Topical Issue Debate

Insurance Industry

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív

I wrote to the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, on 20 July 2011 regarding this issue, which pertains to the unprecedented flooding in the autumn of 2009. After that flooding, many residual issues remained. In the first instance, as the Minister of State is aware, the then Government put in place humanitarian aid, which was made available expeditiously. However, during my term as Minister for Social Protection, two main issues remained to be resolved. The first was the relocation and the second was ensuring that those who would not be relocated would be provided with insurance for their houses. In December 2010, two memoranda were brought to Government. One put aside €4 million for relocation for up to 20 houses and it was clearly understood that if that number rose to 23, 24 or 27 houses, it would not be an issue. I understand that in recent weeks, offers of relocation have been made. I am very disappointed at the amount of time it has taken the current Government to implement that decision but I understand that some progress has been made in this regard at last.

The other decision made in government dealt with the insurance issue. The decision was that the Office of Public Works, OPW, would continue to progress spending on flood relief works for the worst affected areas in a structured way to reflect priorities, taking appropriate account of catchment flood risk assessment and management studies, as this approach represents the most cost-effective solution to the difficulties some people were having in getting insurance cover, in conjunction, where appropriate, with the then Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. It went on to decide further that the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, an office now held by Deputy Brian Hayes, would take the lead role in the continuing discussions with the insurance industry about the provision of insurance cover in areas in which remedial works were being carried out, supported appropriately by the then Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Department of Finance and would report back to the Government on progress. Moreover, the Office of Public Works, which I reiterate is the responsibility of the Minister of State, was to put in place a regular and structured communication process with the Irish insurance industry to try to ensure a regular flow of information to insurance companies assessing the risk of flooding to homes and businesses.

Despite the fact that the Office of Public Works has stated to the people in various places, I will mention in particular Caherlea-Lisheenavalla and Carnmore in my constituency, that it will and has carried out works that will have a major impact on the possibility of flooding, those people still cannot get flood insurance for their houses. This situation is absolutely ridiculous. The Minister of State was charged with liaising with the industry. The idea of the previous Administration was quite simple. It was that the Minister of State would put it to the industry that in the event of the works being carried out and of clear progress being made, the industry would continue to insure these houses, Such houses, which only flooded in extreme conditions in 2009 are no longer at high risk and even if there was a repetition of the kind of weather and flooding that took place in 2009, they would be highly unlikely to flood now because of the mitigating works.

I expect the Minister of State will tell the House — I have it in a reply to a parliamentary question of 16 June 2011 — that this is all a matter for the insurance industry. If the Minister of State believes that, he must believe in leprechauns and so on. He is aware that the insurance industry, in the case of these small number of houses affected, will listen to the Government because the industry is and has been liaising with the Government since Fianna Fáil was in power in respect of the areas of priority in which works needed to be carried out. As the Minister of State also is aware, in such a situation, it is easy to lay down that if the industry seeks the investment of millions of euro of State money by the Government in flood mitigation works, the Government in return would expect the industry to provide insurance to the small number of affected houses at which it has been decided that relocation was not needed because the risk would be so small. It appears strange that the Government could not, through all this liaison work, ensure these households were provided with the insurance.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I thank the Deputy.

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív

I hope the Minister of State will at last reply to my letter of last July and I am shocked not to have received a detailed reply to that letter.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

The Deputy will have two minutes——

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív

Second, I hope the Minister of State will take these householders out of their misery and ensure that in line with the Government decision of last December, they will receive flood insurance.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I thank the Deputy, who will have two minutes later on. The Minister of State now has four minutes in which to respond.

Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Deputy Brian Hayes)

I am delighted to have an opportunity to reply to the matter raised by the Deputy. By Government decision in December 2010 in respect of insurance matters, the previous Government agreed with the Office of Public Works that the latter would continue to progress spending on flood relief works for worst affected areas in a structured way to reflect priorities, taking appropriate account of catchment flood risk assessment and management studies, as this approach presents the most cost-effective solution to the current difficulties some people have experienced in trying to get insurance cover. It also was agreed by that Government, of which the Deputy was a member, that the Minister of State at the Office of Public Works — the Deputy has rightly pointed out that I hold that office and I am fully aware of it — would take the lead role in the continuing discussions with the insurance industry about the provision of insurance cover in areas in which remedial works were being carried out, supported by the then Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Department of Finance and the OPW. Moreover, the OPW would put in place a regular and structured communication process with the Irish insurance industry to ensure a regular flow of information to insurance companies assessing the risk of flooding to homes and businesses. It is noteworthy to recall that the previous Government, which included the Deputy, specifically decided not to pursue any other options to address the issue of insurance cover, which speaks for itself.

