Written Answers Nos. 209-219
209. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to increase the marine protection areas to 30% by 2030; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28487/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is leading implementation of the process to expand Ireland's network of marine protected areas (MPAs) and the associated commitments in the Programme for Government, namely:
1. to develop comprehensive legislation that will enable MPA designation and management, and
2. to realise Ireland's outstanding target of 10% MPA coverage of our waters as soon as is practical, aiming for 30% coverage by 2030.
This work is being carried out in close consultation with other Departments and Agencies; with maritime stakeholders; coastal communities; representative organisations; and with the wider public.
The process underpinning this work began in October 2019 with the convening of an expert advisory group to provide independent advice and recommendations on the expansion of Ireland’s MPA network. The advisory group's comprehensive report was published in Irish and English in January 2021. This report, which includes the results and findings from a series of stakeholder consultations undertaken by the advisory group, was subject to a wider public consultation from February to July 2021. Over 2,300 submissions were received.
My Department now intends to commence work on the necessary legislation for an expanded network of MPAs. This legislation will be informed by the experts' advice and recommendations, and by the detailed feedback from public consultation.
Work on the General Scheme of an MPA Bill will continue into the autumn of 2022, with the aim of enacting the legislation in 2023. This legislation will be the mechanism by which Ireland's network of MPAs will be planned, designated and managed into the future.
210. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will sanction all the vacant posts across local authorities and provide the necessary resources for these posts to be filled; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31317/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is committed to ensuring that the local government sector remains vibrant and sustainable and is well equipped and properly resourced to deliver the key functions within its remit and adequate staffing of local authorities is key in this regard.
The recruitment and filling of posts in the local authority sector is undertaken both by individual local authorities and the Public Appointments Service. Following the approval of a staffing sanction request by my Department where such is required it is then a matter for the Chief Executive, who is responsible under Section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001 for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he or she is responsible, to progress the appointment as appropriate.
Staff sanction requests are considered in light of Government priorities and other requirements when received and consideration is also given to the overall staffing levels of the authority and its ability to meet the ongoing costs involved. It is important to note that at present there is strong competition for staff given the strength of the economy and recruitment processes can take some time to be completed.
212. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on the latest EPA water quality report. [27941/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra213. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on the water quality initiatives undertaken by his Department and agencies under his Department's remit.; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27942/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 212 and 213 together.
The EU Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy) establishes a common framework for the protection of inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater. The overall aim of the Directive is to maintain high and good status waters where they exist and to restore waters that do not currently reach these standards. River basin management planning, structured in six-year cycles, is the tool prescribed by the Directive for achieving these aims.
Building on the successful elements of the first River Basin Management Plans cycle, the Government introduced new structures for implementation of the Directive as part of the second-cycle river basin management plan that covers the period 2018-2021. These new structures include the Water Policy Advisory Committee (WPAC), which provides high-level policy direction and oversight of implementation. The National Coordination and Management Committee, formed under WPAC, ensures that the measures necessary to achieve our objectives are implemented in an efficient, effective and co-ordinated way. The National Technical Implementation Group, co-ordinates ongoing tracking of implementation and provides a forum for knowledge sharing. Finally, the regional local authority structures, comprising of 5 regional committees, drive delivery of supporting measures at local level.
These structures are further supported by the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO). Funded by my Department, LAWPRO is responsible for;
- Coordinating efforts by local authorities, public bodies and other stakeholders to achieve the water quality objectives of the EU Water Framework Directive
- Supporting local communities to get involved in caring for their local waters and participate in decision making and river basin management plans, and
- Applying catchment science to identify the issues impacting on water quality in a number of Priority Areas for Action and to refer them to the relevant bodies for action.
As part of the implementation of the Directive in Ireland, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with, inter alia, the monitoring of water status in order to establish a comprehensive overview of water status within each river basin district. A full assessment of the overall quality and ecological status of Ireland’s waters takes place every three years, with the most recent full report published in 2019. In the intervening years, the EPA publishes a report on the indicators of water quality.
