Written Answers Nos. 196-201
196. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amounts awarded, broken down by local authority area, under the capital loan and subsidy scheme for social housing in each year of its operation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37542/14]
View answerThe Capital Loan and Subsidy Scheme commenced in 1991 to provide mortgage finance to approved housing bodies by way of loans from the Housing Finance Agency, to meet the cost of social rented accommodation for low-income families.
From the scheme’s commencement to end-2013, the housing bodies have provided over 10,000 units of accommodation with loans approved to the value of over €1.5 billion from the Housing Finance Agency. A breakdown of these approvals and the number of units per local authority is set out in the following table. The information requested for each year is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.
Capital Loan and Subsidy Scheme
|
Local Authority |
Amount Approved |
Units |
|
Carlow |
26,503,040 |
254 |
|
Cavan |
7,701,913 |
48 |
|
Clare |
13,971,816 |
131 |
|
Cork City |
43,186,070 |
258 |
|
Cork North |
27,108,037 |
203 |
|
Cork South |
73,605,819 |
428 |
|
Donegal |
57,271,240 |
452 |
|
Dublin City |
334,035,473 |
1 , 731 |
|
Dun Laoire/Rathdown |
89,170,836 |
366 |
|
Dundalk town |
44,140,775 |
334 |
|
Drogheda Borough |
27,057,748 |
226 |
|
Louth |
17,893,594 |
99 |
|
Fingal |
113,388,684 |
607 |
|
Galway |
20,847,020 |
179 |
|
Galway City |
19,655,905 |
180 |
|
Kerry |
24,461,969 |
179 |
|
Kildare |
57,735,757 |
509 |
|
Kilkenny |
10,268,163 |
137 |
|
Laois |
42,010,048 |
271 |
|
Leitrim |
5,377,918 |
44 |
|
Limerick |
14,677,176 |
103 |
|
Limerick City |
8,558,008 |
99 |
|
Longford |
29,470,658 |
200 |
|
Mayo |
25,549,327 |
205 |
|
Meath |
19,674,375 |
180 |
|
Monaghan |
8,458,005 |
76 |
|
Offaly |
28,790,094 |
271 |
|
Roscommon |
4,072,442 |
35 |
|
Sligo |
15,754,862 |
155 |
|
Sligo Borough |
7,868,989 |
110 |
|
South Dublin |
149,430,895 |
941 |
|
Tipperary North |
47,870,933 |
280 |
|
Tipperary South |
48,790,394 |
418 |
|
Waterford |
12,999,288 |
141 |
|
Waterford City |
31,129,791 |
268 |
|
Wexford |
27,012,228 |
281 |
|
Wexford Borough |
3,709,924 |
29 |
|
Wicklow |
7,939,266 |
92 |
197. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the local authorities that have availed of the NAMA-run special purpose vehicle to bring greater housing stock forward for social housing purposes; the number of transfers that have taken place to each local authority; the number that are in development; the costs associated with each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37544/14]
View answerMy Department is working closely with NAMA, the Housing Agency, local authorities and approved housing bodies in relation to the delivery of social housing. Information in relation to the delivery of NAMA sourced units, including a full breakdown by county, of units delivered on quarterly basis, is available on the Housing Agency’s website: www.housing.ie/NAMA.
Since the process began in December 2011 up to end of June 2014, 736 NAMA-sourced units have been delivered nationally through all delivery mechanisms. A further 603 properties are active transactions whereby terms are agreed or active negotiation is ongoing with all parties concerned, or where a detailed appraisal (i.e. determining the most likely delivery mechanism) is being carried out. It is expected that more than 1,000 units will have been delivered through this process by end 2014.
