Adjournment Debate.

Job Losses.

Deputy Jack Wall

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing this matter and the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for taking it. The shocking news that a major employer in County Kildare, Wyeth Medica in Newbridge, was seeking 250 redundancies by December 2009 and that another major industry, Tegral Building Products Limited in Athy, would follow suit was shocking. They are the county's largest industrial employers due to the significant haemorrhaging of employment elsewhere in the area for some time, including at Donnelly Mirrors, Black and Decker, Wallboard, IVI, Shuttlework Europe Limited, Pyma, Batchelors Limited, Monoject, Peerless Rug, Leinster Foundries, Polaroid and, in adjacent counties, Lappel, Irish Sugar and a reduction of staff at Braun Oral B. Industry used to be at the forefront of employment in the area, but it has reduced.

To add to the problems is the lack of drive on the part of IDA Ireland in providing alternatives. I have resided in the area for more than 60 years and in that time only one replacement industry was acquired and that was in respect of Irish Board Mills where I was an employee. That replacement has since gone by the wayside and the haemorrhaging has continued across the board.

To add insult to injury, a number of IDA Ireland sites in Kildare South have been disgracefully neglected. In five years, only two industries have visited the area. I sought to determine whether IDA Ireland would sell the sites to the local authority to provide incubation units for indigenous industries in different towns. Due to IDA Ireland's greed — it wanted to sell the sites to the local authority at today's prices instead of at the prices of the 1970s when they were first purchased — the deal fell through.

When I pressed this issue in recent weeks, IDA Ireland admitted in local newspapers that it cannot attract industries to south County Kildare. How could it do so when it does not bring industries to the county? The newspaper headlines were incredible, as IDA Ireland conceded that it could not attract industry to the area despite how it used to be filled with industries. The situation has worsened and IDA Ireland must return to the local authority to try to sell the three sites after being unable to conclude a deal in 2003.

How can this occur? Given the economic downturn, should we not consider how to promote indigenous industries? This is an ideal opportunity for IDA Ireland to work with State agencies in starting up incubation units and ensuring the protection of jobs at Tegral Building Products Limited and Wyeth Medica. Will the Minister of State examine the issue of the sites and tell IDA Ireland to forget about getting modern prices for lands bought cheaply in the 1970s and to work with the local authority in creating alternative employment in an agricultural area that has experienced significant employment losses through the closure of Irish Sugar? Will he also ask the State agencies to work with Wyeth Medica and Tegral Building Products Limited to ensure that they are given every assistance in overcoming their considerable problems? They should continue to be beacons of hope to the people of the area. The work and dedication of their staff should be underpinned to ensure the companies' continued success. Will the Minister of State ask IDA Ireland to remodel what has been one of that body's worst performances to date?

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher)

I apologise as I was late for the start of the debate.

Deputy Jack Wall

It is not a problem.

Deputy Billy Kelleher

I will address some of the Deputy's points. The recent increase in the numbers on the live register is unwelcome and traumatic for the communities involved. It is an indication of the challenges facing the labour market and the economy as a whole. The Government is taking specific measures to address the challenge and ensure that job losses are minimal and last for as short a time as possible. Our priority is to create an environment that will allow those who have lost their jobs to quickly return to the labour market.

The enterprise development agencies, with FÁS, the employment and training authority, are actively engaged in facilitating job opportunities in Kildare South. Specifically, IDA Ireland's current strategy seeks to progress the development of a knowledge economy so that County Kildare can compete nationally and internationally for foreign direct investment to encourage increased co-operation between foreign direct investment companies and third level institutions in Kildare, such as NUI Maynooth, to work with the existing client base in the county and expand their presence — for example, in 2006 Curragh Carpets relocated to a new facility in Newbridge, maintaining employee levels — to provide modern property solutions with supporting infrastructure, including the recent site infrastructure developments with Braun Oral B in Newbridge, and to work with local authorities and relevant infrastructure providers to influence the delivery of appropriate infrastructure to Kildare.

