Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 21 Jun 2006

Vol. 622 No. 1

Adjournment Debate.

Harbours and Piers.

Mr. S. Ryan

I wish to share time with Deputy Glennon. I am pleased to have the opportunity to raise in the House the condition of the harbours in north Fingal, namely, Balbriggan, Skerries, Loughshinny and Rush, and to demand that the Minister of State provide the necessary Department funding to save the harbours, especially those in Balbriggan and Skerries which are in a deplorable condition.

Prior to June 2004, the Balbriggan and Skerries harbours were under the jurisdiction of the Dublin Port Company. Over the years the company neglected its obligations and failed to carry out ongoing inspections and maintenance of both harbours, which led to the structure of the harbours being undermined to the extent that they are dangerous and liable to fall into the Irish Sea. Without any consultation, the Dublin Port Company in 2004 advertised for interest in the purchase of the two harbours. Two working harbours of strategic importance to the towns of Balbriggan and Skerries representing an important amenity for the people of the two towns and the wider areas were to be privatised and sold off.

This proposal was unacceptable to the Labour Party in Fingal and other community-based organisations and a campaign was embarked upon to save our harbours. The Deputies from the constituency, the county manager and Dublin Port Company met the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to discuss the crisis. At the meeting, my constituency colleagues and I demanded that the harbours be retained in public ownership and that if the company were unwilling to meet the capital costs of reinstating the harbours, one of the Departments should come up with the necessary funding.

The Ministers unilaterally decided to transfer the harbours to Fingal County Council, which I welcomed. However, they failed to provide the finance necessary for the restoration. Following the transfer of responsibility to Fingal County Council, it commissioned a detailed structural survey of both harbours and also included the harbours at Rush and Loughshinny. Damage to the outer wall of the Balbriggan Harbour and the collapse of a portion of the west quay at Balbriggan occurred shortly after the transfer.

Based on the findings of the survey, in July 2004 the cost of the restoration was estimated at €2.96 million for Balbriggan, €1.025 million for Skerries, €15,000 for Rush and €45,000 for Loughshinny, giving an overall total of €3.88 million. Fingal County Council made an application for funding and received a paltry €235,000. In 2005 the initial survey found that, based on the information available at the time, Skerries Harbour, which has existed for hundreds of years, is generally in a poor condition. A recent report by Royal Haskoning to Fingal County Council has major implications for the harbour. For example the steel pilings of the newer section of the harbour have reached the end of their useful life. The council needs to assess whether it is economically viable to retain the harbour as a working one in view of the works required.

The company recently wrote a letter outlining its increasing concern about the structural viability of the extension of Skerries Harbour which may need to be closed pending the commencement of repairs. Arising from the recent studies, the cost will be an additional €733,000 for Skerries, bringing the total required for that harbour to €1.758 million and the total cost for the four harbours will be €4.75 million. Action is required. Fingal County Council and the people of Fingal cannot come up with this money nor should they, especially given the negligence of the Dublin Port Company in the past. Given the amenity value to north County Dublin, it is imperative that the Government comes up with the funding for these harbours.

Mr. Glennon

I thank Deputy Seán Ryan for allowing me to share his time and I endorse what he has said. The amenity value of these harbours for the people of the entire north side of Dublin cannot be overstated. The transaction giving rise to the current public ownership was rushed, to put it mildly. Both harbours have been described by some local councillors as pigs in pokes. At least pigs are still alive and we have a chance of getting them out of the poke.

Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. Fahey)

Balbriggan and Skerries harbours were transferred from the ownership of the Dublin Port Company to the control of Fingal County Council, by ministerial order dated 29 June 2004, as provided for in the Harbours Act 1996.

Government policy on ports, including regional harbours, is set out in the ports policy statement published in January 2005. The policy statement notes that many regional harbours have neither the resources nor the capability to comply with aspects of the code of practice for the governance of State bodies, whereas their transfer to local authority control would bring improved corporate governance and allow the harbours to realise their amenity potential.

The Department of Transport is working with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to advance the implementation of the ports policy statement with regard to the transfer of regional harbours to local authority control. The Department has invested in essential public safety works at a number of regional harbours in 2004 and 2005 and plans to continue with a similar programme of works in 2006. The Department proposes to make funds available to allow additional works to be undertaken at the regional harbours, where appropriate and justifiable, to protect the public and the fabric of the harbours. The Department is assessing what essential works might be undertaken in 2006 within the limited budget available.

