Written Answers Nos. 171-184
171. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the extent to which she and her office continue to encourage cultural projects at local and national level, with a view to ensuring maximisation of economic benefit through the medium of culture and tourism; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37257/24]
View answer172. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the extent to which she and her Department continue to encourage all forms of the arts, including the stage and film industry, local voluntary groups and those interested in the promotion of the arts at amateur and local level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37258/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 171 and 172 together.
My Department’s Arts and Culture programme aims to promote and develop Ireland’s arts, stage and film industry at home and abroad, maximising their societal and economic value for the country, and supporting Arts and the entertainment sector to develop and grow. In support of this, the following measures have been undertaken for 2024:
• Record funding of €134 million for the Arts Council in 2024 will build on recent successes in the sector
• The highest level of funding for Culture Ireland since its establishment will support more Irish artists to launch and develop their careers on an international stage
• A new pilot capital support scheme for Arts, Culture and the Night Time Economy will continue the development of vibrant late night arts and culture scenes in Irish cities, towns and villages as well as additional capital to assist in the provision of building and equipment needs, artists workspaces, and adapting facilities to reduce energy needs and carbon footprints
• Increased funding of €1.5 million for Screen Ireland will support the audiovisual industry to build and expand capacity across the country, to deliver on strategic objectives, to take account of inflation on the value of supports, provide Sustainability Funding and Audience Development initiatives, as well as providing a targeted international marketing campaign to highlight the improvements to Section 481 announced by the Minister for Finance
• In conjunction with Minister for Finance Michael McGrath, changes to Section 481 tax relief will further enhance Ireland’s attractiveness as a location for major international film and television projects, building on the remarkable success of “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “An Cailín Ciúin”. In particular, the increase in the cap to €125 million will restore Ireland’s ability to attract high-value, internationally mobile audio-visual projects that will generate significant employment and skills development opportunities for Irish crew
• The Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme is funded for the second of three years. Recently published research shows very positive impact on the lives and wellbeing of participants to date.
• Increased funding for the Safe to Create Programme that supports all artists and creatives that will allow Minding Creative Minds to provide new dedicated HR, Mediation, Legal and Financial advice to the creative sector, creative therapies, dedicated mentoring and career services as well as an information campaign on its serious trauma counselling service
• Further support for Creative Ireland, to implement projects under the expanded Creative Climate Action Fund will underpin the department’s commitment to building for a better future through supporting participation in creative cultural activity
• Additional support for Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
• Our National Cultural Institutions and other approved bodies will benefit from an increase in the tax relief on donations further incentivises donation to strengthen our national collections. The cap on the relief under the scheme will increase from €6 million to €8 million next year
• Other support for the National Cultural Institutions for programme, learning and outreach activities
• New arts strategy and funding package of €20 million for the Gaeltacht and for the Irish language in community.
• Significant progress on the NCI redevelopment programme.
As evidenced above, there has been sustained and significant growth in public expenditure to support arts and culture under the current Government and I will look to sustain and increase that support in the context of the forthcoming Budget Estimates process.
173. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps his Department is taking to tackle the number of vacant houses, both public and private, across the State. [36745/24]
View answerAddressing vacancy and maximising the use of existing housing stock is a primary objective of this Government as reflected in Pathway 4 of Housing for All.
The Vacant Homes Action Plan, which I published in January 2023, sets out the various actions that were being pursued to return vacant properties back into use as homes. Earlier this year, I published an update on the Action Plan which shows the significant progress that is being made.
A key initiative was the introduction of the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant. In providing support to refurbish vacant and derelict properties, the grant is making the transformation of these properties into homes an affordable option for buyers and owners, while also supporting the rejuvenation of communities.
Under Call 3 of the URDF, a €150m revolving fund has been made available to local authorities to help acquire long term vacant (>2yrs) properties and then offer them for private sale to individuals who in return will commit to bringing the property into use as a home. Proceeds from the sale of these properties will be used to replenish the fund.
The Action Plan also sets out how my Department will support local authorities to bring vacant social stock back into use as homes.
