Vol. 614 No. 2
109 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if decisions have been reached on applications made to his Department in September 2005 for funding to automate a number of island post offices. [4341/06]
In September 2005, an application for funding to automate a number of island post offices was received by my Department from An Post. This application is being evaluated in the context of the funding available to me and the competing demands on same.
I am disappointed that the Minister has not been able to answer the question more directly. This question was first asked prior to Christmas, at which time he indicated that those decisions would be made by the end of 2005. We are now two months into 2006 but no decision has yet been made. Will the Minister expand on the information and give the number of applications that have been sought from his Department, when a decision is likely to be made and the funding implications of positive decisions being made in each case?
Does the Minister accept that for the island communities involved, automation should be adopted, especially in terms of social welfare payments because of the insistence on this policy by his Cabinet colleague, Deputy Brennan, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs. In more urban areas it appears that social welfare recipients are being pushed towards the banking system but no such option exists on many of the islands. This is a service that can and must only be provided through An Post.
I absolutely agree with Deputy Boyle. Funnily enough I have been driving this matter since I became a Minister of State six or seven years ago. The reluctance has been on the part of An Post to get on and do the job. It said it did not have the resources. We then offered capital resources to try to enable it to do the job. I have no problem in providing funding of a capital nature, including training on a one-off basis and so on to install the system. I more than agree with everything Deputy Boyle said. AIB banking services, passport applications, mobile phone top-ups and all these other services are now available through post offices. We are committed to providing these services on the islands but the obligation is on An Post in the first instance.
There are post offices on 11 of the islands, two of which, Árainn Mhór and Inis Mór nó Árainn are fully automated. The proposals we got are for Oileán Thoraí i dTír Chonaill, Clare Island and Inishturk in County Mayo, Boffin, Inis Meáin and Inis Oírr in County Galway, Bere Island, Oileán Cléire and Sherkin in County Cork, which gives a total of nine, and when the other two are added this gives a total of 11 post offices, nine of which require to be automated.
We have no problem with the one-off cost. The issue is that having put in the system An Post claims it does not have enough money to run it. It is not my business to pay running cost subsidies on islands. If I start down that road every agency of the State would be looking for running cost subsidies but they will not get them. We will have to resolve that issue.
I am not sure how far the Minister's writ extends in these issues but I am anxious that post offices would not close down along our coasts. The Minister is also responsible for rural development. Does he have a role in protecting existing post offices in a Gaeltacht area in my county? I am sure the Minister is very familiar with Rann na Feirste. The post office there, which probably predates the foundation of the State, has been closed. The same thing has happened in the next village, Croithlí. It is happening all over rural Ireland. I agree with Deputy Boyle on the need to have post offices automated as much as possible. Does the Minister have a role in ensuring that post offices remain open and that services remain available to the people in these rural areas? I am sure the Minister will agree that having a post office in an area is a valuable facility. Very often, it is the only State-sponsored facility in an area and it is a backward step to close it down. Does the Minister have a view on that and what is his responsibility as Minister with responsibility for rural development?
I will not comment on the situation in regard to any particular post office, but in terms of the broader issue, the ministerial responsibility for that matter rests with the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. Of course I am anxious that services are maintained in rural communities, but that has to be done within the remit of An Post, which has the primary responsibility to make sure it is done. An Post must have a policy to provide services throughout the country.
The issue of the island post offices is different in that if one is on an island there is no question of going down the road to the next post office. If one is on the mainland, at least one has the choice of going to a post office three or four miles down the road. The reason we kept pushing money and that there is a desire to see island post offices upgraded is that there is no other choice for people on islands, and we will continue to pursue this matter.
There is a broader policy issue at stake, one which would create a very dangerous precedent. The various agencies of State have an obligation to provide services to our island communities. As a Department, we have facilitated capital expenditure on health centres, schools, post offices and a wide range of services. Once we have facilitated that we expect the service to be provided without a continual subsidy from the Department by the agency with responsibility for that service. In other words, the health authorities would provide health services and so on. It would be a dangerous precedent for us to cross the threshold. If I were to do so in the case of one State agency I would have every State agency pleading poverty when it came to providing island services.
