Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:361. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the cost of restoring the local government fund to 2008 levels. [27493/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraLocal Government Fund
Ceisteanna (361)
Freagraí scríofa
I assume that the Question refers to general purpose grants (GPG) from the Local Government Fund. The Local Government Fund historically provided local authorities with finance for funding some of their day-to-day activities, including elements of water services costs, through General Purpose Grant allocations; for non-national roads; and funding for certain local government initiatives. As a result of the introduction of Local Property Tax and the establishment of Irish Water, the local government funding model has changed considerably and accordingly direct comparisons year on year are not practicable as the removal of water related expenditures previously incurred by local authorities must be recognised.
In 2008 €979,228,405 was paid in General Purpose Grants to all Local Authorities. In 2016, it is anticipated that approximately €453, 300,000 will be paid to Local Authorities in the form of Local Property Tax allocations. As indicated above, water-related funding, provided to local authorities as part of General Purpose Grants until 2013, is now dealt with separately through Irish Water.
Irish Water
Ceisteanna (362)
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:362. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the cost of dismantling Irish Water and abolishing water charges. [27494/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Earlier this year, in the context of Government formation discussions, some broad estimates of the potential costs of abolition of Irish Water were prepared. It was estimated that once off costs for staff redundancies, termination of contracts, transitioning to another model etc. could range from €85 million - €169 million. In addition, some €1.6 billion additional running and capital costs would arise over the period of the current Irish Water Business Plan to 2021, due to the fact that the efficiencies agreed in the context of that plan would be unlikely to be achieved in a return to a local authority model.
However, as the Deputy will be aware, this Government is committed to retaining Irish Water as a single national utility in public ownership responsible for the delivery of water and wastewater services. To build public confidence in Irish Water, I will be establishing an External Advisory Body which will advise on measures to improve the transparency and accountability of Irish Water and to give quarterly reports on its performance in relation to its Business Plan to an Oireachtas Committee.
The Government has established an Expert Commission to make recommendations for the sustainable long-term funding model for the delivery of domestic water and wastewater services by Irish Water. The Commission will report to a Special Oireachtas Committee and consideration of recommendations on the funding model will ultimately be voted upon by the Oireachtas next year.
If domestic water charges were abolished, Irish Water and the Group Water sector would require additional funding to substitute for the loss of revenue from domestic customers. The estimated additional revenue requirement in 2017 alone would be €240.5 million. The redeployment of the Water Conservation Grant as subvention to Irish Water would provide savings of €110 million to offset these additional costs.
Irish Sign Language
Ceisteanna (363)
Gerry Adams
Ceist:363. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Social Protection the State-funded bodies which currently provide Irish Sign Language interpreting services and the capacity in which; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27037/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The Sign Language Interpreting Service (SLIS), which is funded by Citizens Information Board (CIB), is the national agency for the provision of sign language interpreting services across Ireland. SLIS seeks to ensure that quality interpretation services are available to deaf people throughout Ireland so that they can access public and social services. It provides a referral service, on request, by putting clients in touch with suitably qualified interpreters. In 2015 the number of referrals was just over 1,200.
The Irish Remote Interpreting Service (IRIS) provided by SLIS offers a video-link service to a live Irish Sign Language interpreter. In 2015, IRIS expanded its service provision to offer a 5-day service (Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm). Over 1,200 bookings were managed by the service in 2015.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Civil Registration Documentation
Ceisteanna (364)
Noel Grealish
Ceist:364. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Social Protection if all births, deaths and marriages are now recorded digitally; if the details of parents and grandparents names, ages, addresses and siblings will be included on the certificates to allow comprehensive genealogical searches for future generations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27117/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Digital registration of births, deaths and marriage records has been in use since late 2003. This, along with the enactment of the Civil Registration Act 2004, modernised the Civil Registration Service.
The details to be recorded in the Registers of Births and Deaths are laid out in the First Schedule of the 2004 Act. Details to be recorded in the Register of Marriages are laid out in Statutory Instrument No. 670 of 2010.
Earlier this month Minister Heather Humphreys and I jointly launched a facility whereby historical records of births (registered more than 100 years ago), marriages (registered more than 75 years ago) and deaths (registered more than 50 years ago) can be accessed online. Access to this facility may be found at www.irishgenealogy.ie. There is no charge for searches of the indexes or registers on the website.
The website will, I am sure, have an enduring interest for not only those of us living in Ireland but for the wider Irish diaspora.
Social Insurance Yield
Ceisteanna (365)
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:365. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Social Protection the projected yield if employer’s PRSI were to be raised to 2%, by 4% and by 6% across all employers. [27502/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
In general, employers of class A employees pay PRSI at the rate of 10.75%, or at the rate of 8.5% where the employee’s weekly earnings are €376 or less.
It is presumed that Deputy is referring to a 2% increase in both rates of class A employer PRSI, as well as increases of 4 % and 6% in these class A employer PRSI rates.
On this basis, the information requested by the Deputy is contained in the following table.
|
Employer PRSI Rate Increase |
2% |
4% |
6% |
|
Full Year Yield |
€1,342.8 million |
€2,687.7 million |
€4,028.5 million |
Social Insurance Yield
Ceisteanna (366)
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:366. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Social Protection the projected yield if employer’s PRSI were to be raised to 13.75% on the portion of employee's income above €100,000. [27503/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
In general, employers of class A employees pay PRSI at the rate of 10.75%, or at the rate of 8.5% where the employee’s weekly earnings are €376 or less.
A 3% increase in the 10.75% rate of class A employer PRSI to 13.75%, for earnings in excess of €100,000, would yield the following:
|
New Employer Rate of 13.75% for Earnings over €100,000 |
Full Year Yield |
Employments Affected |
|
13.75% |
€198.8 million |
226,115 |
Social Insurance Yield
Ceisteanna (367)
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:367. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Social Protection the projected yield if employer’s PRSI were to be raised to 19.75% on the portion of employees income above €100,000. [27504/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
In general, employers of class A employees pay PRSI at the rate of 10.75%, or at the rate of 8.5% where the employee’s weekly earnings are €376 or less.
An increase in the 10.75% rate of class A employer PRSI to 19.75%, for earnings in excess of €100,000, would yield the following:
|
New Employer Rate for Earnings over €100,000 |
Full Year Yield |
Employments Affected |
|
19.75% |
€596.5 million |
226,115 |