Written Answers Nos. 199-209
199. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in view of the abolition of milk quotas, if he will consider extending the current derogation under the nitrates directive to 300 kg per hectare per year, targeted specifically at smaller farms with the ambition to expand. [17963/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe EU Nitrates Directive and Ireland's National Nitrates Action Programme limit the amount of nitrogen from livestock manure which may be applied to land each year, including by the animals themselves, to 170 kg of nitrogen per hectare per annum.
On 27 February 2014, after lengthy negotiation, the EU Nitrates Management Committee renewed Ireland’s derogation which enables farmers who meet strict conditions to increase this application limit to 250 kg of nitrogen per hectare per annum. This derogation was given effect by an EU Decision and is transposed into Irish law by the European Union (Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters) (Amendment) Regulations 2014.
200. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide in tabular form a detailed breakdown of the way the €1.5 billion allocated for social housing will be spent by his Department for each constituency; and the way the €57 million allocated for County Tipperary will be spent. [17914/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe social housing targets that I recently announced for all local authorities cover the period to 2017 and include almost 7,500 units that will be capital-funded and 15,400 current-funded units, which will support a combination of building, buying and leasing schemes by local authorities. My announcement also contained provisional funding allocations within the overall announcement of over €1.5 billion. These individual local authority allocations are sufficient to deliver the targeted units.
The overall delivery target for Tipperary County Council is 832 units in the period to 2017, broken down as follows:
|
Local Authority Housing/ AHB delivery/ Return of vacant properties |
Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme |
Rental Accommodation Scheme |
|
287 |
342 |
203 |
The provisional funding allocation to support the capital target of 287 units is €52.9m. Funding for the Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme (SHCEP) and the Rental Accommodation Scheme is provided on a national basis without individual local authority/ approved housing body funding allocations.
On 5 May 2015, I announced the first major direct build social housing programme under the Social Housing Strategy. This announcement covers 100 separate housing projects across all local authorities. Information including details of the projects approved for Tipperary County Council, is available on my Department’s website at the following link: http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,41340,en.htm.
201. Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide the schedule for funding the development of Edel House (details supplied) to facilitate proper planning of the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17927/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraProposals for this scheme were submitted and funding was approved under my Department’s Capital Assistance Scheme in 2014. As the design has now been amended, my Department has requested and is awaiting additional information from Cork City Council, to allow the altered proposal and design to be evaluated.
202. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when a decision will be made on whether a person (details supplied) in County Monaghan will be made to retire or if other arrangements will be made; if his Department recognises that it has responsibility for this issue; if representations have been received on this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17946/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraRepresentations have previously been received by my Department on this matter and were responded to. With regard to local authority employment, the position is that since the enactment of the Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004, the minimum age at which pensions will be payable to new entrants to the public service, from 1 April 2004, is age 65 and there is no compulsory retirement age. For staff who are not ‘New Entrants’ as defined in that Act, a pension is generally payable from age 60 with a compulsory retirement age of 65.
In relation to the retirement age of public sector employees, this is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
The State Pension (Transition) which had been payable at 65, was abolished on 1 January 2014 and is a matter for my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection.
203. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding the Private Residential Tenancies Board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17986/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Residential Tenancies Act 2004 regulates the tenant-landlord relationship in the private rented residential sector. The Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) was established under the Act to operate a national tenancy registration system and to facilitate the resolution of disputes between landlords and tenants in this sector.
According to the PRTB Annual Report for 2013, adjudication processing times were an average of 7 months in 2013 compared to 12 months in 2012. For 2014, I understand adjudications were taking an average of 5 to 6 months to process. Late 2013 also saw the introduction of a pilot telephone mediation service as an alternative means to address disputes. Processing times for mediation cases are typically 10 to 12 weeks.
The PRTB, as an independent statutory body, will adjudicate each dispute on its own facts and merits and may grant redress and give specific direction as appropriate on foot of a determination order. Receipt of a determination order is the official notification to parties of the final outcome of a dispute resolution case. The order sets out the terms to be complied with, including any payments owing and the length of time given to comply. In making determination orders, the PRTB can make provision to allow for payment of awards in instalments to facilitate recovery of the award, based on the circumstances of the case.
A party who fails to comply with one or more terms of a determination order is open to having legal proceedings taken against him or her in the Courts. Under the Act, enforcement of PRTB orders is a discretionary power and the Board exercises this power taking account of the circumstances pertaining to each case. However, while there is no legal obligation on the PRTB to enforce, the Board takes the issue of non-compliance with determination orders seriously. During 2013, it referred 394 cases to its legal advisors for enforcement proceedings. It is also open to parties to pursue enforcement independently through the Courts, including the seeking of a garnishee order. It should be noted that going to Court does not of itself ensure successful enforcement and more particularly, recoupment of an award. In many cases the best option, and one which the PRTB facilitates, is for the parties to agree a schedule of payments.
204. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the grants and supports available in the provision and adaptation of housing for persons with intellectual disabilities to provide for some independent living in the community; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18055/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe provision of housing to support independent living by people with specific categories of need, including people with an intellectual, physical or mental health disability, older people, the homeless, returning emigrants and victims of domestic violence, is supported through my Department’s Capital Assistance Scheme. The scheme provides funding of up to 100% of the approved costs. Housing under this Scheme is provided by approved housing bodies and its detailed administration is the responsibility of the relevant local authority.