While the management and maintenance of local authority housing stock is a matter for each local authority, my Department provides annual funding support to local authorities under the Voids Programme.
This funding was introduced originally to tackle their long term vacant units, and is now increasingly targeted at ensuring minimal turnaround and re-let times for vacant stock.
My Department has approved €31 million in funding this year to support the return of 2,300 vacant local authority homes.
This Government is committed to tackling vacancy, public and private, and the range of measures which have been introduced are making a real impact, bringing homes back into use.
174. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the discussions he has had, or is planning, with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in light of the Government acknowledgement, and the recent ESRI report, on the need to significantly increase housing delivery targets over the coming years, and the public expenditure implications of such a revision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29520/24]
View answerMy Department is currently developing revised housing targets for the period 2025 onwards. This work is being undertaken with regard to, among other things, recently published research by the ESRI on population projections and structural housing demand. I expect it to be completed and revised targets to published later in the Autumn.
The ESRI research presents 12 scenarios of housing demand. Each allows for alternative rates of increase in population growth, household size and stock obsolescence, key determinants of the quantum of housing required. Taking the average of the 12 ESRI scenarios, the research suggests some 42,000 new homes would be required over the next decade to meet new household formation alone. This means, having regard also to pent-up demand, an average of at least 50,000 to 60,000 new homes would be needed per annum over the period.
I believe such an increase, a further step-change in the significant uplift in delivery in recent years, would go a long way to meeting existing and future demand. To this end, discussions are ongoing with the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform as part of the Budget 2025 process, and I am confident the Exchequer allocation for my Department will reflect the step-change in social, affordable and overall housing delivery anticipated next year.
Public expenditure commitments to support delivery in subsequent years, while having regard to the Government's revised delivery targets, will be decided as part of the Budget process agreed with the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform in the respective years.
175. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the plans in place to ensure a proportionate number of houses are built in the regions in order to achieve the Government's National Planning Framework numbers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37086/24]
View answerA cornerstone policy of both the existing and the proposed revised National Planning Framework (NPF) is the achievement of a greater regional balance in population and employment growth. The goal is to see a roughly 50:50 distribution of growth between the Eastern and Midland region, and the respective Southern, and Northern and Western Regions, with 75% of the growth to take place outside of Dublin and its suburbs.
Ministerial Guidelines published under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 on ‘Housing Supply Target Methodology for Development Planning’ complement the objectives of the NPF and have introduced a standardised national approach, to be applied by each planning authority in projecting Housing Supply Targets in their Development Plan over the six-year period of each plan.
Specific housing targets for both urban and rural areas in each local authority functional area are currently set out in the respective Core Strategies of the 31 City and County Development Plans (as may be applicable) having regard to the hierarchy of settlements of different scales in each local authority area and informed by the targets contained in the 2018 NPF and reflected in the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies.
The recent results from Census 2022 shows a national population increase of c.390,000, and c.175,000 of this growth occurred in the two regional areas outside of the EMRA region, a proportional split of 55%/45%.
City-based population and employment growth is an important target for the NPF. NPO2(a) of the strategy sets “A target of half (50%) of future population and employment growth will be focused in the existing five cities and their suburbs” as a means of ensuring cities deliver as ‘accessible centres of scale’. The proportion of national population growth achieved in the period to 2022 in the five cities was 124,543 persons or 32% of overall growth.
In order to achieve the overall increase in city-based population growth, the NPF sets ambitious growth targets to enable the four cities of Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford to each grow by at least 50% to 2040. The draft revised NPF published on July 10th has undergone a 9-week public consultation process and it is envisaged that the final revised NPF will be published in October 2024, once it has been approved by the Oireachtas. As such, it should be noted that the National Planning Framework, as published in 2018, currently remains in effect.
As part of the broader body of work undertaken to inform the draft First Revision to the NPF, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) was engaged to provide updated population projections to 2040, based on demographic and econometric modelling and having regard to the results of Census 2022 and other factors with potential to influence fertility, mortality and migration trends. Under the baseline scenario, the research projects that the population of the State will increase to approximately 5.7 million people by 2030 and 6.1 million by 2040. This projection forms the central core trajectory of projected population growth and underpins the strategy set out in the draft First Revision to the NPF.
