Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 4 Feb 2004

Vol. 579 No. 2

Adjournment Debate.

Health and Safety Regulations.

Mr. Gormley

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this very important issue on the Adjournment. I tried to raise the issue by means of Standing Order 31 yesterday and I raised the matter of building site safety with the Taoiseach on the Order of Business today. I made specific reference this morning to the widespread disruption caused to commuters using the DART by the collapse of a crane on the Barrow Street building site in Ringsend, sometimes known as the gasometer site.

Those most affected by this incident were the residents of Barrow Street, Upper Grand Canal Street and Emerald Cottages, who had to spend three nights away from home in the Mespil Hotel or in the company of relatives and friends. The residents with whom I have spoken have been very complimentary about the staff of the Mespil Hotel, who went out of their way to make the displaced residents very welcome indeed. It has been a difficult number of days for the residents, however. Some of them who work from home have lost three working days as a consequence of this incident. Others have been simply inconvenienced. I pay tribute to the Garda Síochána, the fire brigade, the health and safety officers and the many people on the building site who dealt courteously with the residents.

I would like to ask a number of fundamental questions this evening. The crane collapsed at approximately 11 a.m. on Sunday morning and I arrived on the scene at approximately 1 p.m. I noticed at that stage that gardaí were warning people that they were in imminent danger and asked them to vacate their homes. Residents have asked why they were required to do so, given that businesses in the area, such as Session Hire, GTS and Thomson Travel, continued to operate.

The most fundamental question, which I intend to pursue in this House by other means, relates to who is responsible for picking up the tab for the disruption. It is obvious that thousands of commuters, who were unable to get to the city because of the closure of the DART line near Barrow Street, were unable to get to work on time in the usual manner. Other expenses were incurred by the employment of extra gardaí to seal off the street. Payments had to be made to the Dublin fire brigade, which was quickly on the scene, and to health and safety officers who had to assess the situation. A Garda escort was required for the two extra cranes that had to be hired to make safe the damaged crane. These services will have to be paid for. Where does the liability lie?

A thorough investigation is needed by the Garda and the health and safety authorities if we are to determine what went wrong in this case. Did the crane driver leave the brake on, as many people suspect? Was the crane up to standard? A separate recent incident involving a crane in Tallaght did not have fatal consequences, thankfully. When one considers the amount of building work taking place in our city, it is only a matter of time before there are "civilian" fatalities, if I can use that word, as a consequence of some accident. One need only examine the location of cranes to imagine what could happen if a crane were to topple on to houses. The cranes on the Barrow Street site are towering over residential areas. It is natural that many residents are worried, in light of this incident, about what might happen in the future. They have already experienced noise, excessive light, dust and dirt from the site. Only this evening I was informed by residents at a meeting that on 16 December last year lorries blocked the footpath and residents tried in turn to block the lorries. They have also had difficulties with green space in the area being taken up by the builders.

We need strong legislation and regulations to deal with the issue of building control which I raised this morning. The residents are only too aware of recent fatalities on building sites on which the same property developer operated and they are concerned about lax standards. This morning I asked the Taoiseach when he will ensure that the highest standards are maintained on our building sites. Greater investment in safety and less emphasis on profit are needed. Higher standards could mean taking more time and, as they say in the trade, time is money.

Is it not time the Government began to take this issue seriously? I am well aware of the close connection between the Government parties and the building trade and I know these property developers can often be seen in the Fianna Fáil tent at the Galway Races. Is this not one case in which people must come before profit? I hope this incident will not be quickly forgotten and that the Government will act.

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Mr. M. Ahern)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter on the Adjournment. The responsibilities of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Health and Safety Authority in this matter relate to the provisions of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989 and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2001. It should be noted that other statutory bodies, including the Garda Síochána and the fire services, were involved in responding to this incident and in its aftermath. The role of the Health and Safety Authority represents only one element of any general emergency response.

The Health and Safety Authority was notified on Sunday, 1 February 2004 that the jib of a crane had become destabilised at a building site off Barrow Street in Ringsend. The fire services and the Garda were already on site when a Health and Safety Authority inspector arrived. Gardaí had advised certain residents in the vicinity of the incident to vacate their homes until the crane was made safe. DART and other transport services on the adjacent rail line were also suspended on grounds of safety. The immediate concern of the Health and Safety Authority was to ensure that the crane was dismantled with the minimum possible risk to the safety of essential workers on site and also taking into account the safety of the public in the vicinity of the site. Consequently, inspectors of the authority have been on site at the location of the incident since Sunday.

