Written Answers Nos. 1 - 14
10. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views regarding the impact of extending the number of areas from which the Pyrite Resolution Board can receive applications; if extra funding and staff have been made available as a result of this decision; and if he is satisfied that sufficient funding is in place to remediate the number of affected dwellings. [8864/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am satisfied that the Pyrite Resolution Board has the resources, both human and financial, to meet the needs of the pyrite remediation scheme.
The Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 provided for the establishment of the Pyrite Resolution Board and for the making of a pyrite remediation scheme to be implemented by the Board with support from the Housing Agency. The pyrite remediation scheme was first adopted in mid-February 2014 and was prepared in accordance with the information available to the Board at that time and having regard to the detail set out in the July 2012 Report of the Pyrite Panel. It is a scheme of last resort and its application was initially restricted to the dwellings affected by significant pyritic damage in the five local authority areas identified in that report i.e. the administrative areas of Dublin City, Fingal, Kildare, Meath and Offaly County Councils.
Over the course of 2014, the Board was made aware that significant pyritic damage had been identified in a small number of dwellings located in one development in South Dublin and in another development in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown. Detailed information was gathered and assessed on the affected developments which led to the Board’s recommendation that the scheme be extended to include the administrative areas of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin County Councils. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Act, the revised scheme was formally adopted and came into effect on 5 February 2015.
11. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when local authorities will receive details of housing grant allocations for 2015; the number of houses he expects to be built by councils; if he will provide a list of the breakdown by local authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9078/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraSocial housing is a key priority for Government, as evidenced by the increased provision made for the area in Budget 2015. The Social Housing Strategy 2020: Support, Supply and Reform targets the delivery of 35,000 new social housing units over the period to 2020. Significant Exchequer funding is being allocated to ensure that the early phases of the Strategy will be delivered.
Actions 1 and 4 of the Strategy require the agreement of national targets for delivery of social housing across local authorities in 2015 and in subsequent years. Target-setting on an individual local authority by local authority basis is well underway, and will be concluded by the end of Quarter 1 2015, in accordance with the timeline set out in the Strategy. Delivery proposals for the years 2015 to 2017 have been sought and obtained from all local authorities and their proposals are being assessed in my Department.
For 2015, within the overall 7,400 units to be delivered, I expect some 1,400 new social housing units to be built or acquired by local authorities and approved housing bodies and a further 1,000 vacant local authority houses to be returned to use. Each local authority has responsibility for identifying their area’s social housing need and responding as required, including planning and undertaking new social housing developments to meet this need. The precise details of the 2015 delivery will be agreed on a local authority by local authority basis in the coming weeks, with funding allocations provided in respect of the approved proposals.
12. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount of money collected from commercial water charges in 2013 and 2014; and the projected yield from commercial water charges in 2015. [9084/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraWith effect from 1 January 2014, Irish Water is responsible for public water services. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that Irish Water shall collect charges from its customers in receipt of water services provided by it. Accordingly, the collection of water charges is now the statutory responsibility of Irish Water. Local authorities have continued to bill for non-domestic water services as agents of Irish Water since 1 January 2014.
The collection of non-domestic water charges until 31 December 2013 was a matter for the individual local authority concerned. Income data is published by local authorities in their Annual Financial Statements. The latest year for which audited Local Authority Annual Financial Statement data are available is 2012. Commercial water charges billed in that year amounted to some €187.6 million, while €180.7 million was collected. The Local Authority Annual Financial Statement 2012 is available on my Department’s website; details of the relevant link will be circulated with the Official Report.[ http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/Administration/FileDownLoad,39591,en.pdf.]
My Department understands that the amount billed to the non-domestic sector, excluding connection charges was approximately €180m in each of 2013 and 2014. Final figures for 2013 will be reflected in the audited local authority Annual Financial Statements for that year, which should be available shortly. Final figures for 2014 will be available in the Irish Water financial statements later this year. The projected yield for commercial water charges in 2015, including connection charges, is expected to be of the order of €229m.
13. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the reason his Department’s estimates of the number of social housing units to be provided from a reformed Part V have fluctuated in the space of a few months, from 4,000 units during the period 2015 to 2020, that is, 666 units a year according to a press release on 2 October 2014, to 9,000 units during the period 2015 to 2020, that is, 1,500 units a year in Social Housing 2020, and then back to the original 4,000 during the period 2015 to 2020 in a written reply from his Department to a parliamentary question on this topic from this Deputy on 27 January 2015. [9102/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraInformed by a recent review of the provisions of Part V of the Planning and Development Acts, which included a public consultation process, proposed legislative changes have been set out in the General Scheme of the Planning and Development (No. 1) Bill which was published in November 2014 and is available on my Department’s website.
The General Scheme provides that, in future, the focus of Part V will be on the delivery of completed social housing units, with a requirement for up to 10% social housing in developments of 10 or more units. In the operation of these revised Part V arrangements, the priority will be to secure social housing units on-site; the making of cash payments in lieu of social housing units is to be discontinued. The Bill is currently being drafted in consultation with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel with a view to its publication in the coming weeks and enactment before the Summer recess.
The changes to the Part V provisions that are proposed are a key component of the range of delivery mechanisms that will be required to achieve the targets set out in the Government’s Social Housing Strategy 2020. The Strategy stated, for illustrative purposes, that the changes proposed in relation to the Part V provisions "could yield approximately 1,500 units per annum on the basis of 25,000 homes being completed annually taking account of issues such as one-off or small housing developments that are not subject to Part V”.
However, it will take time for housing supply overall to reach that level. Given that just over 11,000 housing units were completed in 2014 and on the assumption that total housing output will increase gradually over the coming years, my Department’s estimate remains that in the region of 4,000 additional social housing units will be delivered by 2020 through the Part V mechanism.
My Department has written to local authorities in recent days instructing them to ensure that Part V agreements are discharged in ways that maximise the potential for the immediate delivery of social housing units.
14. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to review the taking-in-charge process for housing estates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9067/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraSection 180 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 provides, in relation to estates which have been completed to the satisfaction of the planning authority in accordance with the permission, that the planning authority must if requested to do so by the developer, or by the majority of the owners of the houses involved, initiate the procedures for taking the estate in charge.
In relation to estates which have not been completed to the satisfaction of the planning authority and enforcement proceedings have not been commenced within seven years of the expiration of the planning permission relating to the development, section 180 also provides that the planning authority must, if requested to do so by the majority of the owners of the housing units, initiate the taking in charge procedures.
My Department is currently reviewing, in the context of the forthcoming Planning and Development (No. 2) Bill, the section 180 provisions in relation to the taking in charge of housing estates with a view to improving and streamlining the relevant procedures. A particular focus of the review will be the time limits for the taking in charge of housing estates and my Department will consult with planning authorities in this regard. The timeframe for progressing the Planning and Development (No.2) Bill is to have it published by the Summer recess, with a view to having it enacted by the end of the year.
