S.I. No. 328/1998:

HOUSING (TRAVELLER ACCOMMODATION) ACT, 1998 (COMMENCEMENT) ORDER, 1998.

HOUSING (TRAVELLER ACCOMMODATION) ACT, 1998 (COMMENCEMENT) ORDER, 1998.

In exercise of the powers conferred on the Minister for the Environment and Local Government by section 1 (4) of the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998 (No. 33 of 1998), which powers are delegated to me by the Environment and Local Government (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order, 1998 ( S.I. No. 316 of 1998 ), I, Robert Molloy, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government, hereby make the following order:

1. This Order may be cited as the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998 (Commencement) Order, 1998.

2. The Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998 , other than sections 6, 19, 20 and 25 shall come into operation on the 11th day of September, 1998.

Dated this 10th day of September, 1998.

ROBERT MOLLOY

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The purpose of this order is to bring the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act, 1998 , into operation on the dates specified.

Sections 1 to 5 are standard provisions giving the short title, collective citation, commencement, interpretation, expense and directions.

Sections 7--18 provides for the drafting, adoption, publication and implementation of local Traveller accommodation programmes, and for the review, amendment and replacement of such programmes, and for the issuing of directions by the Minister on the adoption of local programmes.

Sections 21 and 22 provide for the establishment and the membership of local Traveller accommodation consultative committees.

Section 23 is a saver provision designed to ensure that a housing authority is not prevented, e.g. through court action, from providing accommodation for travellers during the period between the coming into force of the Act and the date on which an accommodation programme in respect of their area has been adopted. The intention is that current proposals for accommodation which mature during this period, be allowed to proceed.

Section 24 is a provision to ensure that a manager of a local authority is not prevented from exercising his/her powers in relation to the carrying out of works necessary for the provision of a reasonable standard of accommodation for any person, including travellers; in an emergency situation, under section 2 (9) of the City and County Management (Amendment) Act, 1955 , as amended by section 27 of the Housing Act, 1988 .

Section 26 provides for the amendment of section 19 of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act, 1963 , and for consequential provisions to ensure that planning authorities include objectives in relation to the provision of accommodation for travellers and the use of particular areas for that purpose in all county or urban development plans.

Section 27 is intended to give a planning authority some degree of flexibility as to when it may comply with the requirements under section 26 to include objectives concerning traveller accommodation in the development plan. There is provision for flexibility as to the timing of including objectives in view of the desirability of ensuring that objectives complement and facilitate the adopted 5 year accommodation programme.

Section 28 provides statutory backing to the provision of funds for the construction and up--keep of traveller accommodation by housing authorities and voluntary bodies.

Section 29 modifies the powers of housing authorities under section 13 of the Housing Act to ensure that they have power to provide sites for caravans with limited facilities in certain circumstances and also enables the Minister to issue guidelines in relation to standards for the provision, improvement, management and control of sites.

Section 30 provides statutory backing to the provision of financial assistance for the provision of caravans, or the provision, improvement and management by the authority, of sites for caravans.

Section 31 provides for the amendment of the Local Government Act, 1991 , to require that the annual report by a county council or a county borough corporation under section 50 of that Act includes information on the activities of the local traveller accommodation consultative committee and on progress made in implementing an accommodation programme.

Section 32 provides for improvements in the powers available to housing authorities under the Housing Acts to require the removal of an unauthorised temporary dwelling e.g. a caravan etc. parked in a public place.

Section 33 provides for the application of the penalty provisions of section 34 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1992 , to a contravention of any regulations made under section 20A of the 1992 Act. This would include contraventions of the Housing (Registration of Rented Houses) Regulations, 1996.

Sections 34, 35 and 36 amend the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1997 , to provide for the extension of a local authority's powers to deal with anti--social behaviour to sites for caravans.