Although a method of stabilising the crane was identified on Monday, 2 February, adverse weather conditions prevented the work of stabilisation beginning and it was not possible to carry out the operation safely until last night, Tuesday, 3 February. The crane has now been stabilised, allowing the return of local residents in the vicinity to their homes and the recommencement of DART transport services in the area. The operation of dismantling the crane will proceed as soon as weather conditions allow.

When the crane is safely dismantled, the Health and Safety Authority will undertake a detailed investigation into the circumstances of the incident, taking into account the requirements of relevant legislation, including the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989 and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2001. This investigation will focus on establishing the reasons for the failure of the crane jib. Deputies will understand that I cannot comment further on the particulars of this matter or speculate on possible causes or factors pending the outcome of that investigation and any possible action that may be necessary. Costs for inconvenience and disruption do not come within the sphere of responsibility of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment or the Health and Safety Authority. These are civil matters that can be pursued in the normal way with the people responsible for the crane and its operation.

Special Educational Needs.

Dr. Upton

I thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for the opportunity of raising this matter on the Adjournment. I am, however, disappointed that the Minister for Education and Science is not here to respond. It is an important issue and a personal issue for the family involved. The case concerns a young boy whose family are seeking financial support for him to attend a special grammar school in England. The boy is profoundly deaf. He is academically excellent. The Leiter intellectual performance scale has indicated his non-verbal intellectual functioning to be within the superior range. His previous school reports stated that he was not being challenged intellectually in the group system that was operating in his former school. It was considered by his former class teacher that he was not fulfilling his educational potential because of the existing system in the school. Neither was the necessary educational support made available for him to attend a hearing mainstream school. His parents faced the prospect of allowing him to remain in his former school, although all the indicators from his class teacher were that he would not reach his potential.

At great personal cost, his parents transferred him to the Mary Hare grammar school in England, where he has consistent A or B grades in all his subjects. His parents have no criticism of the individual teachers in his former school. It is simply the case that the school does not meet the requirements of their son. In a group of mixed ability, some members of which had learning difficulties, he was frustrated and not achieving his potential. If he were to be placed in a mainstream school in Ireland he would need two sign language interpreters. The cost of providing interpreters would be equivalent to the fee being paid in the Mary Hare school so, from the point of view of the Department of Education and Science, the cost would be broadly the same.

The family is suffering severe financial strain. They are concerned about meeting the cost of keeping their son in school in England. This boy deserves the chance of achieving his intellectual potential. It is unacceptable that his parents must suffer severe financial strain to provide him with an appropriate education, to which he is entitled. I ask the Minister to consider favourably the request to assist with funding for this boy so that he can remain in the school. There, he is intellectually challenged and his talents are recognised. He is happy and has made friends. It is not ideal that any family should be obliged to send their 13 year old son to school in England, away from his friends and family, but they have been forced to make financial and personal sacrifices to give their son an opportunity to achieve his potential.

On the basis of equality, this boy is entitled to be given the best available opportunity, which is not available to him in Ireland. His parents, with the advice of his former class teacher, have succeeded in obtaining a place for him in an appropriate school that meets his educational requirements. I ask the Minister to look favourably on the request to fund this boy's education so that he may have the same opportunities as his peers. The cost of keeping him in school is in the order of £12,000 sterling per term. This is an unbearable financial burden on the family. I ask the Minister to consider this request.

Mr. M. Ahern

The Minister for Education and Science sends his apologies for not being able to be here this evening. The issue raised by the Deputy provides a welcome opportunity for me to inform the House of the range of assistance provided by the Department of Education and Science for children with special educational needs, including those with a hearing impairment. Up to October 1998, the Department's capacity to respond to individual children with special needs was limited. This changed with a Government decision in October 1998 whereby children assessed as having special educational needs in primary schools have an automatic entitlement to a response to their needs. Since this automatic entitlement to support was introduced, the number of resource teachers in the primary system has increased from approximately 100 to more than 2,500 and the number of special needs assistants has grown from approximately 300 to almost 5,500 full-time and part-time posts.

