Communiqué from the Council of the Government - Communication

The Council of the Government, which met on October 3, 2024, in Ponta Delgada, adopted the following measures:

1. The Council of the Government has been informed of the first assessment of the impacts and damage resulting from the severe storm that hit the island of Corvo this morning. Teams from the Regional Transport and Mobility Services (SRTMI) and the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Change (SRAAC) are on the ground carrying out recovery work as well as a detailed assessment of the damage, with the aim of ensuring the safety of the population and planning future repair and prevention actions.

2. Approve the Resolution authorising the expenditure and acquisition of 30 housing units from Sociedade de Desenvolvimento de Habitação Social da Ribeira Grande, S.A., located in Rua do Jogo housing development in the parish of Ribeirinha, municipality of Ribeira Grande, in a single instalment, for a total amount of €2,107,700.00.

In the area of housing, the XIV Government of the Azores Programme provides for 301 constructions and 527 refurbishment interventions, through the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

With a view to meeting the housing renovation target, it is important to consider improving the energy efficiency of the properties that make up the social housing stock in the private domain of the Autonomous Region of the Azores.

Bearing this in mind and to carry out the renovation works at the Rua do Jogo housing development in the parish of Ribeirinha, municipality of Ribeira Grande, the acquisition of thirty housing units within this development from Sociedade de Desenvolvimento de Habitação Social da Ribeira Grande, S.A. will speed up the procedures required to carry out the energy certification works, thus achieving the goal of the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

3. Approve the Resolution determining the areas of regional public interest for technical and financial cooperation with the Parish Councils of the Azores in 2024.

Regional Legislative Decree no. 6/2024/A of August 8 established the new legal framework for technical and financial cooperation between the autonomous regional administration, parishes and parish associations in the Autonomous Region of the Azores.

According to the aforementioned legislation, it is up to the Regional Government to approve, on an annual basis, the areas of regional public interest for the purposes of technical and financial cooperation with parish councils, considering the priority axes of European funding programmes under the multiannual financial framework adopted for this period.

Projects submitted in the areas defined as being of regional interest are eligible for a 20% increase.

In the event of overlapping applications or excess funding in light of the annual amount available, investments in areas of regional public interest are given priority.

The areas of regional public interest for the purposes of technical and financial cooperation with parish councils in 2024 are as follows: Agriculture; Environment; Housing; Sea; Heritage; Health; and Tourism.

4. Approve the Resolution approving the transfer of a land plot consisting of a rural property and two urban properties, located in the parish of Angústias, municipality of Horta, to the Horta City Council, permanently and without charge, for housing construction.

5. Approve the Resolution authorising the tendering procedure in the Autonomous Regional Public Administration, rendering it swifter and creating a recruitment reserve with the subsequent rationalisation of efforts and human resources allocated to this area.

The Resolution now approved also regulates the centralised tendering procedure for the constitution of pools for the recruitment of operational assistants for the school establishments within the Regional Education System, known as the Island Recruitment Pool.

6. Approve the preliminary draft Regional Legislative Decree aimed at approving the full-time work scheme in the Regional Health Service.

With the approval of regulations on full-time work in the National Health Service and the organisation and operation of family health units, a differentiation has emerged between the payment system of the National Health Service and that of the Regional Health Service.

In an increasingly competitive context, there is an urgent need to find ways of attracting, maintaining and promoting medical workers, so as to guarantee, on the one hand, the legitimate salary expectations of medical workers and, on the other hand, the care needs of the population.

This proposal for a regional legislative decree intends to create a legal scheme governing the full dedication of medical workers to the Regional Health Service, applicable in the areas of general and family medicine, hospital care, public health, occupational medicine and to professionals appointed, on secondment, to carry out management duties in services or departments of health establishments and services.

The application of the full-time scheme to any group of professionals is made by means of a medical declaration addressed to the highest management body of the health establishment or service where they work.

Therefore, this scheme is voluntary and is not subject to a maximum duration, nor is it subject to renewal.

Medical workers can opt out of this scheme at any time.

