Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 5 May 2005

Vol. 601 No. 6

Adjournment Debate.

Health Services.

Mr. Gilmore

The case in question is sad and sensitive and involves a 24 year old man who has been diagnosed with vCJD and is seriously ill in a Dublin hospital. I have been contacted by the young man's family. While they do not wish themselves or their son to be publicly identified, they have asked me to raise the matter publicly with the Minister for Health and Children because they believe there are aspects of the case which are of public concern.

This young man was diagnosed with vCJD in November 2004. He had lived all his life in Ireland and had never travelled abroad. It is clear, therefore, that he contracted the disease here, which raises questions about the adequacy of the safeguards in place to prevent vCJD arising in Ireland. The family of the victim have drawn my attention to the Southwood report published in the UK in 1990 which led to the implementation of a range of preventative measures there. The measures included the establishment of a national vCJD surveillance unit and joint interdepartmental committee to provide independent advice, the banning of mechanically recovered meat and meat and bonemeal and the destruction of surgical instruments used on vCJD patients. A range of other measures to protect blood supplies was also implemented. In addition, the UK Government has provided funding for research for a test to detect the disease at the incubation stage.

The Minister for Health and Children should make a statement on the measures which have been put in place in Ireland to prevent vCJD and, specifically, state when such measures were implemented and explain how they are monitored. The family want to know how their son came to develop vCJD in Ireland, given that he had never travelled abroad, and they are entitled to an explanation. The UK Government established a compensation fund for victims of vCJD and their families. While the House will appreciate that the family's concern at this time is for their son, the Tánaiste should nevertheless consider the UK fund and state whether it is intended to introduce a similar measure here.

I have on a confidential basis supplied the Tánaiste with the details of the case to enable her to respond fully. I hope the Minister of State will be able to respond on the Adjournment in the positive and sympathetic manner the matter demands.

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Mr. B. Lenihan)

Late last year, we learned with regret of the occurrence of a case of vCJD in a young man in Dublin. I convey my sympathy and that of the Tánaiste to the family of the young man who are coming to terms with very difficult circumstances. The case concerns a 23-year-old man who was admitted to hospital about eight months ago. It has been confirmed that he is suffering from variant CJD and the probability is that he contracted it before the current strict controls on the sale of meat in Ireland were brought into force in 1996. Given that the incubation period for variant CJD is considered to be several years, it is virtually impossible to identify a specific source of infection. However, the CJD advisory group and the National Disease Surveillance Centre will give further consideration to this issue.

The clinical management of the case is, of course, a matter for the clinicians involved. The Tánaiste has been briefed by the chairman of the national CJD advisory group on any possible broader public health implications which may have arisen from this case.

The CJD advisory group provides scientific, professional and technical advice on all aspects of CJD and the policy responses that are appropriate in light of the evolving information and evidence on this topic.

There are no public health issues in this case. The patient has never received a blood transfusion, was never a blood donor and has not received any invasive medical treatments.

New variant CJD is a rare degenerative fatal brain disorder in humans. It is believed that the vast majority of persons who have developed vCJD became infected through the consumption of cattle products contaminated with the agent of BSE. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the Department of Agriculture and Food are responsible for BSE controls. The FSAI stresses that the BSE controls in place in Ireland since 1996 are very strict and there are layers of robust control measures to ensure maximum consumer protection concerning BSE.

The incidence of BSE in Ireland continues to decline in the Irish cattle population, demonstrating that the controls introduced in 1996 and 1997 are working. There are fewer cases of BSE and the vast majority of current cases are in animals born before the introduction of these enhanced controls.

One of the key factors for establishing the FSAI in 1996 was the BSE crisis. The FSAI bases its decisions upon the best scientific data and knowledge, and develops inspection and audit controls to ensure maximum consumer protection in regard to meat and meat products. A rigorous policy of safeguards is now firmly established throughout the food chain.

There is a sequence of controls for BSE along the food chain. The feeding of meat and bonemeal to all farm animals is prohibited and there are stringent controls at rendering plants and feed mills. The main consumer protection measure has been the removal of specified risk materials from the human food chain. These are the parts of an animal most likely to contain BSE infectivity if that animal is incubating the disease.