The nature and level of the educational response is based on the professionally assessed needs of each child. While the Department's policy is to ensure the maximum possible integration of pupils with special needs into ordinary mainstream schools, those who have been assessed as having special educational needs have access to a range of special support services. The services range from special schools dedicated to particular disability groups, through special classes and units attached to ordinary schools, to placement on an integrated basis in ordinary schools, with special back-up supports. The response will normally take the form of resource teacher or special needs assistant support, or both, depending on the level of need involved.

I understand that the student in question was enrolled in St. Joseph's special school for hearing-impaired boys in Cabra. St. Joseph's caters for pupils with hearing impairment, both at primary and post-primary level. The pupil teacher ratio applicable to the school is 7:1 which is as recommended by the special education review committee. The actual pupil teacher ratio in the school is more favourable than this figure. I understand that the parents of the student withdrew him from the school.

I also understand an application was made last year to the Department to fund an educational placement abroad for the student in question. This issue was investigated by the Department's inspectorate and following on from this investigation, a letter issued to the students parents advising that the placement in Cabra was considered appropriate and that the Department would not be making funding available for the person's attendance at an education facility in the United Kingdom.

More recently, the parents of the student in question appealed the Department of Education and Science's decision and the additional information they provided is being considered. I assure the Deputy that the parents will be advised of the outcome of this review in the near future.

Parasuicide Incidence.

Mr. Neville

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this issue.

I welcome the national parasuicide registry's report which was launched by the Minister for Health and Children on Monday. I congratulate Professor Ivan J. Perry, director of the national parasuicide registry and the National Suicide Research Foundation in Cork, and his staff on the report.

In 2002, there were 10,337 parasuicide presentations at accident and emergency departments in hospitals in the State. Of this figure, 8,421 individuals were involved. Of the 8,304 recorded presentations at accident and emergency departments, 42.3% were men and 57.7% were women. Parasuicide episodes were generally confined to younger age groups. Slightly under 90% of them were by people less than 50 years of age. In most age groups, the number of parasuicide acts by women exceeded the number by men. This was most pronounced in the ten to 19 year old group where there were 2.4 times as many as self-harm acts by women. To illustrate this, there were 458 parasuicides by men and 1,094 by women. The ratio of completed suicides of men to women is 5:1. The only notable exception to this female preponderance were in the 25 to 34 year age group where there were almost equal numbers of episodes involving men and women.

I want to impress upon the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Tim O'Malley, that investment in research to know why this is happening is vital if we are to deal with the problem. Up to 257 parasuicides were by residents of homes and hostels, 102 by in-patients in psychiatric hospitals and 32 by prisoners. Repeated acts of self-harm represent a significant problem. In 2002, one in five of those who attempted to take their lives were repeat acts. The development and delivery of interventions for this difficult patient group must be prioritised by the Department.

Parasuicide is an increasing problem in Ireland. Each of the five health board areas from which substantial data were collected in 2001 experienced increases in the number of individuals and episodes of parasuicide treated in hospital in 2002. Rates among women are approximately 40% higher than among men. Every possible research facility should be given to the National Suicide Research Foundation to ascertain why this is occurring because only then will we be able to deal with the issue. Rates are particularly high among young people, with 90% of all presentations under 50 years of age. While the male peak rate for parasuicide is between 20 and 24 years of age at 407 per 1,000, the peak rate for women is between 15 and 19 years of age, at 626 per 1,000. The high rate of deliberate self-harm in adolescent girls poses a particular problem for the health services, as individuals in this group may fall between the child and adult mental health services. We need to know why girls between 15 and 19 years of age have such a high rate of self-harm.

Compared to the national rate, the incidence of parasuicide were significantly higher for men residing in the Midland and Mid-Western Health Board areas and the Eastern Regional Health Authority area. Rates of parasuicide are higher in urban than in rural areas. This is the opposite to completed suicides which tend to be more prevalent in rural areas.

I ask the Department to provide funding for research into parasuicide incidence and introduce ways to reduce the level of self-harm among young men and women.

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Mr. T. O'Malley)

I thank Deputy Neville for raising this matter on the Adjournment.

I welcome the publication of the second annual report of the national parasuicide registry. This important project is carried out by the National Suicide Research Foundation. Parasuicide is increasing in this country and repeated acts of self-harm represent a significant problem.