Of the 736 NAMA sourced units delivered to the end of June 2014, 250 units have been delivered through the NAMA special purpose vehicle (SPV). This represents over 60% of total delivery since the NAMA SPV first began delivery in April 2013. In total, my Department has approved funding for 457 units through the SPV. The total funding approved is €4.3m on an annual basis. The following table outlines the number of units approved per local authority, the associated funding approved and the number of units delivered as of June 2014.
|
Authority |
Units Approved* |
Annual Full Year Cost of Approved units |
Units Delivered |
|
Carlow County Council |
5 |
31,374 |
|
|
Cork County Council |
83 |
594,201 |
72 |
|
DLR County Council |
19 |
225,216 |
19 |
|
Dublin City Council |
229 |
2,656,578 |
116 |
|
Fingal County Council |
20 |
208,440 |
20 |
|
Galway County Council |
10 |
48,804 |
|
|
Kildare County Council |
7 |
61,755 |
|
|
Kilkenny County Council |
19 |
124,998 |
|
|
Meath County Council |
11 |
77,964 |
11 |
|
Offaly County Council |
30 |
158,613 |
|
|
Waterford City and County Council |
8 |
45,816 |
8 |
|
Westmeath County Council |
16 |
90,641 |
4 |
|
Overall |
457 |
4,324,400 |
250 |
*Includes delivered
There is considerable complexity in delivering units through this process and dealing with the range of legal and financial constraints involved. In some cases properties require substantial completion works.
198. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to establish an independent regulator for voluntary housing associations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37547/14]
View answerIn July 2013, Building for the Future a voluntary regulation code for the approved housing body (AHB) sector was published. The code sets out key governance, management and financial principles that AHBs commit to meeting on signing a Charter of Commitments. In February 2014 an interim Regulatory Committee was established to oversee the implementation of the code and to advise on the development of statutory regulation. The Committee includes experts in regulation, housing, law and finance and has been constituted as an independent committee operating, for the time being, within the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency.
A Regulation Office has also been established within the Agency to manage the day to day functions of implementing the voluntary code. To date, just over 160 AHBs have signed up to the code and further details are available on the Agency’s website at http://www.housing.ie/Regulation.aspx.
In July 2014, the Government approved the preparation of the Heads of a Bill to provide for the statutory regulation and governance of AHBs. I expect that the finalised Heads of the Bill will be ready for submission to Government in Q1 2015, after which drafting of the Bill will be progressed by the office of the Parliamentary Counsel. The interim period of voluntary regulation will be a valuable source of information as to the scope and final content of the Bill.
Regulation will provide support and assurance to tenants, the Boards of AHBs and their external partners that the sector is well regulated. It will also safeguard the investment that has been made in the sector and encourage future investment.
199. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide the full details of the final agreements between local authorities and Irish Water in respect of asset transfers, staffing, compensation, and other issues related to the establishment of Irish Water; if Irish Water has transferred any monetary sum to a local authority or has agreed to do so in future; if he will provide the full cost to date for the operation of the water services transition office broken down by category; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37548/14]
View answerThe Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides for the transfer of water services functions from the 34 water services authorities to Irish Water. With effect from 1 January 2014, Irish Water is responsible for the provision of public water services.
Section 12 of the Act provides for the transfer of property from a local authority to Irish Water. Section 13 of the Act provides that any rights or liabilities relating to the property transferred to Irish Water under section 12 shall also stand transferred to Irish Water. Section 14 of the Act provides for the transfer of other liabilities from a water services authority to Irish Water by way of Ministerial Order.
To date, two Orders have been made under section 14 - the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 (Transfer of Other Liabilities) Order 2014, which was signed on 20 February 2014, and the Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 (Transfer of Other Liabilities) Order (No. 2) 2014, which was signed on 24 April 2014. The Orders, which are available in the Oireachtas library, provided for the transfer of a total of 970 contracts from the local authorities to Irish Water.
Work is under way to prepare for the transfer of water services property and liabilities from the local authorities to Irish Water and it is expected that further Orders will be made in this regard in the coming months.
