Written Answers Nos. 407-422
407. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment further to Parliamentary Question No. 230 of 26 October 2017, his Department's expenditure under subhead A3 - information and communications technology programme, to date in 2017, in tabular form. [48098/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra408. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment further to Parliamentary Question No. 230 of 26 October 2017, his Department's expenditure under subhead C5 - energy research, to date in 2017, in tabular form. [48099/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra409. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment further to Parliamentary Question No. 230 of 26 October 2017, his Department's expenditure under subhead D4 - mining services, to date in 2017, in tabular form. [48100/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra410. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment further to Parliamentary Question No. 230 of 26 October 2017, his Department's expenditure under subhead E3 - inland fisheries, to date in 2017, in tabular form. [48101/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra411. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment further to Parliamentary Question No. 230 of 26 October 2017, his Department's expenditure under subhead - F4 carbon fund, to date in 2017, in tabular form. [48102/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra412. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment further to Parliamentary Question No. 230 of 26 October 2017, his Department's expenditure under subhead F6 - landfill remediation, to date in 2017, in tabular form. [48103/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 407 to 412, inclusive, together.
Details of expenditure to end October 2017 under the Subheads identified by the Deputy are set out in the table.
|
Subhead |
Details |
Expenditure to end October 2017 (€000) |
|
A.3 - Information and Communications Technology Programme |
MANs project management |
120 |
|
MANs MSE II |
1,594 |
|
|
National Broadband Plan |
7,837 |
|
|
Eircodes |
2,135 |
|
|
Subhead A.3 Total |
11,686 |
|
|
C.5 - Energy Research Programme |
Ocean Energy |
1801 |
|
Energy Policy Statistical Support Unit |
164 |
|
|
Renewable Energy RD&D |
597 |
|
|
Energy Policy R&D |
207 |
|
|
Energy Research Programme |
75 |
|
|
Subhead C.5 Total |
2,844 |
|
|
D.4 Mining Services |
Mining Compensation and costs associated with Mineral Ownership |
111 |
|
Mine Safety Works and Monitoring |
53 |
|
|
Mines - Rehabilitation |
609 |
|
|
Subhead D.4 Total |
773 |
|
|
E.3 - Inland Fisheries Ireland |
Inland Fisheries Ireland |
23,842 |
|
Loughs Agency |
2,242 |
|
|
Subhead E.3 Total |
26,084 |
|
|
F.4 - Carbon Fund |
Bio Carbon Fund |
431 |
|
Subhead F.4 Total |
431 |
|
|
F.6 - Landfill Remediation |
Kerdiffstown, Co Kildare |
3,254 |
|
Finisklin, Co Sligo |
121 |
|
|
Magoney, Inniskeen, Co Monaghan |
33 |
|
|
Portlaw Tannery, Co Waterford |
18 |
|
|
Suir River Wetlands, Co Waterford |
44 |
|
|
Diesel laundering clean up - multiple sites |
109 |
|
|
Tyres Clean-up - multiple sites |
77 |
|
|
Subhead F.6 Total |
3,656 |
413. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of applications to the warmth and wellbeing scheme to date in 2017; and the number of successful applications. [48104/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Warmth and Wellbeing scheme is a pilot scheme which aims to measure the health and wellbeing impacts of improving the energy efficiency of a person’s home. The scheme is being piloted in Community Healthcare Organisation 7 and is open to people aged 55 and over or 12 and under who are living with chronic respiratory conditions in households that are in receipt of the Fuel Allowance or the One-Parent Family Payment.
I have allocated €20m to the pilot scheme under the Government’s Strategy to Combat Energy Poverty. It began in mid-2016 and will run for the rest of 2017 and 2018. An independent research project will assess the impact the scheme is having. At the conclusion of the scheme, and with independent evidence on its effectiveness, the potential for a wider rollout will be considered. The funding to the scheme should provide for the upgrade of at least 1,500 homes. This is the minimum size needed to develop the evidence base on the impact on the health outcomes of participants of making their homes more energy efficient and warmer, and make the business case for a wider rollout of the scheme.
The Warmth and Wellbeing scheme is a joint policy initiative between my Department and the Department of Health under the Healthy Ireland framework. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and the Health Service Executive are working together to deliver the scheme. The HSE have set up a dedicated team to recruit participants to the Warmth and Wellbeing scheme. They determine eligibility for every person who makes contact with them about the scheme before referring only the eligible applicants to the SEAI. Working with the HSE means that the SEAI do not receive applications from people who are not eligible for the scheme.
Since the beginning of 2017 the HSE team has received approximately 700 queries in relation to the scheme. Of these, just over 500 have been deemed eligible and have been referred on to SEAI to have surveys carried out on their homes and subsequent energy efficiency works. The scheme is still open for applications and will continue to run in 2018.
