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DEPARTMENT BRIEFS
• 20 additional posts created in response to cyber security threats
The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan TD and Minister of State with special responsibility for Communications and the Circular Economy, Ossian Smyth, TD are pleased to announce that the Government has agreed to an expansion of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) from 25 to 45 staff over the next 18 months, and to 70 within 5 years. The associated budgetary increase for the NCSC for 2022 is estimated at €2.5 million.
A significant package of other measures to further strengthen the capacity of the NCSC to respond to the growing threat from cyber criminals was agreed by Government today, including the development of legislation to establish the NCSC on a statutory basis with a set of formal powers and a legal mandate.
The overall package of measures approved includes:
• That the role of Director of the NCSC be re-advertised at a salary of €184,000 (Deputy Secretary scale) to reflect the scale and importance of the role and to attract experienced candidates • The Director will have responsibility for building and leading the NCSC, further developing the operational capacity and expertise of the NCSC and supporting the development of the policy and legislative framework relating to cyber security in the State
• A single HQ for the NCSC which will provide the required security infrastructure and capacity. The
NCSC will be accommodated within the Departmentʼs new Headquarters (HQ) in Beggars Bush
• Developing a 5 year technology strategy for the NCSC that scopes its internal requirements, and its relationship with academia and industry
• In addition to the recruitment of 20 additional fulltime roles, a cyber security graduate training programme will be initiated by the NCSC in 2021, with four computer science graduates recruited each year on contracts of three years duration.
Minister Ryan said: "This investment marks a step change in the evolution of the National Cyber Security Centre. The expansion we are announcing today will enable the organisation further develop its competence and capacity to help defend and protect IT systems and our key services into the future.
"As Ireland is a leading digital economy, protecting the cyber security of Government IT and critical national infrastructure is vital. The NCSC has an important role in gathering intelligence on cyber threats and in sharing that information and providing expert guidance. The Government is committed to ensuring that the NCSC has the appropriate level of resourcing to enable it deliver on its important mandate."
Minister Smyth commented: "The positive action by Government is being taken against the backdrop of a steady increase in the number of significant cyber incidents in the past number of years, including the recent incidents affecting the HSE and other healthcare providers internationally, as well as Colonial Pipeline in the US, and more recently, Kaseya.
"This trend is reflected across the globe, with many Governments and supranational organisations, such as the EU and UN, recognising that the threat of malicious cyber incidents can have potentially devastating security, economic, social, and humanitarian consequences. While individual organisations and citizens need to take appropriate steps to protect themselves in an online world, todayʼs decision will ensure that NCSC has the appropriate mandate and resources to continue to support them."
The government decision today follows recommendations made by Minister Ryan on receipt of a Capacity Review of the NCSC by an independent third party, which was already underway before the recent HSE cyber attack.
The capacity review was one of the measures in the National Cyber Security Strategy published in late 2019 which set out a broad range of measures to be taken to improve the security of public and private IT systems in the State.
Minister Ryan announces package of supports to expand community energy revolution
Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD, has today launched a range of new of measures to ensure communities nationwide will benefit from renewable energy.
The package includes:
• Targeted supports for communities who want to develop their own renewable projects. • Good Practice Principles that will ensure communities benefit from funds generated by other renewable energy projects in their locality. • A new Steering Board to guide the development of the community energy sector. The Programme for Government commits to a ʻrenewables revolutionʼ and reaffirms the challenging national ambition of at least 70% renewable electricity by 2030. To meet this target, the Programme notes that communities will play their part and, more broadly, Government will provide support to renewable electricity projects through the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS). According to Minister Ryan: "We have seen in other countries, like Germany, that direct citizen and community involvement in the green energy revolution both benefits communities and builds support for the radical transformation we need to make to reach our climate goals. Weʼve already seen seven community projects, (five solar and two wind projects) succeed in our first Renewable Energy Support Scheme auction. I want to build on this by providing communities with the expertise they need to develop more of these projects. "A new Community Enabling Framework will assist and support communities through the complex process of electricity generation. Developed by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), it will provide a range of technical and financial supports at the various stages in the life-cycle of a renewable project including trusted advisors who will work closely with communities. The framework will de-risk the project development process for communities and will drive delivery on our ambitious community energy targets." Community projects are supported in a separate category within the RESS Scheme. However, all projects, including the 61 commercial projects, are required to set up a Community Benefit Fund. The Fund ensures that, in all cases, some of the benefits of renewable energy generation are shared with those who live locally, usually in rural communities. The first wave of projects in the scheme will see almost €4 million in Community Benefit Funds being spent in local communities each year. With more auctions to come, it is critical that we put in place a robust and progressive governance system. A Good Practice Handbook for RESS Community Benefit Funds sets out how the funds can be best employed, for instance in supporting local climate action and biodiversity initiatives. In addition, the SEAI is launching a National Register of these funds which will ensure appropriate reporting and transparency across the years ahead. The commitments in this scheme will help develop sustainable community energy projects across the country, and will support rural regeneration, social cohesion, capacity-building and community development. Speaking just before the first meeting of the new RESS Communities Steering Board, the Minister said: "Communities developing their own electricity generation projects is a new and exciting sector in our energy system. I want to ensure communities have a say in directing how this sector evolves. I have established a Steering Board, which includes several community representatives and advocates, as well as academic experts, to advise me on policy and implementation." Minister Ryan added: "All in all, I believe this package of supports will inspire communities to generate their own electricity and will ensure dispersal of benefits from all renewable projects within the scheme. This package will also support the achievement of the increased ambition set out under the Climate Action Bill and the policies and measures in the Climate Action Plan 2021. Supporting communities in this way is good for the renewable sector, the green economy and rural Ireland."