A Royal Haskoning proposal was received from Fingal County Council outlining the options for possible works at Balbriggan and Skerries harbours. In addition to existing disrepair at the harbours, storms in January 2005 caused substantial damage to the storm wall in Balbriggan which has historically been susceptible to partial collapses. Subject to verification by the engineering division of the Department responsible at the time, the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, it was recommended that a grant payment could be made to Fingal County Council in respect of any invoiced works carried out in 2005 at Balbriggan and Skerries harbours.

Following receipt of a submission regarding works required at Balbriggan and Skerries harbours by Fingal County Council in 2005, the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources made a once-off payment of €231,817——

Mr. S. Ryan

A paltry payment.

Mr. Fahey

——as a contribution to the total work required at the harbours. Further contributions from the Department to Fingal County Council in respect of the harbours are not under consideration.

Mr. S. Ryan

The Government had better change its policy because it is unacceptable to the people of north Dublin.

Gangland Killings.

Mr. Broughan

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise the horrific murder of James Purdue, aged 22, at Grattan Wood, Donaghmede, last Sunday night. This brutal assassination was the sixth horrific murder in the Dublin North-East area in the past five months. On 2 June, Keith Fitzsimons, aged 23, was savagely murdered in a garden at Millbrook Road. On 29 May, Patrick Harte was shot dead in Edenmore Avenue, Raheny. On 24 April, Gerard Goulding from central Dublin was callously murdered at St. Donagh's Road and on 5 March public opinion was rightly outraged when a young innocent mother, Ms Donna Cleary, aged 22, was a tragic victim of an appalling gun attack on a home in Coolock. Prior to her murder, a young Latvian man was stabbed to death in Artane.

The people of Dublin North-East whom I represent are outraged and deeply upset by this appalling catalogue of murders. My constituents are shocked that such horrors could be perpetrated on peaceful residential streets. They are rightly angry that children and ordinary householders have had to witness murder crime scenes and the spectacle of killers operating with apparent impunity in quiet residential streets. They are also rightly fearful that another such atrocity could be perpetrated at any time.

As I informed the Taoiseach yesterday, the chief superintendent for the Dublin north metropolitan region, Peter Maguire, has called for political leadership in response to these appalling gun crimes and the vicious, drug-fuelled gang criminality which produced them. I call on the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to give such leadership. The Minister indicated yesterday that he had reported to the Cabinet that dealing with the murderous gangs who perpetrate gun homicides is not a question of resources. If this is the case, why are vulnerable communities not saturated with gardaí and specialist surveillance teams and why is blatant and regular drug dealing not stamped out and the criminals arrested and charged? The Taoiseach and the Minister never gave the Garda authorities sufficient resources to tackle this scourge. In my Garda district, for example, only 200 gardaí struggle to meet the needs of almost 100,000 people, a larger population than that of Dublin city.

Our 25 year campaign for a new Garda station in Donaghmede has gone unheeded and unanswered. Even Operation Anvil, as the Acting Chairman, Deputy Costello, has noted many times in the House, was only an ad hoc response to terrible crimes and the Garda authorities were not given sufficient resources to extend the operation to the whole north and west sides of Dublin. Responses in areas such as CCTV have been feeble, disorganised and poorly resourced.

In a thoughtful article in yesterday's edition of The Irish Times, criminologist Dr. Ian O’Donnell noted that high detection rates and a high probability of arrest are the best deterrents to the types of appalling crimes we have sadly witnessed in my constituency in recent months. It is time for the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to introduce new policies to remove evil gunmen from our streets once and for all and create a society in which casual and nihilistic violence will not be permitted and will not arise.

Mr. F. McGrath

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing this important debate on recent violent deaths and crime on the north side of Dublin. I offer my deepest sympathy to the families of the victims. The vast majority of northside residents are disgusted by the recent horrific increase in violent crime and demand action from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and senior gardaí. One death is too many and it is only by the grace of God that many other innocent people have not been killed in crossfire. The Minister must wake up to this major problem.

People in Coolock and Clontarf are fed up with their areas being tarnished by negative images and publicity. Tonight I stand up for Coolock, Clontarf and all the northside. Drugs barons must get out of our communities, get off our streets and leave our young people alone. Our young people must ignore these violent criminals who bring death and destruction to our areas. They are not their friends or pals but peddlers of death on the streets of the northside.

