Written Answers Nos. 24-38
24. Deputy John Brady asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will provide clarification for Christmas tree growers on whether they can proceed with the sale of Christmas trees from various outlets such as DIY stores, supermarkets, farms and garden centres under the current level 5 restrictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38924/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder Level 5 of the Plan for Living with COVID-19, only essential retail outlets will remain open.
S.I. No. 448 of 2020 Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (COVID-19) (No. 8) Regulations 2020 clearly sets out the temporary restrictions under Level 5 of the Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID. A list of essential services can be found at https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/c9158-essential-services/ and the list of essential retail outlets at Level 5 can be found at https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/60ecc-essential-retail-outlets-for-level-5/
Level 5 restricts people from physically going into non-essential stores in order to stop people congregating and browsing for non-essential goods, to limit the spread of the virus. All retailers – essential and non-essential – can however continue to trade via ‘remote ordering’ and fulfil orders for all products including non-essential items, by online or by phone, for home delivery and for collection.
Retailers in Ireland are key partners in the effort to suppress the virus and are playing a critical role in the national response during level 5 trading restrictions. Government are fully engaged with the sector and aware of their efforts to serve their customers and adhere to public health guidelines. I and my colleague Minister of State Damien English TD met with the Retail Forum members on 21 October to remind those in the retail sector, of the need for strict adherence to the public health guidelines during Level 5. Minister English has convened regular retail meetings since entering Level 5.
Preparations across Government Departments, local authorities and agencies are firmly focused on ensuring a smooth, safe and enjoyable reopening of retail for all as soon as it is safe to do so. The current restrictions at Level 5 of the Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19 are in place until midnight 1st December 2020. The Government will make a decision on the current restrictions shortly.
25. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will provide confirmation of a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38911/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI announced the introduction of the Micro Enterprise Assistance Fund scheme on the 14th of September. The scheme is aimed at Micro-Enterprises who are not eligible for the COVID-19 Restart/Restart Plus Grant or similar COVID-19 business restart grants.
The Micro Enterprise Assistance Fund provided eligible businesses with a voucher of between €500 and €1,000 in respect of vouched expenditure for eligible businesses under the initiative. This assistance is intended as a contribution towards the cost of re-opening or keeping a business operational and re-connecting with employees and customers in the context of the pandemic.
The Micro-Enterprise Assistance Fund was provided under the July Stimulus and was made available to Micro Enterprises employing between 2 – 10 employees, that had experienced a 30% reduction in turnover due to COVID-19, but were otherwise ineligible for other government supports.
The decision to award this support on the basis of vouched expenditure is a normal procedure under public financial rules when disbursing public monies so as to ensure that Agency funds are applied for the purposes for which they are intended which includes building in risk mitigation measures such as evidence of actual and proper expenditure.
26. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his Department and any commercial or non-commercial State bodies and private entities subsidised by 50% or more of public funding under the aegis of his Department have implemented social clauses in their public procurement contracts in the past three years (details supplied); and if so, the nature of these social clauses. [39046/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe range of policy areas which come under the heading of social considerations is very broad and includes, for example, environmental sustainability, disability access, training for young or disadvantaged people and labour standards amongst a host of other areas.
Bearing in mind the broad scope of the question and its reference to any State bodies who are provided with public funding under the aegis my Department, it is not possible to provide the Deputy with the details requested within the timeframe available.
Details will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as available over the coming days.
27. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason a business (details supplied) is being denied access to the restart grant plus due to its landlord, South Dublin County Council, maintaining it does not have a lease despite the business paying the council rent for the business premises. [39087/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe eligibility criteria set out by my Department determine how Restart Grant Plus applications are processed by the Local Authorities on its behalf.
In this context it is important to note that for the purposes of the Restart Grant and Restart Grant Plus Schemes, each Local Authority is the decision maker in relation to initial applications and appeals. The Department has no role in relation to individual applications.
Where clarification of the eligibility criteria has been necessary, the Local Authorities have engaged proactively with my Department to determine how best to proceed. My Department is satisfied that the Local Authority has correctly applied the eligibility criteria of the scheme in this instance.
Applicants are entitled to make an appeal to the Local Authority in the first instance. In that regard, the Local Authority will further review the matter and a decision will then issue from the Local Authority in due course.
28. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his Department will work with large multinational companies on ensuring that, in circumstances in which international sales jobs necessitating language skills and an understanding of specific areas, such as areas (details supplied), are created, due consideration will be given to hiring workers from migrant communities before the critical skills occupations list clause 3542 is used to recruit for these jobs from the international labour market. [39089/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraEconomic or labour migration policy is essentially the framework within which the State's employment permit system operates. It is designed to supplement Ireland's skills and labour supply over the short to medium term by allowing enterprises to recruit nationals from outside the EEA, where such skills or expertise cannot be sourced from within the EEA at that time.
