Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 7 Jun 2006

Vol. 621 No. 2

Adjournment Debate.

Health Services.

Mr. O’Dowd

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing this matter to be debated. There is great concern in County Louth for the future of its acute hospitals. This concern is accentuated by the lack of consultation between the Health Service Executive and hospital management, people working in hospitals, public representatives and the public in general. There is a real fear, due to leaks of reported meetings of the HSE in The Irish Times and stories in The Sunday Business Post about whether there would be one new hospital, no new hospital or whether hospitals would close. The only we thing we know is that this report is in the hands of the HSE and I ask the Minister to publish its content.

The report is by Teamwork Management Services and is entitled Safety and Achieving Better Standards — An Action Plan for Health Services in the North East. The report has been published in a climate where significant cuts were announced this morning on the national airwaves to the acute hospitals in the north-east region. I express my concern at the fact there will be no new developments at Louth County Hospital or at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda; that the proposal to appoint a new oncologist in Drogheda may not go ahead to save €600,000 in the HSE; that there will be a ban on recruiting agency nurses, which will be under very strict rules; and that MRSA sufferers will now be removed from private rooms and placed in rooms with fellow MRSA sufferers. Is this an improvement in services? Does this improve patient safety? Will this achieve better standards? It clearly will not do so. Maintenance will be reduced by almost €500,000 in the acute hospitals in Drogheda and Dundalk. At what price are these cutbacks taking place? It has also been announced that equipment will not be replaced. Renal dialysis in Cavan is also under challenge.

The health services are in an absolute mess. The Minister and the Minister of State could not care less about it and are not funding services in the north east. It now looks like they want to close a number of hospitals in the region. We believe that all the acute hospitals should be kept open in the north east, which means not closing the hospitals in Dundalk and Drogheda. This report was carried out with no consultation with hospital staff. If administrators were not in the hospitals, the staff were not spoken to. There is no transparency and no openness in the HSE. I ask the Minister to publish this report immediately so we can discuss this outcome.

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

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter.

Under the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive has responsibility to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. Issues relating to the provision of acute hospital services in the north east have been the subject of much debate in the House in recent years. There has been a number of reviews carried out on hospital services in the north east. These have included North East Hospitals — the Next Five Years, published in 1998, Report on Maternity Services in the North Eastern Health Board, published in 2000, Risk Assessments on the Cavan/Monaghan and Louth/Meath Hospital Groups, published in 2001, Maternity Services Review Group to the North Eastern Health Board, published in 2001 and Comhairle na nOspidéal Report on Maternity and Related Services in the North Eastern Health Board Area, published in 2003. In addition, there has been a number of hospital-specific reviews and reports carried out by bodies such as the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the Medical Council, and by external risk assessors and consultants.

Earlier this year the HSE commissioned Teamwork Management Services to undertake a comprehensive review of acute hospital services in the north east and to provide an action plan for achieving the best possible acute care for patients in the region. The terms of reference for the review were to determine with reference to international best practice the optimal configuration of hospital services and consultant staffing for the geographic area and population of the north east which will provide safe, sustainable, cost-effective and high quality services and take account of the existing transport infrastructure and the availability of services in adjacent areas; to evaluate the benefits and risks associated with current provision of acute hospital services on five sites serving a population of approximately 350,000; to review the current capacity, usage and deployment of consultants, beds, theatres, day case, outpatient, accident and emergency, diagnostic and other facilities in the hospitals in the region and compare them to international norms; to consider the current and potential contribution of primary care services, including out-of-hours GP services, ambulance and advanced paramedical services in reducing risk to patients; to take account of current and projected demographic trends affecting the north east; and to make recommendations to the CEO of the HSE on the above considerations, including short-term and long-term recommendations on the future configuration of acute hospital services and consultant staffing, which will minimise risk to patients and provide high quality and safe services to patients with reference to international best practice.

The review began in March 2006 and has recently been completed. The report, entitled Improving Safety and Achieving Better Standards — An Action Plan for Health Services in the North East, was received and endorsed by the board of the HSE last week.

The CEO of the HSE has been instructed by the board to engage with staff and other stakeholders in the north east during the coming weeks. The manner and timing of publication of the report is a matter for the HSE.

Regional Policy.