The latest indicators report for 2020 highlights that the main risk to water quality continues to be excess nutrients in our rivers, lakes and coastal areas, with the trends in some areas going in the wrong direction. The oversupply of nutrients is coming from agricultural land and from underperforming urban and domestic waste water systems.
However, I welcome the positive signs that some rivers are showing evidence of improvement, particularly in the Priority Areas for Action that were identified for targeted action in the current River Basin Management Plan for Ireland.
Our water resources are facing complex pressures, and increasing demands, from population change; expected further growth in the economy; as well as from a changing climate. As a result, we will need a cross-sector collective effort to protect Ireland’s water quality.
On agricultural nutrients, I am working closely with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine on effective measures to address these issues through the River Basin Management Plan process, the Nitrates Action Programme and the CAP Strategic Plan.
Our farmers, food producers and our agricultural system must work in harmony with our environment if we are to maintain our clean, green image. We must carefully manage how we use nutrients on our agricultural land to both secure productivity gains and reduce the loss of excess nutrients to water.
To do this we must continue to work together at a local catchment-scale using programmes such as LAWPRO and the Agriculture Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP) who work directly with communities and with farmers to protect and deliver improvements in water quality.
Ireland’s Nitrates Action Programme is another key instrument in achieving good water quality. It is designed to prevent pollution of surface waters and groundwater from agricultural sources and to protect and improve water quality. Following the fourth review of Ireland’s Nitrates Action Programme, the 5th Nitrates Action Programme was finalised and the Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters Regulations (SI 113 of 2022) were signed in March. The new Action Programme came into effect on the 11th March and will run until the end of 2025, with an interim review taking place in 2023.
To address waste water issues, Irish Water must continue to deliver its capital investment programme. While progress is being made by Irish Water in reducing the number of waste water plants on the EPA’s priority action list, continued and sustained investment is needed to reduce the impact from insufficiently treated waste water discharges and to meet our Water Framework Directive objectives.
In this regard, the National Development Plan 2021-2030 commits to almost €6 billion in capital investment by Irish Water in the period from 2021-2025, of which over €4.5 billion will be Voted Exchequer funded in respect of domestic water services. As part of Budget 2022, I secured funding of over €1.57 billion to support water services. This includes €1.459 billion in respect of domestic water services provision by Irish Water.
This overall investment will deliver significant improvements in our public water and waste water services, support improved water supplies right across Ireland, including rural Ireland, and support a range of programmes delivering improved water quality in our rivers, lakes and marine areas.
Finally, my Department is also currently preparing the third River Basin Management Plan for Ireland, to cover the period 2022 – 2027. A key commitment in the Programme for Government, a revised and strengthened River Basin Management Plan will be published later this year.
Building on the work of the second-cycle, this plan will again describe the main pressures and activities affecting water status and set out the environmental objectives to be achieved up to 2027 and identify the measures needed to achieve these objectives, including those highlighted by the EPA.
214. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the details of the senior executive officer roles that were assigned to both Drogheda and Dundalk in 2020; if Louth County Council made a request to extend the roles in either location; if he will also provide details on whether similar roles were offered to local authorities across the country, and if so, if he will advise the number that were offered and the number of SEOs that were approved by location; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33272/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraLouth County Council sought formal sanction from my Department for two additional staff at Senior Executive Officer (SEO) grade level in early 2020, the posts to be filled by internal competition. Formal sanction was communicated by my Department to the Council on 31 January 2020 on a three year specific purpose contract basis with recruitment confined to the local government sector. These two SEO posts were specific to Louth County Council only.
The detailed arrangements, including recruitment, expected start date(s) and the detailed role and functions of the posts, in line with the Council's funding proposal to the Department, are a matter for Louth County Council in accordance with section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001 which provides that each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authority for which he or she is responsible.
Further information in relation to these posts should be available from Louth County Council.
215. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has satisfied itself that there are a sufficient number of affordable properties in the north County Kildare; if he will publish the methods used to reach such a conclusion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33298/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Housing for All Strategy delivers on the Programme for Government commitment to step up housing supply and put affordability at the heart of the housing system, with an ambitious target of 300,000 homes over the next decade for social, affordable and cost rental, private rental and private ownership housing. 54,000 affordable home interventions will be delivered between now and 2030 to be facilitated by local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies (AHB), the Land Development Agency (LDA) and through a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks.
Delivery of affordable housing, in accordance with the schemes set out in the Affordable Housing Act, 2021 and the funding being made available, will be underpinned by local authorities' Housing Delivery Action Plans. Local authorities, including Kildare County Council, submitted their initial Plans to me in December 2021. Preparation of the Plans allowed each local authority to assess the level of demand with affordability constraint in their area based on the Housing Need and Demand Assessment and plan provision accordingly. The Plans are being revised and updated by local authorities in the light of ongoing engagement and clarifications, and I expect that they will be ready for publication shortly. They will provide a comprehensive overview of projected delivery of affordable housing in Kildare, and nationally.
Funding is made available by Government to assist local authority and AHB delivery of affordable housing, for purchase and rent, through the Affordable Housing Fund, previously known as the Serviced Sites Fund (SSF), and the Cost Rental Equity Loan (CREL). SSF funding will support the delivery of 10 affordable purchase homes of a mixed tenure housing development at Ardclough Road in Celbridge, Co. Kildare. Kildare County Council has advised my Department, construction is expected to begin on site by the end of 2023, with projected delivery of these affordable homes by the 1st Quarter of 2025.
40 CREL-supported Cost Rental homes were tenanted by the Clúid AHB at Barnhall Meadows in Leixlip, Co. Kildare in December 2021, where cost rents charged are approximately 40% below comparable market rents in the area. A further 16 Cost Rental homes will be tenanted in this development by the end of this month.
The most recent Cost Rental vacancies in Kildare have just been advertised by the Clúid AHB and are located at The Paddocks in Newbridge. The first phase of the development includes 46 one, two and three bedroom apartments, with cost-covering rents for these apartments at €1,000 per month for the one bedroom units, €1,240 for the two bedroom units and €1,350 for the three bedroom units, which represent significant discounts of approximately 25-30% on market rents in the area. These Cost Rental homes will also be tenanted by the end of this month.
Under the 2nd Call for Proposals for CREL funding, issued to AHBs in October 2021, I gave approval in principle to the allocation of €53.6 million for the provision of 521 Cost Rental homes across 11 sites in 7 local authority areas, including Kildare. Three of these 11 sites, comprising a total of 186 Cost Rental homes, are currently scheduled to be delivered in Kildare in 2022. The necessary financial and commercial arrangements in relation to the other projects approved under the second call for proposals under CREL are being completed by the AHBs concerned. When these arrangements are concluded, details of the projects, including specific locations, housing typologies and cost-covering rents, will be made public.
In addition, the LDA has submitted a revised planning permission for 219 social and affordable units at Devoy Barracks in Naas, Co. Kildare. The LDA will comply with Part V regulations and the remaining homes are intended to be a blended mix of Cost Rental and affordable purchase.
The First Home Scheme will be delivered via a strategic partnership between the State and participating mortgage lenders and I can confirm that all parties are working with a view to deploying the scheme next month. It will improve access to newly-built homes, below the median price point, by using a shared equity model to bridge the gap between mortgage finance and the cost of new homes. This measure, targeted at First Time or fresh start buyers, will allow purchasers to exit the rental market, help to build developer confidence in realisable consumer demand, and contribute to the recovery of our construction sector following the Covid-19 emergency. It will be available nationwide.
