Written Answers Nos 718-731
718. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when the Indecon report (details supplied) will be ready for submission to his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10466/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Indecon report on the Irish Harness Racing Sector is due to be submitted to the Department before the end of March 2017.
719. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 546 of 21 February 2017, the way in which he plans to amend a licence for an operation (details supplied), as this licence expired on 13 February 2007 and no other licence exists for this operation at this location. [10478/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe aquaculture site referred to by the Deputy is operating under the provisions of Section 19(A)4 of the 1997 Fisheries (Amendment) Act and accordingly must comply with the terms and conditions of the expired licence. The appropriate amendment in question is under consideration by my Department at present.
720. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the environmental assessment undertaken before permitting an increased level of stocking at an operation (details supplied). [10479/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraApplications for an increased level of stocking at aquaculture sites are considered by my Department under the provisions of the 1997 Fisheries (Amendment) Act and related national and EU legislation. In accordance with the applicable legislation an Environmental Impact Statement must be submitted to my Department in order to enable consideration of such an application.
721. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the environmental assessment undertaken before overruling the recommendation of the foreshore and licensing division of his Department to rescind the licence for overstocking at an operation (details supplied). [10480/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe decision in the case referred to by the Deputy was taken in accordance with Section 68(1) of the 1997 Fisheries (Amendment) Act and followed detailed examination of the key issues of the case.
722. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department received a request from Donegal County Council to control the overstocking at the Lough Alton hatchery due to repeated requests for a plan to reduce the overstocking (details supplied). [10481/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is aware of correspondence from Donegal County Council concerning the effluent discharge licence in respect of the aquaculture site referred to by the Deputy. Compliance with the effluent discharge licence is a matter for the Local Authority in the first instance.
723. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 583 of 14 February 2017, in view of the fact that Coillte Teoranta and Coillte CGA are exempt agencies from freedom of information requests, if he will provide the particulars of Collite's engagement with the private investigations firm it hired in 2016; if there was use of a tracking device by the private investigative firm in question; his views on the use of such devices by the firm for work it carried out on behalf of Coillte; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10482/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraCoillte CGA was established as a private commercial company under the Forestry Act 1988 and, as advised previously, day-to-day operational matters, such as the engagement of service providers, are the responsibility of the company, as is the way in which such entities provide the services for which they were engaged.
724. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the tribunals established under the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Acts 1921 to 2011, in tabular form; the number of days each tribunal sat for; the gross cost of each tribunal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10766/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere has been one judicial inquiry in my Department and the details are as follows:
|
Date |
Name |
Terms of Reference |
Costs |
|
31 May 1991 |
Beef Tribunal |
To inquire into the following definite matters of urgent public importance: (i) allegations regarding illegal activities, fraud and malpractice in and in connection with the beef processing industry made or referred to: (a) in Dáil Éireann, and (b) on a television programme transmitted by ITV on 13 May 1991; (ii) any matters connected with or relevant to the matters aforesaid which the Tribunal considers it necessary to investigate in connection with its inquiries into the matters mentioned at (i) above; and 2. making such recommendations (if any) as the Tribunal, having regard to its findings, thinks proper. |
€27.2m |
725. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of an application by a fishing club (details supplied) to Inland Fisheries Ireland regarding a lease. [9587/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am informed by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) that the club referred to by the Deputy has made a submission to IFI on the availability of a long term licence for Pallas Lake. Longer term licences are granted on the basis of an appropriate development plan and a formal application.
I understand that the application was made on foot of funding opportunities available to the club to develop the lake further as an amenity and to proactively promote the lake. In order to facilitate a licence arrangement, the status of the title to the fishery must be verified and IFI is in the process of doing this. As the Deputy may appreciate, issues of title verification can be complex but it is important, particularly from the club's perspective, to establish this definitively. Subject to verification of ownership, IFI's intention is to offer the fishery for licence through the appropriate tender procedures.
IFI advise that they expect to be in contact with the club in the coming weeks on the issue of title and potential licence arrangement.
726. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of domestic waste charges and allowances for those persons with special needs who have to dispose of incontinence products; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9712/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe charges applied by waste management companies are a matter between those companies and their customers, subject to compliance with all applicable environmental and other relevant legislation, including contract and consumer legislation.
The waste management industry had committed to providing a full weight allowance for the disposal of non-infancy incontinence wear to patients supplied with such products by the HSE if a mandatory pay-by-weight per-kilogramme charging system was introduced for household waste collection.
However, as the waste industry began releasing, in June 2016, its proposed prices under the introduction of a mandatory pay-by-weight charging structure, the Government relayed its concern to the industry regarding the reported escalation of waste bills for customers of certain companies and ultimately mandatory pay-per-kilogramme charging for household waste collection was not introduced in June 2016. However, it remains open to a company to continue to offer waste collection on a pay-by-weight basis. Many companies already had a pay-by-weight element to their charging structure before the agreement was reached and many of their customers had opted for this approach.
My Department is currently reviewing, together with the regulatory authorities and industry representatives, the introduction of an incentivised pricing system for household waste collection. Incentivised pricing aims to encourage people to prevent, reduce and segregate their waste, to reduce our reliance on landfill for waste disposal in light of the landfill capacity emergencies that occurred in 2016, and also facilitates the industry in providing people with a range of options to manage their waste costs. The issue raised by the Deputy will be considered as part of the review.
727. Deputy Kevin O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the position regarding a specific project (details supplied) in County Cork. [10244/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra738. Deputy Kevin O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the position regarding the provision of funding for a specific project (details supplied) in County Cork. [10245/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 727 and 738 together.
Cork County Council is the authority responsible for carrying out works to the weir and for the funding of same. I understand that both a project to ensure a permanent solution to fish passage and a project to ensure temporary repairs, while the permanent solution is awaited, are required.
My Department and Inland Fisheries Ireland have been liaising with the Council to advise how any proposed works can be consistent with fisheries and environmental obligations, particularly the EU Habitats Directive. The engineering advisors of the Council and the Department have also agreed the essential details of the permanent proposals and the Department has agreed to the Council's temporary repair proposals.
Most recently, the Council has advised my Department that it is involved in land acquisition in respect of its permanent project proposals and, once this is complete, have undertaken to set out a timetable for the commencement and completion of works.
The Council have also advised the estimated project costs to my Department. Funding is entirely a matter for the Council, and funds for this and similar projects are not provided for within my Department's Vote. The Council have been advised that my Department is open to assist and advise from a fisheries and environmental perspective should the Council wish to make a case for a central funding provision to service the requirement for a permanent solution.
728. Deputy Frank O'Rourke asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will provide a breakdown of access to high-speed broadband in north Kildare, by region, since 1 January 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9574/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to deliver high speed broadband services to every city, town, village and individual premises in Ireland. The Programme for Government commits to the delivery of the NBP as a matter of priority. This is being achieved through a combination of commercial investment by the telecommunications sector and a State Intervention in those areas where commercial investment has not been fully demonstrated.
A key principle of the NBP is to support and stimulate commercial investment through policy and regulatory measures. Commercial investment since the publication of the NBP has considerably exceeded expectations. To date, the commercial telecommunications sector has invested over €2.5bn in upgrading and modernising networks which support the provision of high speed broadband and mobile telecoms services.
Currently, approximately 1.4m premises in Ireland can get high speed broadband from commercial service providers and investment by the telecoms sector is continuing to expand this footprint.
The High Speed Broadband Map, which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie shows the extent of the commercial rollout and the State Intervention area. The areas marked BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services. The Department continues to monitor the commercial deployment plans in the BLUE area where commercial operators have committed to providing services, to ensure that those services are delivered. The areas marked AMBER on the High Speed Broadband Map represent the target areas for the State Intervention.
Information on a county by county basis with a breakdown of coverage across the townlands in every county is available on my Department’s website at www.dccae.gov.ie/communications/en-ie/Broadband/Pages/County-and-Townland-Maps.aspx. Based on information provided by commercial operators and represented on our broadband map, coverage in County Kildare is mixed. 77% of premises in Kildare falls within the BLUE area i.e. within the commercial operator(s) coverage area. The remaining 23%, falls within the AMBER area and will be covered by the State Intervention.
