The next item on the agenda is Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary Estimate). I call on the Minister of State to make his opening statement.
Estimates for Public Services, 2000.
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary).
Am I speaking on both Supplementary Estimates?
I prefer to deal with Vote 10 first and then Vote 44.
The Government has decided to provide £7 million for the refurbishment and conservation of the Irish College, Paris, by way of a grant through the Vote for the Office of Public Works. The Irish College was founded in 1578 by a group led by John Lee from Waterford and has been at its present location in the Rue des Irlandaise since 1769. During its long history the college has provided education to the Irish which was denied to them at home and served as a refuge for the exiled Irish during the penal age.
All contractual commitments relating to the renovation of the college will be entered into by the Fondation Irlandaise, equivalent to a board of trustees in Irish law, which now administers the property and affairs of the college. The Office of Public Works will provide project management advice and assistance to the foundation. The Office of Public Works's role is to ensure the work is carried out to the appropriate standards, the funds provided by the Exchequer are used for the purpose intended and that the Exchequer's liability is limited to the £7 million.
The two principal functions of the restored college will be to provide accommodation for students and to provide a major Irish cultural and educational centre. It will serve as a research resource and provide a top class database on Ireland, profile what is happening in Ireland in terms of cultural activity by providing lectures, recitals and exhibitions, provide teaching facilities to enlighten Irish people about France and vice versa and provide retraining facilities for language teachers and work and living experience in Paris.
It is anticipated work will commence in February 2001 and be completed in late 2002. Approximately £4.5 million will required in the first year and the balance in 2002. I am pleased the money being made available will ensure the college's future as a vital component in the Irish academic and cultural association with France, which began more than 400 years ago. As this is deemed to be a new service, an appropriate subhead must be inserted in the Office of Public Works Vote and I propose that this should be done by way of a token Supplementary Estimate of £10,000. I commend the Supplementary Estimate to the Select Committee.
I welcome the Supplementary Estimate which guarantees the future of the college. It is an important and pivotal location for Irish culture and heritage and has always been an important educational link. Has the refurbishment been costed or is the £7 million an overall global figure?
My officials have visited Paris and costed the project. That is the maximum figure. We expect it will come in close to that figure.
Is it a once-off or is it part of ongoing grant assistance for refurbishment and maintenance?
No, the Office of Public Works is providing a special, once-off grant to refurbish the entire college, externally and internally, for the reasons I have outlined. This subhead will not remain in place. It is specifically for capital works.
When the work is completed will the building be owned and maintained by the State?
That is an important question. The ownership structure of the college resides in a trusteeship comprising people appointed by the French and Irish Governments. However, it has largely functioned on the basis of the Irish committee, another sub-committee that operates from Dublin. We have examined the legal position because I wanted to make sure given that the State is making a substantial investment that the college would remain under our control. People are appointed to the college's board by a French Minister and an Irish Minister.
Which Irish Minister?
The Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Will any other Department have a financial input?
No, this is a capital grant from the Office of Public Works for the refurbishment. Obviously the use of the college will be wide-ranging and I hope as many Departments as possible will seize the opportunity to use it for whatever functions they may wish to carry out in France. The college is located at the heart of Europe and provides a base for a great deal of Irish activity which need not necessarily be just confined to France and could include it being used as a base for us for European operations. I am also anxious to see the facility being utilised for many appropriate functions by the Irish corporate sector.
As the Deputy may be aware, we brought the Irish art of the state exhibition to the Irish College in the past few years and it was very successful. It brought home to us the importance of the college and the major work which needed to be done to it if we were to be fully proud of the facility in the context of the modern world in which we live and if it was to be up to the standard of the important buildings we have refurbished in Ireland. Everyone recognises the quality of the work carried out by the people in the Office of Public Works in that area and we will bring that to bear on the Irish College in Paris.
There is obviously an important role for the Department of Education and Science in utilising the college fully to allow Irish teachers to go abroad to upgrade their skills in French and other continental languages. Has the Department of Education and Science cast eyes towards the college regarding greater utilisation in that respect?