I demand action from the Minister and make three sensible proposals to deal with the current crisis. The Government must develop Operation Anvil and target violent drug gangs, ensure more community gardaí are deployed on the streets to work with people on the ground in communities and invest as a priority in the most disadvantaged areas, particularly in pre-school and primary education, housing and drug treatment schemes.

Six people have been murdered in the area since February, five of them by firearms. Recently, I met the father of Donna Cleary, a 22 year old mother of a three year old boy who was shot dead at a party. Her family is devastated by the loss of their young daughter and have pleaded for the removal of guns from the city's northside. Let us do this in the coming months.

We must also support the many residents of the northside who are being bullied and intimidated by gangs every night. Many serious incidents are not reported and the silence further allows the problem to spiral out of control. I urge action and demand the deployment of more gardaí on the streets to tackle violent gangs. Above all, I demand leadership and more support for the decent people of the north side of Dublin.

Mr. Fahey

I thank Deputies Finian McGrath and Broughan for raising these matters on the Adjournment. I speak on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform who is unable to be present. As we speak, the Minister is attending a conference at Santry Garda station with the Garda Commissioner and other senior officers to discuss the recent murders and related policing and security issues.

I assure the Deputies that the Minister and I consider the recent murders in the area concerned to be of the utmost gravity and the significant resources available to the Garda authorities will be brought to bear in a focused and methodical way to bring to account the persons involved in the crimes to which they referred. Sadly, the recent fatal shootings make it all too clear that a small number of criminals are prepared to take whatever action they deem necessary to protect what they regard as their interests, including resorting to extreme violence and murder. I, too, express my sympathy to the families of the victims of recent terrible murders.

Killings within the criminal fraternity are usually well planned and often, due to their nature, more difficult to resolve. Fewer evidential links may be available to aid Garda investigations and witnesses are often unwilling to co-operate with the Garda. On Monday, the Minister had a meeting with the Garda Commissioner and senior management. The Commissioner set out how he is deploying the significant resources available to him this year to tackle serious crime, including gun crime. He informed the Minister that the Garda Síochána did not fall under any resource constraint in deploying gardaí and equipment to address the challenges arising in the areas of crime and the maintenance of public order. Nevertheless, the Minister reiterated to the Commissioner that any resources required by him would be provided. In the meantime a further conference was arranged to discuss the local aspects of these issues. This conference is in train this evening.

The Commissioner informed the Minister that of the 29 murders that have taken place this year, 13 of which involved the use of a firearm, 20 have already been solved and files have either been sent to the DPP or are being prepared for submission to the DPP. Regarding the other nine murders, investigations are ongoing and steady progress is being made in these investigations.

Since June 1997, it has been a priority of the Government to tackle crime in all its manifestations. Never before in the history of the State has our criminal justice system been better resourced in terms of manpower and funding. The Government has legislated wisely and extensively and will continue to do so. We have undertaken an ambitious reform of the institutions that make up our criminal justice system, including the Garda Síochána and the court and prison systems.

Despite the understandable concern which follows serious incidents such as those mentioned, the headline crime rate has decreased from 29 crimes per 1,000 in 1995 to 24.5 crimes per 1,000 in 2006. Serious crime in the Dublin north division has declined by 7% on the same period last year. These figures notwithstanding, the fight against crime is a never-ending battle. Deputies will be aware that Ireland has a low headline crime rate, including the rate for murder, compared with other western societies and, for this, we owe a debt of gratitude to the Garda Síochána.

The Government's top policing priority for 2006 is to continue to target organised crime, including drug trafficking and the gun culture associated with it. This is being implemented through the deployment of specialist units by the Garda authorities and the use of targeted intelligence led operations to tackle specific criminal activities. Contrary to the comments made by the Deputies, Operation Anvil has proven to be very successful in disrupting the criminal activities of a number of key criminal gangs. It has resulted in a number of high profile arrests and the acquisition of intelligence on the movements of criminals. This year, it has been extended nationwide from the Dublin metropolitan region. A budget of approximately €11 million has been allocated for Operation Anvil during 2006 and the Garda Commissioner was recently advised that an additional €10 million has been made available for further operations to tackle gang related crime.