Funding is always limited. There is funding for providing air services and boat services and we want to improve those services. For example, there is a need for cargo services to islands like Turk, Boffin, Clare and Tory. There is a need for an air service to Tory, and to Boffin in County Galway. We want to improve a range of services. If I started subsidising health boards, education authorities and the like on a day to day basis, the Deputy would quickly realise I would have no money left to improve the ferry services. I have a clear view that the day to day cost of running the services, and obligation for doing so on a parity of esteem basis with people on the mainland, rests with the various agencies. When we resolve that issue, we will then look further at this issue and I hope we will be able to resolve this An Post issue.
An Post has had its own travails in the past few years. I think they were caused, not by the cost of rural services but by other issues. We will try to resolve this as speedily as possible. It has been a long drawn out process. These matters can be frustrating, but there is no point in taking a short cut that leads to even bigger problems in the future and in my view would lead to a draw on island funds that should not be made on specific island funds.
What is the approximate cost of automating a post office? The post office is central to communications, especially on the islands. The former Minister of Public Enterprise, Senator O'Rourke, mentioned a one stop shop approach to rural post offices which she was addressing at that stage, where various State services could be delivered in the one building. The idea was that this would generate some kind of income so one would get somebody to take on such post offices. Are such approaches being examined by anybody? Is the Minister really stating that the current position is there will be no movement on this because An Post will not pay for it and nobody else will pay for it, and there will be no automation?
I am inclined to agree with the way the Minister is approaching this. What are the running costs? Are they excessive?
I would totally agree with Deputy O'Shea's comments on this as well. I am sure this is being looked at but it should be the way forward.
The capital costs are €129,000 and the running cost per annum is €26,000.
Is that per office?
No, my understanding is that the entire project will also require an annual subvention of €26,000. The issue is whether I cross a line. The problem for me is not the money. Some €26,000 will not break the bank, either for me or for An Post.
It is the principle.
What I would be afraid of is the queue that would form quickly behind An Post — we have seen this in the past — of all sorts of service providers on islands queuing up with their hands out stating, "Please, sir, can I have some more too?" The Deputies know what would happen then, there would be no money left for the services we subvent on a daily basis, particularly transport services.
The figure for capital costs of €129,000 is modest. No doubt I can come up with €129,000. That is not a problem; we just would have to go through the processes.
I agree with Deputy O'Shea on the issue of the one stop shop. Currently, there is not the full range of automated services available. The first step we want to take is to provide everything that the best post office in the country can provide in terms of banking, passport applications, mobile services, sterling drafts, business deposits, gift vouchers etc. Of course there is a captive population on an island, where people cannot go to the next post office and the post office gets all the business available. There is also quite a bit of tourist business on some of these islands. I agree they can build up a good business.
On the issue of other services, the concept is good. However, we run a community development project on all of those islands, with the exception of Sherkin for reasons of which the House will be aware, and we are a little betwixt and between as to who should provide the one stop shop, in that there is the post office which is often associated with a shop and there is also this community development project or Gaeltacht co-operative providing other services, to which we often give the role of providing the kind of other one stop shop services. I agree that between those two organisations as many services as possible should be delivered within the islands. The principle is correct, but in certain cases perhaps the Gaeltacht co-operative or the CDP should provide it. In other cases, the idea of the local post office providing as many services as possible is a worthy one to which I would be open.
110 D'fhiafraigh Mr. McGinley den Aire Gnóthaí Pobail, Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta an dtabharfaidh sé cuntas ar an dul chun cinn atá déanta ina Roinn maidir le polasaí díláraithe an Rialtais agus cén uair atá súil aige go mbeidh an polasaí curtha i gcrích. [4403/06]
Tá sé beartaithe go mbeidh aistriú mo Roinne-se go hAerfort Chnoc Mhuire críochnaithe faoi dheireadh 2007. Tá sé ar intinn againn suas le 70 ball foirne a athlonnú roimh an phríomhaistriú, ag brath, inter alia, ar chóiríocht fheiliúnach shealadach a bheith ar fáil sa cheantar máguaird. Tá Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí faoi láthair ag iarraidh cóiríocht chuí a aimsiú, agus tá súil agam go dtarlóidh an t-aistriú tosaigh seo ó lár na bliana 2006.
Faoi láthair, tá 26 duine d'fhoireann mo Roinne sásta aistriú go hAerfort Chnoc Mhuire. Tá breis foirne ag aistriú ó Ranna eile chun dílárú. Chomh maith leis sin, tá líon mór iarratasóirí atá díláraithe cheana ag iarraidh aistriú go dtí mo Roinnse. Leis an bhfoireann sin, agus leis na céimeanna iomchuíó thaobh acmhainní daonna agus láimhseáil riosca de a bheith glactha, creidim go mbeidh a dhóthain iarratasóirí ann chun na postanna go léir a líonadh don aistriú tosaigh agus, ina dhiaidh sin, don aistriú chuig an gceanncheathrú buan i gCnoc Mhuire.