Dr. Cowley

I am very grateful that the Minister is here for this very important topic. When the Minister was with us recently in Knock airport, he insisted that a huge investment was being made in the BMW region. He stated this in spite of the fact he told me in the Dáil in May that gross expenditure in the region is running €3.8 billion behind its target. The Taoiseach told us recently that the BMW region has fared best in employment and in investment. He stated this in spite of the fact the State's spending on national roads in the region under the national development plan is €500 million behind schedule. The average GDP income in the west is still one third lower than that of Dublin.

When one tries to talk to anyone who is involved in trying to bring industry to the west, one realises where the buck stops. I met representatives of IDA Ireland in Castlebar to ask why it does so badly in attracting industry to the west. I was informed that the simple reason is that the infrastructure is inadequate. The lack of proper roads, rail, broadband and power mean it is not a competitive area for enterprise.

Anyone who knows Ireland will be aware that this small State differs remarkably from east to west. All one needs to do is cross the Shannon to see the difference in roads. The road from Castlebar to Belmullet is an absolute disgrace. It is little more than a dirt track — a glorified bog track. It is a dangerous road and is full of bad turns and is extremely narrow in parts. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, would like to state that matters are different. Perhaps when he visited the area he wanted to put a good face on matters.

It is difficult to see the logic in what the Minister states when one sees the figures. The facts speak for themselves. They include an underspend of €3.8 billion in the BMW area — estimated to be a 30% underspend in the national development plan — and an underspend of €500 million on BMW national roads. EU figures for cohesion funding for 2000 to 2003 show that while the southern and eastern regions of the State received at least 79% of the available funding, the BMW region received only 14%.

The situation is not improving. In fact, it is getting worse. The gap in gross value added, GVA, per person between the BMW and the south and east regions widened every year from 1996 to 2002, the year for which the most recent figures are available. Let us compare this to the investment in the southern and eastern regions. Both received more than their promised allocations, with at least an extra €2 billion spent. So much for balanced regional development and the national spatial strategy.

The Government should give us the investment we are due so that we can compete like other regions. This would make a great deal of sense when one considers the cost of catering for the population explosion in the greater Dublin area, which is getting worse. It is important that the Government should address the situation in a serious manner. The Minister must take on the NRA and challenge it on its extremely poor record of delivery in the BMW area.

The national development plan for the period 2000 to 2006 expires at the end of this year. What will come after it is more uncertain. We want to avail of the opportunities and the jobs that exist in other regions. I ask the Minister to exercise his Cabinet collective responsibility and give us a future as is our right. We are, after all, citizens of this country. Just because we live on the other side of the Shannon does not mean that we do not have the same needs, desires for our children and hopes for their future. To exist, we need proper sustainable employment and to have that we need to be a competitive area able to attract industry. I hope the Minister will indicate how this will be achieved. Only six months remain in lifetime of the national development plan. I know the Minister will state that matters will be alright and that we will receive the capital underspend we did not receive. Will he explain how this will happen?

Minister for Finance (Mr. Cowen)

I am delighted to have another opportunity to try to dispel the misrepresentations and misunderstanding which seem to be occasioned by those political opponents who continue to misrepresent what has been done and continues to be done by this Government for the BMW region. I also represent that part of the world.

I wish to reiterate what I stated recently. The simple fact is that Exchequer spending in the BMW region on the economic and social infrastructure operational programme, which is the largest of the operational programmes, was 13% ahead of profile in the six years to the end of 2005. In cash terms, that is an excess of €500 million. Exchequer spending on that programme was more than €500 million ahead of profile at the end of last year.

I also cited data which showed that Exchequer spending on the employment and human resources programme, which at €3.7 billion is the second largest of the programmes, was 96% of the profiled amount for the six years. Taken together, these two programmes are well ahead of profile. That said, there are issues with implementation rates in both the BMW region and the south-east region as compared with profile in some aspects of the overall picture. The reasons for this are common to both regions. The national development plan contains more than Exchequer spending. It also has EU and private sector components.

Regarding the EU component, while the original commitment profiles were shown as spread over seven years to the end of 2006, the actual spending can lag these commitments by two to three years. Strictly speaking, therefore, comparing profiles with actual spending does not compare like with like. Unfortunately, there is no way around that because under the rules, the commitments of EU money must be profiled over the seven-year period, even though everyone knows that the actual spending continues beyond that point.

