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Thursday, 10 Mar 2022

Written Answers Nos. 205-214

Departmental Schemes

Ceisteanna (205)

Gary Gannon

Ceist:

205. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if her Department will review the impact of participation in the basic income for artists scheme on existing social protection supports, in particular if artists in receipt of payments, such as a disability payment, will not be precluded from participating in the scheme, given the proposed trial is to be launched imminently. [13705/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Basic Income for the Arts Pilot scheme will run over a three year period and the intention is to research the impact a basic income would have on artists and creatives work patterns by providing the opportunity to participants to focus on their practice.   Stakeholder engagement has been core to the policy development process and this included a stakeholder forum on 15 December 2021 and a public consultation throughout the month of January. 

The impact of such a scheme on artists with disabilities is a theme that has been raised throughout the consultation and I can assure the Deputy that it is a matter I take very seriously.  I want to ensure that all artists, including those with a disability, can apply to participate in the pilot.  

My Department of Social Protection were members of the Oversight Group I established last year tasked with appraising the recommendations set out in Life Worth Living report.

In addition, bilateral engagement between the two Department's on the treatment of the Basic Income for the Arts payment has been ongoing over the past number of months.  In particular discussions around the treatment of the grant payment for the purposes of income disregards across a number of social welfare schemes, including disability allowance, are ongoing. 

I can assure the Deputy that the issue of artists with disabilities is something which I am focused on. I believe that the Basic Income for the Arts has the potential to help artists and creative arts workers with disabilities overcome labour market barriers by creating a self-sustaining creative practice, operating on a self-employed basis.

Ukrainian War

Ceisteanna (206)

Carol Nolan

Ceist:

206. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the response of her Department to the Ukrainian war crisis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13731/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Since the illegal, unprovoked and unjustified further invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces on 24 February, Ireland has stood in unwavering solidarity with the people and government of Ukraine.

The Government acknowledged the scale and scope of the potential implications for the State and agreed that a co-ordinated, whole-of-Government response will be essential to minimise those impacts. My Department will continue to participate in and support these efforts as appropriate.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has led on Ireland’s foreign policy response to this flagrant violation of international law and norms, including through multilateral engagement with European Union partners and at the United Nations, the development of sanctions and the provision of consular assistance to Irish citizens affected by the invasion, and the provision of humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Ireland has announced contributions totalling €20 million in humanitarian assistance from Irish Aid funding to support key humanitarian partners in Ukraine and neighbouring countries in responding to the crisis.

From a tourism perspective, the European Travel Commission (ETC), representing national tourism organisations of Europe, of which Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland are members, recently issued a statement condemning the military aggression by the Russian Federation and expressing solidarity with the people of Ukraine. The tourism agencies will continue to monitor the evolving tourism related situation. Officials from my Department and Fáilte Ireland have also engaged with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth on the issue of accommodation for displaced nationals arriving from Ukraine.

On Monday, I along with all other EU Ministers for Culture and Media, adopted a Declaration expressing our solidarity with Ukraine and our support for Ukrainian artists, journalists, and cultural and media professionals, and our readiness to assist them. We also committed to exchanging information, combining our efforts and sharing best practices in order to stand in solidarity with and welcome Ukrainian artists, journalists and cultural and media professionals, and assess further ways forward regarding cultural cooperation.

On 1st March the Council of the European Union agreed Council Regulation (EU) 2022/350, which prohibits the broadcast of any content by Russia Today, its regional subsidiaries and Sputnik throughout the European Union. This Regulation took immediate and direct effect throughout the EU on 2nd March. The restrictive measure form part of the fourth package of sanctions against the Russian Federation adopted by the European Union. The penalties, in Irish law, for contravening this restrictive measure are set out in a statutory instrument made by the Department of Finance – the European Union (Restrictive Measures concerning Ukraine) (No.5) Regulations 2022 (S.I. No. 94 of 2022). The Department of Foreign Affairs leads an inter-Departmental group on the enforcement of sanctions. and my Department will provide any assistance that is appropriate.

I have also responded to correspondence received from the Ministers of Culture of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia , indicating that I will support potential future action, if necessary against state-sponsored media outlets like Sputnik and Russia Today which support the aggression against Ukraine and target European Union countries with disinformation and propaganda.

Property Registration

Ceisteanna (207)

Niall Collins

Ceist:

207. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will advise on a matter raised in correspondence (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13590/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

In relation to any specific cases with the Property Registration Authority (PRA), arrangements have been put in place to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. Further information in relation to the specific case referred to may be obtained by contacting the dedicated e-mail address in respect of the PRA at reps@prai.ie.

