I am delighted the Minister for Health and Children is here. I hope she will have more positive news for people in County Clare, following our meeting with her this afternoon regarding Ennis General Hospital.
Schools Building Projects.
For the record, the Deputy is speaking on the future of secondary school services in east Clare and has five minutes.
Well done Chairman.
That is correct. I thank the Acting Chairman. I am still delighted that the Minister for Health and Children is here and perhaps when she visits the constituency in two weeks' time she will have more positive news.
I welcome the opportunity to raise this matter in the House. The list of schools in County Clare awaiting decisions from the Department of Education and Science to proceed with necessary infrastructural projects is increasing by the day. This evening I raise the issue of the future of St. Joseph's secondary school in Tulla and the future provision of secondary school education in east Clare. The management and teachers of this school have been frustrated for a number of years in their efforts to acquire a new school on a greenfield site. First, the school faced the difficulty of trying to acquire a suitable site for the new school and then it experienced some delays in the planning process. Those problems have now been overcome. The board of management has identified a suitable site which is adjacent to the village. Clare County Council has granted full planning permission to the board to allow it to make an entrance to the site for the purpose of developing sports facilities. Having overcome all these difficulties the school is now being hampered by the Department's delay in providing a written statement confirming that a new school is the Minister's preferred option in the long term.
The case for a new school on a greenfield site is well known. Since its foundation, St. Joseph's school has had an excellent reputation throughout east Clare. It is an educational centre of excellence and has attracted pupils not alone from its neighbouring parishes of Kilkishen, O'Callaghan's Mills, Feakle and Clooney but also from Bodyke, Crusheen and Sixmilebridge. The population of Tulla has increased by 15% between 2002 and 2006. Tulla is designated as an area of strategic development in the east Clare development plan published by Clare County Council in 2005. Enrolment in the local primary school has increased by 32% for the same period with increased enrolments also recorded in other primary schools in the catchment area, namely in Kilkishen, O'Callaghan's Mills, Feakle and Clooney.
It makes far more sense to build a new school than to attempt to extend the present school. In any event the current site at 2.5 acres is too small to allow for a school, a sports hall and playing facilities. A total of 11 of the 22 general classrooms are currently in prefabs and there is no space for any more. The present school is also located at a busy junction and is a hazard to pupils trying to get in and out of school every morning and evening. If the Minister for Education and Science ever decides to come to Clare, I hope he will visit the school to assess the situation for himself.
I commend the teachers and management of St. Joseph's on their foresight in the provision of services for children with autism. Three autistic children are currently being catered for in St. Joseph's and the school is committed to catering for a class of six students.
In order to progress the necessary remedial works at the school over the past four years, St. Joseph's had availed of grant assistance under the summer works scheme and had planned for further works this year. I would urge the Minister for Education and Science to adopt a different attitude to that of his predecessor. He should stamp his own authority in the Department by reviewing this decision and reinstating the schools summer works scheme, not alone for the secondary school in Tulla but for all the schools throughout my constituency for whom this scheme was so vital.
In order for St. Joseph's secondary school to progress this matter all that is required is a written statement from the Minister confirming his support for a new school in a greenfield site. There should be no need for a further technical assessment by his Department as this has already been completed prior to the sanction of the ASD class.
Schools like St. Joseph's secondary school in Tulla, which have a record of being proactive in the development of their schools, should not be penalised. There is a limited timeframe and a window of opportunity for the Minister for Education and Science to act in his new brief. It would be unforgivable if he fails to do so. I appeal to the Minister for Health and Children to put pressure on her colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, to issue the necessary letter straight away and let St. Joseph's secondary school in Tulla get on with what it has done successfully for generations — educating the children of east Clare.
I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keefe.
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the House the Department's position regarding St. Joseph's secondary school, Tulla, County Clare.
St. Joseph's secondary school, which is located in a Clár area, has a current enrolment of 441 pupils. The school initially applied for an extension and refurbishment project. This application was assessed and was assigned a band two rating under the band rating system operated by the Department. The band rating system involves all applications for capital funding being assessed in the planning and building unit of the Department. The assessment process determines the extent and type of need presenting, based on the demographics of an area, proposed housing developments, condition of buildings, site capacity and so forth, leading ultimately to an appropriate accommodation solution.
Projects are selected for inclusion in the school building and modernisation programme on the basis of priority of need. This is reflected in the band rating assigned to a project which indicates the urgency, type and extent of work required at a school.
