Written Answers Nos. 601-619
601. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government if personnel in his Department have been removed from their position, have been transferred to another role or had their employment terminated in the past four years due to breaches of departmental standards or professional misconduct or incompetence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27954/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraNo staff in my Department have been removed from their position, have been transferred to another role or had their employment terminated in the past four years due to breaches of departmental standards or professional misconduct or incompetence.
Personnel in my Department operate to the standards outlined in the Civil Service Code of Standards and Behaviour. Breaches, should they occur, are managed under the relevant policy including the Civil Service Disciplinary Code.
602. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the details of the 875 persons removed from the March and April 2018 homeless report by local authority and by family type in tabular form; the detail of the accommodation arrangements for each of these families at the time they were removed from the homeless figures; and the reason for this removal. [27979/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department currently publishes data on a monthly basis on the number of homeless persons accommodated in emergency accommodation funded and overseen by housing authorities. These reports are based on data provided by housing authorities, produced through the Pathway Accommodation & Support System (PASS). The reports are collated on a regional basis, are published on my Department's website and can be accessed at the following link:http://www.housing.gov.ie/housing/homelessness/other/homelessness-data.
During the compilation of the March Homeless Report, in the course of examining data from local authorities, my Department ascertained that a number of local authorities were categorising households who had been provided with accommodation in local authority owned or leased stock, as being in emergency accommodation. As the households in question were not in emergency accommodation, the relevant local authorities amended their March and April figures accordingly.
My Department does not have a breakdown of the family types involved. The numbers of individuals previously recorded as being in emergency accommodation, who had actually been in houses and apartments prior to the reporting periods in question, is set out in the table below.
|
Region/local authority |
Adults and Dependents |
|
DRHE |
376 |
|
South West Region( Kerry) |
66 |
|
Mid –East (Meath) |
45 |
|
Mid-West Region ( Limerick) |
101 |
|
South East Region (Waterford) |
76 |
|
North East Region (Louth) |
211 |
|
Total |
875 |
My Department has written to each local authority, seeking further information on the accommodation in place for all individuals reported as being in emergency accommodation for the period of the March homelessness report. The collection of this data from the local authorities is ongoing.
603. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the number of applications for renovation of houses under the Galway County Council voids programme; the number of these that were single houses on their own site as opposed to being in a housing estate; the date the application was received; when a decision will be made on the application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28021/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraSection 58 of the Housing Act 1966 provides that the management and maintenance of local authority housing stock is a matter for each individual local authority. While my Department provides a measure of funding under the voids programme, to local authorities to assist them in bringing vacant local authority housing stock back to productive use, it does not grant permission to local authorities to refurbish properties. It is a matter for the local authority to determine whether and when they refurbish a property.
Earlier this year, local authorities submitted to my Department details of their work proposals and related funding requirements for the voids programme in 2018. In March, Galway County Council sought funding to bring some 40 units back to productive use. My Department does not hold details on the individual houses including whether they are single houses on their own site or in a housing estate. The evaluation of the proposals from all local authorities, including Galway County Council, is currently being finalised and funding allocations will be confirmed to the local authorities shortly.
604. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the status of Prospect Hill; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28062/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraProspect Hill is a partially finished development on the Finglas Road in Dublin 11, comprising 469 units. I understand that the receiver involved has appointed a contractor to undertake a programme of remediation works at the development, which are currently under way and are being carried out on a phased basis. The works involved are due for completion by October 2019.
It should be noted that Dublin City Council have already taken ownership of 58 units in Block 2 of Prospect Hill for which remediation works have been completed.
605. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the assistance available for young persons to train and gain employment in public projects in their local area (details supplied). [28065/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraDublin City Council have advised my Department that they are in the process of making an application for planning permission to demolish the former Ballymun Shopping Centre. The City Council hope to have a contractor appointed later this year. While every effort will be made to use local labour, demolition contracts require specialist skills and training pertaining to machine driving, asbestos removal, demolition general operative duties and security.
Ballymun Job Centre (BJC), which was established in 1986 as a community response to a chronic unemployment situation, provides a wide range of services in the community. BJC has a long history of innovative approaches to dealing with youth unemployment, including the highly successful Ballyrunners Programme, and the EQUAL Youth Project. It also delivers the Local Employment Service in Ballymun. Dublin City Council is happy to engage with the BJC and Poppintree Youth Project to see if existing programmes meet the needs of the young persons engaged in Poppintree Youth Project and to assist in the development of other programmes if required.