All cattle are examined by veterinary inspectors before slaughter at abattoirs and rapid BSE testing is carried out on all animals over 30 months of age. Veterinary inspectors under service contract to the FSAI ensure slaughtered cattle have had the SRM removed. At boning plants, the carcasses are inspected again. Environmental health officers under contract to the FSAI inspect carcasses in butcher shops. In addition, all butchers operating in Ireland are aware that it is illegal to sell meat products containing SRM.

The FSAI and the Department of Agriculture and Food have been to the forefront in the EU with the most aggressive controls to protect both animals and humans from the BSE agent. The FSAI, the Department of Agriculture and Food and the other agencies involved in policing the food chain are working closely together to ensure full compliance and maximum consumer protection.

I have also been assured that the measures in place to protect public health, especially concerning the protection of the blood supply, are in accordance with best international practice.

A number of technical sterilising measures are taken on blood supplies and a number of donor deferral measures, especially in respect of persons who lived in the UK, form the cornerstone of this activity.

Following preliminary discussions with the chairman of the CJD advisory group and the medical director of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service, the initial conclusion is that the situation presented by the occurrence of this case does not require that any other measures, apart from those already in place, need to be taken.

The IBTS undertook a review of its policies following the case of transfusion infection in the UK last year and will continue with those policies. The CJD advisory group has also recently endorsed the most up-to-date infection control guidance in respect of the management of CJD in the hospital setting. The Department is ensuring the circulation of the guidance through the hospital system.

The disease continues to be notifiable and the national CJD surveillance unit in Beaumont Hospital continues its activity in monitoring the occurrence of CJD in Ireland.

At this difficult time for those concerned, I ask everyone in this House and in the media to respect the privacy of this young man and of his relatives.

Deportation Orders.

Mr. Costello

I ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to ensure that no asylum seeker who is sitting an Irish State examination this summer will be issued with a deportation order or deported during the examination period.

The Minister should ensure that no unaccompanied minor or asylum seeker who is due to sit State examinations here should be issued with a deportation order or actually deported. I also want the Minister to state that such students should not have to sign on at the Garda national immigration bureau in Burgh Quay until their examinations are over. Otherwise, anybody who is being threatened with deportation or the likelihood of deportation would have to sign on at the bureau now and in June.

State examinations are stressful enough at the best of times but the threat of arrest and deportation while young people are studying for or sitting examinations is absolutely intolerable.

Recently, the Minister allowed a young man, Olunkunle Eluhanla, to return from Nigeria to complete his leaving certificate examinations. The Minister admitted making a mistake and said that Mr. Eluhanla should not have been deported in the circumstances. The Minister should now follow this action with its logical counterpart, namely that anybody planning to sit examinations shortly should be free to study and sit those examinations without fear of gardaí knocking on their doors at home or in the classroom, or being arrested and detained when they report to the Garda national immigration bureau.

In Mr. Eluhanla's case, the Minister said the immigration bureau had noted on the deportation document that the fact the student was going to sit an examination should be taken into consideration. That note was left unheeded, however. A publicly declared policy statement is now required from the Minister so there is no danger of it being misinterpreted or going unheeded and another such mistake being made. That is a logical deduction given what the Minister has already declared about the case of the young Nigerian whom he allowed to return in order to sit the leaving certificate examination. It should be made clear that no one currently studying for the junior or leaving certificate examinations in June will be deported between now and the start of the examinations, or during the examinations.

Mr. B. Lenihan

I am replying on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell. Before dealing with the substance of this matter, I need to make it clear that no asylum seeker will be, or ever has been, deported. In its express terms, Deputy Costello's motion addresses the Minister on the need to ensure that no asylum seeker who is sitting an Irish State examination this summer will be issued with a deportation order or deported during the examination period. Of course, it is impossible for the Minister to deport an asylum seeker, which is a fundamental point in terms of this matter.

Mr. Costello

That is not true because they are still asylum seekers when the final order is being issued. They are just waiting to see whether they will be allowed to stay.

