Written Answers Nos. 469-488
469. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he is satisfied regarding the submitted observation on a foreshore lease planning application (details supplied) on Galway Bay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33328/17]
View answer471. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he is satisfied regarding the submitted observation on a foreshore lease planning application (details supplied) on Galway Bay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33330/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 469 and 471 together.
My Department does not have any input into the content or views contained within submissions provided by the prescribed bodies as part of the foreshore consultation process and as such is not privy as to how such content was arrived at within the internal structures of these bodies.
Any question related to the content of the responses received from the prescribed bodies would therefore be a matter for the prescribed bodies themselves.
470. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the research and investigations undertaken which led to the observation submitted by Met Éireann in its role as a named external consultee, advising him as the consenting authority, on a foreshore lease planning application (details supplied) on Galway Bay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33329/17]
View answerMet Éireann's observation network is operated according to World Meteorological Organisation guidelines which, inter alia, recommend minimum distances between developments and observing sites. Applying these criteria, there are no observing sites which might be affected by the proposed development and this is reflected in Met Éireann's response on the foreshore application concerned.
472. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the position regarding the development of sectorial response plans to Brexit; the publication date of these plans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33338/17]
View answerFollowing on from publication of the document setting out the Government's approach to the Brexit negotiations, work is underway across Departments to prepare adaptive Sectorial Brexit Response Plans to mitigate emerging sectorial challenges. These plans will build on ongoing cross-Government research, analysis and consultations with stakeholders and will encompass the following themes:
Sustainable fiscal policies to ensure capacity to absorb and respond to economic shocks, not least from Brexit;
Policies to make Irish enterprise more diverse and resilient, to diversify trade and investment patterns, and to strengthen competitiveness;
Prioritising policy measures and dedicating resources to protect jobs and businesses in the sectors and regions most affected by Brexit;
Realising economic opportunities arising from Brexit, and helping businesses adjust to any new logistical or trade barriers arising;
Making a strong case at EU level that Ireland will require support that recognises where Brexit represents a serious disturbance to the Irish economy.
All of this work is ongoing and must also respond to the emerging developments in the Brexit negotiations. There is no decision as yet on publication dates.
Brexit is a Government-wide issue and my Department has established structures to manage its input to the cross-Government work underway. While no immediate large scale issues have been identified within the remit of my Department at this point in time, we are inputting into discussions and deliberations taking place centrally.
473. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if an exception can be made for a person whose only source of income is social welfare to purchase their house under the tenant incremental purchase scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33351/17]
View answer487. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his plans to review the local authority tenant purchase scheme in view of the difficulties tenants are having with income threshold and discount; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33557/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 473 and 487 together.
The Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme came into operation on 1 January 2016. The Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme. To be eligible, tenants must meet certain criteria, including having a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum and having been in receipt of social housing support for at least 1 year.
The minimum reckonable income for eligibility under the Scheme is determined by the relevant housing authority in accordance with the detailed provisions of the Ministerial Direction issued under Sections 24(3) and (4) of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014. In the determination of the minimum reckonable income, housing authorities can include income from a number of different sources and classes, such as from employment, private pensions, maintenance payments and certain social welfare payments, including pensions, where the social welfare payment is secondary to employment income.
In order to ensure the sustainability of the scheme, it is essential that an applicant’s income is of a long-term and sustainable nature. This is necessary to ensure that the tenant purchasing the house is in a financial position, as the owner, to maintain and insure the property for the duration of the charged period, in compliance with the conditions of the order transferring the ownership of, and responsibility for, the house from the local authority to the tenant.
In line with the commitment given in the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, a review of the first 12 months of the Tenant Purchase Scheme’s operation has been undertaken. The review has incorporated analysis of comprehensive data received from local authorities regarding the operation of the scheme during 2016 and a wide-ranging public consultation process which saw submissions received from individuals, elected representatives and organisations.
The review is now complete and a full report setting out findings and recommendations has been prepared. Following consultation with relevant Departments on implementation arrangements, I expect that definitive proposals will be submitted to me very shortly.
474. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the position regarding a foreshore lease application (details supplied) in respect of a Marine Institute renewable energy testing site off An Spidéal in Galway Bay; when a final decision will be made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33353/17]
View answerThe compilation of the Marine Licence Vetting Committee (MLVC) Report which is a key element of the foreshore decision-making process was completed on 6 July 2017. I expect the application in question to be submitted for a decision in the coming weeks.
475. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if a person who is on the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, can remain on the local authority housing waiting list or transfer list; if their years on the RAS can be recognised in view of the fact that they have no long-term security of tenure while on the RAS scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33360/17]
View answerThe Housing Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2009, gives legislative recognition to rental accommodation availability agreements which underpin the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) as a form of social housing support. Consequently, since 1 April 2011, RAS tenants are now considered to be in receipt of social housing support and should not generally remain on housing waiting lists for new applicants for social housing.
Recognising that tenants housed through RAS prior to this change might have had reasonable expectations in regard to retaining access to traditional local authority rented accommodation, guidance issued from the Housing Agency in 2011 recommended that there should be a special transfer pathway for pre-2011 RAS tenants to other forms of social housing support. The arrangement effectively allowed these households to be designated as a ‘transfer’ applicant and to maintain their position for allocation as they had on the main waiting list.
All tenants allocated RAS accommodation post 1st April 2011 (and thus under the provisions of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009) were informed at the time of offer and allocation, that because RAS is now a social housing support, their housing need is met and that they will no longer remain on the main social housing waiting list.
However, it is recommended that allocation schemes also provide a ‘transfer pathway’ for new RAS tenants whereby households in RAS have access to the transfer list in the same way as tenants in local authority accommodation.
Where a vacant property arises, it is a matter for individual housing authorities, in accordance with their allocation schemes, to determine whether the allocation is made to a household on the main waiting list, or to a transfer applicant, such as a household from RAS, and the method of such allocation. It is open to housing authorities to specify in their allocation schemes the proportion of allocations which will be reserved for transfers, and within this, how many may be reserved for households seeking transfers to other forms of social housing support.
476. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his plans to extend the homeless housing assistance payment scheme outside County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33459/17]
View answerA specific and targeted service for homeless households, who can benefit from the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme has been available across the four housing authorities in the Dublin Region since February 2015, and is being implemented by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE). The focus is on transitioning qualified households from emergency accommodation into private rented tenancies. However, support is also provided to prevent households from entering emergency accommodation and homeless services. In addition, a Homeless Placefinder Service is also operating in Cork City since May 2017.
While eligible households may source accommodation for themselves, the dedicated placement team, the Homeless Placefinder Service, engages directly with property owners and supports qualified households to find suitable tenancies, and to ensure that any additional supports that may be needed are put in place. Homeless-specific HAP in Dublin encompasses additional flexibility to exceed the specific rent limit by up to 50%; in Cork this flexibility is up to 20% above the maximum rent limit.
The Service has relationships with local estate agents and property owners and can identify properties quickly. In addition, the Placefinder Service can support homeless households to secure a tenancy by providing up-front payments for deposits and rent. The cost of these deposits is recouped by the Department of Social Protection in respect of eligible households, and the HAP Shared Service Centre (SSC) facilitates the payment of HAP rent payments to landlords, on behalf of local authorities, as is the case ordinarily in the operation of the HAP scheme.
There are currently more than 1,600 formerly homeless households whose needs are being supported by the homeless specific HAP supports in the Dublin region, with an average of 32 additional Dublin households a week in 2017 being supported by homeless HAP.
There are no plans to expand the operation of the Homeless Placefinder Service outside of the Dublin Region and Cork City. I am satisfied that the HAP scheme is generally working well, despite the challenging rental market, but I will keep its operation under on-going review.
477. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his views on developing an off balance sheet special purpose vehicle to allow an organisation (details supplied) and similar bodies to invest substantial funds in social housing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33460/17]
View answerThe Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness emphasises the need to look at new ways of funding social housing delivery, in particular the need to provide structural, funding and policy supports to increase delivery of social housing by Approved Housing Bodies.
In that context, it states that support will be provided to an Irish Council for Social Housing/sector-led new special purpose vehicle, involving investors which could potentially include the organisation referred to.