International studies have found parasuicide to be one of the most significant risk factors associated with suicide. Those who engage in self-harm are 20 times more likely to eventually die by suicide. Studies have shown that at least one third of all suicides have a history of parasuicide. To this end, the National Suicide Research Foundation launched the national parasuicide registry. It is now close to achieving its aim to establish the extent of the problem of hospital-reported parasuicide in Ireland. The findings in this report indicate that approximately 8,400 individuals presented to hospital due to deliberate self-harm in 2002. The development and delivery of interventions for this patient group is a priority for the health services.

The national parasuicide registry provides information on the general characteristics of people who attempt suicide. It also provides a better knowledge of suicidal behaviour and specifies trends in parasuicide over time and in different regions. The analysis of this information will be vital in the development of policies and the implementation of measures aimed at preventing suicide.

The report highlights the challenge that deliberate self-harm and suicide prevention poses for our health system and our society as a whole. The work of the registry will also be very useful in the allocation of resources. It will help identify groups which are particularly vulnerable and will assist health boards to evaluate the impact of the preventive and clinical services being provided.

We cannot ignore or be complacent about the growing incidence of self-harm and suicide. Suicide prevention is an issue with which we must all concern ourselves. Since the publication of the report of the National Task Force on Suicide in 1998, there has been a positive and committed response from both the statutory and voluntary sectors towards finding ways of tackling the tragic problem of suicide. In response to the recommendations of the task force, the National Suicide Review Group was established by the health boards and membership of the group includes experts in the areas of mental health, public health and research.

Health boards, in particular, have a major role to play in co-ordinating efforts to help reduce the level of suicide and parasuicide in this country. In this regard, resource officers have been appointed in all the health boards with specific responsibility for implementing the task force's recommendations. There are also numerous regional initiatives being run by the health boards in conjunction with non-statutory organisations, which focus on mental health issues like stress management, depression, stigma reduction and suicide-related matters. These are issues of paramount importance which require further attention to ensure that positive mental health and the well-being of people is promoted.

The national suicide review group and the Health Boards Executive, HeBE, together with my Department, have commenced work on the preparation of a new national action-oriented strategy for suicide prevention. It is important to stress that this proposed strategy will be action-based from the outset as it will build on existing policy as outlined in the national task force on suicide's report of 1998.

My Department has given special attention in recent years to the resourcing of suicide prevention initiatives. Since the publication of the report of the national task force on suicide in 1998, a cumulative total in excess of €13 million has been provided towards suicide prevention programmes and for research. This includes funding to support the work of the national suicide review group, the Irish Association of Suicidology and the National Suicide Research Foundation for its work in the development of a national parasuicide register.

Significant additional funding has also been made available to develop further child and adolescent psychiatry, adult psychiatry and old age psychiatry services to assist in the early identification of suicidal behaviour and to provide the necessary support and treatment to individuals at risk. My Department also supports the ongoing work of many organisations, such as Mental Health Ireland, Grow, AWARE and Schizophrenia Ireland, in raising public awareness of mental health issues.

I share the public concern about the level of parasuicides and suicides in this country. It is a worrying trend and I am fully committed to the further implementation of suicide prevention initiatives and the further development of our mental health services.

Mr. Neville

May I thank the Minister of State and make one comment——

An Ceann Comhairle

There is no provision for comments. I am sorry but we cannot go outside the Standing Orders.

Mr. Neville

Even on this issue?

An Ceann Comhairle

On any issue. The Standing Order is quite specific and there has never been provision for supplementaries.

Foreign Adoptions.

Mr. Coveney

I thank the Chair for allowing me to raise this issue, which was the subject of several letters I received recently. A couple came to see me over the weekend to discuss the issue because they are frustrated at the lack of progress in this area.

On 31 December 2002 Vietnam was closed to Ireland for adoptions and the only way to re-open the channels was to sign a new bilateral agreement between Ireland and Vietnam. That agreement was signed last September, yet hundreds of couples are still waiting to adopt children. The process has been delayed since last September by the need for the President of Vietnam to sign off on the agreement and for our Department of Health and Children to do the same. There were promises that both Governments would have signed off on the bilateral agreement before the end of last year, and there was great concern when that had not happened by the time we moved into 2004. On 7 January Vietnam signed off on the agreement, so it has nothing further to do to ensure adoptions can proceed. The only obstacle now is the Department of Health and Children because it has not signed off on the agreement.