My Department will shortly update the High Speed Broadband map to finalise the Intervention Area for the Procurement process, taking into account industry investments that have not materialised in Blue areas, together with new industry investments within the proposed State Intervention Area, along with concrete and credible commitments by industry for further new investments within the Intervention Area.
729. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the legal fees incurred on FOI requests received by his Department; the staff hours involved in the processing of freedom of information requests for the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9674/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraDealing with FOI requests forms part of the usual duties of officials and the time spent on processing such requests are not monitored separately. In cases where search and retrieval time was more than 5 hours, fees are charged and the number of cases where this occurred is set out in the following table:
|
Year |
Number of FOI Requests |
Number where fees Charged |
|
2016 |
159 |
3 |
|
2015 |
151 |
4 |
|
2014 |
74 |
0 |
My Department incurred no legal fees in responding to FOI requests received during the period in question.
730. Deputy Eugene Murphy asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the information his Department holds on the proposed development of a sustainable commercial development at the townlands of Aghagad, Aghagowner, Bracklin, Carrowkeel, Cornaveagh, Creemully, Aghagad Beg, Derryhippoo and Leam, County Roscommon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9739/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs a local public representative for Roscommon I was made aware of a public meeting that took place on 20 February last in regard to a potential development referred to by the Deputy. This was on foot of a recent advertisement by Coillte in the local media. I subsequently attended the public meeting along with several other public representatives.
I am advised by Coillte that due to the nature and extent of the Coillte estate, the company regularly receives a significant number of enquiries from a range of third parties in relation to both potential development and recreation opportunities on Coillte lands. Upon receipt of such an expression of interest, Coillte would seek expressions of interest from other parties who may have an interest in the lands in question. It is normal practice for the company to advertise in both local and/or national media, whichever is the most appropriate. Given the obvious commercial sensitivities around third party business plans, Coillte respects the confidentially of these engagements, until due process has been completed.
The company has further confirmed to me it has received an expression of interest in respect of the lands in question as referenced in their recent advertisement and is following standard operating procedure as outlined above. In this regard, no commitment has been made to any parties in respect of these lands. Any planning or other statutory consents that might arise in regard to any future development would be a matter for the relevant authorities.
As this is a commercial matter for Coillte, a body that is not under the aegis of my Department, I have no further details on the matter.
731. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of licensed telecommunication operators using the metropolitan area networks, MANs, around Ireland; the number of operators using this network in County Monaghan; if an assessment has been made on the success of MANs; if an audit has been done on their value for money; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9788/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe State invested in the construction of 88 Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs), covering 94 regional cities and towns, over the period 2002-2009. These wholesale, open access fibre networks are operated and managed in a commercial manner, on behalf of the State, by a Managed Services Entity (MSE), enet.
Currently, over 65 licensed telecommunication operators use the MANs infrastructure, with some 2,500 connections to the MANs. The number of end users served by these service providers is a matter for the individual telecoms operators. However, it is estimated that in excess of 600,000 business users and individuals are benefitting from the MANs, including industrial estates, multinationals, SMEs, State entities, educational institutions, together with fixed and mobile customers outside Dublin.
In the case of County Monaghan, 11 service providers utilise the MANs infrastructure at Carrickmacross, Castleblayney, Clones and Monaghan town to provide retail services to their respective customers.
A Cost Benefit Analysis study and a Value for Money review of the Phase I MANs were carried out a number of years ago. More recently, my Department concluded an internal review of the MANs Programme in autumn last year. This involved a detailed retrospective review of the performance of the MANs in terms of the delivery of their policy objectives, an identification of the challenges facing the MANs, and an assessment of their ongoing relevance in the current telecommunications market.
The review found that the MANs have played, and continue to play, an important role in driving competition in the regions and attracting foreign direct investment to the cities and towns where they are located. The creation of the MANs as an exclusive fibre network facilitates service providers, large and small, in responding to the ongoing growth in demand for bandwidth capacity. The MAN infrastructure remains central to the telecommunications market in regional Ireland.