There are 25 IDA Ireland-supported companies in Kildare employing approximately 10,356 people. The reduction in job numbers in Wyeth Medica, while disappointing, was not unexpected. This is a challenge facing us all, given how multinational companies are conducting global reviews. We must ensure that we remain competitive and that we market Ireland as well as possible. Unfortunately, companies' sister sites are also competing with Ireland. We will ensure that Ireland remains seen as a place to do business.

Wyeth Medica announced the prospect of job cuts in March 2006, which are now being processed because of the significant reduction in the throughput and product volume of new products. However, it is important to note that in October 2007 the company announced an investment of €7.47 million in its research and development facility in Newbridge. The new centre will be at the forefront of Wyeth Medica's development pipeline and will assist Newbridge in attracting a significant number of the new products coming out of the corporate research and development pipeline.

In recent years, Kildare South has attracted world-class manufacturing companies, including Wyeth Medica and Braun Oral B, in addition to Intel and Hewlett Packard, which are also located in the county.

Deputy Jack Wall

At the wrong end of it.

Deputy Billy Kelleher

In the present competitive global markets, it is increasingly difficult to continue to attract such facilities as manufacturing companies in particular are going to low cost destinations such as China and central Europe. Central American countries, including Brazil and Singapore among others have low corporation tax levels, good infrastructures and good legal systems. Many companies are considering them is a sizable challenge and we must continue to address that.

To address this market shift, IDA Ireland is refocusing to areas such as international services, software, financial services and pharmaceuticals. In 2005, IFS established a facility in the Millennium Park in County Kildare. The requirements of these types of project mean that they are increasingly attracted to larger populations, such as Kildare or Naas. To support this strategy, IDA Ireland is also working closely with educational institutions in County Kildare, such as NUI Maynooth, in developing the skill sets necessary to attract high value added employment. The agency is also working with FÁS to provide guidance in developing the skill sets needed by those already in the workforce who are interested in upskilling.

The Millennium Park in Naas, within the environs of Kildare South, has three modern 40,000 sq. ft. advance office buildings that are now available for marketing to inward investors, with all the necessary infrastructure, including ducting for broadband. New indigenous companies have been established and have created new employment in the county, which will benefit the people of Kildare South. It is expected that the consumer foods sector will continue to expand, reflecting significant changes in eating habits and an increase in demand for convenience foods.

Deputy Jack Wall

Every one of those is in north County Kildare.

Deputy Billy Kelleher

Were it a five-seater, the Deputy would be glad.

Deputy Jack Wall

It is not.

Deputy Billy Kelleher

The major €22.6 million expansion investment, supported by Enterprise Ireland, is under way and on target in Green Isle Foods. Enterprise Ireland has supported the development of community enterprise centres in Kildare South, at Allenwood and Athy, which are contributing significantly to job creation. However, I take the Deputy's points on boards and will convey his concerns to IDA Ireland when its representatives return from the overseas trade mission in which it is currently engaged.

Drugs Payment Scheme.

Deputy Olivia Mitchell

The issue I raise is not of the same magnitude as the matters we have been discussing in recent days. Nevertheless, it is very important to those affected by it, for whom it is causing great hardship and distress. For almost eight months, the Health Service Executive has not been refunding moneys due to patients for certain drugs and items of medical equipment. This represents a policy change that was undertaken in a completely arbitrary fashion and without any regard to the eligibility of patients.

I am aware of two circumstances in which this change of policy is evident. The first relates to patients in need of essential life-saving equipment in their homes, such as oxygen. In the past, the cost of hiring such equipment was refunded each month in the normal manner under the drugs payment scheme. That practice ended last March and these people are now carrying the cost of the equipment. It seems the HSE simply decided one day no longer to reimburse the costs of these ill people. The reason given was that the court challenge by pharmacists to the breach of contract decision might result in the HSE having to pay more. The reality, however, is that HSE management hoped it would have to pay nothing. This was a complete red herring. The court case has nothing to do with the hiring of equipment and the latter has nothing to do with pharmacists. The HSE was using sick people as leverage in its dispute with pharmacists.