Funding for the Irish Council for Social Housing totalling some €49,000 to support this initiative was announced on 15 May 2017. The funding is being made available to the Council to establish a sector-led financial vehicle to allow AHBs to expand and facilitate the delivery of additional housing units. This funding was approved under the AHB Innovation Fund and was part of a total amount of €104,043 that was allocated across a number of AHBs. The Innovation Fund was established, in line with the commitment made in Rebuilding Ireland, to provide AHBs with the means to test innovative ideas on new funding structures and to build capacity.
478. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the blockages and issues that are affecting the deadlines as set out in Rebuilding Ireland for the rapid build housing scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33461/17]
View answerI am not aware of any specific blockages and issues that are affecting the rapid build housing schemes. There have been significant discussions with local authorities to ramp-up rapid build delivery, which local authorities have been responding to positively and are working hard to ensure that each project is completed and occupied by tenants at the earliest possible date.
While procurement issues had previously presented challenges for local authorities in terms of advancing rapid build housing schemes, the establishment of a framework of rapid build contractors by the Office of Government Procurement earlier this year, has meant that local authorities across the country can now run quicker procurement competitions and advance rapid build projects to site more efficiently and effectively. Indeed, my Department recently ran a workshop for all local authorities and approved housing bodies (AHBs) on rapid build issues in order to provide guidance on how to use the new framework and so as to support local authorities and AHBs to continue to roll out the rapid build programme.
Over 500 rapid build homes are now advancing through the planning design, procurement and construction stages, and work is underway to ensure that a further 500 units are advanced in the coming months, bringing the number of units in the programme to 1,000 by end year. An additional 500 units are targeted for delivery in 2018.
479. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the measures being taken to increase the supply of dedicated student accommodation to free up units in the general rental market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33462/17]
View answerA number of measures, many of which come under Pillar 4 of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan For Housing and Homelessness, are being progressed to support greater provision of student accommodation, and thereby also increasing the availability of dwellings within the general rental market, particularly in our cities and large towns.
Based on construction activity figures compiled by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) in April 2017, a total of 1,067 additional bed spaces of purpose-built student accommodation have been completed since the publication of Rebuilding Ireland in July 2016. Furthermore, over 9,800 additional student accommodation bed spaces are expected to be developed by both Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) and private developments nationally by 2019, based on projects currently under construction (4,300 bed spaces) and projects where planning permission has been applied for (3,500 bed spaces) or is already granted (c.2,000 bed spaces). A process for monitoring of delivery of these proposed developments has also been put in place.
To assist with access to finance, the Planning and Development (Housing) and Residential Tenancies Act 2016 includes provisions enabling the HEIs to access finance from the Housing Finance Agency specifically for student accommodation projects.
In addition, student accommodation complexes of 200 or more bed spaces will benefit from the new fast-track application process directly to An Bord Pleanála under the 2016 Act. This will have major potential to cut processing time and enhance certainty in the provision of new accommodation projects.
In order to maximise the potential for student accommodation provision on suitable sites as part of mixed developments, an inventory of publicly owned lands has been assembled by my Department. The information, including the mapping of the sites identified, was published in April 2017 and is available via the Rebuilding Ireland website at the following link:
http://rebuildingireland.ie/news/rebuilding-ireland-land-map-2/ .
The combination of these measures will allow for the freeing up of units in the general rental market as students move towards purpose-built student accommodation units, giving other households in the rental sector a better chance to avail of rental accommodation.
It should be noted also that, under Rebuilding Ireland, the Department of Education and Skills committed to the preparation of a Student Accommodation Strategy and I understand that the work on this is now at an advanced stage.
480. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government further to his reiteration of the previous Minister's position (details supplied), the way in which his Department has communicated this position to the local planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála to allow them to continue to make timely determinations on planning applications for proposed solar PV developments using the planning policy and guidance that is in force; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33463/17]
View answerAs stated previously, and as is the case with the large majority of development types, there are no specific planning guidelines in place in respect of solar farms. Proposals for individual solar farm developments are subject to the statutory requirements of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, in the same manner as other proposed developments. Planning applications are made to the relevant local planning authority with a right of appeal to An Bord Pleanála.
In making decisions on planning applications, planning authorities and the Board must consider the proper planning and sustainable development of the area, having regard to the provisions of the local development plan, any submissions or observations received and relevant Ministerial or Government policies, including any relevant guidelines issued by my Department. Planning authorities must then make their own decisions based on the specific merits or otherwise of individual planning applications.