Mr. B. Lenihan

No, that is not correct. I will bring the Deputy through the details of the matter. Asylum seekers are persons who come here seeking refugee status. Their asylum claims are thoroughly investigated and if they are found not to be in need of protection under the Geneva Convention they are no longer asylum seekers.

Mr. Costello

We know the rules.

Mr. B. Lenihan

Furthermore, before any deportation takes place, they are given an opportunity to go home voluntarily or to give reasons why they should not be deported. The suggestion that they can still give reasons why they should not be deported does not relate to their character as failed asylum seekers. There are two fundamental underlying principles with regard to the asylum process, and the treatment of individuals, who are not found to be refugees at the end of that process, when asylum seekers come here and seek our protection that their cases are fairly and independently examined. A deportation process, after a person's case has been dealt with fairly, is central to the proper running of an immigration and asylum system.

The definition of a refugee is set out in section 2 of the Refugee Act 1996. I do not propose to go through the entire definition but it is clear that the task in the case of each individual asylum seeker is to determine whether, following investigation, he or she is deemed to come within the terms of that definition on the basis of all the information which is gleaned.

Under the Refugee Act 1996, two statutory offices were established to consider applications or appeals in respect of refugee status and make recommendations to the Minister on whether such status should be granted. These offices are the Refugee Applications Commissioner and Refugee Appeals Tribunal. Every asylum applicant is guaranteed an investigation and a determination of his or her claim at first instance by the Refugee Applications Commissioner and a right of appeal to a statutorily independent and separate body, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. Every asylum applicant is also guaranteed access to legal assistance provided by the refugee legal service.

The final decision in respect of an asylum application is a matter for the Minister based on the recommendation of the commissioner. However, under the legislative scheme of things, the Minister is obliged, save in exceptional circumstances, to accept such a recommendation. When the Minister makes a decision under the provision of section 17(1) to refuse to give a declaration of refugee status to an individual, notification is sent to the individual who is informed that three options are open to him or her. He or she may voluntarily leave the State, consent to a deportation order being issued in respect of him or her——

Mr. Costello

I want an answer, not a lecture, from the Minister of State.

Mr. B. Lenihan

The wording of the matter raised by the Deputy is erroneous.

Mr. Costello

The Minister of State's response to my contribution is irrelevant.

Mr. B. Lenihan

It is highly relevant. If an individual consents to a deportation order being issued in respect of him or her, arrangements will be made for his or her removal from the State. The third option available to him or her is to make written representations, within 15 working days, setting out reasons he or she should be allowed to remain temporarily in the State.

Mr. Costello

Every time I table a question or raise a matter, I receive the same lecture.

Mr. B. Lenihan

I will not take the Deputy through the various statutory factors the Minister must consider. Leaving aside the mistaken reference to asylum seekers being deported, I presume the substance of the issue raised by the Deputy is that persons sitting a State examination this summer would neither be issued with a deportation order nor deported prior to the examination taking place. The wording of the matter is a variation of a matter raised by the Deputy on the Adjournment on 22 March when he asked that we do not deport the schoolgoing children of non-national parents who are facing deportation——

Mr. Costello

It is a different issue.

Mr. B. Lenihan

An asylum seeker cannot be deported.

Mr. Costello

This has no connection with the matter I raised on 22 March as it relates to a much broader issue.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Allow the Minister of State to continue without interruption.

Mr. B. Lenihan

The earlier debate arose from circumstances the Deputy referred to, namely, the deportation to Nigeria in mid-March of a young man who was to sit his leaving certificate examination in Palmerstown community college next month. Although it has been the policy of successive Ministers for Justice, Equality and Law Reform not to reveal the personal details of the cases of individual applicants for asylum, in light of the widespread media reporting at the time I will refer to the case in question as the Kunle case.

Mr. Costello

This is irrelevant.

Mr. B. Lenihan

The Minister reversed his decision in the Kunle case on its unique facts and allowed the young man concerned to return to sit his leaving certificate examinations. I refer Deputies to the Minister's response to the Seanad Adjournment debate of 25 March 2005 on the matter.