I regret to have to make this somewhat technical point but it is absolutely essential to grasp it if one wants to have a genuine understanding of how matters are progressing compared with what was planned. Anyone familiar with EU spending rules knows this, which is why we have always emphasised that it will be some time beyond 2006 before we obtain the final picture. What I can tell the House is that progress on this front is monitored closely by the managers of the individual operational programmes and by an overall monitoring committee chaired by my Department. Only two weeks ago, that committee reviewed progress across the full spectrum of the programmes and we remain confident that available EU funding will be fully drawn down.

I will now deal with the private sector component. Here, it can at times be a matter of horses, water and whether the horse is thirsty. At the end of last year, the productive sector operational programme ran at approximately one third of the profiled amount. This operational programme has a large demand-led component where Exchequer funding and EU funding respond to private sector initiatives. If, for whatever reason, these initiatives do not arise to the extent which was hoped, total spending on the programme including the Exchequer element will be below profile. This, together with delays in the start-up phase in 1999 and 2000, is why spending is behind profile in some key components.

A huge amount of information is available on this topic and it seems that some people are tempted to be extremely selective in what they choose to highlight. In this regard, they do a serious disservice to the facts. I wish to make it as clear and simple as possible. The Exchequer is more than doing its part. At the end of last year, Exchequer spending in the BMW region totalled 88% of the profiled amount for the first six years. This is a healthy implementation rate in view of the slow start-up in some areas at the beginning, the relatively disappointing response in certain demand-led schemes and the fact that Exchequer spending on the structural fund operational programmes for the 1999 to 2006 period will continue up to 2008. l am absolutely confident the record will then show, if any of the current critics will at that time be interested in checking it, that this Government will have delivered on its undertakings under this national development plan.

I want to briefly recall what I stated elsewhere about projects delivered in keeping with those undertakings. In terms of infrastructure development, significant investment has taken place in the region. Up to December 2005, €1.5 billion was invested under the NDP in the region in national roads. Major projects have included the M1 Dundalk western bypass, the N4 Kinnegad bypass, the N2 Carrickmacross bypass, the Sligo inner relief road, the N5 Strokestown to Longford road and the N15 Ballyshannon to Bundoran road, to name but a few. Investment in non-national roads in the BMW region up to December last year stands at €1.1 billion, meaning that more than 26,000 km of roads have been improved, restored or maintained. These investments are evident to all who live and work in the region. They will not finish with the current NDP but are part of an ongoing process of investment to improve the region and to achieve more balanced regional development, which is a key Government priority.

Large investment has also taken place nationally in public transport and the BMW region has benefited from an investment of €283 million in resignalling and trackwork projects. By the end of next year, the Ballina and Westport lines will have been resignalled, which means that all rail lines will have been completed, with consequent reductions in journey times. larnród Éireann took delivery of 36 new modern diesel railcars and most have been allocated to the Dublin Sligo route. It also placed an order worth €324 million on 150 new high specification inter-city railcars which will begin entering service from 2007 on the Dublin-Galway, Dublin-Westport and Dublin-Ballina routes, improving frequency, comfort and safety for passengers.

Our commitment to developing the economic infrastructure of the region is not limited to the traditional categories of investment. We also made significant investments in enabling and driving the knowledge economy in the region. Responding to market failure to provide broadband access to many parts of the State, the Government, in 2002, decided to target the widespread availability of open access, affordable "always on" broadband infrastructure throughout the State. To date, total public expenditure on broadband amounts to €70 million in the BMW region with more than 90 towns selected for open access infrastructure.

Acting Chairman (Mr. Stanton)

As the Minister's five minutes are exhausted, the remaining information will be noted in the Official Report.

Mr. Cowen

I am glad. I hope everyone reads it.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

The Deputy inquired about spending plans for the region from now until 2008. I take it he refers to the fact that, as I already explained, investments will continue to take place under the current programme beyond 2006 in both regions. Under the structural fund regulations, expenditure on co-funded measures can continue to the end of December 2008 and will be eligible for the drawdown of structural funds from the 2000 to 2006 allocation. This means further spending up to 2008 on all of the main operational programmes which currently benefit the region. The areas covered by this spend will be the economic and social infrastructure operational programme, the employment and human resources operational programme, the productive sector operational programme, the BMW operational programme and the peace operational programme.

