Wednesday, 1 Feb 2017

Written Answers Nos. 158-168

Direct Provision Data

Ceisteanna (158)

Jonathan O'Brien

Ceist:

158. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of adults and children who remain in direct provision after receiving their stamp 4 leave to remain; the number of these persons living in direct provision on 26 January 2017; if her attention has been drawn to the difficulties these persons are having in accessing private rented accommodation; the supports she plans to put in place to assist these persons in making the transition from direct provision; and if she has discussed this matter with the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government in order to co-ordinate the efforts of both Departments to prevent these persons from becoming homeless. [4781/17]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality

On 26 January, 2017, 475 persons availing of State provided accommodation had some form of status. A breakdown of the form of status as required by the Deputy is not readily available. This number fluctuates based on the numbers of status grants and the movement of such persons into private accommodation over time.

The Reception & Integration Agency (RIA), its centre managers, the Community Welfare Service (by way of provision of Rent Allowance), Citizens Information and those City and County Councils operating the Housing Assistance Payments link with such persons in accessing the appropriate supports and services, including in respect of sourcing and securing private accommodation.

Following on from the McMahon Working Group Report, the Department of Justice and Equality developed a guide to independent living for persons with status to provide practical assistance for them. The guide is available in all centres and has been published on the RIA website (www.ria.gov.ie) in a number of different languages. This was published in parallel with information sessions coordinated by the Citizens Information Bureau in accommodation centres which gave an opportunity for such persons to seek assistance and clarification on the services provided.

Once some form of status is granted, residents cease to be ordinarily entitled to the accommodation supports provided through RIA. Notwithstanding this fact, RIA have always continued to provide such persons with continued accommodation until they secure their own private accommodation. RIA are particularly mindful of the reality of the housing situation in the State and the pressures on the Community Welfare Service in respect of Rent Supplement or the City and County Councils in respect of Housing Assistance Payments and Housing Lists. The Government is committed to ensuring that persons who are availing of State provided accommodation, including those who have come to Ireland under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme, are supported in sourcing and securing private accommodation. In that regard, my officials work closely with those of the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, as is evidenced by the incorporation into the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness of the provision of housing for refugees and the establishment under that Plan of an operational group co-chaired by the two Departments which is focused on this process.

Immigrant Investor Programme Eligibility

Ceisteanna (159)

Jim O'Callaghan

Ceist:

159. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the basis for the increase in the amount required by applicants to avail of the immigrant investor programme and which increase was announced on 20 December 2016; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4817/17]

Freagraí scríofa

Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality

I have been informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service of my Department that the recent changes to the Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP), published on the INIS website on the 20 December 2016, followed a recommendation of the Expert Independent Evaluation Committee who review and evaluate all applications. The Evaluation Committee recommended that the investment requirement under the IIP be restored to its original level of €1.0m. This recommendation was with the knowledge of the very significant increase, 500%, in applications received in 2016 compared to 2015 and the expected numbers for 2017.

The Deputy may also wish to note that for the next evaluation process the value of applications received, since the restoration of the investment requirement to €1.0m, has exceeded the investments committed in any previous call for applications to the Programme. This clearly indicates that the IIP remains an attractive investment option.

European Fund for Strategic Investments

Ceisteanna (160)

Barry Cowen

Ceist:

160. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the potential investment projects her Department put forward to the Department of Finance task force report for the European Fund for Strategic Investments. [4869/17]

Freagraí scríofa

Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality

I can advise the Deputy that my Department has not submitted any projects to the Department of Finance for the task force report mentioned.

Military Aircraft Landings

Ceisteanna (161)

Clare Daly

Ceist:

161. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of formal requests for the search of military planes by An Garda Síochána at Shannon Airport which have been acceded to in the each of the years 2014 to 2016. [4886/17]

Freagraí scríofa

Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality

I am informed by the Garda Authorities that their records indicate that requests were received in respect of 30 military aircraft which were on the runway at Shannon Airport during the period 2014 to 2016. In the time available it has not proved possible to provide a breakdown by year of the number of searches requested. I will forward this information to the Deputy when it is to hand from the Garda Authorities.