I made the point about sending Irish students to the college and that will obviously form a very important part of it. The point is well made and I hope and expect that other Departments, such as the Department of Education and Science, will, when they see the facility completed, examine it and see many of the full and wide-ranging opportunities which present themselves, including those along the lines suggested by the Deputy.
Vote 44 - Flood Relief (Supplementary)
As the committee will be aware, the Government acted quickly to deal with recent flooding and decided on 14 November to put in place a scheme of humanitarian assistance to be administered by the Irish Society of the Red Cross. A grant will be paid for this purpose to the society from Vote 44 - Flood Relief, which is administered by the Office of Public Works. The Irish Red Cross Society placed advertisements in the national newspapers on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week seeking applications from those who suffered severe hardship as a result of the recent floods. The criteria to be used by the society in determining eligibility for assistance will be similar to previous schemes, such as death, serious injury, homelessness, damage to home, loss of income and extreme hardship.
I emphasise that this is humanitarian assistance to relieve hardship, not compensation for losses. I hope applications for assistance from those eligible will be forwarded to the Irish Society of the Red Cross as quickly as possible. Application forms can be obtained by ringing a freefone number, which is 1800 923 424. On receipt of the application forms, the Irish Red Cross Society will prepare a preliminary report on the basis of which the Minister for Finance will decide the amount of funding necessary. Each application will be researched independently and confidentially, as was the case in 1996. While I realise this cannot be completed overnight having regard to extent and scale of the recent flooding, I hope the assessment can be carried out as soon as possible. I want to see all cases of extreme hardship cleared up without undue delay.
Deputies will be aware that the Office of Public Works is also carrying out an ongoing programme of flood relief schemes in various parts of the country which are subject to periodic temporary flooding. So far, schemes at Lacken-Ardrahan, Sixmilebridge, Duleek, Gort, and the Mulkear River at Cappamore and Newport have been completed. By 2003 I expect that the schemes at Carrick-on-Suir, Kilkenny, Ballymackeogh, Dunmanway, Carlow and Clonmel will also be completed.
As the new humanitarian aid scheme is deemed to be a new service, an appropriate new subhead must be included in the flood relief Vote. While it is envisaged that the bulk of the aid will be paid out in 2001, some hardship cases may be identified by the Irish Red Cross Society and paid out before the end of 2000. Accordingly, a sum of £1 million is sought in the current year. I commend the Supplementary Estimate to the committee.
I welcome the provision of £1 million. In the context of the recent widespread flooding, it is only a token contribution. I suppose that is all it can ever be if the Minister of State is not prepared to go further than examining cases of extreme hardship. What is meant by "extreme hardship" in the various contexts in which it is used? Residential house flooding is probably one of the main criteria and would be the most obvious in terms of the recent flash flooding in November.
The £1 million is not the total moneys. That is just to get me through this year. As I indicated to Deputy Burke in an Adjournment debate, I am anxious that, if the Red Cross identifies real cases of need very quickly, I am in a position to get funding to those affected, even in advance of Christmas, if that is possible. Therefore, I need money in the kitty, so to speak, for this year. I have no doubt I will be back in February seeking the committee's agreement for more funding when the full picture becomes much clearer and all assessments are carried out. The £1 million is an interim facility, albeit a substantial one.
Given the previous programme which was satisfactorily carried out by the Red Cross, I am happy it has come on board again and the same criteria will be applied. Each case is different and the means, circumstances and impact can be different. The general headings I outlined earlier will come into play. Each case will have to be examined on the information and assessment made by the Red Cross and it will report to us. I do not want to be too narrow or broad nor do I want to be prescriptive at this stage in what I say. A good example of the successful arrangement between the Office of Public Works, my Department and the Irish Red Cross Society came to light four years ago.
I thank the Minister of State. Where damage has been caused to a household, obviously the Red Cross will investigate whether that household has been previously insured, the nature of the insurance and the amount of claim forthcoming to the household or applicant involved. Will that be part of the assessment when the Red Cross assesses the contribution it will make from this assistance?