The Government's commitment to the region will not cease when the current funding round draws to a close. Last November, the Government announced a significant additional investment plan in transport worth more than €34 billion over a ten-year period. The Transport 21 framework will build upon the investment already taking place under the National Development Plan 2000-2006 and will be a key part of the successor national development plan covering the period 2007 to 2013 announced by the Government last August. Major investment will be made under Transport 21 for road and rail projects in the BMW region including developing the Atlantic corridor road network running from Letterkenny through Sligo, Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford, and the reopening, on a phased basis, of the western rail corridor, as well as the development of Galway commuter rail services and the extension of the rural transport initiative.

Regarding some remarks made about the economic progress or lack thereof in the BMW region, people have been fairly creative in their use of statistics on this topic. They misused GDP statistics to make a case that the BMW region is failing to catch up on other regions. They do not seem to know what GDP means. GDP measures what a region produces. It is not a measure of the income, nor in the case of Ireland is it a good indicator of average income per person. We all know many people who live in one region and work in another, thereby adding to the output but not to the income of that region.

To use GDP figures to make a point about the income of a region skewers the picture and this selective use of data misrepresents the actual position. A person who lives in the BMW region and who works, for example, in the Dublin area, has his or her contribution to national wealth by reason of the output from his job measured in GDP terms in the south and east region, but the income from his salary is spent in the main in the BMW region where he or she lives. This simple example shows how important it is to use statistical data properly, and not misuse it to distort the actual position.

The BMW region shares and contributes fully to the modern success story that is the Irish economy. I will examine the key facts which really matter. Some of us may be old enough to remember the work of the late John Healy, the journalist who penned the series of articles "No one shouted stop", which bemoaned and decried the seemingly irreversible decline of the economy in the west of Ireland. This Government has shouted stop. In my opinion, the single most important economic indicator is the rate of unemployment. Combined with the participation rate, it essentially measures whether the region sustains itself. The BMW region has all but closed the gap with the south-east region in that respect and, in doing so, has achieved a rate of employment up there with the highest in the European Union. Who would have thought when John Healy wrote those articles that we would now have an unemployment rate of 4.7% in the BMW region? This represents an historic turnaround and, in all fairness, one cannot do much better than that.

I will now examine income. Some people wrongly use GDP data to state that the gap between the two Irish regions in terms of living standards is widening. In fact, the reverse is true. The available statistics indicate that the gap in living standards is narrowing and even those statistics do not tell the whole truth. Unfortunately, the most recent year for which county income statistics is available is 2002. These show a substantial difference at the time, but the key point is that it had narrowed appreciably since the NDP was launched. In 2000, the income gap was 13.4% but by 2002, it had narrowed to 11%. Furthermore, given that house prices in particular and the cost of living in general are highest in the south-east region, the real difference in living standards is almost certainly a lot lower than the raw income data suggests.

Data available post-2002 indicates that the BMW region may be continuing to catch up. Employment and participation rate data have been significantly stronger for the BMW region than for the south east in recent years. In the five years to the third quarter of 2005, numbers employed increased by 20% compared with 13% in the south east; the labour force increased by 19% compared with 13% for the south east and participation rates increased by 6%, double the rate of increase for the south east. Taken together, this shows clearly to anyone who wants to make a genuine comparison that not only is the BMW region doing very well indeed, it is on many highly important economic measures doing rather better than the south east.

As I stated at the 20th anniversary of the opening of Knock airport last week, the philosophy of Fianna Fáil is to pursue a constructive agenda which delivers development and progress. The prophets of doom and gloom were always found in the ranks of those who oppose the Fianna Fáil Party, and the people of the west know that. I hope that the House will overlook my last remark because in truth one should not joke about these matters. They are indeed quite serious and are the essence of what this Government tries to deliver in terms of its economic agenda. Anyone who looks dispassionately at the record will see two matters very clearly. First, this Government delivers an unparalleled period of economic success in Ireland. Second, both of our regions have substantially benefited from and contributed to this success.

Real improvements in people's lives are delivered every day in the BMW region through the national development programme, including more jobs and job opportunities, better living standards, greater participation in education, more affordable houses and child care facilities. The new national development plan will build on those achievements with a particular focus on bridging the remaining infrastructure deficits regionally and nationally.

Special Educational Needs.