An Garda Síochána has no role in relation to the inspection of foreign State or military aircraft which, in accordance with international law, enjoy sovereign immunity.

Statutory powers of search and entry are bestowed on An Garda Síochána under various legislative provisions and when authorised by a Judge. However, these powers are exercised in circumstances where a member of An Garda Síochána has a reasonable suspicion that an offence has occurred supported by some evidence. The mere assertion of wrongdoing by a member of the public is clearly insufficient in this regard.

Each request to search an aircraft is assessed on an individual basis and is based on the specific information and detail available regarding that particular aircraft. The information is examined and a decision is then made as to whether sufficient grounds exist which would allow the Gardaí to invoke a particular statutory power to search the aircraft. An Garda Síochána remains fully committed to investigate all alleged breaches of criminal law involving the use of aircraft at Irish airports.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A

I wish to refer further to Parliamentary Question No. 161 of 1 February 2017 in relation to the number of formal requests for the search of military planes by An Garda Síochána at Shannon Airport that have been acceded to in the each of the years 2014 to 2016.

In my reply to you I stated that I had been informed by the Garda authorities that their records indicated that requests were received in respect of 30 military aircraft which were on the runway at Shannon Airport during the period 2014 to 2016. I stated also in my reply to you that each request to search an aircraft is assessed on an individual basis and is based on the specific information and detail available regarding that particular aircraft. The information is examined and a decision is then made as to whether sufficient grounds exist which would allow the Gardaí to invoke a particular statutory power to search the aircraft. An Garda Síochána remains fully committed to investigate all alleged breaches of criminal law involving the use of aircraft at Irish airports.

I have been advised by the Garda Authorities that all requests for aircraft to be searched are considered. To date, since 2014, no such request has been acceded to. This is consistent, of course, with the position in law in respect of foreign state or military aircraft.

Naturalisation Applications

Ceisteanna (162)

Michael Healy-Rae

Ceist:

162. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of an application for naturalisation in respect of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4887/17]

Freagraí scríofa

Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality

I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the processing of the application for a certificate of naturalisation from the person referred to by the Deputy is ongoing and will be submitted to me for decision as expeditiously as possible.

As the Deputy will appreciate, the granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour which confers certain rights and entitlements not only within the State but also at European Union level and it is important that appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process.

It is recognised that all applicants for citizenship would wish to have a decision on their application without delay. While most cases are now generally processed within six months, the nature of the naturalisation process is such that, for a broad range of reasons, some cases will take longer than others to process. In some instances, completing the necessary checks can take a considerable period of time.

The Deputy may wish to note that queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to INIS by e-mail using the Oireachtas Mail facility which has been established specifically for this purpose. This service enables up to date information on such cases to be obtained without the need to seek information by way of the Parliamentary Questions process. The Deputy may consider using the e-mail service except in cases where the response from INIS is, in the Deputy’s view, inadequate or too long awaited.

European Fund for Strategic Investments

Ceisteanna (163, 167)

Barry Cowen

Ceist:

163. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Finance the progress being made in securing funding for potential investment projects under the European Fund for Strategic Investments; the projects that have been approved for funding; the projects put forward to his Department for inclusion in its task force report to the EFSI; and his views on whether they are still in contention for funding. [4717/17]

Barry Cowen

Ceist:

167. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Finance the potential investment projects his Department put forward with regard to the task force report for the European Fund for Strategic Investments. [4865/17]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Finance

I propose to take Questions Nos. 163 and 167 together.

I take it that the Deputy is referring to the EU Commission - European Investment Bank - Member State Special Task Force to develop an Investment project pipeline for the EU in the Autumn of 2014.

The purpose of that exercise was to compile a list of potential investment projects across Member States, in order to quantify the investment need across the EU following the economic and financial crisis. The Task Force was constituted by the EU as an input to the development of the legislative proposal for the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), subsequently launched in November of that year. 

