Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 30 Nov 2006

Vol. 628 No. 5

Adjournment Debate.

Care of the Elderly.

Mr. P. Breen

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Adjournment. The lack of provision of funding for day care centres for elderly people is a typical example of the Government being penny wise and pound foolish. For a relatively small outlay of funds, the lives of retired people could be considerably enhanced, especially those living in isolated, rural areas.

The particular case I wish to refer to is the Stella Maris Centre in Lisdoonvarna. Currently this centre is a two-day care centre and has been since it was launched a year ago by the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. The people in the area have been fighting an uphill battle since to have a third day added to the schedule with a view to extending it to five days over time. A five-day care centre was the commitment given by the Minister last year when she visited Lisdoonvarna, but naturally nobody was so rude as to ask her by when that would happen. When will funding be provided to extend the centre to a three, four or five-day facility?

It is not that the local communities involved have not put their weight behind the project. More than €40,000 was raised through voluntary funds which paid for a bus. I have been informed that the organisers now seek a larger replacement bus, such has been the success of the scheme. The downside of that success, unfortunately, is that there is a waiting list for the facility. People from the nearby villages of Kilinaboy, New Quay, Corofin and Carron need not apply because there is not enough room for them at the centre.

Earlier this week I attended the opening of the Michael Cusack visitor centre in Carron. It is sad that on the one hand we can applaud and cherish the achievements of people such as Michael Cusack, but on the other hand ignore the living people who paid taxes through the lean years of the economy, who worked hard all their lives and made sacrifices for their children and parents, and who now find themselves neglected by the State.

Provision of funding for day care centres is a form of preventative medicine. It provides a physical and mental outlet for elderly people who, too often, find themselves home alone with little social contact. People in such situations often get ill or decline rapidly when they have so much inactivity forced upon them. That in turn puts an immense strain on our acute hospital services and our nursing homes which have been so much in the news recently. I cannot think of a better way for the Department of Health and Children to spend its budget than to rapidly expand its provision for day care centres throughout the country and explore means of opening new ones.

In my constituency of Clare, there are just six day-care centres, Lisdoonvarna, Kilmaley, Clarecastle, Raheen, Ennistymon and Kilrush and all need to be expanded. In addition, considerable efforts have been made to establish a centre in Sixmilebridge and again the local communities there have been very generous in providing voluntary funding to go towards such a centre. I take this opportunity to impress upon the Department the urgent need to back this project.

I had the pleasure this week of visiting the Lisdoonvarna centre. The Stella Maris centre currently has 60 people on its books, from Lisdoonvarna, Doolin, Ballyvaughan, and Fanore. An average of approximately 25 people attend the centre on each of the days it is open. The centre is run by four hardworking staff, including the bus driver. During those days it is open all day. Its main role is as a social outlet, where people meet up with old friends and make new ones. There are activities such as painting, crafts and quizzes. Physical exercise is an important part of the programme and the centre is part of Go for Life national programme for elderly people. This is a commendable programme which is run in partnership with HSE health promotion officers and which saves thousands if not millions on physiotherapy services and the like.

The centre also has a hairdressing service, bingo and singing and dancing sessions. The programme is a full one and has untold positive effects on the lives of participants. It also saves the HSE, the Department and ultimately the taxpayer millions of euro every year.

The people involved in the centre have appealed for an extension of at least one extra day per week for the centre for the coming year. I plead with the Minister of State for Transport who represents the Minister this evening to urge her to provide the funding because the Stella Maris centre is of such value to north Clare.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport (Mr. Gallagher)

I am pleased to have the opportunity to reply on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. I thank Deputy Breen for raising the issue as it provides an opportunity to outline to the House the current position with regard to the Stella Maris day care centre in Lisdoonvarna. The Health Service Executive in Clare provides an extensive range of day care services for clients. Currently, seven day centres are provided throughout the county with an average daily attendance of 240. Many of those day centres, those at Clarecastle, Kilmaley, Miltown Malbay and Stella Maris in Lisdoonvarna, are provided in partnership with voluntary organisations.