Tá suíomh roghnaithe don cheanncheathrú buan sin, agus tá conradh sínithe ag Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí chun an suíomh a cheannacht. Fógraíodh comórtas le déanaí do dhearadh agus do thógáil an fhoirgnimh. Tá súil agam go dtosóidh an obair ar an suíomh sa cheathrú dheiridh den bhliain reatha. Tá sé beartaithe go mbeidh críoch leis an obair uilig is gá ar an fhoirgneamh in am d'aistriú na foirne uile go hAerfort Chnoc Mhuire faoi dheireadh 2007.
Maidir leis an aistriú chuig Na Forbacha, tá seacht bpost as an 13 post atá i gceist líonta cheana féin, agus táim ag súil leis go mbeidh fuílleach na bpost líonta ar an láthair sin faoi dheireadh na bliana.
Chun tacaíocht a thabhairt don phróiseas seo uile, tá plean forfheidhmithe um dhílárú ullmhaithe ag mo Roinnse ag leagan amach na gcéimeanna chun aistrithe áitheasacha a chinntiú. Leanann an plean na treoirlínte atá leagtha síos ag an ghrúpa um fhorfheidhmiú díláraithe. Tá an plean á chur i gcrích i gcomhairle le bainisteoirí agus foireann araon, agus i gcomhréir leis na socruithe lárnacha atáá ndéanamh maidir le haistrithe foirne agus nithe gaolmhara eile.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht an freagra céanna a thabhairt aríst. Sílim go raibh dúbláil i gceist anseo agus go raibh mé féin mar chúis leis mar gur ionann iad Ceisteanna Uimh. 107 agus 110. Ní rachaidh mé siar ar an mhéid a bhí le rá agam nuair a bhí an tAire ag tabhairt freagra ar Cheist Uimh. 107.
Is dócha gurb é an t-aon ghné den dílárú nach ndearna mé féin nó an tAire tagairt dó ná an dílárú go Dún na nGall, is é sin, Foras na Gaeilge. An bhfuil aon dul chun cinn déanta ó thóg mé an cheist sa Dáil? Is dócha go bhfuil an tAire ag fanacht le tuairiscí agus mar sin de. B'fhéidir go bhféadfadh sé stádas rudaí i láthair na huaire a mhíniú. Tuigim nach mbeidh deacracht mhór ar bith le foirgneamh oiriúnach agus fóirsteanach a chur ar fáil i nGaoth Dobhair a bheidh chomh saor agus inchurtha le foirgneamh ar bith atá ar fáil i gceantar ar bith eile sa tír. B'fhéidir go mbeadh an tAire ábalta a rá conas atá rudaí i láthair na huaire, chomh fada agus a bhaineann sé le Foras na Gaeilge.
Díreach sula labhróidh mé ar an bhForas, b'fhéidir go dtabharfainn píosa eolais nár thug mé roimhe seo. Tá 26 duine sa Roinn cheana féin atá sásta agus réidh le bogadh go Cnoc Mhuire.
Cé mhéad?
Tá 26 duine sásta a bhogadh go Cnoc Mhuire. Bhog 70 duine i mbliana. Cheana féin, tá na daoine sin á lonnú sa Roinn le bheith réidh le bogadh, is é sin le rá, tá meaitseáil ar bun le go mbeidh na daoine atá ag teacht isteach sa Roinn nó atá istigh cheana féin sna háiteacha a bheidh ag bogadh go luath. Mar sin, déanfaidh sé sin an jab níos éascaí. Maidir le ceist Fhoras na Gaeilge, tá an plean faighte sa Roinn. Tá stáidéar á dhéanamh air, agus tá an roinn ó Thuaidh ag déanamh an rud céanna. Tá mé thar a bheith muiníneach ag éirí as an bplean sin go mbeidh muid in ann bogadh ar aghaidh. Tá an ceart ag an Teachta. Thiocfainn leis go hiomlán. Tá acmhainní maithe ag an Stát cheana féin i bhfoirm cinn de na heastáit ghnó is breátha sa tír san eastát tionsclaíochta i nGaoth Dobhair. Sin ceann de na fáthanna a roghnaigh mé an suíomh áirithe sin le haghaidh na dílárnaithe an chéad uair. Beimid in ann bogadh air seo mar ní bheidh na fadhbanna céanna i gceist ó thaobh aimsiú suíomh agus a bheadh i gceist i gceantracha eile. Tá mise ag tnúth leis an bplean seo a fheiceáil agus a scagadh agus ansin go n-éireoidh linn é a fheidhmiú. Níl sé léite agam fós ach déanfaidh mé sin go luath agus bogfaimid ar aghaidh. Caithfidh an bheirt Airí a bhogadh in éineacht ó Thuaidh agus Theas.