The Deputy may also be aware that the Better Energy Warmer Homes scheme is available on a nationwide basis to low income households who are at risk of energy poverty. More information on this scheme is available on SEAI’s website at: http://www.seai.ie/Grants/Warmer_Homes_Scheme/About_the_BEWH.html or Freephone: 1800 250 204.
414. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the process by which the SEAI has identified homes that are eligible for upgrades under the warmer homes scheme; and the take-up rate among eligible households. [48105/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Better Energy Warmer Homes scheme is funded by my Department and operated by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). The scheme provides a range of energy efficiency measures free of charge to low income households vulnerable to energy poverty, who meet the eligibility criteria. The measures available include draught proofing, attic insulation, lagging jackets for hot water tanks, low energy light bulbs and cavity wall insulation.
Eligibility for the scheme is open to household who meet the following criteria:
- Owner occupied, non-local authority home;
- Home built pre-2006;
- Household in receipt of one of the following payments;
- Fuel Allowance as part of the National Fuel Scheme;
- Family Income Supplement;
- Jobseeker’s Allowance for over 6 months and have a child aged under 7 years;
- One Parent Family Payment.
Works provided under the scheme are carried out by an SEAI-appointed panel of non-profit Community Based Organisations (CBOs), supplemented with a panel of private contractors to ensure a nationwide spread of recipients.
The SEAI recruits people to the scheme in a number of ways.
- CBOs on the panel are encouraged to generate their own applications. They do this through their links in the local community or through working with other organisations or groups who engage with vulnerable sectors of society such as St. Vincent de Paul, MABS or health care professionals;
- Mailshots drawing homeowners' attention to the availability of the scheme are sent by Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection on behalf of SEAI to all recipients of the Fuel Allowance;
- General marketing and advertisement of the scheme on SEAI’s website and social media.
To date, more than 130,000 homes have been upgraded through the scheme. However, there are nearly 400,000 households in receipt of Fuel Allowance. This suggests that is still a significant number of people who could be availing of this free upgrade. I have asked the SEAI to examine additional means of finding people who may be eligible to ensure that these low income households are availing of these improvements that will help them to keep their homes warmer and manage their energy bills.
415. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the amount that his Department has spent on the better energy warmer homes scheme, the better energy communities scheme, the better energy homes scheme and the warmth and wellbeing scheme in each of the years since 2010, in tabular form. [48106/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Better Energy Programme is funded by my Department and operated by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). The programme consists of three main schemes: Homes, Warmer Homes and Communities.
Better Energy Homes provides a financial incentive to private homeowners who wish to improve the energy performance of their homes. Better Energy Warmer Homes delivers a range of energy efficiency measures free of charge to low income households who meet the defined eligibility criteria and who are vulnerable to energy poverty. Better Energy Communities supports energy efficiency upgrades to mixed projects of homes, community facilities and businesses in a local community.
These schemes are supplemented by the Warmth and Wellbeing scheme which was launched as a pilot initiative under the Government’s Strategy to Combat Energy Poverty and the Healthy Ireland Framework. The aim of the scheme, a joint policy initiative between my Department and the Department of Health, which began in 2016, is to demonstrate the positive effects that making homes warmer and more energy efficient can have on the health and wellbeing of people in energy poverty who are living with a chronic respiratory condition. An independent research project is underway alongside the scheme's delivery and will assess the impact the scheme is having.
The table illustrates the capital funding paid out in grants on these programmes over 2010-2017. Please note that the figures recorded for 2017 reflect spend incurred to end-October 2017. By the end of the year, I expect the final outturn for energy efficiency programmes to be reach the highest level it has been since 2011.
|
|
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 to date |
|
Programme |
Spend €m |
Spend €m |
Spend €m |
Spend €m |
Spend €m |
Spend €m |
Spend €m |
Spend €m |
|
Better Energy Homes |
45.2 |
57.59 |
28.94 |
13.16 |
9.9 |
14.7 |
17.5 |
14.38 |
|
Better Energy Warmer Homes |
30 |
21.43 |
20.5 |
17.55 |
20.7 |
18.1 |
20.7 |
15.7 |
|
Better Energy Communities (incl. Areas) |
N/A |
N/A |
9.30 |
€17.6 |
23.65 |
13.57 |
16.7 |
9.3 |
|
Better Energy Warmth and Wellbeing |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
0.5 |
3.2 |
|
Totals |
75.2 |
79.02 |
58.74 |
48.31 |
54.25 |
46.37 |
55.4 |
42.58 |
416. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his Department's estimates of the amount of carbon that has been displaced as a result of the better energy warmer homes scheme, the better energy communities scheme, the better energy homes scheme and the warmth and wellbeing scheme in each of the years since 2010, in tabular form. [48107/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.
417. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the reason the number of fixed charge notices that have been issued for inland fisheries offences has increased dramatically in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48108/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere has been no increase in fixed charged notices to date in 2017 compared with 2016. Details are compiled by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) at the end of each quarter. IFI have confirmed that to the end of quarter 3 (September 2017), 104 fixed charge notices have issued; this compares with 133 notices issued in the same period in 2016.
418. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if Storm Ophelia will delay the roll-out of broadband in parts of County Kerry to the end of 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48164/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP) will ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location. The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector so that to date approximately 1.5 or 65% of the 2.3 premises in Ireland can get high speed broadband of a minimum per second and this footprint is expanding.
In April 2017, I signed a Commitment Agreement with eir in relation to its plans to provide high speed broadband to 300,000 premises in rural areas on a commercial basis. eir has committed to completing the rollout by the end of 2018. Information on eir's planned rural deployment is available at http: http://fibrerollout.ie/eircode-lookup/. A copy of the Commitment Agreement is available on my Department’s website www.dccae.gov.ie.
Quarterly updates from eir are published on this website. Q1 and Q2 2017 quarterly targets to date have been achieved by eir and available online via http://www.dccae.gov.ie/documents/County%20Statistics.pdf. Evaluation by my Department of the Q3 update for eir’s rural deployment is at an advanced stage and indicates that eir has met its Q3 2017 target of 101,000 premises passed as at the end of September 2017. The statistics for Q3 2017 will be published on my Department’s website shortly.
Storm Ophelia, which hit our shores on 16th October, caused extensive damage to infrastructure across the country. I understand from eir that necessary resources were redirected to affected areas in order to restore service. Force majeure events, such as Ophelia, may cause an impact in a quarterly period to eir's planned rural deployment. However, the Commitment Agreement contains provisions to ensure that action will be taken by eir, within a window of six months of missing a quarterly target for an area, in order to reach the overall commitment of providing access to broadband for the 300,000 rural premises.
My Department is in regular contact with eir in relation to the Commitment Agreement and will continue this engagement with the aim of ensuring the requirements of the Commitment Agreement are met.
419. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to ensure the regulations to stop cyclists using footpaths are enforced. [47628/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraArticle 13 of the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997 (as amended) provides for the offence of a vehicle driving along or across a footway. A vehicle, in this case, includes a pedal cycle. The exception to this prohibition is when a vehicle is being driven for the purpose of access to or egress from a place adjacent to the footway. As is the case with all road traffic legislation, the enforcement of this particular prohibition is a matter for An Garda Síochána.
420. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will address a request by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47629/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraSport Ireland, which is funded by my Department, is the statutory body with responsibility for the development of strategies for increasing participation in recreational sport at national and local level and to co-ordinate the implementation of those strategies. While there is no specific programme within my Department to provide funding for the purpose outlined by the Deputy, given Sport Ireland's remit, it may be the case that the programme in question could be considered by Sport Ireland.
Accordingly, I will send your correspondence onto Sport Ireland for attention and direct reply. If you do not receive a reply from Sport Ireland within ten working days please contact my office.
The deferred reply under Standing Order 42A was forwarded to the Deputy.
421. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the licensing arrangements in place for the use of a device (details supplied); the role of his Department, the Road Safety Authority and local authorities in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47637/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAny vehicle intended or adapted for propulsion by mechanical power, irrespective of engine capacity, is considered to be a mechanically propelled vehicle under Road Traffic Legislation when used in a public place. The user of such a vehicle in a public place must have insurance, road tax and a driving licence, and must also wear a helmet when using certain vehicles, with severe penalties under the road traffic laws (including fixed charge notices, penalty points, fines and possible seizure of a vehicle) for not being in compliance with these requirements.
Vehicles used in a public place must also comply with the requirements of the Road Traffic (Construction, Equipment and Use of Vehicles) Regulations 1963 to 2002 and the Road Traffic (Lighting of Vehicles) Regulations 1963 to 1996. These regulations prescribe standards in relation to essential matters such as brakes, steering, mirrors, safety glass, wipers, headlamps, rear lighting, indicators and reflectors. Vehicles not in compliance with these regulations are not, therefore, considered suitable for use in a public place.
For the purposes of the Road Traffic Acts, a "public place" means any public road, and any street, road or other place to which the public has access with vehicles whether as of right or by permission, and whether subject to or free of charge. Road traffic law does not extend to the use of mechanically propelled vehicles on private property.
Enforcement of road traffic legislation is a matter for an Garda Síochána.
422. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will request Iarnród Éireann to increase the frequency of the Dublin to Sligo train service in each direction at the weekends; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47674/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe issue raised is a matter for the National Transport Authority (NTA) and I have forwarded the Deputy's question to the NTA for direct reply. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a response within ten working days.
The deferred reply under Standing Order 42A was forwarded to the Deputy.