Other measures to allow buyers to affordably access newly-constructed housing such as the Help to Buy Scheme and the Local Authority Home Loan (formerly the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan), are also available to eligible purchasers nationally to make home ownership more affordable. Information on these schemes is available at the following links:
www.revenue.ie/en/property/help-to-buy-incentive/index.aspx, and
localauthorityhomeloan.ie/
216. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department has examined the impact of the housing crisis on single persons who are automatically at a serious disadvantage in relying on one salary in order to rent or buy given the now-exorbitant costs of both; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33299/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Housing for All strategy delivers on the Programme for Government commitment to step up housing supply and put affordability at the heart of the housing system, with an ambitious target of 300,000 homes over the next decade for social, affordable and cost rental, private rental and private ownership housing. It will see 54,000 affordable home interventions which includes 36,000 affordable purchase and 18,000 cost rental homes to be delivered between now and 2030 by local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), the Land Development Agency (LDA) and through ‘First Home’ a strategic partnership between the State and retail banks.
Under pathway 1 of this strategy, “Pathways to Home Ownership and Increasing Affordability”, two new Affordable Purchase schemes are being established (the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme and the First Home shared equity scheme), as well as a new Cost Rental tenancy and an improved Local Authority Home Loan scheme. All of these affordable schemes are available to single applicants.
The Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme assists first-time purchasing Local Authority-delivered new homes by bridging the gap between the market value of the home and the combined value of the buyer's mortgage and deposit.
I recently signed the Affordable Housing Regulations 2022 and the Affordable Housing (No. 2) Regulations 2022, which set out a number of matters, including eligibility criteria and sale prices, for the Local Authority Affordable Purchase scheme.
Under the Regulations and section 11 of the Affordable Housing Act 2021, scope has been provided to allow a Local Authority implement a Scheme of Priority in respect of 30% of dwellings which would, for example, give priority for one-bedroom homes to single persons. This is at the initiative of the Local Authority concerned, though under the legislation the draft Schemes must be submitted to the Minister for consideration.
For households and individuals more suited to renting a home, the Housing for All strategy also includes measures to improve security and affordability in the rental market, including the introduction of Cost Rental tenancies. The rent levels of Cost Rental tenancies are based on the cost of the provision of homes, rather than being subject to the pressures of the open market.
My Department has directed Cost Rental landlords to seek the efficient use of resources by allocating appropriately sized homes according to household needs. This direction is to ensure that landlords place tenants into homes of an appropriate size, in order to maximise the efficient use of the limited number of properties that have been available during the initial rollout of Cost Rental. Over the period of the Housing for All plan from 2021 to 2030, it is intended that 18,000 Cost Rental homes will be delivered in our urban centres by Local Authorities, AHBs and the LDA. These Cost Rental homes will accommodate a range of different household types and sizes, including individuals living alone or in smaller households, as further developments are completed.
To date, approval in principle has been confirmed so far for 911 Cost Rental homes to be delivered by AHBs under the CREL scheme in the period to 2023. These will range in sizes from those suitable to smaller households to larger family homes and will include 110 one-bedroom residences. Up to 234 Cost Rental homes are expected to have been completed across the country by the end of this month, and within 12 months of the passing of the Affordable Housing Act to regulate this entirely new sector last July.
In addition to the schemes already mentioned, Part 4 of the Affordable Housing Act 2021 provides for the establishment of the ‘First Home’ affordable purchase shared equity scheme to support purchases of new homes in the private market. The Scheme aims to support c. 8,000 households in the private market in the years out to 2026.
First Home will help applicants to afford new homes in the private market through the use of an equity share model, similar to that employed in the Local Authority Affordable Purchase Scheme. The Scheme will primarily support households including single first-time buyers in the purchase of new homes within designated regional price ceilings, set with reference to the median prices for new homes purchased by first-time buyers in the area.
Subject to the necessary final approvals process of all founders to the scheme, which will see the State operate the scheme in a strategic partnership with participating mortgage lenders, it is anticipated that First Home will become operational in the coming weeks. Full information, including full eligibility criteria and regional price ceilings for homes, will be available on the First Home website upon the Scheme’s launch.
Other measures, such as the Help to Buy Scheme and the Local Authority Home Loan, are also available to eligible purchasers nationally to make home ownership more affordable.
Housing for All introduced the Local Authority Home Loan scheme as a successor to the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan. The new Local Authority Home Loan commenced on 4 January 2022 and is available for families and single people on modest or low incomes who cannot get sufficient funding from commercial banks to purchase or build a home. The loan can be used by first-time buyers and Fresh Start applicants for both for new and second-hand properties, or for self-builds.
