Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 4 Nov 2010

Vol. 721 No. 1

Adjournment Debate

FÁS Training Programmes

Deputy Joe Costello

The announcement regarding the closure of the FÁS centre in Cabra is very serious. Participants have received letters to the effect that their courses are likely to cease midway through, some time before the end of December. This FÁS centre provided a service for those in Dublin 1, Dublin 3, Dublin 7, Dublin 15 and all the way out to Blanchardstown and beyond. Now, there is no FÁS service in Blanchardstown and extending all the way to Meath. More than 250,000 people live in this area and they are being deprived of all FÁS training services. The centre in Jervis Street, in the heart of the city, was closed down last year.

When there are approximately 440,000 people unemployed, some 100,000 people leaving the country and the unemployment level is 13.6%, should we be closing down a FÁS centre? There are reasons for its closure; the roof is in bad repair and the building is structurally unsound. However, there has been no word on an alternative centre. The centre has been run down gradually. ICT programmes are no longer run in the centre. Up to two years ago some 71 staff worked there but now there are only 42 staff working there. Basic computer and technology training is no longer being provided there. Classrooms and training rooms are vacant in the centre. It has been run down over a period and now it is being closed down. The existing staff will be redeployed elsewhere, including to Ballyfermot and Baldoyle, but this is simply not good enough. There will be no training facilities in the heart of the city since the centres in Cabra and Jervis Street have closed down. People have travelled and commuted a great distance from the greater Dublin area and beyond to come to these facilities.

Class participants have received letters, including the letter I have before me, which was received by a constituent of mine. This letter informs her that the centre is to close in early December and her six-month training course will finish on 24 December. What is she supposed to do? Only one month remains on her course but she has simply been informed that the centre will be gone at that stage. Will she received a certificate? How will this process be managed? Have alternative arrangements being made? It is somewhat rich at this time of the year as we approach Christmas that people in the middle of courses are treated in this way.

We are in the middle of the greatest recession the country has ever experienced but we are seeing the closure of a service which is essential to keep people going, to provide them with training and some hope for the future. Instead, we have a decision by the Government to the effect that since the roof has become too bad, now is the time to close the centre but this is being done without providing alternative arrangements for the participants.

I realise the staff will be taken care of to some extent in the sense that they will be redeployed elsewhere. The centre has been run down and almost 50% of the staff have moved already. The situation is serious. I realise a colleague of the Minister, Tommy Simpson, works there. He has done fantastic work in this area and I realise the Minister appreciates the work he has done. All the staff there are concerned not only for their futures, but that FÁS services are effectively being run down and closed at a time when they are most needed.

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Deputy John Gormley)

I am taking this Adjournment debate on behalf of my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Mary Coughlan. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity to set out the latest position regarding FÁS training facilities in north Dublin following the closure of the FÁS facility in Jervis Street and the plan to close its training centre in Cabra. I am familiar with a number of the staff at that centre, having worked there for many years.

I wish to outline the respective roles FÁS and the Minister for Education and Skills play in State training facilities. The role of the Minister for Education and Skills is to provide public funding and overall policy direction to FÁS rather than get involved in the day-to-day running of FÁS. Decisions of this nature are day-to-day operational matters for FÁS as part of its responsibilities under the Labour Services Act 1987.

I now turn to the specific matters raised by the Deputy and begin by setting out the background and current situation at the Cabra training centre. FÁS commissioned a report on the condition of the roof of the Cabra training centre, which was received last week. The report highlighted a potential health and safety risk and recommended replacement of the entire roof structure as soon as possible or, alternatively, the demolition of the current building and the rebuilding of a new centre. This means that in order to ensure the future safety and welfare of both the training centre staff and its trainees, it will be necessary, regrettably, to discontinue shortly the use of part, or all, of the Cabra training centre. FÁS is devising an action plan to ensure that any disruption to clients during this period is kept to an absolute minimum. In this context I understand that consultation is taking place with its staff and staff representatives on the development of a plan to ensure that training and employment services are provided as required at alternative locations.