Irish Water has entered into service level agreements (SLA) with each of the local authorities for the provision of water services, as provided for under the Water Services (No.2) Act 2013. Staff in local authorities conducting work under these arrangements will remain local authority employees. The SLA reflects the transformation agenda required for the sector, with provision for annual service plans which will set out required performance, budgets and headcount.
The length of the service level agreement and the fact that the agreement will include a programme of change are reflected in a Framework document, agreed with the Trade Unions under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission, and which is available on my Department’s website. This agreement, and the Water Services (No.2) Act 2013 provide that, in the event of a SLA coming to an end, the staff covered by that agreement will become Irish Water employees and their terms and conditions and superannuation arrangements will be protected by legislation.
The Water Services Transition Office was established to ensure appropriate local authority input into the reform agenda and prepare for the transfer of functions to Irish Water. My Department agreed outline budgets for both 2013 and 2014 to cover costs of staff seconded to the Office, recoupment of salaries of certain staff in local authorities and other necessary programme costs. An amount of €5.748 m was recouped in 2013 under the headings outlined in the following table.
|
Cost category |
Paid to 31/12/13 |
|
WSTO - Staff costs |
1,725,986.10 |
|
WSTO - non-pay costs |
491,537.45 |
|
LA support staff |
3,531,189.85 |
|
TOTALS |
5,748,713.40 |
Non-pay costs include €278,285 paid to a variety of companies who provided specialist advice on legal, financial, health and safety and IT issues. The details are set out in the following table. The balance of €213,252 was incurred on general office running costs for services including rent, utilities and security expenses.
|
Name |
Description |
Cost |
|
CCAS Consultancy |
Financial accounting advice, reporting and software development. |
€16,715.70 |
|
Price Waterhouse Coopers |
Financial analysis on debtors, capital balances, liabilities |
€45,246.00 |
|
Temetra |
Work on financial billing systems and liaison with local authorities on billing solutions. |
€1,322.28 |
|
Stallard & Associates |
Support and advice in developing and negotiating SLA |
€69,013.80 |
|
RDJ Solicitors |
Legal advice on SLA |
€84,378.30 |
|
Atkins Ireland Ltd |
Updating of Fixed Asset Valuation Model |
€3,190.00 |
|
Central Solutions |
Sharepoint IT system training |
€1,350.00 |
|
Ennovation Solutions |
Set up and support for Alfresco system for data gathering |
€50,245.50 |
|
IACT T/A Software Paths |
Training for IT systems |
€1,659.00 |
|
LGMA |
Extranet Exchange |
€1,666.67 |
|
Micromail |
IT systems licenses |
€3,498.12 |
|
Total |
€278,285.37 |
No funds have been recouped to date in 2014 although an amount in the order of €1.3m is anticipated.
200. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the total annual cost to each local authority in the State for the storage of records and archives, including those records which are ultimately intended to be forwarded to the National Archives in time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37550/14]
View answerUnder Section 80 of the Local Government Act 2001, local authorities are required to make proper arrangements for the management, custody, care and conservation of their records and archives and to provide public access to their archives.
The annual cost for the storage of records and archives is a matter for each local authority and this information is not collated by my Department.
201. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his plans to increase the number of electric vehicles here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37500/14]
View answerThe Electric Vehicle Grant Scheme was introduced in April 2011 to incentivise and support, through grants of up to €5,000, the early deployment of electric vehicles in Ireland. These grants are in addition to the VRT reliefs of up to €5,000 which apply to electric vehicles. To date, support has been provided for the purchase of 525 new vehicles of which 243 were grant aided in 2014 to date. The grant scheme will remain open for this year and, subject to finalisation of the budgetary arrangements, continue next year.
Additionally, the ESB, through its ecars programme, is continuing to roll out both publicly accessible charging infrastructure and domestic charge points. My Department understands that 892 public charge-points have now been installed nationally. These include 67 DC fast chargers, most of which have been installed on major roads. Additionally there are 918 domestic/commercial installations in place.