Ar chuir an foras féin an plean seo ar fáil don Roinn?
Tá sé curtha ar fáil ag bord an fhorais.
An bhfuil sé ar fáil don Roinn anseo agus don Roinn ó Thuaidh?
Tá.
111 Mr. Sherlock asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs his views on whether €1 million is sufficient funding for the emerging needs fund under the national drugs strategy; if representations have been made for increased funding in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4436/06]
129 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if the amount allocated to the emerging needs fund will be increased in order to enhance drug prevention and treatment initiatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4373/06]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 111 and 129 together.
The emerging needs fund was devised to address an evolving situation in regard to the misuse of drugs on a flexible basis and in a timely manner. To date I have allocated almost €850,000 under the fund to 15 projects. I hope to be in a position to make further allocations soon. I do not anticipate that the total allocation to projects under the fund will be capped at €1 million. I look forward to successful outcomes from the initiatives to which moneys under this fund will be allocated.
At what level does the Minister of State expect the fund to be capped if not €1 million? There is a wide discrepancy between the €1 million that appeared to be in place until the Minister of State spoke and the estimate of the chairpersons and co-ordinators of local drugs task forces that at least €8 million is required for the emerging needs fund. This group has on-the-ground experience and knows what is happening in communities. How can there be such a large discrepancy between what the Minister of State provides and what this group sees as the minimum amount necessary?
It was originally envisaged that the fund would be €1 million for last year. It was intended to respond to key issues as they arose. The national drugs strategy team then decided to apply in tranches. If one does not know how much is required one must be careful not to spend all one's money on the first day. My comment about more than €1 million is not new. I sent word before Christmas, I think, to the national drugs strategy team to send in another list of maybe up to €2 million.
The final figures on these items depend on money and need, and on the quality of the projects that might come forward. It is one thing for a group to say it needs €5 million or €10 million but it is a different matter when one sees the quality of the projects submitted. I have asked it to prioritise its submissions and send in a list worth up to €2 million. It set three dates last year, the last being November so no one could accurately predict what would be available.
It appears there is a delay in spending the money. The blame is apportioned to various people. It is not all the fault of the Minister of State's Department. There is a strong need for the money to be spent and this amount falls below that need. Any amount spent in this area makes a difference. Is there any way to speed up the funding process? The Minister of State said some of the applications came in late last year. What can be done to fast track the process?
If the Minister of State sees beneficial projects, better even than those in other countries, is it possible for the money to be spent more quickly? The sum of €2 million falls far short of the €5 million or €6 million that is badly needed.
The emerging needs fund is not the overall Government spend on this area. Our budget is between €30 million and €35 million a year. Other projects worth over €20 million have been brought into the mainstream. The figures in our Department will never increase very much because we constantly send items into the mainstream health and education services as they are piloted and evaluated.
Almost 600 people work on projects that started at local drugs task force level or young people's fund level. The State invests significantly in this area. More may be needed and that is why we came up with the emerging needs fund idea. I accept Deputy O'Shea's point that new drugs appear regularly, requiring new responses.
It is not a case of what may be needed but what is needed.
That is why we established this fund. The national drugs strategy team decided to apply for it in three tranches, the last of which came in November. I do not have the list of applications. It will send another list and we will continue to watch the situation which is fluid. We must move with it and be flexible enough to have new services. Equally, one needs to look at a project funded five or eight years ago and decide, if it is no longer needed, whether it can be adapted to today's needs.
Is the Minister of State not misrepresenting the emerging needs fund? Is it not the case that it is intended to cover the needs of 14 task force areas, which is a major responsibility? Surely the emerging needs fund was a result of the Government's failure to provide round three plans for those task forces. Instead of round three plans the idea of an emerging needs fund was put to the national drugs strategy team which received the impression that this would be a substantial fund, not in the region of €800,000 which the Minister of State says might increase to €2 million. This is not the way to oversee and fund strategic planning on an issue as widespread and as complex as drug abuse.