My Department and the local authorities also provide supports to tenants of local authority housing and to private house owners in respect of necessary housing adaptations. For the former, my Department meets 90% of the cost of adaptation works to meet the needs of local authority tenants with a disability, with local authorities providing the remaining 10%. For private house owners, the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability assists households with specific needs to have necessary repairs or improvement works carried out to facilitate the continued independent occupancy of their homes. My Department provides 80% of the approved funding, with a 20% contribution from the local authorities.
205. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will bring the Leader programme in line with the rest of the 2014 to 2020 rural development scheme programme by increasing the Leader co-financing rate from 37% to 46% (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18060/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Leader element of the Rural Development Programme 2014 – 2020, will provide €250 million in financial resources to rural communities over the next 5-6 years.
While the allocation for the Leader element of the 2014-2020 programme is less than the value of the LEADER element of 2007–2013 programme, I am confident that within the confines of the fiscal environment we have experienced in the recent past, the Government has allocated the maximum amount possible to support the Leader elements of the 2014-2020 programme and in this context it is not proposed to increase the co-financing rate at this time.
The €250 million funding available under the 2014-2020 programme, coupled with the Government's drive to increase coordination at a local level and the commitment to the delivery of the recommendations in the Report of the Commission on the Economic Development of Rural Areas (CEDRA), will ensure that the impact of the funding will be maximised to support the sustainable development of our rural communities.
206. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if, as previously, it is intended to have a single Leader company delivering the Leader programme on all the offshore islands; if not, the arrangement that will apply to the islands; the details of the discussions that have taken place with the island communities regarding this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18079/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraFor the purposes of the Leader elements of the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, rural areas in Ireland are considered to be those areas outside the cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.
As the Deputy will be aware, Ireland is reconfiguring the way in which local and rural development interventions are implemented. This is in line with Government policy to ensure that local government is well positioned to support the effective and efficient delivery of local and rural development. In this context, €220 million of the overall Leader programme complement for the 2014-2020 period has been allocated based on administrative or county boundaries to 28 sub-regional areas. I do not propose to change this at this stage.
However, in the context of the 2014-2020 Rural Development Programme, I am anxious that the implementation of the Leader elements of the programme reflects a community led approach and in order to ensure this, each sub-regional area will be responsible for determining its own needs and will outline how it proposes to address those needs in its Local Development Strategy.
This approach will also apply to those areas that contain island communities and each Local Development Strategy will be required to outline how it proposes to address the needs of both its Island and Gaeltacht communities, as appropriate. I encourage these communities to ensure that they engage fully with the Local Development Strategy development processes for their respective areas in order to ensure that their needs and concerns are fully addressed.
207. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the cost to the Exchequer of the payment of increments to all public sector staff under his remit, per year since 2008. [18332/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt is not possible to extract historical increment financial data from the system on a global basis for the years 2008 - 2011. Historic costs could be calculated manually on an individual basis but this would take a prohibitively long time. The number of increments awarded to staff in my Department, along with indicative approximate values of new increments paid, in each of the years from 2012 to date, is set out in the following table:
|
Year |
No. of Increments Awarded |
Value of Increments Paid € |
|
2012 |
317 |
310,000 |
|
2013 |
266 |
250,000 |
|
2014 |
151 |
141,000 |
|
2015 to date |
68 |
42,500 |
Increments are paid in line with the approved rates of pay at the time as outlined on the websites of the Department of Finance and Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and in line with arrangements in place under the Haddington Road Agreement since 1 July 2013. Those staff who have reached the maximum or long service increment point of their salary scales do not receive increments. The payment of increments is subject to satisfactory performance under the Performance Management and Development System (PMDS).
The corresponding information in terms of Agencies and Local Authorities is not held in my Department.
208. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will reverse the harmful cuts introduced by the Government in respect of the Electricity Supply Board's retired staff pension entitlements, which have severely disadvantaged pensioners; if he supports the rights of these pensioners to engage in meaningful negotiations with their former employer and the trustees of the pension schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18025/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe ESB General Employees’ Superannuation Scheme is the scheme through which pensions for the majority of employees in the electricity business are funded. The fund is vested in trustees nominated by ESB and its members for the sole benefit of employees and their dependents. The Scheme is a defined benefit scheme and is registered as such with the Pensions Authority (formerly the Pensions Board). The issue of management of and attendance at meetings convened in respect of operation of the pension scheme is a matter for the Trustees of the Pension Fund and not one in which I have a role or function.
209. Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the progress made in the provision of efibre broadband, and in particular when it will be available in Passage West, County Cork (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17931/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraLast November I published a national high speed coverage map for 2016 as part of the National Broadband Plan. This map is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. The areas marked BLUE represent those areas that will have access to commercial high speed broadband services by end of 2016 and represents 70% of the premises in Ireland. The AMBER areas show the target areas for the State intervention and represents 30% of the premises in Ireland.
The map shows that Passage West is in the Blue area with high speed broadband services to be delivered through commercial investment later this year.
Through a combination of commercial and targetted State investment, the aim of the National Broadband Plan is to ensure that every premise, regardless of location, has access to high speed broadband.