The Cabra training centre is a relatively small one and was established in 1978. The centre also accommodates a small employment services office. In terms of training capacity it can cater for up to 82 apprentice places and 250 adult day places as well as evening courses. With the exception of a small number of courses, waiting times for course participants are relatively short. There are currently 155 trainees and 14 apprentices on full-time courses in the Cabra training centre and a further 362 trainees on short duration evening courses who will complete their courses by 11 November. FÁS does not envisage that the difficulties relating to the roof will result in the loss of any training places. Where possible, courses will be accommodated in other FÁS training centres or at alternative locations in the Dublin area. Both Finglas and Ballyfermot training centres have capacity to deliver additional full-time, part-time, blended and evening training programmes in the same manner and range as the Cabra training centre. In addition, FÁS will explore the feasibility of co-operating with other non-private daytime training and education providers in the Dublin 7, 11, and 15 areas.

As far as the provision of employment services is concerned, alternative offices are located in Blanchardstown, Ballyfermot, Baldoyle, Crumlin, D'Olier Street, Parnell Street and Finglas. Any person seeking a FÁS service will be accommodated in these offices. If appropriate, FÁS will also explore the feasibility of providing employment services in an alternative location in the Cabra area.

In the context of the next steps, an action plan to redeploy staff and training as necessary is being drawn up and will be implemented as quickly as possible. The board of FÁS will consider the options available for the training centre at its next meeting on 9 November. It is very regrettable that this action has to be taken. However, I emphasise that the health and safety of FÁS learners and staff must be the primary consideration. All efforts will be made by FÁS to minimise any disruption.

I refer to the closure of the FÁS facility in Jervis Street. The lease for the FÁS premises in Jervis Street expired in July 2009. An orderly wind-down of the training facility commenced well before the expiry of the lease involving the redeployment of the longer-term training programmes to ensure minimum disruption for the trainees involved. This left a small number of training courses that were relocated to other training locations in Tallaght, Ballyfermot and Finglas. Those trainees who had commenced their courses in Jervis Street were allowed to complete their training at the facility before its final closure. FÁS continues to provide training courses close to the city centre, through contracted service providers, in line with demand.

As far as the provision of employment services is concerned, this service was relocated to a new ground-floor office in Parnell Street near to the former location. This new facility also accommodates the offices of the Department of Social Protection and thus provides the additional benefit to those clients seeking to avail of the services of both FÁS and the Department of Social Protection in a single location. In conclusion, I assure the Deputy that every effort is being made to ensure that disruption to clients is kept to a minimum and that alternative locations are found to assist in the training of the unemployed in the north west and north inner city. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter.

School Accommodation

Deputy Seán Sherlock

I raise this matter in the context of the fact that €300 million is spent annually in Cork on prefabricated buildings in the primary school sector. Today, we learned through RTE that €330 million of the budget of the Department of Education and Skills has not yet been spent. I use the particular example of Midleton because three primary schools are housed in inadequate conditions. I put the question to the Minister about the educational needs of Midleton in the future and the answer stated: "School accommodation requirements in the Midleton/Carrigtwohill area have been considered as part of this detailed study of the identified areas, which indicates that up 38 additional primary classrooms may be required across that area to cater for increased enrolments up to the school year 2014/15." There are three schools in the area — St. John the Baptist national school, an Educate Together school and a gaelscoil. I am sure the Minister's response will point out the Department has applied for planning permission at Ballinacurra, a site that would be woefully inadequate for meeting the longer-term needs of primary schools in Midleton. The Educate Together school is housed in the local rugby club at a cost of €45,000 per year. The gaelscoil is spending approximately €81,000 on rental costs and is being housed in the local community centre. I do not have the figures for the third school. If we take a lateral approach about how to provide this, we can make savings in the long run. We want the Department to come down and make a proper study and assessment of the educational requirements in the Midleton area so that it can adhere to the aim to meet the need for 38 additional primary school classrooms and adhere to the various ethos that exist.

St. John the Baptist national school is largely a Church of Ireland denomination school. Along with the Educate Together school and the gaelscoil, it could be housed on one campus, but the Ballinacurra site is woefully inadequate. Something must be done. In the case of St. John the Baptist national school, the school authorities have an imaginative plan and have sought a loan from the Department in order to carry out the work. It has proven it can do this work in the past. If the Department got out of its centralised, structuralised tendency to think along the same lines, these people could achieve their aims. They seek a little help from the Government in order to do so. Similarly, the Educate Together school is housed in the local rugby club and was offered a site at the local co-op, which it could rent at a significantly lower price than the Department is paying at present. Why do we not think laterally about how we can help them?

