Committee Reports::Report for the Year Ending 31st Dec 1999::01 March, 2000::Report


______________________________________


Tithe an Oireachtais

HOUSES OF THE OIREACHTAS

An Comhchoiste um Chomhshaol agus Rialtas Áitiúil

Joint Committee on Environment & Local Government

Tuarascáil don bhliain dar chríoch 31 Nollaig 1999

Report for the Year Ending 31st December 1999

______________________________________



______________________________________


Tithe an Oireachtais

HOUSES OF THE OIREACHTAS

An Comhchoiste um Chomhshaol agus Rialtas Áitiúil

Joint Committee on Environment & Local Government

Tuarascáil don bhliain dar chríoch 31 Nollaig 1999

Report for the Year Ending 31st December 1999

______________________________________


Report of the Joint Committee on the Environment & Local Government

For the Year Ending 31st December 1999

Table of Contents


Page 3:

Establishment & Membership.

Page 4:

Meetings Held.

Page 5:

Presentations to the Joint Committee.

Page 6:

Representation at International Fora

Page 7:

Bills and Estimates considered by the Dáil Select Committee.

Page 8:

Orders of Reference.

Page 10:

1999 Work Programme Review.

Appendix I:

Minutes for the Joint Committee of Environment & Local Government from the 1 st December 1998 to the 10th November 1999.

Appendix II:

1999 Work Programme of the Joint Committee on Environment & Local Government.

Joint Committee on the Environment & Local Government

Establishment

• The Select and Joint Committees on Environment and Local Government were established by order of the Dáil on 13 November 1997, and of the Senate on 19 November 1997.


Membership

The members of the Joint Committee are as follows:


Deputies:

Noel Ahern (FF)

Senators:

Frank Chambers

 

Deirdre Clune (FG)

 

Joe Doyle

 

Alan Dukes (FG)

 

Dan Kiely

 

Eamon Gilmore (Lab)

 

Jim Walsh

 

Seán Haughey (FF)

 

Brendan Ryan

 

Brian Hayes (FG)

 

 

 

Jackie Healy-Rae (Ind)

 

 

 

Billy Kelleher (FF)

 

 

 

Tony Killeen (FF)

 

 

 

Padraic McCormack (FG)

 

 

 

Olivia Mitchell (FG)

 

 

 

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (SF)

 

 

 

Seán Power (FF)

 

 

 

Eoin Ryan (FF)

 

 

Note: Deputy Eamon Gilmore was appointed in place of Deputy Brendan Howlin on 24th February, 1999.


MEETINGS HELD

The Joint Committee held 10 meetings. These included; one meeting held jointly with the Joint Committee on Finance & the Public Service on 21st April 1999 at which views were exchanged with the Parliamentary Committee on Regional Development from the Hungarian Parliament; one meeting held jointly with the Joint Committee on Family, Community & Social Affairs which addressed the issue of affordable accommodation. An additional informal meeting of the Joint Committee with the Hungarian Deputy Speaker, Dr. Katalin Szili MP, took place in Leinster House on Friday 3rd December 1999.


The Dáil Select Committee held 4 meetings.


There were 6 meetings of the Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development.


There were 3 meetings of the Sub-Committee on Local Government Reform which duly completed its Report.


Presentations to the Joint Committee

The following groups/agencies made presentations to the Joint Committee.


Presenter

Subject

Mr. Noel Dempsey, T.D., Minister for the Environment & Local Government

Report of the Joint Committee on the issue of Local Government Reform.

Chambers of Commerce of Ireland

Local Government Reform

IBEC

Public Private Partnerships

County & City Managers’ Association, Dublin Corporation, Carlow County Council.

Maintenance of Electoral Registers

SIPTU / CPSU

Joint Presentation on the Report on Affordable Accommodation.

Officials of the Department of the Environment & Local Government, National Roads Authority.

National Roads Infrastructure

An Bórd Pleanála

Planning Process

International Fora

The Joint Committee was represented at the following conferences pursuant to its Orders of Reference :~


4-5 March 1999:

World Sustainable Energy Day 1999 - Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency for the EU, Wels, Austria.


[Senator Brendan Ryan.]

29-30 April 1999:

Working Meeting of the Committee on Environment, Nature Conservation & Nuclear Safety, Bonn.


[Deputies Alan Dukes and Eamon Gilmore.]

19-23 July 1999:

Wilton Park Conference on Protecting the Environment and Sustaining Development.


[Senator Frank Chambers.]

21-25 August 1999:

14th GLOBE International General Assembly, Bonn.


[Deputies Noel Ahern, Padraig McCormack; Senator Dan Kiely.]

