January 21 2009

Dáil Debates

• Order of Business: Capacity Legislation

Parliamentary Questions

• Agencies operating under Dept. of Finance
• EU directive which allows public tenders to be exempt from the normal process when the majority of employees have disabilities
• Reports and Task Forces set up Minister for Health
• Bord Snip recommendation on transferring disability functions to Office of Disability Minister
• Number of disabled parking discs allocated in the past five years
• Funding allocated to Rural Transport Programme in 2010
• Number of applications for disabled person’s grants with local authorities that are held up awaiting the availability of funding

DÁIL DEBATES

• Order of Business: Capacity Legislation

Deputy David Stanton (FG): First, will we see the mental capacity Bill in this session? Will it be published in this session? Second, when is it proposed to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities? Third, when is it planned to introduce legislation to provide for the withdrawal of the directive that English be taught in all-Irish schools, as announced by the Minister for Education and Science recently?

The Tánaiste: The mental capacity Bill will be introduced in this session. I will have to revert to the Deputy on the secondary legislation. I am not sure if legislation is needed to provide for the withdrawal of a regulation that was set out in a circular. I will send an information note to the Deputy.

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS

• Agencies operating under Dept. of Finance

Deputy John McGuinness (FF): asked the Minister for Finance the number of bodies and agencies operated under the remit of his Department; the cost of each on a yearly basis; the name and number that have been abolished in the past four years; the name and number that have been amalgamated; the name of those to be abolished or amalgamated in 2010;

Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): The information requested by the Deputy is outlined in the tables. Table A lists the State Bodies under the aegis of my Department in receipt of Exchequer funding and their Budget allocation for 2009. Table B lists other state bodies under the aegis of my Department not in receipt of Exchequer funding and as such information on budgets is not included. In the period in question no bodies or agencies under the aegis of my Department have been amalgamated and none is scheduled to be amalgamated in 2010. The Committee on Performance Awards has been stood down with effect from the 1 January 2009, while the National Assets Management Agency was set up on the 19th December 2009 under the umbrella of the National Treasury Management Agency.

As the Deputy may be aware, €4bn in capital was provided to Anglo Irish Bank from Exchequer funds in 2009 to protect the economy from the wider losses that would have occurred in the event of a failure of the bank. Costs incurred in the provision of capital to Anglo are recoupable under the terms of the Subscription Agreement concluded with the Bank. Also, costs incurred by the State in relation to Anglo under the Credit Institutions (Financial Support) 2008 and Anglo Irish bank Act 2009 are recoupable under the terms of each Act.

• EU directive which allows public tenders to be exempt from the normal process when the majority of employees have disabilities

Deputy Leo Varadkar (FG): asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been brought to an EU directive which allows public tenders to be exempt from the normal process when the majority of employees have disabilities; when this directive will be transposed into law here;

Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): The current public procurement Directives, 2004/18/EC covering procurement by public sector bodies and 2004/17/EC covering procurement by entities in certain public utility sectors, allow EU Member States to reserve the right to participate in the award of public contracts to sheltered workshops or to participants in sheltered employment programmes. These Directives have been transposed into Irish law under Statutory Instrument 329 of 2006 covering public sector procurement and Statutory Instrument 50 of 2007 covering utility sector procurement. Regulations 16 and 30, respectively, of these Instruments enable contracting bodies to reserve participation in public contract award procedures to those in sheltered employment.

• Reports and Task Forces set up Minister for Health

Deputy John O’Mahony (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of reports and task forces set up and commissioned in her Department in 2007, 2008 and 2009; the reason for each report; the number of reports completed; and the cost of each in tabular form;

Minister for Health and Children (Deputy Mary Harney): Between January 2007 and April 2009, a total of 28 reports were commissioned by my Department, of which 25 have been completed. The information requested by the Deputy concerning costs and the reason for these reports is set out as follows. Information in respect of the period May to December 2009 is currently being collated by my Department and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as it becomes available.

• Bord Snip recommendation on transferring disability functions to Office of Disability Minister

Deputy Leo Varadkar (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children her views on the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes report proposal to transfer the disability functions of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to the office of mental health and disability;

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): The proposal contained in the Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure that certain disability functions be transferred to the Department of Health and Children from the Department of Justice Equality and Law Reform remains under consideration by both Departments. The proposal will be considered in the context of how best to achieve the Government’s overall policy goals in relation to people with a disability, in line with the National Disability Strategy and a whole of Government perspective.

• Number of disabled parking discs allocated in the past five years

Deputy Michael Ring (FG): asked the Minister for Transport the number of disabled parking discs allocated in the past five years on a county basis in tabular form.

Minister for Transport (Deputy Noel Dempsey): Under the Road Traffic Acts and the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations, 1997, the granting of a disabled person’s parking permit is a matter for the prescribed issuing authorities i.e. local authorities, the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Disabled Drivers Association of Ireland. It is my understanding that no local authority currently issues permits under the scheme and my Department does not receive detailed information relating to permits issued by the Irish Wheelchair Association or the Disabled Drivers Association of Ireland.

• Funding allocated to Rural Transport Programme in 2010

Deputy Joanna Tuffy (L): asked the Minister for Transport the level of funding that he will allocate to the rural transport programme in 2010; if he will re-state the commitment that this scheme will not be abolished;

Minister for Transport (Deputy Noel Dempsey): The provision for the Rural Transport Programme in 2010 is being maintained at €11 million in recognition of the important role it plays in combating social exclusion in rural Ireland. The Government’s commitment to the Rural Transport Programme is clearly stated in Towards 2016 and in the present National Development Plan. The development of rural transport is also a key objective in the Government’s sustainable travel and transport plan Smarter Travel — A Sustainable Transport Future and in the Department’s Sectoral Plan under the Disability Act 2005.

• Number of applications for disabled person’s grants with local authorities that are held up awaiting the availability of funding

Deputy Bernard J. Durkan (FG): asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of applications for disabled person’s grants with local authorities that are held up awaiting the availability of funding; the action he proposes to take to address this issue in the short term; if his attention has been drawn to the number of applications in the hands of local authorities for disabled person’s grants; if his attention has been further drawn to the shortage of funding for such purposes; if he has received communication from the local authorities regarding same; if he will provide the necessary funding; if funding will be allocated to Kildare County Council to meet disabled person’s grant requirements;

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Deputy Michael Finneran): In order comprehensively to assess the overall level of demand for grant assistance under the suite of Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability, my Department requested local authorities to submit details of their funding requirements for 2010 by 22 January, with a view to determining the allocations for this year as soon as possible afterwards. The allocations are calculated on foot of detailed discussion between my Department and the local authorities and on the basis of the projected level of demand for grants, taking account of the applications on hand that have been assessed as eligible, applications yet to be assessed and projections for new applications to be received during the year. Details regarding the numbers and value of applications under each of the grant measures are awaited. It is a matter for each local authority to decide on the specific level of funding to be directed towards each of the individual schemes, from within the combined allocations from local authority and Exchequer sources, notified to them by my Department, and to manage the operation of the schemes in their areas from within their allocation. In order to provide for continuity in the processing of applications and the payment of grants under the various measures, local authorities were advised that they could anticipate an allocation for 2010 which would not be substantially below their overall allocation for 2009.

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