The second set of circumstances in which the HSE has failed to provide refunds is in the case of people who have experienced an out-of-hours medical emergency, whether at the weekend or late at night. In such cases, people may have been obliged to obtain medicines from a pharmacy other than the one from which they usually obtain their prescriptions. Even though they might have reached the monthly limit and were entitled to obtain those medicines free of charge, they were obliged to pay for them and have not been reimbursed. The normal practice in such cases was that one paid up-front and was reimbursed later. This is an absolute entitlement. However, the HSE decided, again arbitrarily, not to pay out in order to discredit pharmacists with their patients and so help its court case. Although it has lost that case, it still refuses to pay out. The excuse now is that it will take time to work out how much it owes. It certainly owes more than nothing, which is what those affected have received.

Will the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, relay my concerns to the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, no later than tomorrow morning and ask her to insist that the HSE reimburse this money immediately? However long it may take to work out exactly how much is owed, it should at least pay something on account. People who require life-saving equipment must have some of this money reimbursed because they cannot continue carrying the cost indefinitely. The HSE is behaving despicably in this matter, using sick people as leverage in its argument with pharmacists. It is simply not good enough. I ask the Minister of State to ensure this practice ends tomorrow.

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy Barry Andrews)

I am replying on behalf of the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. I thank the Deputy for raising it as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the House the current position.

In 1999, the drugs payment scheme, DPS, replaced the drugs cost subsidisation scheme, DCSS, and drugs refund scheme, DRS, whereby patients reclaimed drug expenditure from the former health boards. Anyone who does not have a medical card is eligible for the DPS. Under the scheme, no individual or family pays more than €90 per month, rising to €100 per month from 1 January 2009, for approved prescribed medicines, with the balance paid by the State. This allows families and individuals to budget for the cost of medicines. The DPS is for everyone.

Dependants for the purposes of the monthly threshold include the spouse and any children under 18 years. A dependant with a physical disability, mental handicap or illness who cannot maintain himself or herself fully, who is ordinarily resident in the family home and who does not hold a current medical card may be included in the family expenditure, regardless of age. Dependants over 18 and under 23 years of age who are in full-time education are also included. The upper age limit is in keeping with family law legislation. People over the age of 18 years who are not in full-time education and those over the age of 23 years and in full-time education, and who are not eligible for a medical card, can avail of the drugs payment scheme in their own right.

All those who are ordinarily resident in Ireland are eligible to apply for the DPS provided they do not hold a current medical card. The scheme may also be used in conjunction with a long-term illness book. Application forms for the DPS can be obtained from the local pharmacy or the local HSE health office. The number of eligible persons under the DPS at the end of 2006 was 1,525,657, or 36.03% of the population. The cost of medications under the DPS in 2006 was €285.79 million.

On occasion, payments to patients from local health offices under the DPS are made where a patient has not yet registered for the scheme or where the monthly threshold is exceeded through the use of more than one contracted pharmacy in a calendar month. These payments would be reimbursement of costs already incurred. In addition, when the scheme was established in 1999, certain exceptional items were included within its remit. These include feeding sets, oxygen and oxygen equipment, laryngectomy equipment and elastic hosiery. Oxygen equipment has been interpreted to include any breathing aid. It is my understanding that some patients rent machines to assist breathing and the cost of the rent is reimbursed as appropriate through the DPS.

Following the reduction in pharmaceutical reimbursement prices on 1 March 2008, claims made by patients to local health offices were made at the new lower reimbursement rate. A number of claims in local offices have remained unpaid pending clarification of the recent High Court case regarding wholesale mark-ups because the pharmacies in question had charged the patient at the higher price rather than the lower reimbursement price. Following the recent decision in this case, reimbursement prices, and consequently prices to patients, are being reinstated to the original level to comply with the court's judgment. Consequently, the HSE primary, community and continuing care, PCCC, directorate is now examining the issue of refund payments to patients through local health offices. As it involves direct payment to patients, it is expected that this matter will be resolved shortly. However, I will raise the Deputy's concerns directly with the Minister.

Schools Building Projects.

Deputy Dan Neville

I welcome the opportunity to raise this important issue once again. Commitments were given to provide a new national school at Kilfinane in County Limerick in the lead-up to both the 2002 and 2007 general elections. We were certain construction would commence following the election in 2007, but nothing has happened in the interim.