Surely the Minister of State and the national drugs strategy team and the drugs task forces agreed criteria for this fund. The task forces were asked to apply for the fund which they did to the tune of €4.5 million. The national drugs strategy team approved over 90% as fulfilling the criteria. The task forces were then told the fund was only worth €1 million. Recently they have been told it may increase to €2 million. In the context of the Minister of State's other area of responsibility, housing, where a handful of individuals earn billions of euro, it is not too much to ask for the €5 million required to cover this major social problem.
Even as we speak, other issues such as crack cocaine threaten to cause chaos in this city yet there is no strategy, funding or anything else available to deal with it because there is no strategic planning by the Minister of State at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Noel Ahern. When the national drugs strategy team produces a plan, it is humiliated by being told there is no money.
I do not know where the question was in all that, but I sincerely hope I am not misrepresenting anything. It was certainly not my intention. We talked about the 14 local drugs task forces. One cannot have round three while the pilot project is on round two. Many of the projects under round two that might have been all right two or three years ago have not been in place all that long. They have certainly not been evaluated or mainstreamed. There must be some sense and logic in this. One cannot have a round three when much of round two is still at a pilot stage.
Most people in the community sector with whom I deal regard €1 million as substantial, and that was what was originally envisaged. Government funding is not just about the emerging needs fund. As I said, approximately €55 million is being spent that would have started at local drugs task force level. The health services would spend that and more, never mind education or justice. If one added them all up, one would find that considerably more than €150 million is being spent on the fight against drugs. It may not be fair to include all those matters, but it is probably €55 million of what started at local drugs task force level, with approximately 600 projects. I do not know what is required immediately, since many of the applications arrived only at the end of November. The team is assessing them.
That is misleading this House. The team has approved those projects to the tune of €4.5 million.
It may have approved some of them for €4.5 million, but not all of them. One must naturally see them all and know what the bill is before one starts paying them in large numbers.
Will the Department fund all those approved?
Talking of strategic development, it was up to the local drugs task forces to send forward those projects that were critical.
They have done that.
They were dealing with real burning issues, such as crack cocaine. The final outcome will depend on money and the quality of the applications. I have not seen too many so far about the burning issue of crack cocaine. Let us get our facts together.
I call Deputy Crowe.
The Minister of State is passing the buck.
On reflection, will the Minister of State accept that part of the difficulty was that projects and task forces were not told that €1 million would be available from the emerging needs fund? The Minister of State mentioned 600 people. The message I get is that the natural development of many projects is being stymied by the fact that funding has not been available. I am a member of a drugs task force in my area and am quite aware of the difficulties there. Dublin is awash with drugs, and the same is true of towns and villages throughout Ireland.
The Minister of State has stressed that 600 people are working on projects, but many grew from the failure of the State to respond to emerging needs and the drug problem. The feeling is that we are failing to support those communities. The Minister of State is out of sync with what is occurring with the drugs problem throughout the State. That is why people are up in arms, frustrated, angry and beginning to march again. No one wishes to march, but we should support those communities rather than holding them back. That is the view of the groups to whom I have spoken. The Minister of State is holding them back by meanness in handing out money. The sum of €4.5 million is buttons compared with the problem, and we must support those communities.
I have never said that €4.5 million was a massive sum.
The Minister of State said that €1 million was.
I do not know why we always concentrate on this fund when it is only a small part of our overall expenditure. If the Deputy is a member of a drugs task force, he will be aware of the good work they do. I am not a member of one, and I have not been able to be one for the past three years. I previously was a member of one, however, and I know the good work done locally by many good people. I sincerely hope that we are not stymieing them. I understand that a campaign is under way, although I am unsure of the agenda.
I am probably responsible for one thing, namely, the Deputy's first question. It was envisaged that this would be an extra-special little fund to deal with emerging needs. That was the attitude in the Department, which I shared. I hope that I made that clear at various meetings, but I did not put it down in writing. To the extent that I did not specifically state the figure of €1 million, I am probably partly responsible. However, in all other respects, I am very much working with people and considering the issue. It was not to be the overall policy on drugs or the overall Government social inclusion programme, and some projects come through that are not really emerging needs. They should turn to other Departments or agencies.
That was last year. We have more money this year, and I sincerely hope that we will be able to fund some of them once the good ones have been identified. I very much want to encourage and help work locally.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.