The Social Inclusion Community Activation Programme in the Ballymun Area is delivered by the Dublin North West Area Partnership. A core objective of this programme is to engage with groups/individuals and residents of disadvantaged communities. SICAP, responsibility for which rests with my colleague, the Minister for Rural and Community Development, aims to support those who are unemployed but who do not fall within mainstream employment service provision through employment or self-employment and in doing so provide them with the skills needed in order to access and create social enterprise opportunities.
606. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the legislative measures and-or ministerial guidelines that are in place to ensure that the ownership of council lands cannot be placed permanently outside the control of the elected members of that council through a previous disposal of such lands to a wholly owned subsidiary of the council with the chief executive as its sole shareholder and operating as a special purpose vehicle for the private commercial development of such lands and thereby ensuring that such lands cannot be used in the provision of social housing by the council or by approved housing bodies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28067/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra607. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the process by which a council may through the use of section 183 of the Local Government Act 2001 divest its ownership of council lands and transfer such lands to a wholly owned subsidiary of the council with the chief executive as its sole shareholder; if such a disposal to a wholly owned subsidiary of the council is considered a full disposal of the council’s interest in such lands and therefore placing such lands outside the reach of Government policy and ministerial directives in respect of the use of publicly owned lands for the provision of social and affordable housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28068/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 606 and 607 together.
Every local authority is required to maintain a register of all lands in its ownership, or leased by the local authority. When land is no longer held by the local authority, the date and manner in which the local authority ceased to hold such land and the consideration, if any, paid to the local authority in respect of such land, must also be recorded.
In relation to the disposal of land, elected members are required to be notified, under Section 183(1) of the Local Government Act 2001, as amended, of any proposal to dispose of land held by a local authority. Such notification shall include particulars of the land, the names of the persons from whom the land was acquired and to whom it is to be disposed of, and the consideration proposed in respect of the disposal.
It is a matter for the local authority elected members, by resolution, to decide to amend the terms of the disposal or resolve that the disposal not be carried out.
Any issue of whether an individual land transaction falls within the terms of section 183 is a function of the specific circumstances involved. If there is a doubt as to whether the terms of section 183 have been appropriately applied in an individual case, this is a matter that the elected members should pursue with the Chief Executive, in the first instance, and legal advice on the matter should be obtained, as necessary.
One of the key objectives of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness is to increase the supply of high quality social housing and homes at more affordable price points on local authority lands as quickly as possible, particularly in areas where demand is greatest. In that regard, details of some 1,700 hectares of land in local authority and Housing Agency ownership were published on the Rebuilding Ireland Housing Land Map on 27th April 2017. These sites can be viewed at the following link: http://rebuildingireland.ie/news/rebuilding-ireland-land-map/.
608. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government his future plans for a location (details supplied) which has been derelict for a long time after being purchased by a vulture fund from which no information is forthcoming. [28072/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Derelict Sites Act 1990 provides local authorities with a range of powers to deal with derelict sites within their functional areas, including powers to require specified measures to be taken in relation to a derelict site, to impose a levy on sites which are included in the local authority’s derelict sites register, or to compulsorily acquire any derelict site.
I understand from Dublin City Council that the particular site in question is not included in their Derelict Sites Register. Under the Act, I have no role to play as Minister in relation to particular sites where they are not already included on the relevant authority's Derelict Sites Register.
It is open to any person to contact a local authority in relation to a particular site which may be considered a derelict site for the purposes of the Act. It is a matter for local authorities to determine the most appropriate use of the legislation within their respective functional areas.
609. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if a commercial boat licence is available to a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27391/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraCommercial licences and permits to operate boats at the location in question are advertised by way of tender. The last such tender was advertised on 2 May 2018 with responses due by 12 noon on Thursday 17 May 2018. The process of awarding licences is ongoing and it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this point.
610. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the financial supports available to help conserve and protect a historic structure (details supplied) in County Donegal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27667/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraFinancial support for the protection of heritage buildings and historic structures is provided by my Department through a number of schemes which are generally administered by local authorities.
The Built Heritage Investment Scheme is a scheme for the repair and conservation of protected structures (i.e. structures on the local authority Record of Protected Structures). It is designed to leverage private capital for investment in small scale conservation projects across the country and to support the employment of skilled conservation professionals. I have allocated funding of €2 million in total for this Scheme in 2018.
The Structures at Risk Fund enables conservation works to heritage structures in both private and public ownership, which are deemed to be at significant risk of deterioration. I have allocated €1.324 million for the Structures at Risk Fund in 2018.
Details of the projects approved under both funding schemes are published on my Department’s website and local authority websites.
The best advice for owners, in relation to individual historic structures, is generally to remain in contact with the Architectural Conservation Officer in their local authority, who is well placed to provide advice and assistance in relation to the grant schemes.