A general policy not to deport schoolgoing persons leading up to examination periods cannot be inferred from the decision in the Kunle case. I ask Deputies to consider what would be the consequences of such a policy. In effect, no person in any form of State education and, by implication, none of his or her family members could be deported from the State for a considerable part of the year. Further, the logic of such a policy would be that a person at any point in the education system leading up to an exam could not be deported.

Deputies should bear in mind that a substantial number of asylum seekers are of an age when they are likely to be engaged in the State education system where examinations of one sort or another are a common feature. For example, of the 7,900 asylum applicants in 2003, almost 1,100 were accompanied minors between the ages of four and 18 years. Similarly, of the 4,766 asylum applicants in 2004, more than 700 were accompanied minors between the ages of 4 and 18 years. To give a guarantee that none of those persons — and again, by implication, his or her siblings and parents — would be deported or even issued with deportation orders during a substantial part of the year would be irresponsible. It would send out a message to the world that Ireland had an obligation to provide an education, including the right to sit examinations, to those who, having been found not to be in need of international protection, had otherwise no right to be in the State.

Mr. Costello

May I ask a question?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

No provision is made for questions during the Adjournment debate.

Mr. Costello

I asked the Minister of State whether individuals who are due to sit State examinations will be deported between now and the examinations and received six pages of waffle in reply.

School Transport.

Mr. Neville

I welcome this opportunity to raise school transport arrangements as they apply to the Salesian secondary college, Pallaskenry, County Limerick. The position is that the children travelling to the school are from rural and urban areas. Since 1967, the school has shared a catchment area with city schools. Slightly more than 50% of the its student population come from the western suburbs of Limerick city and in many cases these students live closer to the college than any other school in the city to which they would have a chance of gaining admission. In the early 1970s, Mungret college, which served the same catchment area as the Salesian secondary college, closed and Mount Trenchard Mercy convent in Foynes closed in the 1980s. Students from Kildimo, a village near the Salesian college, and other areas closer to the city have traditionally attended the school and availed of free school transport. Many children from Limerick city who experienced difficulties securing a place in schools in their locality travelled to the Salesian college and their younger siblings then attended the school at a later date.

Students from throughout the county catchment area may travel into the city using the school transport scheme, whereas students in the city's suburbs will have to pay privately under recent changes to travel to the Salesian college. Many students in the catchment area cannot get to the school because no transport services are available. National schools in Shauntrade and Adare, for example, have 34 students in sixth class who would be expected to attend the college. The Salesian college shares a catchment area with the VEC school in Askeaton. Students from the west of the catchment area travel for convenience purposes — it is a shorter distance — to the Askeaton school, the next parish but one to Pallaskenry. The Pallaskenry catchment area, on the other hand, has traditionally been the area between the village and the city and the village and Adare.

The feeder schools for the Salesian college include Pallaskenry, Kildimo, Ballybrown, St. Nessan's, Mungret, and St. Paul's, Dooradoyle. The proposed new directive will result in school transport services being removed for students from Ballybrown, St. Nessan's, Mungret, and St. Paul's, Dooradoyle, which leaves the college with two feeder primary schools. Each of these has approximately 35 students, some of whom will decide to attend school in Limerick city because free transport will be available to the city. Children from rural areas will, therefore, be able to avail of free transport into Limerick city.

I ask that free school transport continue to be provided to students in the traditional catchment area of Pallaskenry in line with the position since 1967. The issue was examined on a number of occasions and each time it was decided to maintain the status quo. The benefits available to city schools should also be open to the Salesian college but the current cut-off point for availability of free school transport has been set at less than three miles from the college. The Salesian college has enjoyed a good reputation for more than 100 years during which the Salesian Fathers have given excellent service to the community. As the Minister will appreciate, the new directive has serious implications for the school. I ask that the current position, which has worked since 1967, be maintained and children who wish to attend the same school as their siblings and neighbours be allowed to do so. Some of the children in question have difficulty securing a place in schools in Limerick city. In addition, Pallaskenry is regarded as the natural choice of school for children in the locality.