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív

It is self-evident that if——

Deputy Brian Hayes

I did not interrupt the Deputy.

Following my appointment as Minister of State at the Office of Public Works, I went to considerable lengths to inform myself regarding the problems and experiences of people and communities across the country which have suffered from flooding events in recent years. This did not just happen since February despite all the pantomime performances we have had here today. As well as witnessing the scale of damage experienced by many communities, the issue of flood insurance cover was raised in several areas. I am aware of certain difficulties and concerns that some people are continuing to raise regarding obtaining flood insurance cover and I have moved to bring these to the attention of the Irish Insurance Federation.

I met representatives of the Irish Insurance Federation, which was the first such meeting for a long time involving any Minister from this Government or the Deputy's Government and those discussions will continue.

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív

Why did it take six months to do so?

Deputy Brian Hayes

I met representatives of the Irish Insurance Federation in July of this year to explore the extent of these problems, which had been left to us to solve. A further meeting with the IIF took place last month. I am satisfied now that informational interchange between the OPW and the Irish Insurance Federation has been enhanced effectively to the extent that the Irish Insurance Federation has been provided not just with historical flood data, but is also being kept up to date with current minor and major flood alleviation and protection works and the up-to-date flood data analysis emerging from the catchment flood risk assessment and management programme. In this regard, the Irish Insurance Federation has been provided with a full suite of documents relating to the preliminary flood risk assessment, following my engagement with its representatives, something that did not happen under the Deputy's watch.

In addition the Irish Insurance Federation will be kept fully apprised of ongoing developments on the CFRAM programme and of relevant information arising from the associated CFRAM studies which are being commissioned across the six constituent river basin districts of the national river network. I am reassured by the Irish Insurance Federation that this informational exchange is shared across the insurance industry and is of assistance to insurance companies in the assessment of applications for flood insurance cover. However, where issues are brought to my attention such as those the Deputy has outlined, I will consistently raise them with it, now that we are getting close to having a protocol in place, which was not there in the past despite all the commentary otherwise.

My focus at present, therefore, is to explore ways in which this very small cohort of applications, which may have their problems in obtaining flood insurance cover, can be reviewed to identify any particular difficulties which arise owing to inadequate information or market inertia. I will continue my discussions with the Irish Insurance Federation to this end and I hope to be in a position to announce a satisfactory arrangement in this regard with the Irish Insurance Federation in the near future.

On the issue of house relocation, as a former Minister for Social Protection, the Deputy will be well aware that this is a matter exclusively for that Department. Where requested by the Department of Social Protection, my office has provided technical advice as to the sustainability of dwellings affected during the November 2009 flood events. These advices have had necessary regard to the provision of flood protection and alleviation works considered as a result of the 2009 floods. I see no inconsistency in highlighting the outlay of what, in many instances, amounts to considerable levels of funds from my office for flood risk prevention, which should be taken into account by other Departments and agencies of the State in deciding on applications for other forms of funding assistance.

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív

I am delighted the Minister of State in a very tardy fashion is implementing this fully. I know the Minister for Finance has said he would not provide direct insurance from the State, which was our policy to which the Minister of State referred when he mentioned the decision we made. Our decision was quite clear and was to interact with the insurance industry exactly as the Minister of State is doing. My problem is that what should have taken two months has taken the Government virtually a year. It is now almost two years since this flood event. It has taken since December. A general election intervened in the January and February period. The Government came into power in March and it took until July to implement the Government decision to meet the Irish Insurance Federation and implement our decision.

When does the Minister of State believe he will bring the process we introduced to a conclusion? What is his intention in the event of the insurance companies not playing ball? We believed we would resolve it in the way the Government is trying to resolve it. We believe that with the energy we had we would have done it by now. Why has it taken the Government so long?

The Deputy is making a fool of himself.

The Minister of State does not care; that is what is wrong with him.

The Minister of State's time has concluded.

Deputy Brian Hayes

The people know we will get this issue sorted out. We will put pressure on the Irish Insurance Federation and its constituent bodies to ascertain if they will provide insurance here. In coming weeks I hope to be able to announce a new protocol in this area — the first thing that has ever happened despite the bleating from the Deputy opposite.

Mortgage Repayments

Deputy Mick Wallace

I promise this will be more peaceful. I raise the issue of Priory Hall, which we all know has become an absolute nightmare for those involved. The madness of it has meant the people there have had to move into hotel accommodation or apartment accommodation, often at quite a distance from where they work or where their kids go to school. It is a frightening scenario and hopefully there will not be too many more, but I would not be shocked if there was.