The system is not orientated towards any particular country or region. The system is, by design, vacancy led and managed through the operation of the occupation lists : the critical skills list in respect of skills that are in critical shortage in the labour market and the ineligible occupations lists for which a ready source of labour is available from within Ireland and the EEA. Every other job in the labour market, where an employer cannot find a worker, may be eligible for an employment permit. The employer must undertake a labour market needs test to ensure that those currently in the labour market are the first cohort of people from whom employers should seek to recruit.
The Deputy references an occupation currently on the critical skills list; business sales executives specialising in international sales roles with a non-EEA language. The evidence in respect of this occupation is that there is a skills shortage in the domestic /EEA labour market.
Under the Employment Permit Acts, in order to work in Ireland, all non-EEA nationals require valid employment permit or relevant immigration permission from the Minister for Justice which allows them to reside and work in the State without the requirement for an employment permit.
I am advised that the Department of Social Protection, through Intreo, as the national public employment service, helps to match supply and demand in the labour market through information, placement and active support services at local, national and European level. Intreo is a single point of contact for all employment and income supports. Designed to provide a more streamlined approach, Intreo offers practical, tailored employment services and supports for jobseekers and employers alike.
Where a particular skills set is required, the Employer Relations Officers of the Department of Social Protection, can offer a service to employers, including multinational enterprises, whereby they can match the skills requirement to vacancies to identify potential candidates and can also engage with appropriate representative groups to identify groups through its networks and social media.
29. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will urgently enact the Private Members' motion passed in November 2016 regarding the future of the post office network; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38909/20]
Amharc ar fhreagra35. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will take urgent steps to enact legislation to reflect the Private Members' motion passed in November 2016 regarding the future of the post office network to ensure the sustainability of the existing community post office network; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39092/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 29 and 35 together.
In the four years since the Private Members motion referred to was debated a lot of work has been done to ensure An Post and the post office network remain viable.
An Post put in place a Strategic Plan, covering the period 2017 – 2021, in response to the structural challenges faced by the postal sector.
In order to implement the Plan, the cost of which was estimated to be in the region of €150m, the Minister for Finance provided a loan of €30m to the company in December 2017 to support the renewal of the post office network (€15m) and the continued fulfilment of a 5 day per week mails delivery service (€15m).
As part of the delivery of the plan the company was split into two distinct business units, An Post Mails and Parcels and An Post Retail.
An Post is transforming its retail network by delivering new products and new formats. This includes, among other things, diversifying and growing the financial services products it provides for individuals and SMEs to include loans, credit cards and more foreign exchange products, local banking in association with the major banks and a full range of State Savings products. Two new dedicated sub-brands, An Post Money and a new business-to-business brand, An Post Commerce, were launched. Investment by An Post of €50 million in the network is designed to encourage communities to use the enhanced services in their local post office.
With regard to the community banking model a project team comprising officials from the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Department of Finance was established to progress that particular commitment. The final report was published by the respective Ministers on 4 July 2018. The report indicated that the Department of Finance would continue to engage in dialogue with Irish Rural Link and other stakeholders and that it would commission an independent external evaluation of the possibility or otherwise for promotion of the local public banking concept in Ireland. That further report was published by the Department of Finance in December 2019 and concluded that there is no business case for the State to establish a public banking system in Ireland, supporting the outcome of the July 2018 report.
The importance of the post office network has been clearly demonstrated throughout the pandemic where we have seen a range of initiatives through our post offices which have helped support local communities, the elderly and vulnerable.
The serious decline in the volume of mail and the impact of Covid on footfall through post offices, has had a severe impact on the postal network and I am aware of the concerns of the Irish Postmasters Union. I am also aware of the findings of the most recent Grant Thornton Report commissioned by the IPU, which are being considered by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.
While it is long-standing Government policy that postal services will not be directly subsidised by the Government, we remain fully committed to a sustainable post office network as a key component of the economic and social infrastructure in both rural and urban areas.
The Programme for Government recognises that a modernised post office network will provide a better range of financial services and e-commerce services for citizens and enterprise, as part of our commitment to a sustainable nationwide post office network.
Government believes An Post has untapped potential to do more and make a further significant contribution across many areas of public, business and community life in Ireland. With an evolving mandate An Post can emerge as a central hub for a wide variety of valuable community focused services. We will work closely with An Post to see if there is scope to channel additional services through the network. All options will be considered fully and efforts will be redoubled to give effect to our commitment to ensuring a sustainable and viable post office network.
30. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 26 and 27 of 4 November 2020, the financial implications or fines arising from the failure of Ireland to meet Regulation (EU) No. 994/2010 from 1 January 2021 on the security of gas supply, which requires member states to comply with the N-1 formula; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38914/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe ‘N-1’ infrastructure standard is set out in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1938 on measures to safeguard security of gas supply, which replaced Regulation (EU) 994/2010.
Ireland will continue to meet the infrastructure standard on a regional basis with the UK until the end of this year. From 1 January 2021, following the end of the transition period, Ireland will not be in a position to meet the infrastructure standard. It should be noted this will not have an adverse impact on security of supply as the same natural gas infrastructure will remain in place.
As part of the Brexit process, my Department has discussed Ireland's future inability to meet the infrastructure standard with the European Commission. It is noted that this compliance issue arises as a direct result of Brexit which is expected to be taken into account by the Commission.
Ireland continues to work with our EU partners in the negotiations with the UK to ensure continued future cooperation on natural gas security of supply.
In addition, my Department is carrying out a review of the security of energy supply of Ireland’s electricity and natural gas systems which is focusing on the period to 2030 in the context of ensuring a sustainable pathway to 2050. The review will include a detailed technical analysis and a public consultation. A request for tender for the technical analysis has recently been published and I expect that the review will be completed by the end of 2021.
31. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the amount of renewable energy in kWh and the corresponding retail value of this renewable energy that was dispatched down due to constraints and curtailment on the energy network in each of the past four years in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38941/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe issue raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for EirGrid, the transmission system operator. Nevertheless I am advised that EirGrid prepare an annual report outlining the levels of dispatch-down of renewable energy on the island of Ireland.
The latest such report can be found here: http://www.eirgridgroup.com/site-files/library/EirGrid/Annual-Renewable-Constraint-and-Curtailment-Report-2019-V1.2.pdf.
This report contains information on historic dispatch down quantities dating back to 2011. As contained in this report, the dispatch-down energy from wind resources in 2019 was 711 GWh in Ireland. This is equivalent to 6.9% of the total available wind energy.
In the period between 2015 and 2019, there is no relevant corresponding retail value as curtailment was not compensated for during this period under regulatory rules set by the SEM Committee. The majority of the wind farms are not compensated for constraints.
In order to meet Ireland's target of 70% renewable electricity by 2030, very high penetrations of variable renewable electricity on the grid will be required. Currently EirGrid operate the power system with up to 65% of renewable power at a given time, including onshore wind and solar. By 2030, this will need to rise to 95% in real time and higher.
Continuing Eirgrid’s programme ‘Delivering a Secure, Sustainable Electricity System’ (DS3) as well as increasing storage and strengthening the network will be critical to minimising the levels of renewable energy sources that are curtailed or constrained down.
32. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his views on a number of pilot programmes in several EU countries that replaced standard streetlights with ones that included an electric vehicle charging point; and if a similar pilot programme could be considered here. [38961/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Climate Action Plan, published in June 2019, sets out a range of actions to support the delivery of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs). These actions, which are further underpinned by the Programme for Government, include developing the electric vehicle charging network necessary to support the growth of EVs and to ensure the supply of infrastructure stays sufficiently ahead of demand. The development of a strategy to meet these objectives is currently underway.
While charging at home accounts for around 80% of electric vehicle charging in Ireland, my Department is fully committed to supporting a significant expansion and modernisation of the electric vehicle (EV) public charging network over the coming years. In this regard my Department will continue to provide support for EV charging infrastructure through the SEAI Public Charge Point Scheme. This scheme provides 75% of the capital costs up to a maximum of €5,000 per charge point to local authorities for the development of on-street public chargers. In addition, my Department is allocating €2m in 2021 to support a new SEAI scheme for the development of "destination chargers" at locations such as hotels and shopping centres which will provide a significant contribution to the overall public charging network.
I am aware that some local authorities have already looked to innovative options to lead the way in dual usage municipal infrastructure and have installed lamp post chargers. Examples include those installed on Crofton Road, Dun Laoghaire by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and in Swords by Fingal County Council. My Department will continue to work closely with Local Authorities on how best to expand the network of public charge points at both local and regional level and in doing so will explore all options available to local government in securing additional EV charging infrastructure through the supports currently provided through the SEAI.
33. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if his Department and any commercial or non-commercial State bodies and private entities subsidised by 50% or more of public funding under the aegis of his Department have implemented social clauses in their public procurement contracts in the past three years (details supplied); and if so, the nature of these social clauses. [39047/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraProcurement legislation allows contracting authorities to take social considerations, including environmental requirements, into account at the relevant stages of a procurement process where they are linked to the subject matter of the contract and respect the basic principles of equal treatment, transparency, proportionality and mutual recognition.