Ms C. Murphy

I am pleased that this matter was selected on the Adjournment. A purpose built unit was constructed in 2003 in Celbridge specifically for children with autism. Three years later, the two classrooms, which would cater for up to 12 children, have not been opened. This is not because no children require these places. I am personally aware of several children who require such a place within a short distance from the school.

The reason it remains closed is because of a dispute between the Department of Education and the board of management about resourcing the unit. In a reply to a recent parliamentary question I tabled on the subject, the Minister outlined that two teachers and four special needs assistants would be required to open the unit, in addition to the provision of appropriate therapies by the HSE and grant aid to address administration costs. These are not unreasonable requirements. However, no expected timeframe was given for removing the impasse. People want this unit opened in September and information in that regard was not contained in the reply. One of the children seeking a place in the unit lives within a ten-minute walk of the school. The child is in a playschool in County Meath which is unrecognised by the Department of Education and Science. The fees are paid by the State but unless the child gets a place, the stopgap measure will be employed for another year. A considerable financial burden is being carried by the child's family to pay for school transport. Since the pre-school is not recognised by the Department, it does not pick up the cost. Parents will often go to the ends of the earth if they believe it will make a difference for their child, particularly those with a special need. The child in question is just one of a number who require a place.

It is not just that appropriate intervention is required in the case of autism, it is often required in a very timely manner because there are very definite windows of educational opportunity, as the Minister knows. Autism, given its nature, is not a condition in respect of which chopping and changing can be carried out with regard to children. By delaying educational intervention, the life chances of a child can be affected adversely.

It is clear that appropriate educational intervention creates the chance of independent or semi-independent living. There should be no question of skimping in such areas as speech and language therapy or occupational therapy when they are clearly needed. They should be invested in over the child's entire life cycle.

I very much suspect the experience in schools with existing special units was such that they expected speech and language services or occupational therapy to follow once they had opened those units only to discover, to their dismay, that there was nothing automatic about their provision. Such experiences made the board of management of the schools in question very determined to ensure the range of resources required will be available from day one so the school can do its job fully. The board is anxious that the special unit will not drain resources from the rest of the school.

Are the problems being encountered in this case a symptom of a wider problem? I refer to the survey conducted by principals whose schools have special units. The survey was handed to the Minister in a clear attempt on the part of those principals to highlight a real problem. I am aware, through a parliamentary question, that the Minister has a copy of the survey but that she is conducting or intends to conduct her own survey on the area in question. I am worried that the required response to schools such as the one in Celbridge will be postponed by virtue of the fact that this survey is to be carried out.

I have no doubt that there are 12 children to occupy the places in question once the school is opened fully. It is not unreasonable to ask that it be opened this September, three years after construction commenced. I hope a commitment will be made to open it.

Mr. Cowen

I am pleased to have been given the opportunity to clarify the position of the Department of Education and Science on the matter referred to by the Deputy. She will be aware of the commitment of the Department to ensuring that all children, including those with autism, receive an education appropriate to their needs. The unit in question was completed as part of a new school development in 2003 and is designed to cater for up to 12 pupils. Such an enrolment attracts a staffing allocation of two full-time teachers and four special needs assistants.

The school submitted a request to the Department for staffing supports of three teachers and four special needs assistants for the unit. The school was to make a request for therapeutic services for the children attending the unit to the Department of Health and Children and the Health Service Executive.

Officials of the Department of Education and Science confirmed to the school that a staff of two full-time teachers and four special needs assistants would be available to support the classes. The school subsequently requested a third teacher. A number of meetings have been held between officials of the Department and the school authorities in an effort to progress matters. The Department's officials explained that it is not possible to accede to the request for the additional teaching post but the Department offered the school an administrative grant to facilitate the operation of the unit. In March 2006, the school advised the Department that, in its opinion, the grant did not meet its needs or those of the children entering the unit and that a third teacher was still required.

Officials in the Department of Education and Science are liaising between the board of management of the school, the National Council for Special Education and the HSE to progress the opening of the unit. Staffing ratios, the provision of appropriate therapies by the HSE and grant aid to address administration costs are among the issues under active negotiation. I understand that the HSE recently wrote to the school confirming the level of grant assistance it could make available towards therapeutic supports for the unit.

The Department of Education and Science shares the Deputy's desire to see this purpose-built facility for children with autism utilised to its full potential and the Minister remains confident that the remaining issues will be resolved.