Mr. B. Lenihan

I thank Deputy Neville for raising this matter on the Adjournment. I am replying on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin. While I am not sure my response will be of great assistance to the Deputy, I will place on record the views of the Minister on the issue.

One of the main objects of the school transport scheme is to provide a basic level of service for children who live long distances from schools and might otherwise experience difficulty in attending regularly. Approximately 140,000 primary and post-primary pupils use the school transport scheme on a regular basis. The allocation for school transport in 2005 is €116.533 million, an increase of 6% on last year's outturn. In the region of 30% of the allocation will be expended this year on transport costs and grant-aid for children with special needs who represent about 6% of the overall number of children carried each day.

For the purposes of post-primary education provision, the country is divided into catchment areas, each of which has its own post-primary centre. Under the terms of the post-primary school transport scheme, a pupil is eligible for school transport if he resides 4.8 kilometres or more from the post-primary centre in the catchment area in which he lives. A post-primary centre is not necessarily a school building. It is usually a central point in the catchment area to which the distance from home is measured.

Eligible pupils who wish to attend post-primary schools in another catchment area may be allowed transport on school services from within the catchment boundary of the centre being attended, subject to there being room available on the school transport service and no additional cost to the State. The pupils themselves are responsible for getting to the catchment boundary or to the nearest school bus service within that catchment area.

An eligible pupil who is approved for catchment boundary transport is not guaranteed school transport for the duration of his education at that centre. As a concessionary measure, continued transport will depend on the availability of space on the school service to that centre in each school term.

A large number of pupils who reside in the Limerick city catchment area have been provided with full transport facilities to the Salesian college, Pallaskenry, because of difficulties encountered in previous years in securing placements in certain schools in Limerick city. The continued provision of full school transport facilities for these pupils and new applicants for school transport is being reviewed in the light of the outcome to the new centralised application system for enrolments for pupils in Limerick city which was put in place for the next school year. Catchment boundary transport will continue to be available to pupils enrolling in the Salesian college, Pallaskenry, subject to the terms of the scheme.

Special Educational Needs.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Chomhairle as deis a thabhairt an cheist seo a phlé. The decision of the Department of Education and Science to axe the jobs of more than 70 special needs assistants has caused shock throughout the State, especially to those working in the special needs area. I compliment the trade union IMPACT, which represents special needs assistants, on bringing this matter to public attention.

These assistants provide invaluable support in schools to children with special needs. In many cases, children simply could not attend school without their help. They operate in both special and mainstream schools and assist children with both physical and intellectual disabilities. The assistants are part of the infrastructure of care and education in this State. We know how inadequate that support structure is for children with special educational needs and for people with disabilities, although I acknowledge improvements have been made in recent years.

One of those improvements was the recruitment of the assistants in the first place. There are now more than 5,000 of them linked to individual pupils rather than to schools or localities. In that overall context, the decision to cut more than 70 of these posts is seen as incredible. As my colleague, the Sinn Féin education spokesperson, Deputy Crowe, stated yesterday, it beggars belief. It is even more incredible considering the review carried out by the National Council for Special Education, which advises the Minister for Education and Science, has identified a shortfall of 175 special needs assistants in the State.

IMPACT has called on the Department of Education and Science to agree a mechanism that would keep experienced special needs assistants in the system and avoid these sackings. I fully support that call. The Department has informed the union, however, that the special needs assistants are allocated to individual pupils and that when they move on or are no longer in need of a special needs assistant, the post must go. The Department has said that there is no system of reallocation and it would be too complex to create one. I do not accept that. Compared with the complexities faced by parents, teachers and assistants in looking after children with special needs, this is a minor bureaucratic hurdle that could easily be crossed if the will existed.

I urge the Minister of State to agree with IMPACT a panel system for special needs assistants similar to that operated for teachers. I understand there will be talks next week and I urge the Minister of State to approach those talks with flexibility and generosity. As IMPACT has stated, it is utter madness to show dedicated, experienced staff the door when children in other schools are crying out for a special needs assistant. This will hit the most vulnerable children in the education system. There is a suspicion this is being done so the Department can avoid its responsibilities under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act. The Act outlaws discrimination against temporary staff and restricts employers' ability to avoid their responsibilities by hiring staff on a series of short-term contracts. I hope that is not the case. Special needs assistants have only been in the system for four or five years so it makes no sense to make more than 70 of them redundant.