The most recent figures available to me show that since the introduction of Operation Anvil in May 2005, 527 firearms have been seized. It has also resulted in more than 2,830 arrests for serious crimes, including 43 in respect of murders, and a total of 1,298 individuals have been charged.

With the attestation on 8 June of 273 new members, the personnel strength, all ranks, of the Garda Síochána increased to a record 12,641. This compares with a total strength of 10,702 on 30 June 1997 and represents an increase of 1,939, or 18.1%, in the personnel strength of the force since then. Every three months, 275 newly attested gardaí come on stream and the strength of the force will be 14,000, including attested officers and those in training, by the end of this year. The Garda budget is at a record high of €1.3 billion, an increase of 117% on the 1997 provision of €600 million.

I assure the House that the Government will continue to prioritise the fight against criminals and that the fight will be won.

Schools Building Projects.

Mr. Penrose

I welcome the opportunity to raise this matter, which is of considerable importance in terms of the safety of the students attending Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar, and greatly concerns parents and the board of management of the school. Coláiste Mhuire is one of a number of secondary schools in Mullingar and my own alma mater. I remember attending the school in the late 1960s.

I appeal to the Minister for Education and Science to provide the funding to complete the entrance to the school, the work on which was begun at the request of her Department. The original vehicle entrance to the school passed through the primary school playground. Annual intake at the school was 110 pupils but increased this year to 130, with many more on the waiting list. Last year, a new extension was added to the school's already fine building. It is a tremendous educational establishment and, like the other schools in Mullingar, has achieved strong academic results for its students.

A new entrance is essential from a health and safety perspective. The original entrance through the playground was not a danger in the past when traffic was lighter and mostly pedestrian. Now, however, a significant volume of traffic passes through the entrance, which is located beside Mullingar cathedral and Garda station.

The school made two applications to the Department. It first applied under the emergency fund scheme but was told to apply under the summer works scheme. As soon as the school applied under the latter scheme, however, it was told that the Department had no more money. Talk about running around in circles. The essential issue of safety has not yet been addressed. A few minor accidents have occurred at the original entrance but, thankfully, none was serious.

The new extension to Coláiste Mhuire was opened with great fanfare by the Minister, an event I was delighted to attend as a former pupil of the school. After the opening of the extension, the school was advised to desist from using the original entrance and to construct a new entrance. Planning permission was received for the project and it was then put to tender. The lowest bid for the work was €160,000. However, funding under the summer works scheme for 2006 has been refused.

The principal, board of management, parents association and the pupils have asked me to intervene in this important matter and to help ensure that a safe entrance is constructed. All the school needs is €160,00 but, even if it were funded to the extent of €100,000, the parents association and board of management could raise the remaining funds.

This safety issue has caused great concern to everybody involved. I will not compare €160,000 with the vast sums wasted on other projects over recent years. In the context of our children's safety, €160,000 is a small figure. If an accident occurred involving one of the students because of the Department's failure to provide the funds to complete the entrance, what would we say? We have an opportunity at present to prevent an accident by completing the entrance to this excellent 600-pupil school. I urge the Minister to provide the necessary funds.

Mr. Fahey

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter which affords me the opportunity to outline to the House the position of the Department of Education and Science on capital investment at Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar.

Modernising the facilities in our 3,200 primary and 750 post-primary schools is not an easy task given the legacy of decades of under-investment in this area as well as the need to respond to emerging demands in areas of rapid population growth. Nonetheless, this Government has shown its determination to improve the condition of school buildings and ensure that appropriate facilities are in put place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum.

In this regard, the Government has invested in the largest school building programme in the history of the State. Between 1998 and the end of 2004, almost €2 billion was invested in school buildings and approximately 7,500 large and small projects were completed in schools, including 130 brand new schools and 510 large-scale refurbishments and extensions. Funding for school building and renovation projects has increased five-fold since 1997. In 2006, €491 million will be spent on school building projects compared with €92 million in 1997. In its own right, the 2006 allocation represents an increase of more than 9% in real terms on the 2005 allocation.

As the Deputy will be aware, at the end of last year, the Department of Education and Science outlined its spending plans for primary and post-primary schools for 2006. With €491 million to be spent on school buildings, more than 1,300 projects will be active in schools throughout the country. This significant investment will allow the Department to continue to progress its programme of school building and modernisation, which includes improving the equipment needed for new technologies.