Social Infrastructure.

Mr. Broughan

I thank the Minister of State for attending. The development taking place in the north fringe of Dublin city, or the south fringe of Fingal county, is perhaps one of the largest urban developments in the history of the State. New areas are being developed in places such as Beauparc, Clongriffin and Belmayne. From Clonshaugh to Belcamp through Clare Hall and Donaghmede, and on to Baldoyle and Portmarnock, well over 20,000 housing units, mostly apartments, are being built, approved or passing through the planning process. Similar large developments are being constructed as part of the continuation of the north fringe in the Minister of State's constituency, Dublin West and Dublin Mid-West.

ln response to my campaign and that of local residents and other development bodies, Dublin City Council prepared a north fringe action plan six years ago. However, this was little more than a very basic high-density urban design strategy laid out in the form of a few simple maps and pious aspirations about "block layouts", "urban gain" and "maximising potential linkages" through public transport. It only referred to a part of the north fringe. In spite of fleeting references to public transport, there was no reference to community infrastructure, be it associated with preschools, schools, third level institutions, hospitals, primary care centres, Garda stations, security facilities, youth and recreational facilities, sports facilities or facilities for seniors.

The outgoing city manager, John Fitzgerald, who will be retiring in the next few months, and county managers Willie Soffe and John Tierney have signally failed to address the great infrastructural challenges posed by building this new city on the northside. Even professional planners and architects believe the area has the potential for a major planning disaster, a soulless Milton Keynes imposed on Dublin North-East and a repetition of the grave errors of an earlier generation of county and city managers, architects and planners in north and west Dublin.

An example of the abysmal failure of the local government system in this regard is the almost total lack of co-operation between the two local authorities concerned. In a previous debate I compared the relationship to that between Croatia and Serbia.

On my suggestion approximately three years ago, city manager John Fitzgerald agreed to the establishment of the north fringe forum, which was intended to be a representative forum for all the stakeholders, including local residents and development bodies, local representatives, Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council, the Departments of Health and Children, Education and Science, Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Transport, the Garda Síochána, CIE, the HSE, An Post, Eircom, the Northside Partnership and others. Despite the best efforts of the forum's chairperson, Mr. Clive Brownlee, the north central area manager, Declan Wallace, the deputy manager, Ms Celine Reilly, and their staff, the forum has essentially become a talking shop that meets every quarter.

I asked the Taoiseach several times in this House to establish the north fringe forum as a statutory body like the Dublin Docklands Authority but he has consistently refused to do so. Why could this not be done? ln the central area of the development, a very serious issue has arisen as to why the city manager and his planners permitted and approved plans for over 7,000 apartments and a huge ancillary development without any significant new open space. It is true that Father Collins Park is being upgraded, following a design competition won by an Argentinian firm, but the park was laid out for the existing residents of Donaghmede and Ayrfield.

Six years after the issuing of the plan, there is no definite proposal for a primary care or new hospital facility, despite reports to the forum that Beaumont Hospital, the nearest hospital, is at 120% plus capacity. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has refused point-blank to countenance a new Garda station for the new city. We are only promised community gardaí on mountain bikes.

I contacted representatives of the two main churches in the country to ask if they had any plans for primary education in the area. Educate Together has been proactive in this regard. However, on the Stapolin-Baldoyle side of the development there is no firm plan for a school. There is no educational vision, at any level, to address the needs of perhaps 50,000 new residents who are to move into this district up to 2014.

I was looking at the statue of Thomas Davis behind me and thought of his ideal of a national education system, yet 170 or 180 years later we are nowhere near achieving this. One has to ask for sponsors. There is no national education system at all and the Minister for Education and Science presides over a private system.

On public transport, a new station on the DART line was supposed to be the centrepiece of the developments but key road network plans are way behind schedule and An Bord Pleanála inexplicably agreed to allow a huge section of Clongriffen to be inhabited before the opening of the new station, which is to be as late as 2008 or 2009. Currently the new inhabitants of Beauparc and Clongriffin do not even have a weekend bus service. The postal service was recently taken out of one of the older parishes of Friarswood, but there are no plans, whatsoever, for the north fringe. During the planning process I inserted the requirement for a fibre optic broadband link to every home and business in this new city. If this is happening, nobody knows or has a clue. No one is invigilating it.