I understand that informal contact has been made with my Department in relation to the structure mentioned by the Deputy, which was the subject of an application under the 2018 Structures at Risk Fund. Initial feedback on that application was provided and the applicants were advised by my officials to contact the Architectural Conservation Officer in the local authority for more detailed feedback and advice. This has also been provided.
The Heritage Council, which my Department funds, also provides grants for the protection and preservation of the built heritage. It is primarily a matter for the Heritage Council to decide how its funding should be allocated across the range of research, education and conservation programmes it supports. Grant schemes for 2018 are advertised by the Heritage Council on its website www.heritagecouncil.ie.
611. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the status of her plans to help create high-skilled quality jobs in the Gaeltacht of Baile Ghib, County Meath; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27725/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have been informed by Údarás na Gaeltachta that as a result of a fact-finding trip to the County Meath Gaeltacht in 2017, the Board of Údarás approved the setting up of an Enterprise Forum in order to research and assess the development of employment opportunities of the area. The Enterprise Forum was established on the 30 November 2017.
The aim of this enterprise action group is to seek to strengthen enterprise development opportunities in both Ráth Chairn and Baile Ghib - particularly in the context of their close proximity to Dublin.
The aims include:
- Researching the resources and opportunities that exist in the area by engaging with local entrepreneurs, community groups, language groups and other relevant parties;
- Assessing the results of the research and preparing recommendations for job creation in this Gaeltacht region;
- Preparing a 3-year strategy for the Ráth Chairn and Baile Ghib Gaeltacht with a recommended budget to implement its objectives.
This coordinated approach will encompass input from relevant stakeholders including Meath County Council, SOLAS, the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board/Regional Skills Fora, the IDA, Enterprise Ireland, NUI Maynooth, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, along with business and community representatives.
I understand that the forum has met 6 times and hopes to complete and publish a plan in Autumn.
In that overall context, I am informed that the board of Údarás na Gaeltachta recently approved a support package for a proposed PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) pellet extrusion project in Baile Ghib that will create up to 20 jobs in the area in the coming years - thus building on the 219 full-time jobs in Údarás na Gaeltachta client companies in the area at the end of 2017.
612. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if her attention has been drawn to the local community’s concerns in the Gaeltacht of Baile Ghib regarding the proposed location of a plastic melting facility in an Údarás na Gaeltachta premises; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27726/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra613. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if her attention has been drawn to the fact that Údarás na Gaeltachta did not send a representative to a public meeting in the Gaeltacht of Baile Ghib to address the local community’s concerns regarding pollution, health and planning over a proposed plastic melting facility in an Údarás na Gaeltachta premises; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27727/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 612 and 613 together.
I have been advised by Údarás na Gaeltachta that the proposed project, which is to be located at a vacant Údarás na Gaeltachta facility in Baile Ghib, is not a plastic melting facility. Údarás na Gaeltachta have informed me that the proposed project will manufacture PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) pellets/chip directly from industrial offcut filament and fibre material from PET manufacturing facilities. I understand that this residue material is not contaminated and arrives at the facility in a clean and dry baled format, which is then shredded, heated and extruded into pellet form.
I have also been informed by Údarás that they assessed the project, technically and financially, during the due diligence process and satisfied itself, with assistance and technical expertise of Enterprise Ireland, that the project warranted support. I am advised that the building in question is to undergo a refurbishment programme which will ensure that it adheres to all building regulations and fire certification.
In relation to the concerns of the local community, I have been informed by Údarás na Gaeltachta that some members of the local community in Baile Ghib recently made contact with them to highlight concerns they had regarding the proposed project. Údarás na Gaeltachta have assured me that they have ensured that the concerns of the community were fully considered and they have been provided with as much information on the project as is possible. I also understand that the residents had previously met the project promoter and had received information from the promoter regarding the proposal.
With regard to the non-attendance of an Údarás na Gaeltachta representative at the public meeting, I have been advised that the proposed project is at a very early stage of development and full details of every aspect of the business are not, as yet, available. I have also been advised that Údarás na Gaeltachta have ensured that all information available to them was passed on to the members of the community that were organising the public meeting on the matter to ensure that the public’s concerns were addressed as early and in as much detail as possible. In addition, it was Údarás na Gaeltachta’s understanding that the project promoter was unable to attend the public meeting that had been arranged. Given that most of the queries raised by the community related directly to the project promoter and was information that only the project promoter would have had at that time as the project was at a very early stage, the considered view of the Údarás was that their presence at that meeting, at that juncture, would have been counterproductive and unsatisfactory to all sides. I understand however that Údarás has provided a response to the queries that were raised and provided as much information as was available in advance of the meeting to assist in addressing the public’s concerns addressed as early and in as much detail as possible.
