Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of water meters that have been installed by local authorities, his Department, and Irish Water over the past two years; and the cost of the works involved.

REPLY (Sept 17, 2014)
Minister Alan Kelly:
The Water Services Act 2013 provided for the establishment of Irish Water as an independent subsidiary within the Bord Gáis Éireann Group and assigned the necessary powers to allow Irish Water to undertake the water metering programme.   
  
The meter installation programme commenced in August 2013 and will be completed by mid-2016. There are now over 400,000 completed meter installations and Irish Water has confirmed that the cost for the supply and installation of meters is €539 million ex-VAT. 

Four regional main contractors covering eight meter regions were appointed by Irish Water following a public tendering process in 2013. My Department does not have information to provide a breakdown of installations at county, constituency, district or parish level. However, a breakdown of the installations by region is set out in the table below. 

In designing the technical specification for the metering programme, Irish Water has drawn both from international standards and from extensive local experience of the installation of both Grade B and Grade C meter box covers over the last 12 years. While it is a matter for Irish Water to comply with all national and European legislation in the discharge of its functions, the company has confirmed to my Department that it is satisfied that the selection and fitting of the boundary water meter boxes fully complies with international standards. Irish Water monitors the installations by its contractors and can require the installation of a Grade B meter box if it is deemed necessary, as has happened in the particular case highlighted. It is important to note that this was a matter agreed between Irish Water and the customer in question and there was no Court ruling on the matter. 
  
Irish Water has informed my Department that it is carrying out a specific study in one DMA (District Metering Area) in Collinswood, Dublin 9 to assess the impact of the meter installation on flow and pressure. Meters used by Irish Water comply with the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) standard, OIML R49-1, which permits a pressure drop of 0.63 bars at the maximum flow rate of 2,500 litres per hour. This is considered to be higher than would ever be expected in a household supply. At most of the typical range of flows, 85% of which are up to 1,000 litres per hour to Irish homes, the drop in pressure across a water meter is less than 0.1 bar and is insignificant against a normal minimum target pressure of 1.5 bar. Therefore, the meters being used have been shown to result in a pressure drop which is not significant in terms of customer pressure at normal flows and well within the international standard for such meters. 
  
Irish Water has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives.

Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of social housing units and the number of private housing units that have been constructed in Waterford City and County in each of the past five years.
 
REPLY (Sept 17, 2014) 
Minister Alan Kelly:
My Department publishes a wide range of housing statistics. Data on the number of private and social housing units constructed in Waterford City and County are available on my Department’s website at the following link:
Click “Qtrly house completions by sector and local authority 1994 to date” under the House Building heading.  

Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Finance the current status of the Living City Initiative announced in the last Budget; and the number of times the interdepartmental group dealing with the matter has met.
  
REPLY (Sept 17, 2014)
Minister Michael Noonan:
My officials met formally with representatives from the local authorities and other Government agencies on 31 January last. Since then we have had numerous fruitful contacts with the local authorities and their cooperation in this matter is much appreciated.

My officials have also been in contact with the EU Commission on the application for State Aid approval for the Initiative and this process is expected to be concluded shortly.

I would expect that I will be in a position to make an announcement in the near future.

Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Finance the number of applications that were successful under the CGT entrepreneurial relief scheme; and the cost to the Exchequer.
  
REPLY (Sept 17, 2014)
Minister Michael Noonan:
Section 45 of Finance (No 2) Act of 2013 provides for a capital gains tax relief for entrepreneurs who reinvest the proceeds from the disposal of assets made on or after 1 January 2010 in certain chargeable business assets. Commencement of the legislative provisions is subject to EU state-aid approval. Discussions with the EU Commission about State Aid clearance are ongoing. I hope that these will result in a positive outcome in the near future. Notwithstanding that the legislative provisions have yet to be commenced, the CGT relief will only apply, among other conditions, where new chargeable business assets acquired after 1 January 2014 are disposed of having been held for a minimum period of 3 years after that date.

Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Finance the number of applications that were successful under the start your own business exemption from income tax announced in the last budget; and the cost to the Exchequer.
  
REPLY (sept 17, 2014)
Minister Michael Noonan:
Section 6 of the Finance (No 2) Act 2013 introduced the Start Your Own Business initiative which provides an exemption from income tax for 2 years for individuals starting a new business where the individuals were previously long-term unemployed. The profits of such a business, up to a maximum of €40,000, are relieved from income tax in each year of the first two years of trading. This relief applies to new businesses commencing on or after 25 October 2013 and returns for the first year of trading will not, in general, be submitted until October 2015. Accordingly, there will be no information available to indicate the number of individuals who are availing of the relief until after that date.

Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the additional steps he intends taking to regularise the situation of undocumented Irish living in the United States; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY (Sept 17, 2014)
Minister Charlie Flanagan:                             
This has been, and will remain, a key priority for the Government in our bilateral relationship with the United States. Through our Embassy in Washington and our Consulates throughout the U.S., we are working closely with many other individuals and groups across Irish America and beyond, such as ILIR, the Chicago Celts for Immigration Reform and the AOH, towards achieving some relief for undocumented Irish migrants in the United States and improved channels for legal migration between Ireland and America.

Following the bipartisan U.S. Senate bill last year, and despite extensive combined efforts at Government, Embassy and Irish-American community levels, the U.S. House of Representatives, has not yet taken action in this regard. As a result, President Obama and his Administration have been looking at the scope for action on immigration via executive authority. While he had set a target of making decisions “by the end of the summer”, President Obama announced on September 6 that he would delay any such action until after the November U.S. elections.

I am conscious that many within the Irish-American community will be disappointed by this latest development. The extent and nature of any action that the U.S. Administration will be ready to take remains to be seen and the legal and political terrain involved is highly complex and there is clearly no guarantee as to the outcome that can be achieved via executive action. However, the Government will continue to work resolutely for some progress possible over the coming months from which currently undocumented Irish migrants in the U.S. and their families can benefit. 

I will visit Washington D.C. at the end of September and intend to pursue further discussions on the matter with the U.S. Administration during that visit. 

Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of rural Garda stations that have been shut down in the past five years and their locations.
  
REPLY (Sept 17, 2014)
Minister Frances Fitzgerald:
In 2012 the then Garda Commissioner, with the approval of the Minister, closed 39 Garda stations, many of which had not been opened for several years and most of which were closed for the most part of the day. In 2013, 100 Garda stations were closed. There are still 564 Garda stations in the State. The tables below set out all of the closed stations, both rural and urban.

July 8, 2014
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Finance the number of applications that have been received and approved to date under the home renovation incentive scheme announced in Budget 2014; and if he will provide a breakdown of the take-up by county.

Reply from Minister Michael Noonan: When I introduced the Home Renovation Incentive in the Budget I had two main aims: to boost activity in the legitimate construction sector; to give a tax credit to homeowners for home renovation and similar work on their main private residence.

The Incentive was specifically designed in a way to facilitate the compliant construction sector, particularly at the lower end of the business by encouraging homeowners to invest in repairs/renovations on their main home. The incentive to homeowners is by way of a tax credit on works qualifying for VAT at the rate of 13.5% where they engage tax compliant contractors to carry out the renovation works. The tax credit is granted over the two years following the year the work is carried out and paid for, and an online system to enable homeowners to claim the credit will be available in January 2015. 

The level of HRI activity is significant with the total number of works recorded on the Home Renovation Incentive System (HRI online) as at 6th July 2014 being 6,862 for a total estimated value of €114.9m carried out by 2,014 tax compliant contractors. 

A breakdown by county is attached (some counties have been merged because of the relatively small numbers of properties involved for confidentiality purposes).

It should  be noted that the estimated value of works can contain elements which will not qualify for the tax credit such as supplies at 23% VAT and works that exceed the upper limit of €30,000 (before VAT). 

The introduction of HRI has seen an increase in home renovation activity and is contributing to a gradual pick up in employment and self employment activity in the construction sector. Contractors who have been out of the system should avail of the opportunities that HRI presents by ensuring their VAT and RCT registrations are active and tax affairs are up to date 

I was very clear at the outset that the Incentive should support the legitimate trade and   improve the competitiveness of legitimate contractors against those operating in the shadow economy.  A key design feature of HRI is that it is based on an online contract and payment notification system that allows the contractor record the details of the work carried out and the payments made, as they are happening.  The system also allows the homeowner check that the details are recorded and once they are recorded on the system the homeowner can be assured that the contractor is a legitimate tax compliant contractor.  

The construction sector has gone through an unprecedented collapse.  Data from Revenue's online Relevant Contracts Tax (eRCT) system first indicated a pick up in the sector in the Spring of last year. HRI online is now showing a pick up in activity in the home renovation sector.  Both eRCT and HRI online will give a comprehensive overview of activity in the construction sector and will enable Revenue to develop additional compliance programmes to identify shadow economy activity within the construction sector.  In this regard this is an opportune time for contractors who are operating in the shadow economy to register for tax purposes and to regularise their tax affairs and avail of the opportunities that will continue to come on stream in the construction sector.

It is also opportune to remind Homeowners who get work done by contractors, 'off the books', that they pay VAT on all materials used in the work so in reality a 'cash job' is never really 'VAT free', that they face additional risks in terms of consumer protection and that they may be facilitating tax evasion.