On 15 February 2001, the management board received a commitment in writing that approval had been granted for the "provision of a new school at the greenfield site". The then Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Woods, subsequently confirmed this was the case. On 4 January 2007, the management board was informed in writing that the school was "one of 54 schools that has been recently approved to proceed to tender and construction over the next 12 to 15 months".

The current school was built in 1840 as a church and was converted to a school in 1887. It was last refurbished after a fire in 1909. It has a current enrolment of 137 pupils, encompassing an annual increase in each of the last three years as a result of the increased population in the area. The toilets are located outside the main building, leading to problems with child safety and protection, potential bullying and discomfort and stress for staff who cannot supervise due to the extremely high windows which provide no visibility for students availing of toilet facilities.

In March 2005, the school had to be evacuated due to an infestation of rats. The school secretary operates from a stand-alone cubicle in the entrance hall, the resource teacher works in the store room and the learning support teacher provides remedial teaching in a cubicle in a shared classroom. Public access to the school is via a narrow back lane with serious road safety issues.

The building itself is very old. As I stated, it was built in the 1880s. It consists of six classrooms, a hall and a cloakroom. The classrooms are small — three of them are only 25 metres in area — and are divided by thin panels of timber and glass which are not soundproof. The windows are high and many cannot be opened for ventilation. The hall which is used for PE and dancing classes has been reduced in size to accommodate a much needed secretary's office. There is one more room in the building which is used as a library, a classroom for the learning support teacher, an office and a staff room. Anyone conscious of safety will be aware of the real danger this school presents if, God forbid, a fire occurs.

One of my main concerns is the location of the toilets. The children are forced to leave the security of the school building and cross a yard in all types of weather to go to the toilet. This practice is not acceptable in this day and age, neither is it ideal for children suffering from diabetes or asthma. Some children are genuinely nervous about going out to the toilet alone during class. Concern has been highlighted about the presence in the area last year of an undesirable individual known to have taken photographs of young girls. His actions have also demonstrated a good knowledge of the geography of the more secluded areas of the school, which is worrying. The parents need a more secure environment for their children.

Kilfinane national school is located in a residential area on a steep incline. The narrow road becomes dangerously congested at school delivery and collection times. It is impossible for a bus to undertake a school run owing to a lack of space. The parish of Kilfinane is rapidly expanding with the latest estate of houses due for completion in November 2008. As yet, no provision has been made to cater for the extra children who intend enrolling during the next few years. The school is a co-educational school with a current enrolment of 137 children. There are five teachers, a learning support teacher and a resource teacher who are dedicated to the education of their children. They are patient, kind and always have the best interests of the children at heart. Their task of teaching is a daily struggle for them and their pupils. They must contend with limited resources and an unacceptable noise level.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Brian O’Shea)

The Deputy must conclude.

Deputy Dan Neville

They need and are entitled to practical working conditions to enable them to teach effectively.

In January 1998, the board of management applied to the Department of Education and Science to carry out structural work on the school. The Department undertook a feasibility study and took into consideration that the school is located in a restricted site and is subject to a preservation order. The Department decided a new school on a greenfield site was required and approval for same was granted in 2001-02. A promise was made that the new school in Kilfinane would commence construction immediately following the general election. In November 2002, the Sisters of St. Paul donated a site for the school. The Department carried out a feasibility study and the site was deemed suitable.

Acting Chairman

The Deputy has gone over time.

Deputy Dan Neville

Kilfinane has not been included in the Department's building programme since then. This is a Dickensian educational facility. I implore the Government, particularly the Minister and the Minister of State, to respond to the basic needs of the children, parents and teachers of Kilfinane national school.

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science (Deputy Seán Haughey)

I thank Deputy Neville for raising this matter because it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the House the position with regard to the proposed building project for Kilfinane national school, County Limerick. Kilfinane national school has a current enrolment of 126 pupils. It has a staffing of a principal, four mainstream assistants, one permanent resource teacher and one permanent learning support teacher, the latter shared with another school. Originally, the board of management applied to the Department of Education and Science for capital funding for an extension project. A feasibility study was commissioned to examine the merits of upgrading and extending the existing building as opposed to the provision of a new school on a greenfield site. The Department took a decision in favour of the greenfield option on the basis of the outcome of this study and for reasons of cost effectiveness.