Each case will be different and will depend on the circumstances. All factors relating to the impact on a family or person living alone in terms of what happened, their circumstances and their ability to repair the damage will be taken into account. Until we see what assessments the Irish Red Cross Society returns, I will not include or exclude anything, including what the Deputy said. The Red Cross needs the freedom to make assessments on an individual basis and it will report back to me. Elements of what the Deputy said were included in the previous programme and I have no doubt they will be this time.
An old chestnut is the ongoing flooding problem in south Galway, which is not temporary but is permanent in so far as it occurs every winter. I have identified one household which missed out previously on opportunities for relocation. Since relocation is dealt with by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, these people have been caught between two stools. They have also been seriously affected by flooding, last year being the most recent. They missed out on previous efforts and endeavours because they thought the flooding would not recur, but it has and has done serious damage to them.
This family is the Colum family of whom the Minister of State is aware. There seems to be no way they can obtain assistance or relocation or relief. They are threatened on an ongoing basis as we speak following the torrential rain since early November. They are threatened and all they are being offered is that the county council will raise funding. It may not be appropriate to mention that here but when we talk about ongoing flood relief, what has taken place in Gort was fantastic work by the Office of Public Works and has given tremendous relief and confidence to those in the vicinity, particularly in the town of Gort. There are similar towns throughout the country. Do we have an urban drainage relief programme in the country or is this just operated by the Office of Public Works? Is there or was there ever a separate urban relief programme?
Obviously I could not comment on an individual case at a committee meeting, though I understand the Deputy's concerns and I am aware of the case. I could not comment on this in the public session of a committee meeting. It would not be fair to anyone involved.
In general, there is no home relocation element in this programme. I have tried to resolve that issue, though without success at present. The Deputy will also be aware - I thank him for his involvement in south Galway - of how difficult it is to get agreement from all the disparate elements at local level with all the different bodies that have to be consulted, not least of which are the individuals directly concerned, be they in the agricultural sector or elsewhere, when it comes to bringing a scheme to fruition. I hope we have some success in south Galway but we have moved might and main to deliver on a programme that the Deputy will be aware was approved in last year's budget and I hope we will do so. We already have agreement on one or two small elements immediately with which we can fund Galway County Council - these are new elements that were not available to my Department in the past. That does not resolve all the problems but it is indicative of the attitude in the Office of Public Works, which is very positive in trying to solve the south Galway situation. There are two or three important issues we are trying to get agreement on to implement worthwhile schemes. We hope to have that agreement in place.
There is a national plan in place. Following the events of four years ago my Department was charged with very specific responsibilities which we have taken seriously. In less than four years, a short period of time, six major programmes have been implemented. I appreciate the Deputy's comments on the Gort scheme, which was very successful. He will appreciate that it takes a long time to get these from the drawing board to reality; that takes a number of years. I have already indicated to the Deputy the plan of action I have and the major scheme we hope to have completed in the next few years. The programme does not end there and clearly from the current flooding county councils have been in contact with my office. We do not have a magic formula but we will have to look at these with the local authorities to see what kind of scheme can be put in place.
There is a rolling programme that will certainly continue over the next decade. As far as this Government is concerned it will be rolled out throughout the country. Regarding specific and localised programmes, I am not aware of any specific nationally co-ordinated localised programme but local authorities have specific and important responsibilities in dealing with these issues. I know some take them very seriously while others have other priorities. However, it is important that recent events demonstrate the importance of local authorities exercising their own maintenance and control over areas for which they have specific responsibility. That makes an enormously positive contribution when we get bad weather; if the local authority has been doing its bit it can help to prevent the kinds of stresses we have seen.
In the context of the many arterial drainage schemes, one beneficial effect is that there has been no flooding where such schemes have been put in place, which is an added benefit. Throughout the country we have a full programme that we and the Department of Finance are committed to in terms of the finance required.
It would be remiss of me not to compliment the Office of Public Works and its staff working with the local support group in south Galway. It has been a clear indication of the commitment of the Minister of State and the Government. There has been consultation and co-operation with local bodies and the Office of Public Works's forthcoming attitude bodes well for the future. Taking on board the experience of local groups - statutory and voluntary bodies - is something the Office of Public Works should be complimented on.
I thank the Deputy, not on my behalf so much as on behalf of the officials. I appreciate his comments. I commend these Supplementary Estimates.