Some Irish couples have been waiting up to three years to finalise their adoption procedures to bring children into their homes. Adopting a child from as far away as Vietnam is a long, drawn-out process, and if it is the case that the Department, the Government or any other body in Ireland is stalling the process, will the Minister of State ensure that that stalling ends as quickly as possible? The utter frustration some of the parents have expressed to me is unacceptable, especially if there is no valid reason for the continued delay.

The situation is so bad that some parents' police clearance certificates and health certificates, which they obtained during the long adoption assessment process, will be out of date soon as they only last for six months. One couple has had to obtain health certificates three times to be up to date in anticipation of the agreement being signed off.

I am not interested in scoring political points. I want factual answers. Why is the process still being delayed? Will the Minister of State confirm that the Vietnamese have done all they need to do? Will the Minister of State give me a firm date for the resolution of this problem, as the Department told us it would be done early in the new year and it is now February? Families are waiting for children and children are waiting for families. Can we move this process on, fast-tracking it, if necessary? If there is a valid reason for the delay, the Minister of State should outline it because parents deserve to know it at this stage.

Mr. T. O'Malley

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and am pleased to reply on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children with special responsibility for children, Deputy Brian Lenihan.

The Minister of State has taken a number of initiatives on adoption since coming into office. Work was already ongoing within the Department on legislation on adoption, one provision dealing with inter-country adoption and the establishment of the Adoption Authority and the other on the provision of adoption information and related issues. While there had been some public consultation on aspects of these proposals, the Minister decided that, in view of the huge changes in attitudes since the enactment of the primary adoption legislation in 1952, there was a need to examine the area of adoption with a view to developing new approaches for the future. A broad public consultation was held last year covering all aspects of adoption, including a successful oral consultation in October. The results of this consultation process are being examined and it is hoped that proposals will be ready for submission to Government in late spring.

In recent years there have been changes in adoption trends and the growth of adoption by Irish parents of children from other countries in particular has been a significant development. One of the issues raised during the consultation process was inter-country adoption and the overwhelming consensus was that Ireland should move to ratify the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Intercountry Adoption. The Hague Convention provides a child-centred basis on which to provide for inter-country adoption and is of particular importance in ensuring that the best interests of the child are kept to the forefront in all decisions made. The proposals submitted to Government will include proposals for ratification of the Hague Convention.

In the meantime much work has been done by health boards and the Adoption Board to ensure that existing practices are carried out in accordance with the high standards set by the Hague Convention. The introduction of the standardised framework for assessment for inter-country adoption was a major step forward in this regard and one which was welcomed by parents, support groups and practitioners. The standardised framework is now in use throughout the country.

Some of the countries from which we adopt prefer to operate on the basis of a bilateral agreement. The Adoption Board has entered into working arrangements with the authorities in Thailand, China, Belarus and the Philippines. In the past we had a state-to-state agreement with Romania but, due to concerns about whether the best interests of children were being properly looked after, Romania has suspended inter-country adoptions and is working to draft new legislation to ensure best practice.

The Vietnamese authorities decided that, from the end of 2002, adoptions would only be allowed to countries with which a bilateral agreement was in place. During 2002 the Adoption Board tried to develop such an agreement, but the Vietnamese authorities wished to have an agreement at state level. The Minister of State, Deputy Lenihan, contacted the Irish ambassador and, in March last year, a delegation headed by the ambassador to Malaysia and Vietnam negotiated a bilateral agreement on inter-country adoption.

Both Ireland and Vietnam signed the agreement and Vietnam ratified it on 7 January 2004.

The Adoption Board has been working with its counterparts in Vietnam to set up the practical arrangements and procedures for Vietnamese adoptions. In the meantime, the Department of Foreign Affairs is examining options to enable ratification of the agreement by the State as soon as possible. Under the terms of the agreement, adoptions can recommence 30 days after Ireland has ratified the agreement.

As this is a state-to-state agreement, the terms have to be examined very closely to ensure that the State can meet its international obligations. The Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, is confident that we will be in a position to ratify the agreement soon, following completion of the necessary work within the two Departments.

The Dáil adjourned at 11.25 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 5 February 2004.