Midleton is a barometer for many towns beyond the Pale. I asked the Department and the Minister to take on board the submissions made by the schools and to recognise the deficiencies at the Ballinacurra site. I call on someone to please meet with these people and think a little more laterally about how they are going to deliver for educational needs in the primary sector in the future.

Deputy John Gormley

I am pleased to be able to take this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills. I thank the Deputy for raising it as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the Dáil the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and also to outline the current position on Midleton in particular.

Modernising facilities in our existing building stock as well as the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth present a significant challenge. The Government has shown a consistent determination to improve the condition of school buildings and ensure that the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum.

All applications for capital funding are assessed in the planning and building unit of the Department. The assessment process determines the extent and type of need based on the demographics of an area, proposed housing developments, condition of buildings and site capacity, and leads to an appropriate accommodation solution.

As part of this process, a project is assigned a band rating under published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects. These criteria were devised following consultation with the education partners. Projects are selected for inclusion in the school building and modernisation programme on the basis of priority of need. That is reflected in the band rating assigned to a project. In other words, a proposed building project moves through the system commensurate with the band rating assigned to it. There are four band ratings overall, of which band 1 is the highest and band 4 the lowest. Band 1 projects, for example, include the provision of buildings where none currently exists but there is a high demand for pupil places, while a band 4 project makes provision for desirable but not necessarily urgent or essential facilities, such as a library or new sports hall.

Furthermore, the forward planning section of the Department is in the process of carrying out detailed analysis and reports in order to identify the school accommodation requirements for each area, up to and including the school year 2014-15. The progression of all large-scale building projects arising from the forward planning section's analysis of accommodation needs will be considered in the context of the Department's multi-annual school building and modernisation programme.

However, as the Deputy will be aware, as part of this process Midleton has been identified as one of the areas projected to undergo increases in educational demand in the coming years. In that context, the Department is currently in the process of acquiring a suitable site which is zoned by the local authority for education use in the Midleton area. To this end the Department has applied for planning permission as part of the exchange of contracts. Cork County Council has sought further information on this planning application and I am advised that a response will be provided to the planning authority in the coming weeks. When the acquisition of a suitable site is concluded, the Department will consider the optimal use of the site to meet the primary school needs of Midleton in conjunction with applications from existing schools in the town. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter.

Homelessness Strategy

Deputy Terence Flanagan

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for the opportunity to raise this important matter. I also thank the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, for personally being in the Chamber. Both he and the Minister of State, Deputy Finneran, are committed to the homelessness strategy that was put together in 2008. They have achieved a lot in comparison to previous Ministers for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in terms of addressing this scourge in society.

More than 5,000 people in the country are now homeless. I appeal to the Minister to fight for those people at the Cabinet table to ensure no cuts in budget 2011 will affect the full commitment of the Department to end long-term homelessness. Many agencies work in this area such as the Simon Communities of Ireland, Focus Ireland and Crosscare. I acknowledge the great work of the volunteers in the various agencies to tackle homelessness. Focus Ireland has said that if there is a reduction in the budget, the services will be affected drastically and that people will be trapped in emergency accommodation. The target of 1,200 units was set. Unfortunately, only 171 units have been achieved to date via the long-term leasing scheme. I urge the Minister to continue with his commitment.

The health of those who find themselves homeless is affected by their circumstances. The Simon Communities of Ireland have completed a study of 788 clients. The majority of them have health issues such as a dependency on alcohol or drug use. People's physical condition is affected because they are subject to the elements and we have had much bad weather. More services need to be provided through the Health Service Executive rather than just accommodation being provided by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Homeless people require back-up services.

Long-term homelessness is considered to be for a period of greater than six months. Much emergency accommodation is currently being used but a great deal of it is sub-standard and shoddy. Issues arise about the conditions of some buildings that have been allowed to deteriorate by their owners and whether they comply with fire safety regulations. That area should be investigated. We must aim to get people out of emergency accommodation into homes in the community. The sooner that is done the better.

The Fine Gael Party is very much committed to ensuring that long-term homelessness is eliminated. I hope that will continue to be a priority for the Minister and that he will match his words with action and ensure that the budget is continued in 2011 at the existing high level, which is approximately €100 million in 2010. I also hope the budget for the capital assistance scheme, currently €145 million, will be retained or increased in the budget.

There are more than 2,800 ghost estates throughout the country and more than 100,000 empty housing units. It is clear that if the Minister follows through on the political will he has expressed that people who find themselves in the awkward and terrible situation of being homeless will be housed. I commend the work that has been done by the Government in this area but much more needs to be done.

