Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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141. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if his Department is monitoring the progress being made by local authorities in implementing the recommendations on improving fire safety made by the report on the programme to review and enhance local authority provided Traveller accommodation published in September 2016; his views on the fact that has been made to date; and his views on the fact that no progress has been made in view of the continuing underspend by local authorities of central allocations for Traveller accommodation. [22373/17]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Following the tragic loss of life in Carrickmines, County Dublin on 10 October 2015, my Department’s National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management (NDFEM) was tasked with overseeing a Programme to Review and Enhance Fire Safety in Local Authority Provided Traveller Accommodation.

The objective of the review was to ensure that practical and appropriate fire safety measures, which contribute to preventing loss of life and serious injury in local authority Traveller accommodation, have been applied systematically across the country.

The overall Programme concluded with Local Authorities submitting reports to the NDFEM detailing the work that was undertaken as part of the review. This information was collated by the NDFEM resulting in the generation of the Report on the Programme to Review and Enhance Fire Safety in Local Authority Provided Traveller Accommodation, published on 21 September 2016. A copy of the report is available on my Department’s website at:

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This report describes fire safety work which was undertaken in Local Authority provided Traveller accommodation across the country up to 1 July 2016. In addition to the physical works, the report describes a parallel programme of community fire safety which has been undertaken incorporating training for key workers and engagement with community groups on fire safety awareness.

Recognising that what has been done is a first stage in a process which needs to be mainstreamed into on-going work programmes, the report made a number of recommendations to clarify recommended approaches and to embed the issue of fire safety in Traveller accommodation into future work programmes. One of the key recommendations in the report is that, in order to mainstream fire safety as an on-going item, it should be included as a standing item at all Local Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee meetings (LTACC). At the same time, it is recommended that oversight of the LTACCs’ role in relation to fire safety in Traveller accommodation be added to the brief of the National Traveller Accommodation Consultative Committee (NTACC); the NTACC will seek regular updates that LTACCs are meeting this requirement.

Information regarding the details of the fire safety appraisals and the remedial work undertaken as part of the process, as well as information regarding any further fire safety enhancements carried out since 1 July 2016 and the fire and safety training that has taken place in Traveller accommodation units or with Traveller organisations, can be obtained directly from the relevant local authorities. My Department is committed to providing funding for fire safety works carried out by the local authorities in adherence with the recommendations in the Report published in September 2016.

The capital allocation in respect of Traveller-specific accommodation for 2017 is €9 million. As part of the allocation process, my Department issued a Circular to Local Authorities requesting details of their proposed programme of works and specifically to include details of any fire safety works that will be undertaken in 2017, as a result of the Fire Safety Review conducted by local authorities. Priority in terms of allocations is being given to all these works and local authorities will be notified shortly of their allocations.

Generally, in terms of the non-drawdown of funding, this is due to a range of issues associated with the delivery of Traveller-specific accommodation projects. Local authorities have cited a number of reasons including Traveller families refusing offers of accommodation, families only willing to live in certain areas where housing availability may be an issue, difficulties in obtaining Traveller agreement locally, planning and legal problems, difficulties in obtaining site access and anti-social behaviour. These issues are closely monitored by my Department and the NTACC. Local authorities are requested to submit quarterly profiles of their expenditure under the Traveller Accommodation Programme and this expenditure will be closely monitored against the profiles during the year. Where expenditure does not meet the profiled amount, and where my Department is not informed of any reason for this non-drawdown of their allocation, funding will be reallocated to other schemes.