Government approves proposals for termination and replacement of Strategic Housing Development planning arrangements
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh OʼBrien TD, has received Government approval for the termination and replacement of Strategic Housing Development (SHDs) planning arrangements. New streamlined arrangements for large-scale residential developments (LSRDs) which restore decision-making to local authorities will be introduced to replace SHDs. It is intended that the new arrangements will come into effect on enactment of the Bill in the autumn. Subject to Oireachtas approval and the timely enactment of the Bill, it is anticipated that the following dates will apply to the wind up of the SHD arrangements and the introduction of the new arrangements for LSRDs: • 29 October 2021 will be the last day for requesting a SHD pre-application consultation request with An Bord Pleanála • A planning application for a SHD must be submitted to An Bord Pleanála by 31 December 2021, at the latest, for proposals which have completed the SHD pre-application consultation process with An Bord Pleanála on or before 29 October 2021 • 25 February 2022 is the last date for submitting a subsequent SHD planning application to the Board in respect of those SHD proposals which complete the SHD pre-application consultation process after 29 October 2021
The intended end dates are being signaled now to provide certainty and clarity around the replacement of the SHD arrangements, and to allow developers and the associated professional sectors time to prepare and adapt to the proposed new arrangements. Minister OʼBrien welcomed Governmentʼs decision saying that it provided for planning applications for large scale residential developments to be dealt with in the first instance at the local level by local planning authorities.
Commenting he said: “These are very significant changes, restoring the primary decision-making function to local authorities, while also introducing mandatory timelines to ensure an efficient process for large scale residential developments.
“The new two stage planning process being provided for these types of planning applications will involve an initial application to the relevant local authority with the possibility of subsequent appeal to An Bord Pleanála.
“This will allow for enhanced public participation on these local developments. Given the restoration of the appeal mechanism for such proposed developments to the Board, the new arrangements should also reduce the number of judicial review challenges being taken against such proposed developments going forward, as is happening under the current SHD arrangements.
“We need to rapidly increase the supply of homes to get to a place where 33,000 homes are being built each year to meet demand. I am confident that these new arrangements will ensure a speedy determination of large scale housing development proposals in the planning system and ultimately get new developments off the ground.
“I look forward to engaging with the Oireachtas on these proposals and progressing the Bill in the Oireachtas in the autumn.”
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh OʼBrien TD has welcomed the passing of the Affordable Housing Bill 2021 in Dáil Éireann.
The Bill, which is the most comprehensive standalone affordable housing legislation in the history of the State, passed Dáil Éireann with overwhelming support and will revert back to the Seanad before enactment.
Commenting Minister OʼBrien said, “Over the past year Government has put affordability and the chance to own a home at the very heart of our housing policy. We have worked especially hard to ensure that those hard pressed renters, the first-time buyers and the individuals living with their parents while trying to save every spare cent, will have a chance to own their own home or rent securely.
“Cost Rental, a new form of housing tenure in Ireland and a key commitment in the Programme for Government, will now for the first time ever, be put on a legislative footing in Ireland. Cost Rental marks a step change in the rental market. Itʼs a model where the tenant pays the cost of delivering, managing, and maintaining the homes only. It will prove long term and secure tenure. Just yesterday we launched the first Cost Rental homes under our new scheme whereby tenants will pay monthly rents which are up to 50% lower than local market rates. There is a strong delivery pipeline of Cost Rental homes which will be developed by Approved Housing Bodies, the Land Development Agency and our local authorities.
“Under the Affordable Housing Bill, Local Authorities will also now be empowered to build, acquire and make available, homes at prices which are below open market levels. This means that middle income earners will be supported to own their own home. The new ʻFirst Homeʼ shared equity scheme also provided for under this Bill will help to bridge the gap between the market value of a home in the private market and what an individual or couple can afford.
“Our Bill also provides for an important increase in Part V provision which amends the current 10% minimum requirement for social homes and increases this to 20% for social and affordable homes.
“I would like to thank all Oireachtas colleagues who have engaged with this Bill and for supporting it through the Dáil. I look forward to its enactment as quickly as possible and to the early delivery of Affordable Purchase and Cost Rental homes which this legislation has provided for” concluded Minister OʼBrien.