The day centre service at Regina House in Kilrush, Raheen community hospital and Ennistymon community hospital is provided directly by the Health Service Executive. A day hospital is provided at St. Joseph's Hospital in Ennis. These services enable older persons to be maintained at home and attend day services on a regular basis, depending on their needs and wishes.

The day centre at Stella Maris, Lisdoonvarna, which has been provided at the former Stella Maris nursing home, was recently opened by the Minister, Deputy Harney. This centre, which provides services two days per week, has been upgraded and refurbished at a cost of €1.88 million by the Health Service Executive. This funding was provided by the Health Service Executive, the Department of Health and Children and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, which contributed CLÁR funding. Although the centre provides services on two days per week, the Health Service Executive in Clare hopes to extend these services to a full five-day service as funding becomes available. As the Deputy may be aware, €9 million was allocated to day and respite care in budget 2006.

Responsibility for the provision of health and personal social services now rests with the Health Service Executive. The HSE has advised that a proposal for additional funding for increased opening hours for the Stella Maris elderly day care centre is being considered in the context of new service developments for 2007, and a decision will be made as soon as possible.

Community Development.

Mr. Gilmore

The area of Mountwood and Fitzgerald Park is one of the areas of disadvantage in my constituency. It is an area which contains old local authority flats and maisonettes which are now undergoing redevelopment. For many years there has been a community development project based in the area, which has done excellent work in the local community in providing educational supports, community activities and general support in the community. The project is housed in a number of disused flats in one of the blocks which is due for demolition.

The members of the project have had the ambition over the years to include a purpose-built community centre as part of the redevelopment. Following much negotiation with the local authority, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and other State agencies, they eventually got to the point where a community centre was agreed and designed, and the intention was to progress it as part of the redevelopment. A financing package was put together to provide for the building of the community centre, which involved the provision of funding through the local authority, with some funding coming from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government through the dormant accounts fund, the young persons' facilities fund and the equal opportunities fund, which is operated by Pobal for child care facilities.

The issue arising is that one part of that funding, namely, the equal opportunities funding for child care purposes, which was made available directly to the community development project, is in danger of being lost. The project understands that those moneys, which make up one quarter of the amount required to develop the community centre, are due for what is called decommittal at the end of this year. The difficulty is that it appears documentation and paperwork which was required from the different agencies has not been completed. The community development project appears to be somewhat out of the loop as much of this work is being carried out by the different statutory agencies involved.

I very much commend the work of the officials of both the local authority and the statutory agencies in their efforts to get this community centre up and running. However, I am concerned about the bottom line in this regard, which is that if this part of the funding is lost, all the pieces will fall apart and the community centre may not be built or, at best, it would be delayed for years.

This is a facility the local community has sought for many years. The community development project has pushed ahead with it and has worked patiently with the statutory agencies involved. Those involved thought they had got to the point where everything was running smoothly. They thought all the funding was in place and that the scheme was agreed and would go ahead in due course. The risk that is now presented puts it in jeopardy.

What I seek from the Minister is a reassurance for the community and the community development project in this disadvantaged area that this money will not be lost and the community will not be put at risk. If there must be an extension on the time limit that appears to attach to this element of the funding, I ask that the extension be granted to allow for whatever paperwork must be completed so that this community centre can be proceeded with at the earliest possible opportunity.

Mr. Gallagher

I thank Deputy Gilmore for raising this matter and for giving me the opportunity to respond on behalf of the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. To respond, it is necessary to give a brief explanation of the equal opportunities child care programme, for which my colleague, Deputy Brian Lenihan, Minister of State with special responsibility for children, is responsible.

The programme for Government and the progress of the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme 2000-2006 are confirmation of the Government's commitment to developing child care services to support the child care needs of parents, with a particular emphasis on those who may be in employment, education or training to prepare for employment. To build on the success of the programme, the Government announced a new national child care investment programme in the last budget to cover the period 2006 to 2010. This new programme will build on the success of the existing programme and will incorporate a number of key objectives. It will increase the supply and quality of early childhood care and education services across the board, support families in breaking the cycle of disadvantage and provide a co-ordinated approach to the delivery of child care that is centred on the needs of the child.

