QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the number of engineer position staffing requests under each engineer grade from each local authority in each of the years 2014 to 2017 and to date in 2018; the number granted; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY


Since, 1 January 2014, my Department has received 933 engineering staffing sanction requests from local authorities, of which 819 have been approved. The status of these requests is set out in the table attached. The posts not approved include;

• 18 requests which are pending, in general awaiting supporting information prior to an informed decision being taken;
• 12 requests refused;
• 38 requests withdrawn by the sector;
• 46 requests marked as 'Closed under Circular E.L. 02-2016', which were closed by my Department following the introduction of agreed numbers under workforce planning (the circular granted delegated sanction to Chief Executives to fill vacancies as needed in the context of the agreed Workforce Plan, and Departmental sanction was no longer therefore required).
  

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the number of staffing requests received from the building control section of each local authority in each of the years 2014 to 2017 and to date in 2018; the number granted; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

My Department receives staffing sanction request applications for specified grades of posts in the local authority rather than by business location. Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authorities for which he or she is responsible.
Accordingly, the information is not available in my Department but may be available directly from individual local authorities.

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the position regarding the working group comprising officials from planning authorities and his Department which was established to review and revise the 2005 planning guidelines on sustainable rural housing; if the review has concluded; if he has engaged with the European Commission on proposed changes to the guidelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

Following engagement between the European Commission and my Department regarding the 2013 European Court of Justice ruling in the "Flemish Decree" case, a working group was established in May 2017 to review and, where necessary, recommend changes to the 2005 Planning Guidelines on Sustainable Rural Housing, issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended.  The objective is to ensure that rural housing policies and objectives contained in local authority development plans comply with the relevant provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.  

The working group comprised 3 senior officials from the Planning Division of my Department and 6 senior officials from the Planning Divisions of local authorities nominated by the Local Government Management Agency.  The Group met on three occasions: 18 May, 13 June and 28 June 2017.

Taking account of the working group's  analysis and recommended outcome, my Department has been engaging with the European Commission on the matter with a view to issuing to planning authorities, by the end of this year, revisions to the 2005 Rural Housing Guidelines that take account of the relevant ECJ judgment.  It may be possible to finalise the Guidelines earlier than that, subject to the completion of outstanding work.

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the status of the Eurostat classification of approved housing bodies as on balance sheet; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

In April, the Minister for Finance published the Draft Stability Programme Update (SPU) for 2018. This included an analysis of the financial impact of the Eurostat decision to reclassify the majority of Tier 3 Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) as part of the local government sector. This was an important first step in the Government's assessment as to the impact of the Eurostat decision. 

Following the SPU, further work has been on-going in order to fully assess the implications of the reclassification decision. My Department is continuing to engage with the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, with technical support from the Housing Finance Agency (HFA) and the Housing Agency (HA), in order to ensure that AHBs can continue to fulfil their full potential in the delivery of the targets set out in the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan.

My Department is also engaging with the AHB sector and constructive discussions have taken place with representative bodies from the sector on the issue. The sector itself has engaged its own research on the matter, and my Department is evaluating that research as part of its ongoing wider consideration on the issue.

The AHB representative bodies have committed to continue to undertake further research and analysis into this issue over the coming months. This will assess the options available to create the necessary conditions to allow this classification decision to be revisited in the future. An important part of this exercise will be to examine what measures could be taken to develop the AHB sector in such a way so that it could be reclassified as being off the Government’s balance sheet in the longer term.

As previously noted, the Government continues to see a central role for the voluntary housing sector in contributing to delivery of social housing under Rebuilding Ireland. It is committed to using all mechanisms and schemes, including through the AHB sector, to ensure that we maintain the momentum towards meeting the ambitious 50,000 social housing target under the Action Plan.

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the proposed location of the headquarters of the regeneration and development agency; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

Together with the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, I signed the Establishment Order for the Land Development Agency (LDA) on 13 September 2018. 

The Establishment Order is an initial and enabling measure to get the LDA up and running as quickly as possible, ahead of the provision of a more comprehensive primary legislative basis for the Agency and its intended scope of powers and operations.  As is common in Agency start-ups of this kind, the Land Development Agency is currently operating from temporary offices.  These are located at Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin.  A decision on the location of more permanent accommodation will be made in advance of enactment of the primary legislation next year.

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Housing; Planning and Local Government the rationale for the detail in drafting the building control (construction industry register Ireland) Bill 2017; if he will undertake to expedite the introduction of the Bill as a matter of urgency; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

The Government has committed to placing the Construction Industry Register Ireland, or CIRI, on a statutory footing.  CIRI was established on a voluntary basis in 2014 and over 800 building and contracting entities are currently included on the register.

At the end of May 2017, the Government approved the draft heads of a Bill to place the CIRI on a statutory footing and the Bill was referred to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government for pre-legislative scrutiny.  The Committee’s report was received on 14 December 2017 and its recommendations are being considered.  In parallel, the drafting of the Bill is being progressed and while I am not in a position at this stage to give a precise indication of the timeline for the Bill's publication, my Department is working with the Attorney General's Office with a view to achieving publication in Q1 2019. 

The main objective of the legislation is to develop and promote a culture of competence, good practice and compliance with Building Regulations within the builder community of the construction sector. The establishment of a robust, mandatory, statutory register of builders and specialist contractors is an essential consumer protection measure giving those who engage a registered builder the assurance that they are dealing with a competent and compliant operator.  In addition, it will complement the reforms, which have been made through the Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014 and contribute to the development of an enhanced culture of competence and compliance in the construction sector.