Ireland, along with all other Member States, submitted a list of potential projects for inclusion in the Task Force's final report. That list which includes both public and private projects  was compiled by my Department in very close coordination with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform given their responsibility for controlling  public capital expenditure. The list was based on submissions from Departments with responsibility for particular sectors requiring investment, both public and private. The list, as noted by Government before submission, did not have any overall assessment or prioritisation of the projects and was not a national set of project applications. It was more accurately a contribution to an EU-wide scoping exercise to gauge the level of potential projects, during the 2015-2017 period, should investment resources become available.

The Task Force's final report was published in December 2014 and is available at http://www.eib.org/infocentre/press/releases/all/2014/2014-277-investment-offensive-for-europe-eu-task-force-identifies-2-000-potential-projects-worth-eur1-3-trillion.htm.

Since EFSI's enactment in July 2015, it has been possible for any project promoter, either public or private, to engage with the EIB regarding the possibility of receiving loans or guarantees under EFSI for particular projects. In general, Government Departments have existing relationships with the EIB so it has been a matter for each Department concerned to advance the projects in coordination with the Government's Capital Plan as  coordinated by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. My Department has no role in assessing projects either public or private which may be the subject of applications for EFSI loans/guarantees.

Since inception, Ireland has seen the main potential beneficiaries of EFSI as being in the private sector including entities such as PPP companies. In this regard, I am pleased that the Department of Health's Primary Health Care Centres PPP has successfully drawn down EFSI funds.  In addition, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) has successfully engaged with European Financial Instruments such as the COSME and the InnovFin Guarantee Programme, both of which are made available under the EFSI SME Window. These support the financing needs of SMEs and ensure that there is an adequate supply of affordable and appropriate credit to meet their needs.

In this way, EFSI is providing an important additional funding possibility alongside other possibilities such as the EIB's normal lending, the State's borrowings through the NTMA and other mechanisms such as PPPs and off-balance sheet vehicles. It should be remembered that each EFSI loan entered into by the State pre-commits funding for the repayment of such loans, and has to be considered in the context of the expenditure benchmark under the EU's fiscal rules.      

I can inform the Deputy that there is a publicly available list of projects which have been approved for EFSI support by the EIB in the State which is available on the EIB website at: http://www.eib.europa.eu/efsi/efsi-projects/index.htm?c=IE&se. However, I would ask the Deputy to be aware that this list may not reflect Irish private sector project promoters participating in a project that could receive funding from EFSI loans/guarantees but which is led or based in another EU Member State.

Pension Levy

Ceisteanna (164)

John Lahart

Ceist:

164. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Finance the measures he is taking to replenish the private pensions funds which the Government has repeatedly accessed over the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4760/17]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Finance

The Pension Scheme Levy was introduced in 2011. For the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 the rate was 0.60% of the scheme assets. For the year 2014 the rate was 0.75% of the assets and for the year 2015, the final year of the levy, the rate was 0.15%. Under the legislation, the payment of the levy is treated as a necessary expense of a pension scheme and the trustees or insurer, as appropriate, are entitled where needed to adjust current or prospective benefits payable under a scheme to take account of the levy. It is up to the trustees or insurer to decide whether, when and how the levy should be passed on and to what extent, given the particular circumstances of the pension schemes for which they are responsible.

The position is that the equivalent value of all of the money raised from the stamp duty levy has been used to fund the wide range of measures introduced in the Jobs Initiative to protect existing jobs and to help create new jobs and the Initiative has been a success in this regard.  The measures introduced include expenditure measures such as the Jobbridge and Springboard schemes, as well as a number of tax and PRSI incentives such as the reduction in the VAT rate from 13.5% to 9% for the tourism and hospitality sectors and the halving of the lower employer PRSI rate. 

While the pension fund levies have ceased, I have no plans to repay the pension fund levy collected. The value of the funds raised by way of the levy have been used to protect and create jobs and this has helped to create the improved financial and economic position of the State. Taxpayers to whom the impact of the levy may have been passed on by the chargeable persons responsible for the payment of the levy (the pension scheme trustees etc.) will benefit from the changes which I began in Budget 2015 and which will continue in future Budgets to reduce the tax burden on low and middle income earners.