The National Childcare Investment Programme 2006-2010 has a funding allocation of €575 million and aims to create an additional 50,000 child care places. It is expected that approximately 22,000 of these places will be in the private sector and 28,000 in the community and not-for-profit sector. Some 20% of the overall places will be for children in the three to four years age group and will provide an early childhood care and education focus. When taken into account with the other child care centred announcements in the last budget, such as the increases in paid and unpaid maternity leave and the introduction of a new early childhood supplement, worth €1,000 per year per child under six, no one can doubt the commitment of the Government or that it is giving this issue the priority it deserves.

I turn now to the project in question, the child care element of which is part of a larger development which has been commissioned by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Other sources of funding have been sourced from other programmes and Departments. Deputy Gilmore will be aware that Mountwood-Fitzgerald Park community development project was provisionally approved €691,691 in capital grant assistance under the programme in March 2002 as a contribution to the overall capital costs of the project. The group sought additional funding and a further €308,309 was provided in September 2004, bringing the total approved under the programme to €1 million. This approval is subject to the group concluding a contractual agreement with Pobal, formerly known as ADM Limited, which administers the grants on behalf of the Department of Health and Children. This contractual agreement must be concluded by 31 December 2006 and spending must be completed by 31 December 2007 for European Commission reporting requirements to be met. I can appreciate the urgency of this, as there is a limited number of working days between now and the end of the year.

I understand from the Department of Health and Children that Pobal is awaiting outstanding information from the group and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to progress to the next stage in the process. This information will need to include written confirmation that the appropriate planning permission has been obtained. If the group is unable to progress to the signed contract stage by 31 December next, it will be able to reapply for funding under the child care investment programme. As the group will not have to start from a green field situation — all the information needed is available — any application it makes can be dealt with expeditiously. I hope that will not come to pass, however, and that the current application will be dealt with before the end of the year.

I emphasise that the programme has been central to the recent development of child care in Ireland, which will continue to flourish under the careful stewardship of this Government. I will indicate clearly to the Minister for Health and Children the issues raised by Deputy Gilmore. I appreciate that the group in question is fighting against the clock.

Light Rail Project.

Ms O. Mitchell

I welcome the opportunity to raise this matter, which is extremely important for the people of my constituency of Dublin South.

The Minister of State may be aware that before the last election, the Dublin Transportation Office published A Platform for Change, which was adopted by the Government as the proposed rail plan for the Dublin area. Under that plan, it was proposed to develop two further light rail lines between the green and red Luas lines. It was proposed to develop a metro line serving west Rathfarnham and Templeogue, as well as another Luas line serving east Rathfarnham and Churchtown. However, the two lines had disappeared from the Government's plans by the time Transport 21 was published. They represent a gaping hole in the transport plans for the Dublin area and for my constituency in particular. I recognise that significant investment in public transport is planned. I accept that a great deal of construction will be taking place in the next few years — it is not possible to do everything at the same time — but the removal of the two routes in question from the overall plan jeopardises them in the longer term.

As there has been no further strategic planning in respect of these projects since the publication of Transport 21, no attempt is being made to protect the alignments. I ask the Minister of State to arrange for the two lines to be restored to the strategic plans so that their alignments can be protected in the various local authority areas. The lines will run through at least two such areas.

The lines must be included in the development plans so that the relevant lands can be developed. As they are not included in any plans — they simply have no status — there is no impetus to create or protect a reserved area. The failure to take action in this regard is also resulting in the loss of the potential contributions which would be made by developers who would be building along the routes. The Minister of State is aware that planning permissions for housing and other developments are being granted daily in this area, as in all of Dublin. That pattern will continue in the years to come, at least until the end of the timeframe of the Transport 21 plan. Every time a planning permission is granted, it limits and eventually precludes future route options.