Building projects move through the school building and modernisation programme consistent with the band rating assigned to them. St. Joseph's has a rating of 2. This rating reflects the fact that it has an accommodation deficit, that is, that the current school accommodation is not sufficient to meet the numbers enrolled in the school. At present, the school is making use of a number of prefabs to supplement the permanent accommodation on site. The long-term projected enrolment for the school was originally assessed at 500 and a schedule of accommodation was drawn up and agreed on this basis. However, the current enrolment is 441. This figure represents a 5% decline on the enrolment of 466 in 2003. In light of the trend in enrolments in the school in past five years, the application is being reassessed to review the optimum solution to the school's needs.
The Minister is aware that the trustees of the school, the Mercy Order, have entered into negotiations with a local landowner regarding the possible purchase of a site in Tulla for use as a school. The school has been in contact with the Department seeking a written commitment from the Department that its preferred option for the school is a new second level school on a greenfield site. However, as the Deputy will understand, it would not be prudent for the Department to give any such open-ended commitment which would, in effect, limit the Department's scope for manoeuvre in the future regarding the optimum solution for secondary school services in east Clare.
The Department will continue to assess the needs of St. Joseph's and the east Clare region generally and progress on any building projects will be considered in the context of the resources available under the multi-annual building programme.
The final decision on the most appropriate solution to the accommodation needs of the area will include consideration of the possibility of building a new school on any suitable sites that are available in the area. However, this option will only be implemented if it results in the optimum solution for the school and the area and provides value for money for the taxpayer.
The Department will be in contact with the school authorities directly when their project is likely to be progressed. Progress will be considered in the context of the band rating assigned to the project and the availability of resources.
I thank the Minister. I invite the Minister for Education and Science to see the site for himself because it is in a very dangerous location.
Social and Affordable Housing.
A few weeks ago I attempted to adjourn the Dáil to discuss the closure and suspension of the Dublin City Council affordable housing panel and to give the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government an opportunity to explain to the House how he intended to reduce the huge waiting lists for affordable and social housing in Dublin city and the three Dublin county authority areas.
Today we have received more bad news regarding the proposed €265 million regeneration plan for St. Michael's Estate in Inchicore where city housing manager Ciarán MacNamara is demanding "an immediate conclusion" to protracted negotiations with developer Bernard McNamara on a PPP project which, since 2001, has aimed to provide 720 new private and social affordable housing units.
The performance of Dublin City Council on providing affordable housing has been extremely poor. Only 1,025 units have been sold to date with a further 691 units in various stages of conveyance. Report No. 179/2008 of the manager, John Tierney, announced the closure of the affordable housing panel from 21 April 2008 until the end of the year. This report stated that there are now more than 8,000 applicants on the affordable housing panel, of whom 3,000 registered in 2007 alone. It was expected that the panel would grow to more than 10,000 individuals and families in 2008. Mr. Tierney says there will be a complete restructuring of the affordable housing process, but without a major national housing initiative, the affordable housing programme in Dublin City Council amounts to a cruel hoax on thousands of young people and their families.
Dublin City Council's social housing programme is likewise a grotesque failure of public policy. In the last assessment of housing need, the number of homeless households on the city waiting list was 1,309 and the overall social housing list is consistently approximately 6,000 individuals and families. Like other city public representatives, I find it distressing and dispiriting to meet constituents who are seven, eight, nine and even ten years on the social housing list. The question arises as to why time on the list is not a much bigger factor in the weighting of social housing applications.
Fingal county manager, David O'Connor, gave an impressive report on the county affordable housing programme at a recent meeting with Oireachtas representatives from the Fingal area. The waiting list comprises 735 individuals and families. I know from experience that the Fingal affordable application process is efficient and productive for applicants. Issues have arisen, however, about the income limits for affordable housing and the extent to which lower paid citizens, including public servants, are denied the opportunity to access affordable housing in Fingal. These are issues of which the county manager, David O'Connor, and the housing manager, Dick Brady, are clearly aware.
The social housing position in Fingal is almost as discouraging as in Dublin City Council. At present, the number of individuals and families on the social housing list is 5,259 for the Howth-Malahide ward. This is similar to the number — 5,291 — waiting in the Swords, Balbriggan and Blanchardstown housing areas. In total, excluding multiple applications, there are 5,738 housing applications in the Fingal area and 41 individuals on the homeless list. As with the Dublin City Council affordable and social lists, it may take up to a decade or longer to reach applicants on these lists.
