Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Members for their comments and questions and for this opportunity to respond to some of them. On the point raised about the presence of the various Ministers, the legislation requires that the Minister with responsibility for the relevant actions will be in the House to make a presentation. It does not detail whether that is a Minister or a Minister of State. While I understand the Senator's point, I am in charge of building regulations and that is why I am here. A lot of the work we do is around building regulations. I am also charged with implementing the planning guidelines across the county development plans. That is why I am here, as the planning regulations are the point at which my Department can have greater influence on this plan. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Murphy, would like to be here too but he cannot. He would also love to cover areas such as social housing and the national planning framework but the implementation of those is for me to do. The key thing is that a representative of the Department is here.

I was asked about the statements made by the different Ministers this week - and there will also be statements in the Dáil tomorrow night - in comparison with last year's 75-page document. There are two parts to the statements. There are oral statements and written statements and an email on this matter was sent to the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, last week. The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment will compile the written submissions and ours will be a 200-page document, which there would not be enough time to read into the record of the House today.There will be a written submission by the Department therein which will answer the questions that have been raised on areas of concern in the past week as well as other issues. It will contain relevant statistics and figures and far more detail than there is time to include in my oral statement. I have no problem facilitating another discussion on the issue once Senators have gone through that statement. It will all be on record but now is not the right time to go through it because there is a large amount of detail in that document. I hope that will address Senator Grace O'Sullivan's concerns, which I appreciate are genuinely held.

I mentioned that the 2017 annual transition statement provides key information on climate change mitigation and adaptation work across the largest emitting sectors and forms part of the accountability arrangements vis-à-visOireachtas Members in terms of Ireland’s progress in meeting our climate action objectives. Climate change is one of the biggest global challenges of the century. All Members agree that the effects of climate change can be seen in recent weather events in Ireland and other parts of the world. There is another storm brewing that is to due to hit Ireland this weekend, which is of concern. On average, there are 50 such storms every year and that has been the case for many years. The storm that has been forecast for this weekend is classified as category orange, which is not uncommon. Storm Ophelia was of a different magnitude and not a typical European storm. It was uncommon but there have been similar storms in Ireland. The number of storms in Ireland so far this year is in line with the norm. However, we recognise other effects of climate change such as flooding and fluvial rain and no one is denying them. The Government and the country are very focused on our efforts to tackle climate change and our contribution to that on a world stage. Along with actions by Departments, the Government contributes on the world stage to combating climate change and has a very strong voice in that regard on behalf of both Houses of the Oireachtas. It is important for that to be done and that the documents we produce play a leading role.

Against that background, strategies must be devised to reduce and manage climate change risks through a combination of mitigation and adaptation responses. That is why the 2017 annual transition statement, ATS, provides an overview of developments in regard to Ireland’s first statutory national mitigation plan and national adaptation framework. The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government is the lead Department in respect of a number of different measures proposed in the national mitigation plan. The measures for which my Department has responsibility predominantly relate to building regulations in regard to the built environment and include adaption of social housing, which was raised here tonight, and the national planning framework which sets out our commitments under the national mitigation plan. Under actions 10 and 65 in measure T11 we will ensure that climate considerations are fully addressed in the new national planning framework. That was discussed at an Oireachtas committee and I gave a commitment to Senator Grace O'Sullivan and Deputy Eamon Ryan that we will strengthen the wording in that respect if necessary because they raised a concern that it was not sufficiently strong or clear. That will be focussed upon and ensured in the final draft. That is why we are here.

Senators Coffey and O'Reilly asked about the implementation of those guidelines and what will happen after the national planning framework. It is the national document. There are three regional strategies and the county development plans which have to reflect what is set out in the national planning framework. My job is to delegate responsibility to implement that and ensure the guidelines are followed throughout the process, and that will be done. The regional strategies will be developed during 2018 and the county development plans will be rolled out from 2019 onwards. However, development plans that are in progress must to try to reflect what we are setting out. We will ensure that what is set out in the national planning framework system is driven throughout the planning system because we want to honour our commitments in that regard, and we will do so. I give Senators my strong commitment in that regard.