Deputy John Gormley

My Department's role in homelessness involves the provision of a national framework of policy, legislation and funding to underpin the role of housing authorities in addressing homelessness at local level. The Minister of State, Deputy Finneran, and I have made major advances in this area by developing the homelessness strategy and an implementation plan, retaining current financing for homeless accommodation services in 2010 at a record level of €56 million, and putting regional homelessness action plans and consultative fora on a statutory basis. Despite the severe cutbacks that have taken place elsewhere, not only have we retained that funding we have increased it in recent years in the homelessness area. That is something——

Deputy Terence Flanagan

A lot more must be done. We cannot be complacent.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Jack Wall)

The Minister should be allowed to speak without interruption.

Deputy John Gormley

I assure the Deputy there is no complacency in this area. It is one which is close to my heart. We want to do our very best.

In addition, a comprehensive range of measures has been put in place to underpin the role of housing authorities and approved housing bodies towards achieving the strategy's ambitious objective of eliminating long-term homelessness and the need to sleep rough. This includes an enhanced programme for procurement of accommodation. A new tenancy-support system to help homeless persons live independently has also been put in place. A total of €60 million was recently approved under the capital assistance scheme to enable the voluntary and co-operative sector to purchase additional accommodation to meet specific categories of housing need, including persons moving out of temporary homeless accommodation. More than 100 of these units will provide long-term accommodation for such persons and approved housing bodies have been asked to develop proposals for the further delivery of leased units. The uptake on the enhanced programme leasing model has been slower than anticipated. Progress is also dependent on the response of market interests, including property owners and financial institutions.

The Minister of State, Deputy Finneran, is working with the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency and the local authorities in Dublin, where long-term homelessness is most pronounced, to ramp up the delivery of units. A Dublin regional accommodation procurement team is actively sourcing properties for immediate acquisition by local authorities. Funding is being provided from within the 2010 social housing investment programme. Dublin City Council is undertaking an accelerated programme to bring significantly more of its longer term vacancies back into use to meet urgent housing needs, including those of the long-term homeless. A regional homeless allocations team is streamlining the allocations process for all suitable properties.

A parallel initiative has been developed through Threshold's access housing unit to maximise the potential of the private rental sector to accommodate an increased number of homeless households, especially in current market conditions. It is hoped to accommodate in the region of 200 additional households under this initiative in 2010.

Taken together, these measures have the potential to make significant further progress towards reaching the target in the current year. The Minister of State recently chaired a meeting of all the statutory and voluntary bodies in the sector and encouraged them to renew their efforts to deliver on the objectives of the homelessness strategy.

Deputy Terence Flanagan

I thank the Minister.

Waste Disposal

Deputy Emmet Stagg

I thank the Minister for taking this debate. It is the first time I have seen a senior Minister handling an Adjournment matter for a considerable time.

The case I am about to outline demonstrates the need for a review of the powers of the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. Kerdiffstown dump near Naas in County Kildare is a rotting, stinking disgrace and it is scandalous that a Green Party Minister has been unable to find a means of dealing with it or of enabling the EPA and other agencies to deal with it by changing the law to empower them to act effectively.

The dump has a long and troubled history. It began life as a quarry in the 1950s. In 1996, Neiphin Trading Limited began receiving waste at the site and there were constant complaints about the activity. In 2003, the EPA granted the company its first waste disposal licence for construction and demolition waste. Shortly afterwards, the company was found to be in breach of the terms of the licence. This became a pattern over the next years, with repeated reports outlining licence breaches and the operating company ignoring the warnings. The breaches covered a wide area, from the security and management of the site to the type of waste being dumped. In the meantime, buildings were constructed on the site without planning permission and a former EPA inspector joined the board of A1 Waste. Unbelievably, this situation continued until 2010 when the EPA finally collected enough evidence to secure a High Court injunction against the operating company.

Three companies are associated with the dump. Neiphin Trading Limited is in liquidation, Dean Waste Company Limited is in receivership and Jengsoph Limited is insolvent. How wonderfully convenient for the directors of these companies. They have left behind an unholy mess in my constituency beside the capital town, right on top of Johnstown village and in the townland of Kerdiffstown, where the residents have suffered long and unheard.

I pay tribute to the members of the Kerdiffstown residents association, which has fought a long, hard battle, and to the members of Clean Air Naas, who have brought their considerable muscle to the campaign. They are to be thanked for their selflessness and dedication to their communities.

