact shortly with each of the organisations regarding further funding for 2015.
559. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the measures he is taking to provide and promote energy-efficient housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3886/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraGeneral responsibility for the promotion of energy efficiency rests with the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, who has published Ireland's Second National Energy Efficiency Plan. The plan details the broad range of measures in place or being planned by a range of departments and agencies with a view to improving energy efficiency in all sectors of the economy. Specific responsibilities within the remit of my Department in this regard include setting energy performance standards under the Building Regulations and promoting energy efficiency in social housing.
Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings requires EU Member States to ensure that all new buildings will be nearly zero-energy by 31 December 2020. The Directive broadly defines a ‘nearly zero-energy building’ as a building with a high energy performance where the very low amount of energy required should, to a very significant extent, be met by energy from renewable sources, including renewable energy produced on site or nearby.
Against this background, Ireland has been making significant progress in terms of both improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon dioxide emissions within the built environment. Taking the energy efficiency requirements established in 2005 as the benchmark, the Building Regulations (Part L Amendment) Regulations 2007 set the requirements necessary to achieve a 40% improvement (over the 2005 standards) in the energy and carbon performance of new dwellings. The requirements were subsequently upgraded under the Building Regulations (Part L Amendment) Regulations 2011 which has delivered a 60% aggregate improvement (relative to 2005 standards) in both the energy and carbon performance of new dwellings. One further upgrade of the Part L requirement is envisaged in order to ensure that Ireland meets our 'nearly zero energy' obligation by 2020. A comprehensive public consultation process and a rigorous regulatory impact assessment will be undertaken before such changes are finalised.
My Department also continues to pursue an ongoing programme of investment in improving the energy efficiency of the existing stock of social housing owned by local authorities and has published the best practice design guidelines Quality Housing for Sustainable Communities which, among other things, promote higher standards of energy efficiency in new social housing. Local authorities are undertaking an ambitious programme of insulation retrofitting, with the support of my Department, on the least energy efficient social houses over a three-year period. Funding of €50 million is being provided over the period 2013-2015 for improving the energy performance of older local authority housing stock. This programme will improve energy efficiency and comfort levels, and therefore BER ratings, in 25,000 local authority homes.
560. Deputy Helen McEntee asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when the revised guidelines for wind energy will be published; and if they will apply to projects that have prior applications submitted. [3893/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn December 2013, my Department published proposed draft revisions to the noise, setbacks and shadow flicker aspects of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines. These draft revisions proposed:
- The setting of a more stringent day and night noise limit of 40 decibels for future wind energy developments,
- A mandatory minimum setback of 500 metres between a wind turbine and the nearest dwelling for amenity considerations, and
- The complete elimination of shadow flicker between wind turbines and neighbouring dwellings.
A public consultation process was initiated on these proposed draft revisions to the Guidelines, which ran until February 21 2014. My Department received submissions from 7,500 organisations and members of the public during this period.
It is intended that the revisions to the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines will be finalised as soon as possible. In this regard, account has to be taken of the extensive response to the public consultation in framing the final guidelines. Further work is also advancing to develop technical appendices to assist planning authorities with the practical application of the noise measurement aspects of the Wind Guidelines.
The revisions to the Wind Energy Development Guidelines 2006, when finalised, will be issued under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. In the interim, the 2006 Guidelines continue to apply to existing planning applications. Planning authorities, and, where applicable, An Bord Pleanála must have regard to guidelines issued under Section 28 in the performance of their functions under the Planning Acts.
I am precluded, under section 30 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, from exercising any power or control in relation to any individual planning application or appeal with which a planning authority or An Bord Pleanála is or may be concerned. It is a matter for the relevant planning authority to make the appropriate determination in relation to a planning application or appeal, and my Department has no function in this regard. As indicated, planning authorities must 'have regard' to planning guidelines issued by my Department. However, these are issued for guidance purposes to assist planning authorities in the performance of their functions. Ultimately, planning authorities will make their own decision based on the specific merits or otherwise of individual planning applications.