The scheme may also be terminated on the grounds of repeated failure to fulfil the commitments made by the medical worker in question.

Upon entering this system, medical workers will be subject to a standard 35-hour working week, plus 5 additional hours of care work, and may also be subject to other specific commitments, depending on the speciality. 

In return, they will be eligible for a salary supplement corresponding to 25% of their base monthly pay, which will be considered when calculating holiday and Christmas bonuses.

The possibility of entering this system does not apply to part-time workers.

The full-time work scheme is also incompatible with technical management, coordination and leadership duties in health organisations in the private or social sector, whether or not under agreement with the Regional Health Service. It also prevents medical workers, their spouses and first-degree ascendants or descendants from holding a stake of more than 10% in the equity of entities under agreement with the Regional Health Service.

The financial impact is about €6,000,000.00 per year, provided that all the medical professionals who fulfil the requirements enter this system.

7. Approve the Resolution amending the Resolution defining the coordination of the application of the POSEI sub-programme for the Region, as a result of the changes made to the organisational structure of the XIV Government of the Azores.

8. Approve the Resolution delegating to the Regional Secretary for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructures, with powers to sub-delegate to the Regional Director responsible for Public Works, the power to procure and authorise the expenditure of various purchases of goods.

The purchases are as follows:

a) Purchase of goods for the Digital Industry 5.0 Laboratory of the Azores Qualification Centre, IPRA, with a base price of €720,000.00 and a maximum delivery period of 60 days;

b) Purchase of equipment for the Motor Vehicle Construction and Repair workshop of the Azores Qualification Centre, IPRA, with a base price of €400,000.00 and a maximum delivery period of 60 days;

c) Purchase of equipment for the Metallurgy and Metalworking teaching workshop of the Azores Qualification Centre, IPRA, with a base price of €400,000.00 and a maximum delivery period of 60 days.

9. Approve the Resolution increasing the subsidy for passengers residing in the Autonomous Region of the Azores to promote inter-island air mobility ("Azores Fare").

The Azoreans have significantly embraced the "Azores Fare," which entails the need to increase expenditure on the subsidy for passengers residing in the Autonomous Region of the Azores to ensure its allocation in the remaining months of 2024. The increase amounts to €1,500,000.00, totalling €9,000,000.00 for 2024.

10. Approve the Resolution establishing the model for allocating revenue from road traffic offence fines in the Autonomous Region of the Azores.

This Resolution approves a new transitional model, allowing the revenue to be used to guarantee better land transport and increase land mobility for the Azoreans.

The revenue sharing between the Region and the Regional Land Transport Fund remains the same as that determined by Government Council Resolution 143/201 (40%/60%).

The requirement that the Regional Land Transport Fund should allocate 50% of its revenue to fund investment costs in movable and immovable property of the Public Security Police and the National Republican Guard units headquartered in the Region has been eliminated.

The allocation of the proceeds of fines to the Public Security Police and the National Republican Guard was primarily intended to boost their financial capacity with a view to making the necessary or indispensable investments to fulfil their respective missions in terms of traffic control, planning and regulation in the Region.

However, the proceeds of fines allocated to these security forces have not been used as effectively and rapidly as desired to acquire the resources and equipment required to carry out their missions in the Region, and, as such, there are accumulated balances in their funds. 

11. Approve the Regional Implementing Decree establishing the organisational structure as well as the managerial, specific management and senior staff of the Regional Secretariat for Finance, Planning and Public Administration, the Regional Implementing Decree establishing the organisational structure as well as the managerial, specific management and senior staff of the Regional Directorate for the Sea and Fisheries, and Decree establishing the organisational structure as well as the managerial, specific management and senior staff of the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Action.

The approval of these new organisational structures as well as the managerial, specific management and senior staff of the Regional Secretariat for Finance, Planning and Public Administration, the regional implementing decree approving the organisational structure as well as the managerial, specific management and senior staff of the Regional Secretariat for the Sea and Fisheries, and the organisational structure as well as the managerial, specific management and senior staff of the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Action arises from the need to bring them into line with the organisational structure of the XIV Regional Government of the Azores.