Under the Local Authority Home Loan scheme the income ceiling for a single applicant has been increased from €50,000 to €65,000 in counties where the scheme's house price limit is €320,000 (Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow). In the rest of the country, where the scheme’s house price limit is €250,000, the income ceiling for a single applicant is €50,000.
More details on the Local Authority Home Loan scheme are available on the following link:
localauthorityhomeloan.ie/.
The Help-to-Buy incentive supports First-time Buyers in meeting the deposit requirements for newly-built houses or apartments, as well as self-build homes. Subject to the level of income tax and DIRT paid over the previous 4 years, the Help-to-Buy scheme provides a maximum benefit to First-Time Buyers of €30,000 or 10% of the cost of the newly constructed home.
217. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will clarify exactly when housing assistance payment rates will be increased; if he will acknowledge that an increase will help some tenants to remain in properties in which rents have risen and will also provide for others waiting to be housed to access more dwellings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33330/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am working with Government colleagues and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to provide for an increase in the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) discretion rate to 35% and for new tenancies, to expand the couple’s rate to single persons where required. This will secure more tenancies and prevent new entries to homelessness.
Further details will be available when this engagement process is complete.
I am committed to decreasing our reliance on subsidies and we will only do that through significantly scaling up our social housing supply. ‘Housing for All’ sets us on a pathway to delivering 90,000 social homes between now and the end of 2030, including 9,000 homes this year.
218. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total amount of commercial rates that have been collected by all local authorities since 2018 to date in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33334/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe levying and collection of rates are matters for each individual local authority. The annual rate on valuation (ARV), which is applied to the valuation for each property determined by the Valuation Office, to obtain the amount payable in rates, is decided by the elected members of each local authority during the annual budget process.
Rates income data are published by local authorities in their Annual Financial Statements, which are published as a matter of course on local authority websites. 2020 is the latest year for which audited local authority Annual Financial Statement data are available.
The Local Government Audit Service provide an independent audit of local authorities annual financial statements and a summary of their findings, titled Overview of the Work of the Local Government Audit Service, is published annually on my Department's website.
Reports for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020 can be found at the following links:
www.gov.ie/en/publication/c785e-overview-of-the-work-of-the-local-government-audit-service-year-ended-31-december-2018/
www.gov.ie/en/publication/ea801-overview-of-the-work-of-the-local-government-audit-service-year-ended-31-december-2019/
www.gov.ie/en/publication/e51a8-overview-of-the-work-of-the-local-government-audit-service-year-ended-31-december-2020/
You will note that a detailed summary of rates accrued and collected by each local authority is at Appendix 12 for each year.
219. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if there are supports available for vacant home-owners who wish to bring their property up to a liveable standard to add to the housing stock; if he will provide an update on the Croí Cónaithe (towns) fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33354/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra223. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the status of the proposed scheme that will support first-time buyers to repair derelict properties; and if he will provide a timeframe for the opening of the scheme. [33378/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra224. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to provide funding to local authorities to provide serviced sites in towns and villages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33394/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 219, 223 and 224 together.
Housing for All (published in September 2021) provides a new housing plan for Ireland to 2030 with the overall objective that every citizen in the State should have access to good quality homes through a steady supply of housing in the right locations, with economic, social and environmental sustainability built into the system. The strategy sets out, over four pathways, a broad suite of measures to achieve its policy objectives together with a financial commitment of in excess of €4 billion per annum. This strategy provides for a broad suite of measures including for first-time buyers.
The suite of measures under the pathway to addressing vacancy and efficient use of existing stock includes the Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund which will be delivered by local authorities for the provision of serviced sites for housing, to attract people to build their own homes and to support the refurbishment of vacant properties, enabling people to live in small towns and villages, in a sustainable way.
Details in relation to the operation of the Croí Cónaithe (Towns) Fund are at an advanced stage of development, including the scope and appropriate timeframes, and it will be launched in the coming months.