This issue must also be related to the continuing failure of the Minister for Education and Science to issue her review of the revised system of allocation for special needs teachers. We were promised that review earlier this year and then in April. We are now in the month of May and parents of children with special needs, school principals and teachers who are trying to plan for the coming school year are still in the dark. This is no way to treat the most vulnerable children in the education system and I appeal to the Minister of State to inform the House where we stand on the review of the special needs teachers allocation and to do all he can to ensure it is published speedily.

Mr. B. Lenihan

I am replying on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, but I am glad Deputy Ó Caoláin has raised this matter on the Adjournment of the House because it gives the Minister an opportunity to put the case. While legitimate matters about staff concerns arise from this matter, there is no substantive issue related to the welfare or care of this group of vulnerable children.

Special needs assistants are assigned to schools to meet the care needs of individual children who have been assessed by a psychologist as requiring this type of support. Where it has been established that additional special needs assistant posts are necessary, these posts continue to be allocated on an ongoing basis. The recruitment of additional staff in schools where such a need has been identified is not contingent on the removal of special needs assistants from schools with surplus staff. Where a need has been identified, schools can proceed immediately to recruit the required staff.

This Government has put in place an unprecedented level of support for children with special needs. Since 1998, the number of special needs assistants has increased from under 300 to nearly 6,000. In addition, more effective systems, such as the National Council for Special Education, have been put in place to ensure that children get support as early as possible.

At this stage the National Council for Special Education has dealt with all new applications from schools for special needs assistance that will be required from the beginning of September 2005. Therefore, there should be no reason a child enrolling in a school in September 2005 who requires special needs assistance does not have that assistance in place from his or her first day in school.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

There is a shortfall.

Mr. B. Lenihan

There is no restriction on the recruitment of special needs assistants. The Department of Education and Science has been conducting a review of special needs assistance provision in primary schools. The review is concerned with the level and deployment of special needs assistance posts in mainstream classes. The intention of this is to ensure that the level of approved special needs assistance support in schools, and the manner in which that support is allocated, ensures that the special care needs of pupils are being appropriately met. Where the review to date has found that additional special needs assistants are needed to cater for the needs of specific children in schools, those schools have been informed that they may make the necessary arrangements immediately for putting the required staff in place.

The review has also found that some schools no longer have the care needs for which the special needs assistant was originally sanctioned. In some cases the child may have left the school while in other cases the care needs of the child have diminished as the child has progressed through the school. Where a child for whom a special needs assistant was sanctioned no longer needs such support, that post ceases. In this regard the schools where surplus special needs assistant support was identified have been advised they may retain this surplus until the end of the current school year.

There is no redeployment scheme in place by which special needs assistants, surplus to requirements in a particular school, can be redeployed to another school. Putting such a scheme in place would be complex as there is no guarantee that as a post becomes surplus in one school, an additional post would become available in the locality.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

However, it could be.

Mr. B. Lenihan

Unlike teachers, where posts are allocated on a pupil-teacher ratio basis, enabling a redeployment scheme to work effectively, special needs assistant posts are allocated on the basis of individual care needs and the creation of a workable redeployment scheme would be more difficult.

Discussions are ongoing with IMPACT, as referred to by the Deputy, on this matter and further discussions are scheduled for next week. However, the appointment of special needs assistants to individual schools is a matter for the boards of management of those schools. It is open to any existing special needs assistant to apply for a newly created post in any other school.

The revised procedure for providing a general allocation of resource teaching hours to schools will be announced soon, in time to be implemented for the next school year. Resource teaching for children in the lower incidence disability categories is now dealt with by the National Council for Special Education. These resources will continue to be allocated on the basis of individual applications.

I thank Deputy Ó Caoláin for giving me the opportunity to clarify the position on these matters.

The Dáil adjourned at 5.20 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 10 May 2005.