A site was identified, inspected and found to be generally suitable for the construction of a new school. This has been purchased by the diocese. It is intended to provide long-term accommodation in the new building for a principal, five mainstream assistants and the full range of ancillary accommodation appropriate to a school of this size. The project was included among those announced by the Minister for Education and Science on 29 November 2006 to proceed to tender and construction stage. Tenders have been received and the project is awaiting approval to proceed to construction.

Deputy Dan Neville

When?

Deputy Seán Haughey

The Minister stated previously in this House that he shares fully the concerns of the whole school community in Kilfinane about their school building, particularly in the matter of the outdoor toilets. The Deputy will be aware that he visited the school in the recent past and spoke directly to the pupils, teachers and parents, assuring them that this situation would be remedied as soon as resources are available.

However, the Deputy will appreciate that while the Minister is committed to advancing the project for Kilfinane as soon as funding is available, the reality is that not all the demands on the Department's capital budget can be met at the same time. This being the case, all application for capital funding in the Department must be prioritised and advanced in accordance with the priority attaching to them. To achieve this, the Department of Education and Science consulted the education partners following which it introduced prioritisation criteria for the allocation of funding to large-scale building projects.

Not alone has the introduction of these published criteria improved the management of the building programme but they also ensure an orderly advancement over time of all school building projects, with the most urgent need being addressed first in accordance with the level of funding available. The Minister does not wish to see any school operating from less than satisfactory accommodation. However, he must be realistic in terms of the overall demand on the Department's budget not only to meet the needs of rapidly developing areas where there is little or no school accommodation in existence but to address the decades of under-investment in the existing school stock prior to 1978. This is not an easy task and it will take time. An enormous volume of work has been carried out by the Department in recent years with more than 7,800 projects having being carried out during the lifetime of the previous national development plan.

The Department has been positioned with an allocation of €581 million in the current budget to continue with its programme of work to provide pupil places where they are needed and to continue its modernisation programme for schools such as Kilfinane. The Minister told the pupils, teachers and parents in Kilfinane national school that their building project is a priority. He wants to again assure them that he is sincerely committed to advancing their project as soon as the requisite funding is available.

School Staffing.

Deputy Pat Rabbitte

I am grateful to the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this important matter. St. Mark's junior and senior national schools have more than 1,000 pupils in their care in an area not designated disadvantaged. The area concerned is a modest private housing estate of approximately 2,000 houses, a very high proportion of which are privately rented. A large number of these privately rented houses are leased to immigrant families whose children comprise 48% of the junior school. The junior school, for example, has 258 children for whom English is not their first language. Recently the junior school got sanction for six language support teachers, four of whom will not be re-employed under the Minister for Finance's budget announcement.

Some 258 newcomer children in a school with an enrolment of 536 has placed a huge responsibility on the school, a challenge which the teachers have taken up with very considerable success and evolved best practice with little help in the matter of guidelines from the Department. It seems to be unpopular with some outside commentators to highlight that if a school is inadequately resourced to cope with the language difficulties of newcomer pupils this will have a seriously adverse impact on indigenous pupils. Only a year and a half ago St. Mark's junior school won six language support teachers, or one teacher per 43 pupils with a variety of language needs. The Minister proposes to cap such resource teachers at two.

To compound the damage the same school now stands to lose €25,333.93 in grants, money that was used to provide books for necessitous pupils, psychological assessments and so on. This small grant was of immense value. How in the name of heavens does the Minister of State consider that a school like this can cope with this huge proportion of non-national children and at the same time tend to the needs of its indigenous pupils? Before the very recent arrival of the language support teachers and notwithstanding the diligent efforts of the established teachers, numeracy and literacy levels over ten years suffered badly. Despite the scale and novelty of the challenge nobody from the Minister's Department visited the school in over ten years to experience the challenge.

Now as the two schools on the St. Mark's campus are about to get on top of the challenge, the Government proposes to undermine them. Notwithstanding that the St. Mark's schools are not in an area designated disadvantaged, the proportion accessing third level is improving but is still not large enough. There are many young people who do not get to third level and some who do not finish second level. For the Government to attack primary school children as it has done in the budget is indefensible and I ask the Minister to withdraw the reimposition of the ceiling for language support teachers.