I understand that The project promoter has met with the community, and has also been in contact with Meath County Council to ensure that any permissions, regulations or licences that are appropriate are in place for the project.
Údarás na Gaeltachta works hard at all times to source strong projects which can sustainably achieve their business goals, adhere to all regulatory requirements within the state and its industrial development goals, while establishing a positive relationship between the local community, the company, and Údarás na Gaeltachta.
614. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the amount of grant aid given to a company (details supplied) by Údarás na Gaeltachta; the number of jobs the company created; the length of time the company remained in the Baile Ghib Gaeltacht; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27728/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have been informed by Údarás na Gaeltachta that employment grants of €170,000 and rent subsidy grants of €41,631 have been paid to the company referred to by the Deputy.
I understand that the company took possession of the factory premises in Baile Ghib in October 2014, that it had 23 full-time employees during 2015 but that that figure gradually fell to zero during the period from November 2015 to the end of February 2016.
I have been further advised by Údarás na Gaeltachta that they initiated proceedings against the company to revoke these grants but were unsuccessful in that regard.
615. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the reason the minute's silence to commemorate the Great Irish Famine, which took place on the Friday prior to the national Famine commemoration day and which was observed by national schools and sporting bodies, is no longer being requested by her; and her plans to reinstate same. [27773/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe 2018 National Famine Commemoration was held at University College Cork, on Saturday, 12 May in the presence of President Michael D. Higgins. I can confirm to the Deputy that, in advance of this year's Commemoration, an invitation issued from my Department to all schools and sporting organisations throughout the country to observe a minute of silent reflection in memory of all those who suffered during the Famine.
616. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht when International Famine Commemoration will be held in 2018; and the location of same. [27774/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraOfficials from my Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are continuing to develop proposals in relation to the 2018 International Famine Commemoration and details will be announced in due course.
617. D'fhiafraigh Deputy Aindrias Moynihan den Aire Cultúir, Oidhreachta agus Gaeltachta an bhfuil oifigeach Gaeilge ceaptha dá Roinn; an post lánaimseartha atá ann nó an bhfuil dualgais bhreise ar an oifigeach Gaeilge; cén grád atá ag an oifigeach Gaeilge; an bhfuil sé nó sí ábalta a ghnó nó a gnó a dhéanamh trí Ghaeilge; agus an ndéanfaidh sí ráiteas ina thaobh. [27803/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraTá Scéim Teanga mo Roinne, a ullmhaíodh i gcomhréir le hAcht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla 2003, le fáil ar Shuíomh Gréasáin mo Roinne (www.chg.gov.ie).
San áireamh sa Scéim, tá sonraí maidir le seirbhísí a sholáthraíonn mo Roinn trí Ghaeilge agus leagtar amach inti freisin líon post atá ainmnithe mar phoist Gaeilge sa Roinn. Agus na poist seo á n-ainmniú, tugadh aird ar leith ar na poist atá lonnaithe i gceantair Ghaeltachta agus ar phoist atá lonnaithe lasmuigh de cheantair Ghaeltachta a bhfuil idirghníomhaíocht shuntasach i gceist leo le pobail agus cliaint Ghaeltachta agus/nó a labhraíonn Gaeilge.
Cé nach bhfuil Oifigeach Gaeilge ceaptha ag mo Roinn, tá dualgas maoirseoireachta ar fheidhmiú Scéim na Gaeilge ar Ard-Oifigeach Feidhmiúcháin san Aonad um Rialachas Corparáideach faoi láthair atá in ann gnó a dhéanamh trí Ghaeilge.
618. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, will provide consent for turf cutting activity on the lands of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry which are designated as a hen harrier area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27860/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraTurf cutting is not an activity requiring consent in Hen Harrier SPAs.
However, my Department is not in a position to use herd numbers to identify land parcels and therefore cannot determine on the basis of the information supplied whether or not the land in question is in a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
If the lands in question are not in a SAC, then the question of consent does not arise. The landowner can contact the local NPWS office to make sure that this is the case, or alternatively supply the Folio Number(s) of the lands in question to my Department for this to be checked.
619. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if personnel in her Department have been removed from their position, have been transferred to another role or had their employment terminated in the past four years due to breaches of departmental standards or professional misconduct or incompetence; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27947/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by officials in my Department that as of 26 June, 2018 one person has had their employment terminated from the Department in the last four years. The termination was carried out in line with all guidelines as set out by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