There is much responsibility involved in this. The builder is the main culprit. The architect signed off on stuff that clearly was not correct. The engineer signed off on stuff that was not correct. The local authority clearly did not regulate the matter or supervise the construction project in the correct manner. I would also argue that the bank must take some responsibility. If anybody wants to get a mortgage for a new apartment or house in this country, the bank will insist on either an architect, engineer or valuer of its choosing inspecting the property before it agrees to part with the money. Whoever went out to inspect this on behalf the bank did not do a good job. The bank must take some responsibility in the whole affair.

For starters, there is no way that the people who have been moved out of these apartments should have to make their repayments while they are not in them. All payments should be suspended. Even if the builder fixes the problems to a certain acceptable level, the apartments in Priory Hall would not be worth the money that they were worth even two weeks ago. They have been downgraded dramatically. Nobody in their right mind would buy an apartment off any of the residents in Priory Hall if they wanted to sell on. It is a complete non-runner. The bank needs to take that on board, given that it is very much part of the equation. The residents deserve a write-down on their mortgage, given that this was no fault of theirs. Like everybody else, the bank has a responsibility and it should accept that.

Deputy Brian Hayes

I thank the Deputy for raising this important topic. The situation in which the residents of Priory Hall find themselves, through no fault of their own, is truly dreadful. It is particularly harrowing for those with young children. The Government is obviously conscious of their plight. In this regard, I am pleased that the National Management Asset Agency has at short notice made available to Dublin City Council a list of 332 units in nine residential developments in the Dublin 11, 13 and 17 areas. More specifically, these are in Clongriffin, Baldoyle, Finglas and on the Malahide Road. The units range from one-bed apartments to four-bed houses.

I understand Dublin City Council is now working to match residents' requirements to available units, which is the first step. The next step is for Dublin City Council to approach the developers involved and agree rental contracts for those units identified as suitable for the residents. Once that is done, NAMA will provide funding to enable the selected units to be completed. This is expected to take two weeks after leasing contracts are signed. I understand Dublin City Council has arranged for some families to move into hotel accommodation. While these arrangements are necessary in the current circumstances, the accommodation is not somewhere that families want to continue living in. Everyone needs their own private space in their own home for which they paid dearly.

I want to turn to the contract that the mortgage holder has with the lender. A mortgage agreement is a contract. The terms of a contract cannot be altered without all the original parties or their successors in title giving their consent to the alternation. The Minister for Finance has no powers in this regard and cannot force the lenders to alter the contract to affect a suspension in mortgage repayments. However, I suggest the people involved discuss the matter with their mortgage provider. The Deputy asked a straightforward question. These people have been put on the street through no fault of their own. Would I be paying a mortgage in that circumstance? No, I would not. I would raise with my mortgage provider the issue of the appalling treatment I have received. Why these people have to continue to make mortgage repayments when they have no house in which to live is a fundamental question that their mortgage provider needs to answer. If they encounter difficulties with the mortgage lender in regard to how they are treated in any such negotiations, then a complaint may be made to the Financial Services Ombudsman, who is an independent statutory officer.

The Minister for Finance does not have the power to make that order. We have an independent Financial Services Ombudsman to take complaints of this nature, and it would be a useful first step if the residents concerned initiated those proceedings, but that is a matter for them. I cannot tell them to do that.

I do not have details of which financial institutions, whether covered institutions or not, have lent to Priory Hall residents. The issue remains in the legal sphere and is still subject to litigation. It would not be correct to speculate in the House on the legal process. However, once a decision has been reached through the legal process, the circumstances will then be clearer and any problems in respect of the mortgages in place with the residents will, I am sure, be reviewed by the relevant institutions in light of the court's findings.

Deputy Mick Wallace

I thank the Minister of State for his positive response. In arguing the toss with banks and other lending institutions on a case by case basis about whether there is room for manoeuvre on a better deal, a write down or compensation for what occurred, some people will be in a poorer position than others. Unfortunately, the most vulnerable people are likely to get the rawest deal when confronting a powerful financial institution.

I agree that people will have to discuss the matter with the lending institution, but given that the taxpayer owns a few of these banks which may be involved, I would like to think that if they were not behaving ethically in this case, the Minister of State and his colleagues might have a word with them.

Deputy Brian Hayes

I thank the Deputy. I suppose this is complicated because there are at least four parties involved here. We have the unfortunate individuals who purchased the home, who are in this circumstance and who now have had to move out. We have the lending institutions which provided the funds to allow that purchase to take place. We have the local authority and its responsibility in this entire affair. Finally, we have the builder's responsibility, the standard of the building and its certification. It is a complicated legal issue that will ultimately have to be determined outside this House.