Ireland Strategic Investment Fund Investments

Ceisteanna (165)

Róisín Shortall

Ceist:

165. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Finance the average interest rate, that is APR, charged to residential housing developers by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund through its investments in companies (details supplied). [4814/17]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Finance

As the Deputy will be aware, policy initiatives in the area of housing must seek to address the challenges faced by the various sectors of the market, including the private owner-occupier market, the rental market and the social housing sector. In line with its statutory mandate, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) is examining opportunities to make, on a commercial basis, investments that have the potential to support increased supply of housing.

The Fund is already involved in a number of important initiatives which cumulatively can make a contribution to increased housing output. This includes its investments in:

- Activate Capital - which is an innovative non-bank financing platform that has the potential to provide funding for substantial numbers of new homes in Dublin and the other major urban centres in which demand is most pronounced;

- Ardstone Residential Partnership - which is a residential equity investment fund that is focused on delivering residential units to the market over the short to medium-term; and

- WLR Cardinal Commercial Real Estate Mezzanine Debt Fund - which has funded a number of residential developments in recent months.

Activate Capital, which has the potential to fund the delivery of up to 11,000 new housing units over the medium term, has already advanced funding for the construction of 1,200 new houses in the greater Dublin area and has advised a healthy pipeline. The Ardstone Fund has to date acquired sites with the potential to deliver up to 1,800 new housing units which will be delivered over a 5-7 year time frame and has commenced construction on 165 units, it is targeting a total delivery of up to 3,000 new units. The WLR Cardinal Fund, which invests in multiple real estate sectors providing both pure finance and development capital, has already advanced funding for 1,700 new residential units.

ISIF invests through the various platforms described above and does not fund developers directly. Activate and the WLR Cardinal Fund both provide debt to developers at rates which vary according to the risk involved. Experience to date suggests there is significant demand for these products. Ardstone is an equity investor that takes development risk and as such is not a lender. It contracts house-building work to third party builders with the required capabilities.

In relation to interest rates charged by ISIF, ISIF invests on a risk adjusted basis. In this context, the interest rates applied by ISIF to any given investment relates to the level of risk and other investment criteria, including pricing, and reflects its mandate to act commercially and in a way that contributes to the local economy.

To give an example in the context of ISIF's investments in support of the residential sector the Activate base lending rate ranges from circa 6% to 10%, depending on the extent of leverage advanced and the risk characteristics of each specific project. As would be expected for projects of this nature, there may be a small participation in equity upside if projects are successful so that Activate, and by extension taxpayers, share in any gains alongside the project promoter.  

In addition to the foregoing, ISIF has committed to investing in over 3,000 student accommodation units to be built in DCU as part of the Campus Development Programme that has primarily been funded by ISIF and the European Investment Bank.

Renewable Energy Generation

Ceisteanna (166)

Michael Healy-Rae

Ceist:

166. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Finance his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding Brexit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4829/17]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Finance

Matters related to renewable energy targets are a matter for my colleague the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment.

Question No. 167 answered with Question No. 163.

Betting Regulations

Ceisteanna (168)

Willie Penrose

Ceist:

168. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider introducing a new rate of tax for high street betting shops, which have a turnover of €2 million or less and that the same would be equal to the new on-course bookmaker’s rate which is now 0.25% of turnover, whereby there has been a significant reduction in the number of shops in the independent betting sector over the past decade with a significant loss of jobs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4925/17]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Finance

The rate of 0.25 % the Deputy is referring to is a levy that on-course bookmaker's pay to Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and is not a tax. This rate is set by the HRI and is not a matter for the State.

Revenue informs me that it does not require a betting licence holder to provide the turnover generated from each of their shops, therefore it is not possible to determine the number of shops with an annual turnover of less than €2 million. Consequently, it is not possible to estimate the cost of a tax relief or tax exemption for the businesses outlined by the Deputy.

Furthermore, a proposal to provide a tax relief or tax exemption for one sector of an industry, i.e. high street betting shops with an annual turnover of less than €2 million, and not provide it to other sectors, such as for example the remote sector, could give rise to State Aid concerns.