Results 11,781-11,800 of 14,706 for speaker:Phil Hogan

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rural Development Funding (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: I do not have that figure.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rural Development Funding (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: Yes, I will.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rural Development Funding (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: The entire programme value in 2013 is €370 million. The expenditure to date in October 2013 is €213 million. The balance to be paid is €157 million. The balance to be paid in 2013 is €30 million and the capital carry-over in 2014 will be €50 million. Therefore the allocation of €14 million in 2015 makes up for that. There is a gap in funding at...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Rural Development Funding (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: I did not say that at all. I said that these are matters that will be discussed in the context of what resources are available in the budgetary situation in 2015. The Deputy does not expect me to announce now what allocations I will have in 2015.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Local and Community Development Programme Staffing (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: There are 50 local development companies contracted on my Department’s behalf to deliver the local and community development programme, LCDP, 35 of which also deliver the Leader elements of the Rural Development Programme, RDP, 2007-2013. These companies also deliver a range of other programmes and interventions on behalf of other Departments and funders. The local development...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Local and Community Development Programme Staffing (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: There must be very little communication from the negotiators on behalf of the community sector to the people concerned.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Local and Community Development Programme Staffing (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: Departments are not shadow employers. A number of State-funded programmes are delivered at local level by the network of local development companies, which are independently limited companies that have their own boards of management, memoranda and articles of association. These companies have tendered to deliver certain programmes for a specific period. Similar to other funding...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Local and Community Development Programme Staffing (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: I share Deputy Collins's desire to ensure we have local development companies delivering local programmes. The alignment process which I have initiated with local government is to ensure some funding will be available. Given the national budgetary situation, there is no guarantee of any funding in future. I expect, especially in the Dublin area where there will be a high retention rate of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Pyrite Issues (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: It was the intention of Government to provide for the imposition of levies on the quarrying and insurance sectors as a means of funding a pyrite remediation scheme . However, during the preparation of the required legislation, legal difficulties arose at which point it became clear that it would not be possible to proceed on this basis. Following receipt of the report of the independent...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Pyrite Issues (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: I share Deputy Murphy's sentiment that we should have been able to get some contribution from the construction industry, the quarrying sector and the insurance sector. However, when we went through the process of setting up the remediation scheme, the legal opinion from the Attorney General stated explicitly that providing for the levies led to a substantial risk of a successful challenge by...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Pyrite Issues (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: We are keeping all options open on potential legal challenges based on case law before the courts at the moment. The Supreme Court will hear a number of significant cases, hopefully in the near future, which will give us the necessary case law to go on. If there is a legal opening for the State to extract some moneys from the quarrying or insurance sectors, we would certainly be glad to do...

Other Questions: Local Authority Housing Provision (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: We do not want to do anything like that.

Other Questions: Local and Community Development Programme Planning (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: The vision and focus underpinning the enhanced alignment of local government and local development is to achieve a more joined-up approach to service delivery at local level. This will be supported by new local governance arrangements that will seek to enhance involvement by citizens and communities in the implementation and targeting of services. The new measures will see the introduction...

Other Questions: Local and Community Development Programme Planning (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: I regret that Deputy Browne has not been fully informed by the staff in Wexford. There is an ongoing alignment process in which three chief executives-----

Other Questions: Local and Community Development Programme Planning (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: There is something. They met again yesterday. It was the seventh meeting they have had this year. Deputy Browne is not fully informed. The three chief executives of the development network that are representing the staff to whom Deputy Browne referred should be in a position to tell those staff what is going on. These are private companies. This is the structure the Fianna Fáil-led...

Other Questions: Local and Community Development Programme Planning (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: The Department funds the companies to carry out and service programmes on behalf of the Department, but the companies employing the staff are private companies, like Wexford Local Development.

Other Questions: Local and Community Development Programme Planning (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: No one has said these staff will be employees of local authorities. I am unsure from where Deputy Browne got that information. These are private companies employing private staff. They must make their own provisions on the basis of the contracts they have signed over a five year period, and that is what they are doing. Negotiations are ongoing. A meeting took place yesterday. As soon as...

Other Questions: Housing Finance Agency Funding (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: That was €30 million more than Fianna Fáil allocated.

Other Questions: Water and Sewerage Schemes Funding (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: Funding is currently provided under my Department’s rural water programme towards group water schemes, group sewerage schemes, small public water and wastewater scheme works and some miscellaneous grants. The allocation for the programme in 2013 was €39.6 million. The allocation for the programme for 2014 is €27.7 million. The reduced provision in 2014 reflects the...

Other Questions: Water and Sewerage Schemes Funding (23 Oct 2013)

Phil Hogan: As I stated in my reply, there is effectively no change in the funding arrangement for 2014. There will be an allocation of €27.7 million for local authorities under the developed scheme in terms of the rural water programme. That will continue with local authorities in terms of block grants for the purposes of group scheme, water and sewerage and some small public water and...