Any effort involving the Government — I am thinking here of the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Penrose and his Department — is all about trying to get the best possible deal for the people in this situation. Any action the Government can take that will help resolve the issue will be taken. We are limited by virtue of the fact that this is part and parcel of a legal process in which we cannot get involved. I hope the remedies set out in my initial reply to the Deputy are there for the regulator to enforce, if complaints are made to him. While I cannot instruct anyone to make a complaint, it is clearly a matter for him if complaints stack up in his office. In the first instance, it is a matter for the residents concerned. The Government will take any action it can to help in the matter.

Schools Building Projects

Deputy Brendan Griffin

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for providing me with an opportunity to raise this important education matter in my constituency. I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, for attending the House to respond.

Presentation secondary school in Miltown is one of three secondary schools in mid-Kerry. It draws students from a vast area stretching from Annascaul to Killarney and Glenbeigh to Firies but mainly from its own catchment area. It has a proud history dating back over half a century to 1958. The Presentation Order has a history in Milltown dating back to the 1800s. The current school site was acquired in 1976 and the new school built in 1981. The student population has grown enormously since. In a way, the school has become a victim of its own success, with its excellent reputation drawing more and more students every year. The school population is now 543, even though it was designed and built to cater for a cohort of 180 to 200 pupils. The population of Milltown will, undoubtedly, grow in the coming years, with nine new housing estates having been built in the village in the last decade. This will further increase the pressure on the school.

The school continues to turn out excellent young adults, many of whom have achieved highly in life during the years. This is a fair reflection of the school's excellent staff and dynamic ethos. Unfortunately, however, prefabricated temporary accommodation now comprises two thirds of the school buildings. Some of these units have been on site for over 20 years. On a recent visit to the school, I saw at first hand the cramped conditions in which staff and students had to operate. The older prefabs, in particular, are often cold, damp and stuffy. Four classrooms, located in a building across the busy R563 Killarney to Milltown road from the main school building, were originally built as a primary school in the 1930s. They are poorly insulated and hard to heat. As they are not sound-proof, it is hard for teachers and students to concentrate on their work while the activities of neighbouring classes can be heard. The main problem is that every hour up to 240 students must cross the R563 between classes. This is far from ideal in this day and age. Even though a pedestrian crossing links these classrooms with the main school building, a student was knocked down last year on her way to class.

A building adjacent to the school complex is also being used as a classroom owing to the shortage of space. This building was originally built in the 1800s when it was used as a Church of Ireland primary school. Unfortunately, it has not seen any major changes since. Therefore, one can imagine the conditions experienced there.

The school has no indoor physical education facilities, no changing area and no shower facilities. All PE activity must take place outside, regardless of weather conditions, and students must change in makeshift changing rooms. The lack of showers and proper sanitary conditions is unacceptable from a personal hygiene perspective. There is no general assembly hall, no canteen and no library, while there are very limited IT and toilet facilities for students and staff. There is also a shortage of administrative space.

The school has a proud history of inclusiveness and a high number of students with resource teaching hours. It also has a very high rate of student retention. By being non-selective in its admission policy, it caters for a wide range of students. In 2006 a greenfield site beside the existing school was acquired by the Presentation Sisters for a new school building which is badly needed, as continued departmental investment in temporary accommodation is not the long-term answer.

I call on the Minister of State and his departmental officials to prioritise this school for the provision of a new school building, given the large student population and the need for a new building to facilitate the delivery of a modern, responsive education service for young adults. While I understand the huge budgetary restraints affecting all Departments as a result of mismanagement by the previous Administration, I urge the Minister of State to make every effort to find the finance to allow this much needed school building project to proceed.

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills (Deputy Ciarán Cannon)

I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn. I thank the Deputy for raising it, as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the House the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and to clarify the current position on the application for major capital funding from Presentation secondary school, Milltown, County Kerry.

As the Deputy is aware, the Department of Education and Skills is forecasting an increase of over 24,900 post-primary pupils by the start of the 2017-18 school year. In order to meet the needs of our growing population of schoolgoing children, the delivery of new schools, together with extension projects, will be the main focus for capital investment in the coming years.

As the Deputy may know, the school in question applied for an extension in 1996. It was assessed and assigned a band 2.2 rating. As part of the assessment 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. A 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.

Owing to the restricted nature of the site, the condition of the existing building and a revised long-term projected enrolment of 600 pupils, a new building on a new site was recommended. The trustees acquired a 2 ha site to facilitate the larger building project. The Department received confirmation from the Presentation Sisters that they had acquired the site on 18 June 2010. It is in that context that the building project for Presentation secondary school was included in the list of projects announced on 24 January 2011 to commence architectural planning. Officials from my Department's planning and building unit have recently finalised the schedules of accommodation which have been issued to the school.