A key depressing feature of the proposals submitted by the developers is the attempt to continually make more dense this already high density plan. People in Dublin North-East have been ignored by the two local authorities and their political masters in this House, the Taoiseach and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche. It is still not too late to establish the north fringe forum on a statutory basis, like the Docklands Authority. It is not too late to look at the possibility of a strategic development zone. There are no plans as yet as regards a major chunk of this development, despite the developer, Mr. Gannon, trying to jump the gun a year ago. The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government should call in the two managers concerned, the outgoing manager of Dublin City Council and the Fingal manager, and ask them for full accounting.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Mr. N. Ahern)

I emphasise to the Deputy that direct responsibility for the planning and delivery of the north fringe development rests with the local authorities involved, that is, Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council. The achievement of sustainable communities is a key objective of the Government's housing policy. A wide range of policies and measures has been put in place to ensure that housing development in Ireland is planned for in a manner that supports the creation of sustainable communities within a high quality environment.

Guidelines for planning authorities on residential density were published in 1999. These include a specific objective of reducing urban sprawl and promoting greater efficiency in the use of energy, transport and natural resources.

My Department will review and update the residential density guidelines later this year, focusing in particular on the quality of new developments. We have also commissioned a research study into apartment size and space standards to inform revised planning guidelines on residential densities as well as urban design.

The north fringe framework development plan was prepared by Dublin City Council in 2000 and it sets out the objectives for the area, the site context and the urban design framework. The plan emphasises the need for a quality bus service and the provision of community facilities, including primary and secondary schools, a library, sports facilities, a community building and landscaped and other public spaces. Planning permissions in the north fringe have been granted in line with the framework plan and, as such, it is clear that the provision of the community facilities mentioned in tandem with the housing development is seen as key in the development of the area. I understand the scale of developments expected in the north fringe area is over 15,000 housing units — I note the Deputy said up to the 20,000 and perhaps he is right — with a new residential population of 35,000.

Commercial development of at least 220,000sq m is planned, including office, retail, leisure, community, health and educational facilities. A new railway station is being designed, with bus links to the Malahide QBC, while several new roads are included in the plans. It is envisaged that approximately 2,500 units will be ready for occupation by the end of this year and a further 3,500 by 2009, with the remaining 9,000 coming on line over the following five or six years. As the Deputy mentioned, in recognition of the scale and importance of this new town, the Dublin city manager invited all relevant agencies and groups to participate in a cross-authority-agency forum, which meets quarterly to monitor the development's progress.

Mr. Broughan

That was my motion.

Mr. N. Ahern

Perhaps it was, I do not know.

Mr. Broughan

The Minister of State was there.

Mr. N. Ahern

The membership includes Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council senior officials, residents' groups and representatives from other statutory bodies such as the HSE, the Department of Education and Science, the Garda Síochána, Dublin Bus and Iarnród Éireann.

The objectives of the forum include the provision of regular bus services, the construction and operation of a new train station, the provision of crèche facilities, the provision and financing of a primary school, the provision, financing and staffing of health centres, the provision of a Garda station, a needs assessment for secondary schools and the provision of sports and community facilities.

I understand agreement has already been reached on delivery of many of the above services, including the crèche facilities and identification of sites for a primary school, health centre and Garda station. The provision of regular bus services as soon as houses are occupied and the construction and operation of a train station have also been addressed.

The forum has established a security sub-committee to consider the anticipated policing problems of the north fringe development area and to make recommendations on the evolution of a policing plan for the development. I am confident that the north fringe development will be delivered in a way that integrates social and economic infrastructure and delivers sustainable communities for the future.

I note what the Deputy is saying. I am not totally au fait with everything that is going on there. However, if the forum is as toothless as the Deputy maintains-——

Mr. Broughan

It is well intentioned, but it has no power.

Mr. N. Ahern

Things can be made to happen without necessarily having legislative power. I hear what the Deputy is saying, but I do not know whether his view is formally conveyed from members of the forum. They seem to be happy enough and if they are not, they should say so. However, I hear what the Deputy is saying about special and strategic development zones and putting the measure on a statutory basis. I shall pass that view to the Minister, Deputy Roche. If members of the forum feel as strongly as the Deputy does on the issue, they should make their views known.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.10 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 8 June 2006.