July 8, 2014
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will respond to the issues raised in a consultants' report (details supplied) relating to current salmon conservation measures within the Waterford stock complex; the recommendation therein for a new and extended closed-season survey as suggested by the Waterford Estuary Fishermen’s Association; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Fergus O’Dowd: I can inform the Deputy that catch and release angling is being undertaken on the Suir in 2014 and the rod catch, combined with a rod exploitation rate and catch data over the previous four years will be used by the Standing Scientific Committee for Salmon (SSCS) to provide a salmon stock assessment for the Suir in 2014.

The Stillwaters Consultancy letter notes that higher proportions of multi sea winter salmon have an important effect on the Conservation Limiits (CL) required on each river and comments that it is vital to obtain information of the proportions of multi sea winter fish returning.

The SCSS reviewed the number of rivers designated at multi sea rivers (MSW) in 2012 and included the Barrow, Nore & Suir as MSW rivers. The size of rod caught salmon reported in the national tagging and logbook scheme was used to determine the percentage of the rod catch greater than 4kg (as representative of MSW fish). The proportion of MSW salmon used in the calculation of conservation limit was raised from 7.5% to 38% for the Suir in 2012. On the basis of a higher proportion of multi sea winter salmon, the conservation limit for the Suir decreased from 16,464 salmon in 2011 to 14,048 in 2012. The calculation of CL for individual rivers will not be examined again for a five year period.

The Stillwaters Consultancy letter states that a new survey in the closed season to bolster the catch figures of anglers and snap net fishermen from the Nore to give a picture of the proportions of salmon both 1SW and MSW destined for each river system is now vital.

As set out above, the proportions of 1SW and MSW salmon were revised for the Barrow, Nore and Suir in 2012 and will be used by the SSCS for a five year period. Therefore no new information of the proportions of 1SW:MSW is required. This revised split of 1SW:MSW salmon for these rivers undertaken in 2012 was based on the recorded salmon rod catch in each individual river over the full angling season over a five year period and would be more comprehensive than any estuary survey where the discrimination of fish from the Barrow, Nore and Suir would be difficult with a high degree of uncertainty.
 
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) have been in contact with University College Cork, the authors of the Waterford Genetic Stock Identification Project (2011), in order to clarify the situation with regard the determination of the river of origin of Atlantic salmon caught as part of an experimental fishery prosecuted in Waterford Harbour in 2010. They confirm, using their then standard panel of genetic markers for stock discrimination in Atlantic salmon (16 microsatellites) and an additional analysis using small number of randomly selected 210 SNP markers (SNPs then being in the early methodological stages of development and application), that it was not possible to categorically assign genetically fish captured in a mixed fisheries situation in Waterford Harbour to their potential rivers of origin, namely the Nore, Barrow and Suir.

IFI are also informed by UCC that there have been substantial technological advancements in salmon genetic stock identification in the period since the investigation was undertaken in 2010 and 2011.   As a result DNA SNP marker panels with up to 250K markers are available, such that it might now be possible to develop a panel of markers based on subset of these, which could be highly discriminatory and specific to the rivers entering Waterford Harbour. However IFI are also advised that the design and development of such a panel would require a substantial research effort and there is no absolute guarantee of success.

In conclusion, the recommendation for a new and extended closed-season survey as suggested by the Waterford Estuary Fishermen’s Association is not required with regard to assessment of salmon stocks on the Barrow, Nore or Suir as there is a stock assessment method (rod catch) already in place for all three rivers. Also proportions of 1SW and MSW salmon has been revised recently (2012) by the SSCS to determine salmon conservation limits for all three rivers. One of the objectives of the 2010 survey was to provide a qualitative assessment of salmon stock abundance on the Barrow as no assessment was available at that time. Since then the Barrow has been open for catch and release angling and a means of salmon stock assessment is therefore currently in place.

As set out above, the use of DNA SNP techniques is still at a developmental stage with no certainty of being able to discriminate salmon stocks from individual rivers in Waterford estuary. In fact, currently there is no requirement to discriminate individual stocks entering Waterford estuary as a stock assessment method is in place for all three rivers and the SSCS provide catch advice annually. One of the objectives of the 2010 survey was to determine the mixed stock nature of the estuarine catch but this is not a requirement in the current scientific assessment process.

June 24, 2014
Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Social Protection her views on the unreasonable delays in the payment of arrears of disability allowance payable to applicants who have been approved on appeal and have already waited approximately two years to have their claim approved; the steps she will take to improve this situation; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Reply from Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton TD: The Department aims to process and pay without delay all successful appeals returned by the Social Welfare Appeals Office (SWAO). There are, however, some temporary delays currently being experienced by some successful disability allowance (DA) appellants. Over the past year, the Department has been working to reduce the number of DA applications awaiting decision and the successful clearing of high level of claims has resulted in an equally high level of appeals which are been serviced as quickly as possible.

Additional staff resources have been assigned to this work. As most of these customers are already in payment on other schemes, arrears due (if any) will issue once overlaps with these other scheme payments have been calculated and resolved.