As regards wind energy guidelines, the process is taking far too long. The review began in 2013 and agreement on the draft guidelines was finally reached in July of this year, but because of the new process set down with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, the final process will take a little longer to complete. However, it will get the balance right and address the concerns of communities in regard to flicker, noise, the height of turbines and so on. Such concerns will be dealt with in the guidelines, which are quite good and will be acceptable to most reasonable people. There will still be some difficulties in particular cases that will have to be talked through. It is important that we get buy-in from communities in terms of their involvement and gain, which has been discussed and I think Senators have raised. I would like there to be far more community projects in respect of energy production.

The issue of offshore energy was raised. There has been significant investment in research into offshore wind production primarily, as well as other forms of offshore energy production. Great progress has been made in that regard. I am in charge of the marine environment for planning purposes and some interesting projects are coming through that will put us in a position as a country to be able to contribute far more to offshore wind development in the coming years. Much investment is required because our Atlantic coast is quite complicated, but we are making progress and I am proud to say that Irish companies and researchers are leading the charge in that regard. It is great to see that endeavour and it is hoped the Government will be able to back their work and do more in that regard in the future.

The guidelines for onshore energy should be finalised in 2018 and will bring greater clarity because the current guidelines are 11 or 12 years old. It is time to bring forward a clear direction for local policy decision-makers through the local planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála. That is a commitment under action 20 in the national mitigation plan on which we have given feedback.

As regards work on social housing stock and regulations in that regard, we are conscious of the cost of non-energy efficient social housing. If a person is in social housing that is not up to scratch in terms of energy usage, efficiency and effectiveness, it costs him or her more money and he or she may be in danger of suffering fuel poverty. We have heavily invested in that area and have retrofitted more than 58,000 houses. There is a commitment to continue that roll-out in phase 1 and phase 2 and to retrofit that housing stock. We will mainly focus our resources in the next year or two on the 18,000 to 20,000 least efficient houses and will be rolling out more funding in that regard. Approximately €110 million has been spent on the area and we are committed to completing that work as quickly as possible.

More than €150 million has been spent on voids or vacant properties that were brought back into use and have been brought to an acceptable level of energy efficiency. In excess of 8,400 such houses have been brought into use over the past two years and there are more to come in the coming months. It is necessary to carry out the energy efficiency works because although there is an urgency in terms of increasing the social housing stock, we are committed to top-class quality and design and ensuring that all regulations and standards are met because people have to be able to live in those homes and run them as cost-effectively as they can. This action also contributes to the national commitment on climate strategy.

As regards regulations and standards, the regulations for non-domestic dwellings have been signed into law in the past couple of weeks and will apply from January 2018. Regulations for dwellings will be enacted by 2020. Publicly owned buildings have to reach the nearly zero energy buildings, NZEB, standards by the end of 2018, and the OPW is leading the charge in that regard and is doing quite well. Strong commitments have been made and we are backing them up with funding. The consultation for the NZEB 2020 targets will take place in the first half of 2018. I would be delighted for this House to become involved in that discussion and I encourage Senators to do so. There will be consequent extra regulations and complications in building a better standard of house in terms of energy efficiency and so on, and it must be borne in mind that that will add to the cost of the house. That must be acknowledged and we will have to bring forward more affordable housing projects and try to deliver more such projects on State-owned and local authority lands as well as through the private sector. We have to allow for that in respect of standards but that does not mean that we will renege on what we want to achieve through the standards. Certain other issues were raised of which I have made a note and I will revert to Senators on them.

As regards rough sleepers, in extreme weather events far more rough sleepers engage with emergency services than would do so in normal weather conditions. That is why we provide extra emergency beds every winter. I acknowledge they are emergency beds and are not ideal nor a permanent solution. Some are permanent. Last year, a couple of hundred new emergency beds were added, while this year we have committed to an extra 200 emergency beds being made available before mid-December along with 80 temporary emergency beds which cater for those who might not seek a bed on a clement evening but would do so during severe weather conditions. During Storm Ophelia, I and our teams in Dublin and other urban areas went out and encouraged rough sleepers to engage with services and to come in and use the emergency beds. Even during such events, some rough sleepers refuse any assistance. Along with other services, we will have to try to work with such people in the coming years to encourage them to come in and engage with the services of various Departments and eventually avail of the Housing First option and the supports that exist in that regard. We want to do our best to provide services for the homeless, whether they are sleeping rough or in bed and breakfast accommodation or a hotel and who want to live in a more permanent house. It is an area to which much money has been allocated. However, I re-emphasise that although it is urgent that we provide housing solutions, we will not renege on the quality or design of those houses, which is important in the context of this debate.