Therefore, it is inherent that the planning code facilitates the assessment of individual planning applications for solar farm developments, even in the absence of specific planning guidelines, and the necessity of advising planning authorities and the Board accordingly does not arise.
However, the issue of guidelines for solar farm developments will be kept under review, in consultation with my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, who has lead responsibility on renewable energy policy. In the event that is decided at a later stage that such guidelines may be required, my Department would consult further with planning authorities and the Board in that regard.
481. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the steps he is taking to maximise the use of State-owned lands to deliver affordable rental properties in areas of high demand as part of his rental sector strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33464/17]
View answerThe Government recognises the housing affordability pressures faced by households, particularly in certain parts of the country. It is for this reason that the overarching objective of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness is to increase the supply of new homes to 25,000 units per annum. In particular, the aim is to increase the supply of high quality social and affordable homes, to buy or rent, as quickly as possible, in areas where demand is greatest.
As set out in the Strategy for the Rental Sector, published in December 2016, the commitment to develop an affordable rental model, originally contained in Rebuilding Ireland, is now being progressed by local authorities in Rent Pressure Zones, through leveraging the value of their land to deliver a more affordable rental offering.
In this regard, Dublin City Council and the Housing Agency, in partnership with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, have developed detailed proposals for specific sites they control in Dublin. My Department is currently working through those proposals with the project sponsors.
On 27 April, details of some 1,700 hectares of land in local authority and Housing Agency ownership were published on the Rebuilding Ireland Land Map, with the potential to deliver some 42,500 homes nationally. All local authorities have now been requested to prepare Strategic Development and Management Plans for their lands by end September 2017.
The final model to develop each site, including an affordable rental element where appropriate, will be informed by the outcome of the consideration of the initial pathfinder sites in Dublin City and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown. In parallel, as part of the targeted review of Rebuilding Ireland initiated recently, my Department is examining the broader issue of housing affordability. Again, the outcome of the consideration of the specific proposals on the pathfinder sites will be factored into that review process.
482. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he or his Department considered a town centre renewal initiative as part of the strategy for the rental sector in order to fast track the return of vacant stock into use in our town and village centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33465/17]
View answerThe Strategy for the Rental Sector did not specifically consider a town centre renewal initiative. However, the Programme for a Partnership Government, published in May 2016, set out the ambitious priority attached to urban regeneration by the Government, incorporating a series of specific actions aimed at facilitating the regeneration of our urban centres.
The Government’s Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, published in July 2016, further reinforces the Government’s commitment to the area of urban regeneration. A number of measures were included in Rebuilding Ireland, particularly under Pillar 5, aimed at bringing vacant housing stock into re-use and have already been launched, including the Repair and Leasing Scheme and the Buy and Renew Scheme.
The Repair and Leasing Scheme is targeted at owners of vacant properties who cannot afford or access the funding needed to bring their properties up to the required standard for rental property. Subject to the suitability of the property for social housing, and the agreement of the property owner, the cost of the necessary repairs up to a maximum of €40,000 will be met up-front by the local authority or an approved housing body (AHB). In recognition of both the critical demand for units and the potential the RLS has to offer, an additional €26m was assigned to fund the scheme in 2017, which brings the total amount available this year to €32m. This additional investment in 2017 means that delivery under the scheme can be accelerated and up to 800 vacant properties can be brought back into use as new homes for families on local authority waiting lists this year.
The Buy and Renew Scheme supports local authorities and AHBs to purchase and renew vacant dwellings that require remediation, and make them available for social housing use in areas of housing need. The focus under this scheme is on older stock, and in particular derelict properties which, when complete, will improve streetscapes in towns and other urban areas as well as providing much needed accommodation. Up to €25 million is available for the ‘Buy and Renew’ Scheme in 2017 and depending on take-up, could increase up to €50 million in 2018.
In addition, a €70m rolling fund has been made available to the Housing Agency to enable it to purchase vacant properties from the portfolios of financial institutions and investors for social housing use.
To drive forward these and other considerations, a Ministerial-led Working Group was established to bring forward proposals for new urban regeneration measures. It is intended that the new measures would complement the existing regeneration programme under my Department’s Social Housing Capital Programme, as well as other social regeneration initiatives already under way. The Working Group is considering a number of town centre renewal initiatives, and is assessing the capacity of existing or new funding streams before finalising its recommendations.