I conclude by referring to the statement issued by the teachers. It states:

We are beside ourselves with rage and genuine upset at the body blow that has been dealt to the primary sector by this budget. Everything we have worked for in these schools — and we know we speak for hundreds of principals — is now at risk. We did not get adequate resourcing in the good times and now we will be even further disadvantaged. Does anyone seriously imagine that we can manage with fewer than six language teachers? Even with six, each teacher has an allocation of more than 40 pupils, with a variety of language needs, coming from 37 countries and with a variety of cultural diversity.

Deputy Seán Haughey

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue as it affords me the opportunity to outline the position with regard to language support teachers and the position at the school in question.

Notwithstanding the increase of €302 million in the education budget for 2009, which is a real achievement in the current economic climate, a number of tough and difficult decisions had to be taken. These decisions included reducing the level of language support teachers from a maximum of six extra teachers per school to a maximum of two teachers per school, as was the case before 2007.

At a general level, the ongoing requirement for current levels of language support teachers in schools should also start to reduce in line with lower levels of immigration and in line with improvements in the levels of proficiency of those pupils for whom this resource has been available. Nonetheless, schools that require language support will still be entitled to get it. The budget measures will mean that the level of that support will be reduced from a maximum of six extra teachers per school to a maximum of two teachers per school, as was the case before 2007.

However, the budget measures also provide for some alleviation for the position of those schools where there is a significant concentration of newcomer pupils as a proportion of the overall enrolment. This will be done on a case by case basis. The allocation process for language support teachers is an annual one and existing provision is not rolled over automatically. Schools will be applying afresh in the spring and early summer of 2009 for the 2009 and 2010 school year, based on their assessment of the prospective needs of existing pupils and any new pupils they are enrolling. The position of the school in question will fall to be considered at that stage along with all other schools making application to the Department.

A number of measures had to be taken in the education sector to help contain public sector pay while providing for demographic and other changes. At primary level, these included an increase in the enrolment bands of the staffing schedule for the allocation of teachers in primary schools from an average of one teacher for 27 pupils to an average of one teacher for 28 pupils. As the processing of the September 2008 enrolment returns for primary schools are not yet finalised by the Department of Education and Science, it is not possible to outline to the House this evening the impact these changes will have on the allocation of mainstream teaching posts for the 2009 and 2010 school year for the school in question. The staffing schedule for the 2009 and 2010 school year will issue to all schools as soon as possible and at that time a more accurate indication of the mainstream staffing levels will be available.

The Department is aware of the funding pressures on schools. However, progress has been made in recent years that has seen the primary school capitation grant increased from €81.26 per pupil in 2000 to its current rate of €200. This represents an increase of 146% in the standard rate of capitation grant since 2000. The primary capitation grant has been improved by more than €21 to bring the rate to €200 per pupil. The ancillary services grant for primary schools will also be improved by €3.50 to €155 per pupil.

Taken together, these increases mean that primary schools eligible for the full ancillary services grant will get €355 per pupil, or almost €25 extra, in this school year to cover their day to day running costs, with a primary school of 300 pupils getting €7,475 more. In 2000, a primary school with 300 pupils was in receipt of less than €40,000 to meet its day to day running costs. That same school under these new rates will receive €106,500. This excludes the salary of teachers and special needs assistants which are paid by the Department.

Furthermore enhanced rates of capitation funding are paid in respect of children with special educational needs who attend special schools or special classes attached to mainstream schools. The current rates range from €512 to €986 per pupil, an increase of 59% from the rate in 2006. The Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, appreciates that the abolition of a number of grants for some schools will impact on funding levels in 2009 but it is also the case that enhanced levels of funding announced in the budget for the capitation and ancillary services grants will help to alleviate the impact of this.

The Deputy has been provided with a script detailing the facts pertinent to the school in question. I thank the Deputy for providing me with the opportunity to address the House on this matter and to outline the current position.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.10 p.m. until 10.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 22 October 2008.

Dáil Éireann debate - Tuesday, 21 Oct 2008