The current incremental, and ongoing, shift to more regionally-balanced growth supported by urban centres of scale will be important in ensuring effective regional development and in supporting competitiveness, economic prosperity and environmental sustainability.
176. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his views on making his Department's sewage infrastructure for unsewered villages pilot scheme a multi-annual scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37089/24]
View answerMy Department is providing significant investment in rural water and wastewater infrastructure to support the development of our rural towns and villages.
Uisce Éireann, through its Small Towns and Villages Growth Programme is providing water and waste water growth capacity for smaller settlements across the country drawing on expenditure provided for this purpose.
My Department is committed to continued non-Uisce Éireann investment in rural water infrastructure and under the National Development Plan €50m has been committed to a specific funding measure, for the provision of waste water collection and treatment needs for villages without access to public waste water services.
The approach was designed to support demonstration projects that would inform a longer-term strategic approach to the issue of waste water infrastructure in small villages not currently served by Uisce Éireann.
Earlier this year I approved funding for a number of demonstration projects and their progress will inform future approaches.
177. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing; Local Government and Heritage if he intends to improve the enhanced defective concrete blocks grant scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37090/24]
View answerI commenced the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 ('the 2022 Act') on 22 June 2023, which contains the enhanced grant scheme and adopted the related Regulations on 29 June 2023. I set up an Implementation Steering Group for the enhanced Defective Concrete Blocks (DCB) Grant scheme, comprising officials from the relevant local authorities, the Department, the Housing Agency, and the Homeowner's Liaison Officer. This Group meets every 4-6 weeks and keeps the operation of the DCB Scheme under continuous review. The most recent engagement took place on 12 September 2024.
My Department established a subgroup of the Implementation Group to address matters relating financial aspects of the grant scheme. Meetings were held in January and April this year with all key stakeholders present including representatives from Engineers Ireland, Insurance Ireland, the Department of Finance, local authorities and Homeowner Action Groups. The BPFI also attended these meetings and were active contributors to the discussions held.
Working with the subgroup, my Department made changes to the DCB Scheme’s administration to allow the earlier release of funds to homeowners so as to address the specific concerns that homeowners expressed at the sub-group meetings with regard to the facility to draw down an earlier grant payment in respect of professional fees so that they can be paid by homeowners. These changes were notified to local authorities on 24 May 2024 and are now operational.
The Department of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) has introduced bespoke arrangements to assist DCB homeowners to access the existing Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) energy efficiency retrofitting grant as seamlessly as possible. Changes introduced on 12 June 2024 mean that more households in the Defective Concrete Blocks Scheme have the opportunity to avail of SEAI grants.
A review mechanism is provided within the 2022 Act, which provides for an increase or decrease the overall grant scheme cap (currently €420,000) a year after the Act has been commenced by no more than 10%, in accordance with the conditions of Section 11 of the Act. My Department received updated cost reports from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) that have been considered by the Expert Group I established. The Expert Group has recommended increases under the 2022 Act and I will bring a Memo to Government shortly to increase the current scheme cap for remediation options, ancillary grants and the grant rates.
The 2022 Act provides that any increase in the scheme cap or grant rates will apply to eligible relevant owners that are yet to receive a determination in respect of remediation option and grant amount. Extending these increases to a wider group of relevant owners requires amending the 2022 Act and I will be bringing a proposal to Government to give effect to this policy intention.
The NSAI is Ireland’s official standards body and is an autonomous body under the aegis of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The NSAI are undertaking a review of I.S. 465 and following the publication of any revised standard published by the NSAI, the Act provides for a review of the operation of the Act within 3 months of the completion of the review of the standard.
179. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage regarding the purchase of designated medical property with South Dublin County Council, if he will confirm whether properties with minor adaptations (such as a downstairs bathroom and removable handrails) are considered specially adapted houses that cannot be purchased by disabled individuals or their families under current regulations. [37120/24]
View answer180. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage regarding the purchase of designated medical property with South Dublin County Council, if properties with minor adaptations are indeed ineligible for purchase; and the reason the disabled persons grant application form states that the cost of adaptation works will be added to the cost of the house in the event of a future purchase. [37121/24]
View answer181. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage regarding the purchase of designated medical property with South Dublin County Council, under which scheme a family is allowed to purchase a designated medical property, and what the timeframe is before they can apply to do so. [37122/24]
View answer182. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage regarding the purchase of designated medical property with South Dublin County Council, given that the South Dublin County Council website states that "The period of time tenants will be required to be in receipt of social housing support to be considered eligible under the scheme is 10 years", if this period includes time spent receiving social housing support in the form of the housing assistance payment, or whether it only begin from the start of a tenancy in the council property (i.e., in the case of a property (details supplied), January 2024). [37123/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 179, 180, 181 and 182 together.
The Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme provides for the purchase by eligible tenants of local authority houses which are available for sale under the scheme. All applications for the Scheme must satisfy the requirements outlined in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 and the Housing (Sale of Local Authority Houses) Regulations 2015, as amended.
Under the current terms of the Scheme, tenants must have been in receipt of social housing supports for a period of 10 years prior to becoming eligible. Social housing supports include HAP, RAS or 10 years tenancy of a local authority dwelling, or a combination of these supports. In the case of joint tenancies, only one tenant is required to have been in receipt of social housing supports for a period of 10 years.
The Housing (Sale of Local Authority Houses) Regulations 2015 specifically exclude certain categories of houses from sale, including houses that have been provided to facilitate the transition from institutional care to community-based living of persons with an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual impairment.
In addition, local authorities may, within the provisions of the regulations, exclude certain houses which the authority considers should not be sold for reasons such as proper stock or estate management. It is a matter for each individual local authority to administer the scheme in line with the governing legislation and in a manner appropriate to its housing requirements. As such, information regarding houses which the local authority has decided to exclude from sale in the interest of proper stock or estate management reasons is available directly from the local authority.
The detailed administration of the Disabled Persons Grant scheme including assessment, approval and prioritisation of applications is the responsibility of local authorities.
Section 63(3) of the Local Government Act 2001 provides that, subject to law, a local authority is independent in the performance of its functions. The operation of and any decisions made in respect of either Scheme are, therefore, entirely a matter for the local authority concerned and it would not be appropriate for me to comment on an individual case.
183. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if there is a grant available for a farmer hoping to sink a well where there is no public water network available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37125/24]
View answerI can confirm that, under my Departments’ Rural Water Programme, grant assistance is available to assist households dependent on private individual water supplies who are incurring capital expenditure.
Each local authority is responsible for the administration of the grants in their area. In each local authority there is a Rural Water Liaison Officer who deals with the day to day implementation of the grants and who can, in relation to a specific application, be contacted at the authorities’ Rural Water Section.
184. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the estimated first- and full-year costs of implementing measures under the EU Nature Restoration Law; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37149/24]
View answerThe EU Nature Restoration Regulation provides an opportunity for transformative change in relation to achieving nature restoration in Ireland and the EU as a whole. Healthy ecosystems provide food and
It is difficult to calculate an accurate cost of compliance with the Regulation due to a myriad of factors, including current available data, quantification of areas affected/to be restored, monitoring of data and impact of the overall restoration obligations on areas beyond the Natura network. The regulation encompasses a wide range of land uses including urban, agricultural and afforested landscapes, both in State and private ownership. It has policy, legislative and sectoral implications across many Government Departments.
An assessment of cost and benefits of compliance Regulation will form part of the development of the National Restoration Plan. An assessment of how allocations under existing programmes can be maximised to support achievement of the objectives will be undertaken and budgets additional to existing funding instruments will need to be considered.
New funding mechanisms will be examined, such as models that leverage private finance, and those that incentivise nature restoration actions to be delivered by non-governmental sectors.