Housing Schemes

Ceisteanna (208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216)

Thomas Gould

Ceist:

208. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if local authorities directly supply mortgage to rent or only supply the scheme through approved housing bodies and an organisation (details supplied). [13544/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Thomas Gould

Ceist:

209. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on whether approved housing bodies, AHBs, should be given first refusal on all mortgage to rent cases. [13545/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Thomas Gould

Ceist:

210. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department will meet its target of 1,000 mortgage to rent cases in 2022. [13546/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Thomas Gould

Ceist:

211. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if a person must be within social housing income thresholds to qualify for the mortgage to rent scheme. [13547/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Thomas Gould

Ceist:

212. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if independent valuations of market rent for housing under the mortgage to rent scheme consider the condition of the house. [13548/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Thomas Gould

Ceist:

213. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the estimated cost of maintenance annually on properties under the mortgage to rent scheme. [13549/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Thomas Gould

Ceist:

214. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of homes that have been purchased back by tenants under the mortgage to rent scheme by year since its establishment. [13550/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Thomas Gould

Ceist:

215. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of approved housing bodies currently involved in the mortgage to rent scheme. [13551/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Thomas Gould

Ceist:

216. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of officials in his Department currently employed to assist in the mortgage to rent scheme. [13552/22]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I propose to take Questions Nos. 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215 and 216 together.

The Mortgage to Rent (MTR) scheme was introduced in 2012 for borrowers of commercial lending institutions and is targeted at those households in mortgage arrears who have had their mortgage position deemed unsustainable by their lender under the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (MARP), who agree to the voluntary surrender of their home and who have very limited options, if any, to meet their long-term housing needs themselves. In addition, the household must be deemed eligible for social housing support. The concept of the scheme is that a household with an unsustainable mortgage goes from being a homeowner to being a social housing tenant.

Under the MTR scheme, the borrower surrenders their property to their lender and it will be then sold to the MTR provider who is interested in the property. This can be either an Approved Housing Body (AHB) or since 2018 a private company, Home for Life Ltd. If more than one party is interested in buying the property, the lender will provide information to the borrower around the options available to them and the borrower will make the decision on who purchases the property. The AHB or local authority (in the case where the property is sold to a private company) becomes the landlord and the borrower remains in the property as a tenant paying a differential rent to the landlord based on his or her income.

To the end of December 2021, 1,682 households with unsustainable private mortgages have completed the MTR process and 720 cases are being actively progressed. There has been an upward trend in the completion of MTR cases since 2017, with over 20% of all cases being completed in 2020 (363 cases) and 40% completed in 2021 (678 cases). It is envisaged that the Department will meet its target of 1,000 cases in 2022.

Valuations undertaken for the MTR scheme take into account the condition of the property when they are carried out. MTR providers, both AHB and non-AHB, are obliged to undertake the necessary remedial or refurbishment works to bring the properties that they acquire under the scheme up to statutory private rental standards and the amount of rent paid is based on the market rent of the property. MTR providers are also responsible for maintaining the property on a regular basis. The Department does not have sight of this cost as they are met directly by the MTR provider.

At the end of 2021, there were 12 AHBs participating in the MTR scheme.

The MTR scheme is overseen by the Department but the Housing Agency look after the administration of the scheme on behalf of the Department. Within the Department there is a team of four people managed by a Principal Officer, who have responsibility for the MTR scheme along with other duties.

A MTR scheme was also introduced for local authority borrowers which is called Local Authority Mortgage to Rent (LAMTR) and has been in place nationally since 2014. Under the scheme, a local authority can acquire ownership of properties with unsustainable local authority mortgages, thus enabling the household to remain in their home as social housing tenants. Information in relation to the Local Authority MTR scheme from its inception in 2013 to end 2020, broken down by local authority area, is available on my Department's website under the heading Local Authority Mortgage to Rent at the link below. During that period, a total of 532 households had benefited from the scheme. Information relating to 2021 will be made available shortly.

https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/42d2f-local-authority-loan-activity/#local-authority-mortgage-to-rent-scheme > refer to the section “Local Authority Mortgage to Rent scheme”.

Both MTR schemes are established parts of the overall suite of social housing options and are important parts of the mortgage arrears resolution process.

It is possible for MTR applicants to buy back their home if they can obtain the finance for the purchase of the property. To date under the MTR scheme, two properties have been bought back - one in 2019 and one in 2021.

Question No. 209 answered with Question No. 208.
Question No. 210 answered with Question No. 208.
Question No. 211 answered with Question No. 208.
Question No. 212 answered with Question No. 208.
Question No. 213 answered with Question No. 208.
Question No. 214 answered with Question No. 208.
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