To further assist in the area of urban regeneration, my colleague, the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, launched the Town and Village Renewal Scheme in August 2016, with an initial allocation of €10 million in funding. In this regard, a sum of €380,000 was made available to each of the 31 local authorities under the initial phase of the scheme, and a full list of towns benefitting under the scheme is available on that Department's website, at the following link:
http://www.ahrrga.gov.ie/more-than-170-towns-and-villages-benefit-from-funding-under-e10m-town-and-village-renewal-scheme-minister-Humphreys/ .
Increased funding of €12 million has been provided in 2017 to enhance this scheme, with a view to increasing the attractiveness and sustainability of our towns and villages as places in which to live and work.
Finally, the Deputy may be aware of the Retail Consultation Forum, chaired by my colleague the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, which launched its new “Framework for Town Centre Renewal” on 25 April 2017, incorporating an Action Plan to support Town Centre Renewal.
483. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the tax and fiscal incentives to encourage additional supply which have been considered as part of his rental sector strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33466/17]
View answerThe Strategy for the Rental Sector, published by my Department in December 2016, committed to the establishment of a working group in early 2017 to examine and report on the tax treatment of landlords (or rental accommodation providers), and to put forward options, where appropriate, for amendments to such treatment. This working group was set up in January 2017, is chaired by the Department of Finance and its membership consists of officials from the Tax and Economics Divisions of the Department of Finance; the Revenue Commissioners; the Housing Division of my Department; and the Residential Tenancies Board.
A public consultation was conducted in March/April 2017 and the consultation paper asked ten targeted questions which covered subjects such as mortgage interest relief, capital repayment relief, rental accommodation as a pension investment, the deductibility of various expenses, Capital Gains Tax, long-term tenancies, accidental landlords, the Rent-a-Room Scheme and vacant properties. The consultation received almost 70 written submissions from a wide range of interested parties, including individual landlords, representative bodies and charitable organisations.
It is expected that the report of the Working Group will be presented to the Minister for Finance by the end of this month, to allow for consideration as part of the deliberations for Budget 2018.
484. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the progress which has been made in the setting up of the expert group in line with the commitment in action No. 12 of the strategy for the rental sector that his Department will lead an expert group to develop a cost rental model for the Irish rental sector; when he expects it to be established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33467/17]
View answerThe Strategy for the Rental Sector, published in December 2016, noted that the Programme for a Partnership Government contains a commitment to develop a "cost rental" option, taking account of work already completed in this area, including by the National Economic and Social Council and others.
In line with this commitment, Action 12 of the Strategy commits my Department to lead an expert group to develop a cost rental model for the Irish rental sector. This Group will address issues such as funding mechanisms, the need to grow the necessary institutional capacity, particularly within the AHB and not-for-profit sector (whether through mergers, new entrants or strategic partnerships), rent levels, the households to be targeted and the appropriate regulation mechanisms.
The Expert Group will assess the benefits that a larger and more developed not-for-profit segment would bring to the rental sector and the housing system, by increasing supply of rental accommodation for middle-income households and ensuring new capacity is developed and attracted into Ireland. The Expert Group will also consider various proposals, including the proposal to establish a semi-State company to progress the cost rental model, in the course of its work.
It is my intention to establish this Expert Group in the coming weeks and the development of a proposal regarding its membership and terms of reference is currently being prepared in my Department. As committed in the Rental Strategy, it is envisaged that the Expert Group will report initially before the end of the year.
485. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government when he expects a completed document will be published in view of the fact that he has seen a first draft of the new national vacant housing re-use strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33468/17]
View answerPillar 5 of the Government's Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness is specifically focused on Utilising Existing Housing Stock, with a key objective of ensuring that the existing vacant housing stock throughout the country and across all forms of tenure, in both the public and private sectors, is used to the optimum degree possible. In this regard, Action 5.1 of Rebuilding Ireland commits to the development of a National Vacant Housing Re-Use Strategy, informed by Census 2016 data.