I acknowledge that both Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council have made significant efforts within their statutory powers to eliminate and reduce homelessness and to provide much needed lower cost housing. Fingal, of course, has the advantage of greenfield sites while Dublin City Council is mainly reliant on more difficult brownfield sites. The record outlined above shows a grave failure of public policy over which the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley, of the Green Party has presided for almost a year.
The announcement of the RAS, rental accommodation scheme, was a key positive development. Given the incredible difficulties of the private housing market, desperate families in need of housing have also flocked to join the RAS. For example, there are more than 1,400 people in the Dublin City Council area waiting for a RAS allocation, with over 300 households alone in the north-central area of Dublin city. It seems incredible that a country which built over 80,000 housing units in 2006 and 90,000 units in 2007 should have the astonishing housing lists described above in two key counties with a combined population of more than 750,000. This is the appalling reality in the Ireland of the Taoiseach, Deputy Brian Cowen, and the Minister, Deputy John Gormley. I say shame on them and on the Fianna Fáil Party and the Green Party.
I urge the Minister, Deputy Gormley, as a former lord mayor and Dublin city councillor — the Acting Chairman will recall I played a role in ensuring he became lord mayor — to call in both local authority managers and devise a strategy to reduce these shocking housing lists. If this approach is still ineffective perhaps it is time we considered a national housing executive to discharge the public housing function that is not being discharged by these local authorities and, in particular, by Dublin City Council.
I am happy to reply on behalf of my colleague, Minister of State, Deputy Michael Finneran.
The Deputy will be well aware that policy issues in relation to the provision of social and affordable housing are decided at national level but the detailed implementation of those policies and the delivery of projects is a matter for the individual local authorities. In particular, it is the responsibility of local authorities to assess the need for housing in particular locations and to respond accordingly.
The Government is committed to expanding social and affordable housing programmes over the coming years. Our housing policy statement, Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities, and the National Development Plan 2007-2013 reflect the strong commitment to expand social and affordable housing provision contained in the social partnership agreement, Towards 2016.
The national development plan provides the resources — some €18 billion in total — which will support increased output from social and affordable housing measures and result in the needs of some 140,000 new households being met in this period.
Within this, provision is made for a significant programme of activity to assist house purchase. In particular, over the period of the national development plan, some 40,000 households will benefit from affordable housing. While the supply of affordable housing has increased consistently over recent years and further expansion is envisaged, my Department continues to work closely with local authorities and the affordable homes partnership to achieve the significant increase in delivery required to meet these ambitious targets.
In addition, the national development plan resources will be used to meet the needs of some 100,000 households through a range of social housing measures. Some 63,000 new social homes will be commenced or acquired in the period 2007-13.
The impact of the record levels of investment the Government is committing to these housing programmes is now being seen. Last year, we saw delivery of 13,000 social and affordable housing units, a record level of output. We are increasing funding allocations to these programmes once again in 2008 with over €2.5 billion being made available to local authorities and the voluntary and co-operative sector. This funding will allow for the commencement of a significant number of new social housing units, further progress under regeneration programmes and the completion of a large number of units under both the local authority and voluntary housing programmes.
To ensure that these programmes are delivered in a coherent and co-ordinated manner, city and county councils have put in place multi-annual housing action plans which encompass delivery of social and affordable housing in their areas. Taking Dublin City Council and Fingal together, some 1,100 social housing units were started or acquired in 2007. Recently, we announced record social housing investment programme allocations for 2008. Fingal and Dublin City Councils saw their combined year on year allocations increase by some €35 million from €142 million to €177 million. This will provide the platform necessary for continued increased social housing activity in their areas and will be added to by other provisions for major regeneration works.
Furthermore, Dublin City and Fingal continue to benefit from the establishment of the affordable homes partnership which is specifically tasked with bringing greater impetus to delivery of affordable housing in and around the capital. In so far as affordable housing in Dublin City is concerned, almost 3,200 affordable units have been delivered over the past five years.
The Government has demonstrated its commitment to the needs of those on social and affordable housing waiting lists — we have put in place the policy framework and are making available the necessary resources. Local authorities have responded. Not only are they producing levels of output not seen in a generation, but they are doing so in a manner which seeks to build sustainable communities — the sort of places where people want to live and work, now and in the future.
The Dáil adjourned at 5.10 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 20 May 2008.