The Minister of State should instruct the Railway Procurement Agency, or any other body with the relevant authority, to define for the local authorities the broad paths which will be taken by the two light rail lines I have mentioned. I am not sure if the RPA has any status at the moment, as it may be about to be absorbed into the new Dublin Transportation Authority. If the paths of the lines were outlined within approximately 500m of how it is envisaged they will be developed, the relevant land could be reserved, rather than built on. The likelihood of developing a public transport corridor in an area decreases as the land in the locality is built on. It also becomes far more expensive to engage in such development in such circumstances.

Significant development is taking place in the Dublin South area. The radial roads in the area are little more than country lanes. I refer to roads like Stocking Lane, Whitechurch Road, Ballyboden Road, Edmondstown Road and Scholarstown Road, which were never designed to carry the volumes of traffic they now have. Much more will be expected of such roads in the years to come when the housing developments which are in the pipeline come to fruition.

The failure to provide for the two light rail projects in question is short-sighted in the extreme. I am not asking for money to be spent now, but for the two projects to be restored to the strategic plan. The local authorities should be asked to reserve the lines so that we can proceed to develop them in the future, when some of the development that is taking place or planned has been completed. If the level of building work in the area continues as it is at present, the land will be gone. We will look back on the decisions which are being taken at present as short-sighted.

It is almost impossible to put buses on some of the roads I have mentioned because they are so narrow. The quantum of public transport that is required is not being provided. The area I am talking about is in the lee of the M50. There is housing on both sides of the M50 in the locality. The transport system in the area is making it hell to live there at the moment. If no hope for the future is offered to the people living in a swathe of south County Dublin — I refer to places like Knocklyon, Rathfarnham, Templeogue, Whitechurch and Ballyboden — it will be the final insult to them. Huge developments are being pursued on the far side of the motorway. Even though thousands of houses are being built in places like the Ballycullen Road, no public transport provision is being made. The authorities have not even drawn a line on a map that would allow the relevant land to be preserved. I ask the Minister of State to ensure that a strategic plan is drawn up, with the greatest urgency, to allow these lands to be preserved by the local authorities. I am probably the only Deputy speaking on the Adjournment who is not looking for money.

Mr. Gallagher

I thank Deputy Olivia Mitchell for raising this matter and giving me an opportunity to respond. While Transport 21 involves a large commitment of financial resources, those resources are finite. Transport 21 provides funding for the delivery of an extensive rail-based network between 2006 and 2015. The network is based on the Dublin Transportation Office's strategy document, A Platform for Change. The Railway Procurement Agency is responsible for the delivery of the Luas and metro elements of Transport 21. In the short to medium term, the agency is focusing on delivering all the Luas and metro projects for which financial support is provided in Transport 21. The Dublin Transportation Office's strategy remains the longer-term strategic framework for transport in the greater Dublin area.

Funding is provided for feasibility studies on the elements of the A Platform for Change which are not included in Transport 21, including a metro line from Tallaght via Kimmage to the city centre and the proposed Luas line from the city centre to Dundrum via Terenure. The RPA will investigate the feasibility of these suggested projects during the timescale of Transport 21. This work will help to define in more detail the corridors to be used for the projects.

The areas referred to by the Deputy are served by two quality bus corridors — the Rathfarnham and Tallaght corridors — and a significant number of bus services. As well as providing for a major expansion of the Luas network and the new metro routes, Transport 21 makes a substantial financial provision for the development of bus services and the doubling of the quality bus network over the lifetime of the programme.

The Government has taken decisions on Transport 21, particularly on the key elements of an integrated transport network for the greater Dublin area, based on a robust professional analysis by the Dublin Transportation Office and the relevant transport delivery agencies. We have developed a growing momentum over the last 12 months on the delivery of this large investment programme. As we cannot do everything at once, we have to prioritise. That does not mean that projects which are not scheduled for construction during Transport 21 are off the agenda. Our intention is that feasibility and planning work should proceed on the projects so they are ready for a future investment programme.

The Dáil adjourned at 6.40 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 5 December 2006.