To this end, the Housing Agency, established a working group comprising senior representatives from my Department, local authorities and from the Housing Agency itself to inform the Strategy. My Department has received the output from the work of this Group and is presently engaging with key Departments and Agencies to consider the analysis and agree on the recommended actions, prior to publication.
I would like to see as much ambition as possible in bringing as many viable vacant properties back into use at an early stage. I intend, as part of the review of Rebuilding Ireland, to explore what further actions can be taken and what new ideas we can bring to bear, in close liaison with Ministerial colleagues. If budgetary measures are needed to reinforce the ambition, this may delay the publication of the Strategy. But this will not delay the commencement of important work at local level in gathering more accurate and up-to-date information on where vacant properties are and who owns them, so that we can facilitate the re-use of many vacant properties, particularly in our cities and towns. I will be discussing this with local authority Chief Executives when I meet them next week.
Ahead of finalisation of the Strategy, it is important to note that my Department has already introduced a number of significant measures under Pillar 5 of Rebuilding Ireland to incentivise the increased use of vacant housing stock to help meet the needs of those in receipt of social housing assistance. These initiatives include the Repair and Leasing Scheme, the Buy and Renew Scheme, and the Housing Agency acquisitions fund.
My Department will continue to engage actively with local authorities, working together with AHBs, to maximise delivery from these schemes, particularly in relation to the Repair & Leasing Scheme referred to by the Deputy, and to progress the wider range of actions to be finalised as part of the broader Vacant House Re-use Strategy.
486. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the position regarding the work of his Department in extending voting rights to persons of 16 and 17 years of age further to his commitment given in Seanad Éireann during the debate on the Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2016 on 24 March 2017 that he would engage in further deliberation and discussion with interested parties and organisations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33509/17]
View answerThe Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2016 provides for amendments to sections 9 and 10 of the Electoral Act 1992 in order to reduce, to sixteen years, the age at which a person would be entitled to register to vote at local and European elections.
The issues that arise in considering a reduction in the voting age more generally, and not just for local and European elections, are being examined in my Department. Matters for consideration include the potential concerns that arise in having the age of majority set at 18 years and the voting age set at 16.
488. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government further to the publication of the draft guidelines on wind energy, the process which will bring these guidelines into law; if there will be a public consultation process in place; and the way in which it will affect various counties that have adopted policies in their own county development plans which is contrary to these draft proposals. [29588/17]
View answerMy predecessor as Minister, in conjunction with my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, recently announced a "preferred draft approach" to the review of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines. A copy of the announcement is available on my Department’s website at the following link:http://www.housing.gov.ie/planning/guidelines/wind-energy/coveney-and-naughten-announce-key-development-review-wind-energy-development-guidelines.
The “preferred draft approach” has been developed to address a number of key aspects of the targeted review which include: Sound / Noise, Visual Amenity Setback Distances, Shadow Flicker, Community Obligation, Community Dividend and Grid Connections.
As part of the overall review, a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) will be undertaken on the "proposed draft approach" to the revised Guidelines before they come into effect. This is in accordance with the requirements of EU Directive 2001/24/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment, the SEA Directive. SEA is a process by which environmental considerations are required to be fully integrated into the preparation of plans and programmes which act as frameworks for development consent, prior to their final adoption, with public consultation as part of that process.
It is envisaged that the SEA process will take approximately 9 months. In light of the SEA requirements, it is expected that the Guidelines will be finalised and come into effect in Q1 2018. In the meantime, the current Guidelines remain in force.
When finalised, the revised Guidelines will be issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. Planning authorities, and, where applicable, An Bord Pleanála must have regard to guidelines issued under section 28 in the performance of their functions generally under the Planning Acts. In addition, following an amendment to the Planning Acts in 2015, section 28 guidelines may also contain "specific planning policy requirements" that are required to be applied by planning authorities and the Board in the performance of their functions.
Therefore, it is open to me generally, as Minister, to issue guidelines which are advisory in nature and which may also contain mandatory requirements. As such, local authorities could be required to review and amend policies in their county development plans which are contrary to specified requirements in such statutory guidelines.
However, in the context of the review of the 2006 Guidelines, and without prejudicing the SEA process referred to above, it should be noted that any such proposals will be detailed in draft Guidelines which will be published later this year for public consultation, as part of the SEA process, prior to their finalisation and adoption.