Social considerations are included in all public procurement contracts awarded by my Department as a result of statutory requirements in areas such as health and safety, environmental, equality and employment law.
In respect of contracts tendered directly by my Department, non-statutory social clauses have been incorporated into a number of public procurement processes as shown in the table below.
|
Contract |
Contract Awarded |
Nature of social clauses |
|
Emergency Call Answering Service |
February 2018 |
Inclusion of contractual clauses relating to the protection of the environment and reduction in energy consumption. |
|
Environmental Assessment Services |
October 2020 |
Inclusion of green procurement as award criteria. |
|
Advice on Environmental Assessment (Single Consent) |
May 2020 |
Inclusion of green procurement as award criteria. |
The information requested in relation to the bodies under the aegis of my Department is an operational matter for each body. The Department will request the relevant bodies to reply directly to the Deputy with the information requested in respect of their organisations.
34. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications further to Parliamentary Question No. 229 of 10 November 2020, if the national broadband plan will bring high-speed broadband to locations (details supplied) in County Dublin. [39086/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe locations referred to in the Question are located in the BLUE area on the NBP High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website at www.broadband.gov.ie.
BLUE areas are not included in the State intervention area covered by the National Broadband Plan as commercial operators are already providing high speed broadband or have indicated future plans to do so. My Department defines high speed broadband as a connection with minimum speeds of 30Mbps download and 6Mbps upload. The activities of commercial operators delivering high speed broadband within BLUE areas are not planned or funded by the State and my Department has no statutory authority to intervene in that regard.
Our investigations indicate that high speed broadband should be available over the eir network at this location.
36. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the way in which it is planned in Ireland to meet the target of a society (details supplied) of all European households having access to 100 Mbps connections by 2025 given the fact that the national broadband plan is limited in its areas of intervention; the specific interventions that will be made in non-intervention areas; the details of the stakeholders responsible to deliver on the 2025 target; the plan they are working to; the progress being made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39124/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs set out in the Programme for Government, ensuring access to high-quality connectivity for people across Ireland is essential to the development of all parts of our country, socially and economically.
A key principle of the National Broadband Plan (NBP) is to support and stimulate commercial investment in telecommunications infrastructure. Since the publication of the NBP strategy in 2012, the commercial telecommunications sector has invested over €3 billion. This was primarily on upgrading and modernising networks which support the provision of high speed broadband and mobile telecommunications services. Today over 1.78m or 75% of premises in Ireland can access commercially available high speed broadband services. At end Q2 2020, fixed broadband subscriptions had increased to 1.49million, an increase of 3.4% compared to the same period in 2019. Of these, over 200,000 were fibre to the premises subscriptions, representing 13.5% of total fixed broadband subscriptions, reflecting an increase of 8.8% when compared to the same period in 2019.
Furthermore, and in respect of commercial development, eir has indicated that it is currently delivering fibre to the home services to 576,000 premises and have announced plans to increase this coverage to approximately 1.8 million homes over a 5 year period; SIRO has already passed over 340,000 premises with fibre to the home and plan to provide coverage to 365,000 by the end of this year; and Virgin Media now provides high speed broadband to almost 1million premises and are continuing to expand its services.
Significant additional investment is expected over the coming years which, in addition to the rollout of the NBP, will ensure that Ireland continues on an upward trajectory in terms of the high speed connectivity necessary to support the continued development of our digital economy and society.
37. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Transport when a person (details supplied) will receive a date for a driving test. [38897/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe scheduling of candidates’ driving tests is the responsibility of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and as Minister, I have no power to intervene in individual cases.
I understand that the Road Safety Authority is prioritising driver testing for essential workers and has set up a dedicated email, urgentdrivingtest@rsa.ie, where applicants can request to be given priority and supply supporting documentation. These requests are prioritised during the scheduling process with cancellation slots being offered where possible.
38. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Transport if consideration will be given to increasing road safety in Kilcully, County Cork through a number of measures including traffic calming, increased lighting and footpath development. [38907/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from Council's own resources supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the Council.
Applications for funding under the Department’s Regional and Local Road Safety Improvement Scheme are invited on an annual basis for consideration for funding in the subsequent year. Councils are made aware of this and are asked to submit applications in order of priority. Our records indicate that Cork City Council's application for safety improvement works in 2021 does not include schemes in Kilcully.
It should be noted that the new Programme for Government – Our Shared Future sets out an ambitious and wide-ranging set of commitments in relation to walking and cycling, supported by an increased multi-annual budgetary allocation amounting to some €1.8 billion over the lifetime of the Government. The National Transport Authority (NTA) allocates funds at project level and works in conjunction with the relevant local authorities to deliver improved walking and cycling infrastructure across the country.