Bills and Estimates

The Dáil Select Committee considered the following Bills and Estimates.


Bills:

Local Government (Planning and Development) Bill, 1998

Estimates:

 

 

Revised Estimate for the Department of Environment & Local Government (Vote No. 25).

 

Supplementary Estimate (1999) - Department of the Environment & Local Government (Vote No. 25)

Orders of Reference

The Orders establishing the Select and Joint Committees specified for it the following Orders of Reference.


(1)(a) That a Select Committee, which shall be called the Select Committee on Environment and Local Government, consisting of 14 members of Dáil Éireann (of whom 4 shall constitute a quorum), be appointed to consider such—


(i)Bills the statute law in respect of which is dealt with by the Department of the Environment and Local Government, and


(ii)Estimates for Public Services within the aegis of that Department,


as shall be referred to it by Dáil Éireann from time to time.


(b)For the purpose of its consideration of Bills under paragraph (1)(a)(i), the Select Committee shall have the powers defined in Standing Order 78A(1), (2) and (3)


(c)For the avoidance of doubt, by virtue of his or her ex officio membership of the Select Committee in accordance with Standing Order 84(1), the Minister for the Environment and Local Government (or a Minister or Minister of State nominated in his or her stead) shall be entitled to vote.


(2)(a) The Select Committee shall be joined with a Select Committee to be appointed by Seanad Éireann to form the Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government to consider—


(i)such public affairs administered by the Department of the Environment and Local Government as it may select, including bodies under the aegis of that Department in respect of Government policy,


(ii)such matters of policy for which the Minister in charge of that Department is officially responsible as it may select,


(iii)the strategy statement laid before each House of the Oireachtas by the Minister in charge of that Department pursuant to section 5(2) of the Public Service Management Act, 1997, and shall be authorised for the purposes of section 10 of that Act, and


(iv)such other matters as may be jointly referred to it from time to time by both Houses of the Oireachtas,


and shall report thereon to both Houses of the Oireachtas.


(b)The quorum of the Joint Committee shall be 5, of whom at least I shall be a member of Dáil Éireann and 1 a member of Seanad Éireann.


(c)The Joint Committee shall have the powers defined in Standing Order 78A(1) to (9) inclusive.


(3)The Chairman of the Joint Committee, who shall be a member of Dáil Éireann, shall also be Chairman of the Select Committee.


The Joint Committee considers its Orders of Reference to be appropriate and adequate and continues to monitor its role and procedures.


1999 Work Programme Review

The Select and Joint Committees adopted a work programme for 1999 as attached at Appendix II


Progress of Work Programme

The Sub-Committee on Local Government Reform completed its report which was considered by the Joint Committee on 10th February and 10th March, 1999, respectively. The report, as amended, was thus agreed and laid before the Houses. This issue, as cited under item 14 of the 1999 Work Programme, can therefore be deemed to have been dealt with including in relevant discussions with the Minister for the Environment & Local Government, Mr. Noel Dempsey T.D., and other interested parties. However, the Joint Committee continues to take a close working interest in the issue of Local Government Reform and the ongoing policy/ legislative developments in this area.


The Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development is continuing its work and is due to report to the Joint Committee by 31st March 2000. At present it is hearing further submissions by Government Departments. This exercise is aimed at evaluating the implementation of the Government’s 1997 policy document, “Sustainable Development - A Strategy for Ireland” including through the Green Network of Departments which was established under that Strategy. Under item 14 of the 1999 Work Programme, the Sustainable Development issue can therefore be described as work in progress.


Items 8 & 9, which relate to voter turnout and amendments to electoral law have been considered in the Joint Committee’s discussion of electoral registers and continue to be an important part of its work, including as they relate to broader local government reform.


Item 13 (Road Infrastructure) has been covered in the Joint Committee’s discussions with relevant officials of the Department of the Environment & Local Government and of the National Roads Authority and is an ongoing area of interest including in the light of the National Development Plan.


Other items of the 1999 Work Programme, some of which have been addressed by presentations during the year under review, will carry forward to the Joint Committee’s Work Programme for 2000, along with such other issues as may arise from time to time within the relevant terms of reference.


In the course of its work in 1999, the Joint Committee determined that it would take particular working interest in the Planning and Development Bill, 1999 and in ongoing efforts to resolve the housing crisis - these two important issues are being brought forward to the Joint Committee’s Work Programme for the year 2000.


____________________________


Jackie Healy-Rae, T.D.,


Chairman,


1st March 2000.


Appendix I - Minutes of the Joint Committee.


Appendix II - Work Programme for 1999.