With regard to capital investment at Coláiste Mhuire, in September 2002, the Department of Education and Science approved a large extension project of more than 1,300 sq. m. at a cost of €2.8 million. This extension consisted of two general classrooms, ten specialist rooms and a number of general areas. The project was completed in late 2004.

The school made an application to the Department for capital grant aid for a new entrance under the 2006 summer works scheme. The application was examined by the Department's school planning section but was not approved because a large number of other applications received in respect of projects had a higher priority under the terms of the summer works scheme. Projects totalling more than €84 million across 824 schools were approved under the 2006 summer works scheme earlier this year. The Deputy will be aware that the Department recently published details of the 2007 summer works scheme and it is open to the school authorities in question to apply under this scheme if it wishes to be considered for funding for the proposed improvement works.

I will speak to the Minister with regard to this project. My late father taught in Coláiste Mhuire a long time ago, so I would certainly like to see the entrance built.

Water and Sewerage Schemes.

Mr. McHugh

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this matter because it is of critical importance to the towns of Dunmore and Kilkerrin in my constituency of Galway East. These towns are seeking modern sewerage schemes which would serve their expanding populations. After much lobbying and work done locally, limited progress was made in this matter. Both schemes were approved for funding by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government's water services investment programme for 2005-07.

In September 2005 the tender recommendations for the construction of the collection networks for both schemes were approved by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The collection networks for both towns are substantially complete. The tender documents for the design build operate treatment plants have not yet been approved so the project cannot proceed. While 50% of the modern sewerage system for both towns, comprising the collection system and the treatment system, has been allowed to proceed, the remaining 50% has not been approved. The pipes are in the ground but the waste matter cannot flow to an end receptacle or treatment plant.

If this was not so serious it would laughable. This is the greatest example of gombeen planning. Where is the strategic planning the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government would have us believe exists in Government? How did the Department allow this to happen? How can the Minister stand over this slipshod behaviour and who is responsible for this debacle? Dunmore and Kilkerrin have been deprived of basic infrastructure for too long. They cannot expand and progress as other towns have done. Builders and developers willing to invest cannot get planning permission for developments, a totally unacceptable situation. Have the tender documents been approved? Can the Minister of State give an undertaking that they will be approved immediately? If Galway County Council must supply further information, can this be demanded immediately? How can documentation prepared by consultants, approved by local authority officials and forwarded to the Department be found unsatisfactory? Can a phone call not be made to clarify a point, sanction the documentation and move on? Our rural towns must make progress, red tape must be eliminated and gombeen processing of projects must be stopped. We must move into the modern world of efficiency and strategic planning.

The tender document for the design build operate element of the contract was forwarded to the Department in 2005. At the Department's request it was revised and resubmitted in January 2006. It has remained in the Department since. I fear the Minister of State will tell us that additional information is being sought from Galway County Council. If that is the case, someone is negligent. The Minister of State should inform us if that is the case and outline the action intended by the Minister to eliminate incompetence and approve these projects for the people of Dunmore and Kilkerrin.

Mr. Fahey

I will respond on behalf of my colleague the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche. The water services investment programme 2005-07, published last December, includes some 60 water and sewerage schemes, with a value of more than €451 million for Galway. Many areas of the county, such as Carna, Kilkieran, Tuam and Headford, will benefit from improved water supplies. New regional water supply schemes for Costelloe, Gort, Ballinasloe, Clifden, Loughrea, Dunmore, Glenamaddy and Portumna are also included. Towns and villages such as Athenry, Ballinasloe, Barna, Carraroe, Clifden, Glenamaddy, Headford, Miltown, Oughterard, and Tuam can also expect new or upgraded sewerage schemes. All schemes will play a major role in the development of the residential, tourism and commercial sectors of these areas.

The Dunmore and Kilkerrin sewerage schemes are also included in the water services investment programme and are approved for funding under the rural towns and villages initiative. Galway County Council's tender recommendations for the construction of the collection networks for both these schemes using a single contract were approved in September 2005. The network in Kilkerrin is substantially complete and that work is well under way in Dunmore.

The treatment plants for both schemes are being procured by way of a single design build operate contract that also includes Leenane. The Minister approved Galway County Council's revised tender documents for the treatment plants for the three locations earlier this month. Approval of the tender documents allows the council to invite tenders for the construction of the treatment plants from a panel of short-listed contractors already in place. Further progress on the scheme is now a matter for the county council.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.25 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 22 June 2006.