Where once there was a hole in the ground, there is now a veritable mountain of rotting, stinking waste. It is one of the highest points in County Kildare. There is no protection for ground or surface water from the leachate running off the dump and it should be noted that the River Morrell, a tributary of the Liffey and a source of Dublin and Kildare's water supply, runs within 100 m of the site. The danger of serious pollution is real. The air near and downwind from the dump is stinking and there is no infrastructure to collect or dispose of the noxious gases. They are simply allowed to go straight into the atmosphere. This has caused real stress and fear for the people living in the area and some 30,000 people are affected. There is no effective security at the dump and scavengers and others have free access. A number of fires have occurred, giving rise to more fear and dread in the dump's general area. Rats and birds are teeming in the area. It is estimated that the site holds some 1.1 million tonnes of waste, which have been effectively abandoned by those who made the site a profitable, if illegal enterprise.

I call on the Green Party's Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to take effective action to secure and clean up this rotting menace. It is not acceptable for him to hide behind so-called independent quangos or court cases. He must issue a directive to the EPA to move in, secure the site and remove the dangerous waste. While this will be an expensive operation, the potential high cost of the alternative cannot be countenanced. The landfill levy fund amounts to €198 million and I call on the Minister to use part of the fund to enable the EPA to take the necessary action. It is noteworthy that the Dean group of waste companies got away with paying nothing into the fund for a ten-year period.

Through Ms Nessa Childers, I have also raised this issue with the European Commissioner and I intend to pursue that course further.

In seeking to protect the environment, the EPA is operating with one arm tied behind its back. The Minister needs to change the law so that, when a landfill licenceholder breaches the terms of that licence, the EPA is empowered to close down him or her there and then. This is not currently the case. As the EPA is dealing with rich companies and individuals, the Kerdiffstown dump has been allowed to grow and fester since the first licence breach in 2003. If the law was otherwise, the dump would have been closed down in 2003, not 2010. If this is not a case for changing the powers of the EPA, I do not know what is.

Deputy John Gormley

On foot of a commitment in the programme for Government, a review of the EPA began in February 2010. Under its terms of reference, the review group has been asked to review the legislation governing the EPA, assess performance against its mandate and evaluate the scope of that mandate, review the resources allocated to the EPA, assess the structures and governance of the agency and assess the relationship between it and other parts of the environmental governance structure. The review group members are drawn from a varied background and include environmental, legal, academic, business and agriculture experts. The group also includes former directors of the Irish EPA and its Dutch counterpart.

A public consultation process in respect of the review was held earlier this year and received more than 130 submissions. The review group, as part of its ongoing work programme, also consulted with a wide range of stakeholders, including environmental non-governmental organisations, the IFA, IBEC, Departments, other public bodies, the City and County Managers Association and the EPA. The group's work is ongoing and it is expected that it will finalise its report by the end of the year and report to me shortly thereafter. Clearly, there will be a need to consider carefully the group's recommendations, which I do not intend to speculate on or pre-empt.

The review group has adopted a thematic approach which includes an examination of the licensing framework, both in terms of the EPA's role and the legislation that governs it. Waste facilities operate under waste licences issued by the agency, with these licences being subject to stringent conditions regarding the operation of such facilities. The need for strong enforcement action has been aided by ministerial policy directions that issued in May 2005 and July 2008 providing guidance where illegal deposition is discovered. I am concerned about any facility that is causing environmental pollution, but there is adequate legislation in place for the regulatory bodies to deal with such matters.

The Government is committed to ensuring an adequate enforcement response to illegal waste activity and I would point to continuing support from the environment fund towards enforcement staffing costs. This funding of more than €7.5 million has been used to finance the activities of 120 additional local authority enforcement personnel. I also hope to provide additional funding this year of up to €1 million to cover the additional enforcement costs of local authorities.

The EPA plays a key role in monitoring, maintaining and improving Ireland's environmental performance. Accordingly, a high level of importance is attached to this review. Good environmental governance is a key priority for the Government as a whole, in particular as an essential element of sustainable development. The review is also important in the context of the Transforming Public Services agenda and the need for efficiency and effectiveness in a resource-constrained environment. The ultimate aim of the review is to strengthen the agency and I look forward to the finalisation of the review group's report.

The Dáil adjourned at 5.20 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 November 2010.