My Department will continue to liaise with the school authorities in the context of progressing the project to the next stage of the architectural planning process. In the meantime, the school applied for temporary accommodation for the introduction of transition year from 2009 and was sanctioned an all-in grant of €49,437 in July 2009 to build two additional rooms. The school also applied for temporary accommodation for a general classroom for September 2010. Its application was approved and a devolved grant of €70,000 sanctioned.

Deputy Brendan Griffin

I acknowledge the investment made in the school in the provision of temporary accommodation in recent years. Unfortunately, however, as I am sure the Minister of State will agree, the provision of temporary accommodation is not the long-term answer. The new school building should be built as soon as possible. While I appreciate the efforts being made to move the project to the next stage, we need to see an intensification of the process in order that the new school building will be given absolute priority. Any help the Minister or the Minister of State could give would be greatly appreciated. While the new school building is awaited, hundreds of students will pass through the existing school buildings in the next few years in unacceptable conditions. Students are getting wet while walking considerable distances between classrooms in the rain. This is not acceptable. I want to see this project being given absolute priority. I hope we will not have to wait years to hear good news. Therefore, I urge the Minister of State and the Minister to do everything in their power to ensure the project school is given absolute priority. I invite them to visit the school to see at first hand the conditions being experienced. They would be more than welcome.

Deputy Ciarán Cannon

The band 2.2 rating the school has been assigned indicates there is a substantial and significant accommodation deficit. While the condition of the existing accommodation is adequate, there is still a deficit in meeting the overall accommodation needs of the school. In difficult economic circumstances it is fortunate to be at an advanced stage in the process of architectural planning. I heard the Deputy's concerns and will undertake to pass them on directly to the Minister, Deputy Quinn, who has ultimate responsibility in this area. I will liaise with the Deputy regularly to update him on any progress on this matter.

Services for People with Disabilities

Deputy Thomas P. Broughan

As the Minister of State well knows, St. Michael's House, an organisation based in Dublin 9, is the largest provider of intellectual disability services in Dublin and the third largest provider of services on a national basis. Some 80% of St. Michael's House's services are on Dublin's northern side in the HSE north-east region and the remaining 20% are on the southern side in the HSE Dublin mid-Leinster region. Day services are provided on average to 1,616 citizens per day and residential services, with dedicated full-time care, are provided for 450 citizens in homes across the north side.

Although there are 114 additional people receiving day services and 44 additional people in St. Michael's House residential services than in 2008, the organisation has suffered swinging cuts to its budget over the past four years. In addition, it has lost 104 staff members who cannot be replaced due to the moratorium in recruitment in the public sector.

Over 2009, 2010 and 2011, St. Michael's House funding has been cut by €8.7 million in total. The 1.8% cutback imposed on St. Michael's House in 2011 has left the organisation at the absolute pin of its collar. Through the incredible work and sacrifices of the dedicated St. Michael's House staff, led by the CEO, Ms. Patricia Doherty, the organisation has managed to maintain and expand its services over the past four years. However, any further significant cuts would devastate the organisation and would mean the closure of critical day and residential services. This is at a time when the services provided by St. Michael's House have never been more necessary.

At a recent briefing that I and a number of other Deputies received in Dáil Éireann from CEO Ms Patricia Doherty and her deputy, Mr. David Kenefick, Ms Doherty reported that St. Michael's House has the longest waiting list for residential care in the country. For example, there are currently 240 parents over 70 years of age caring for their son or daughter at home. St. Michael's House reports that 147 of these families are in serious difficulty. There are 263 parents from 61 to 70, 283 from 51 to 60, and 410 from 41 to 50 whose children use St. Michael's House day services but who more than likely will eventually need residential care support.

The Minister of State will agree that St. Michael's House has performed the extraordinary feat of keeping services going under immense budgetary pressure due to the commitment of its whole team of staff to a programme of streamlining the organisation as much as possible and to keeping costs at an absolute minimum across the board. There is very good flexibility in all areas of the operation. I understand that St. Michael's House was the first health care organisation to sign a comprehensive agreement under the Croke Park agreement, which has resulted in enhanced flexibility across the organisation and a significant reduction in absenteeism, to just over 3%. St. Michael's House understands that, in the Department of Health's current value-for-money cost-per-client group review of intellectual disability services, it is below the national average on costs and value for money across the board. The Minister of State will probably confirm that.

St. Michael's House's staff greatly fear that a cut greater than last year's cut of 1.8% will be imposed in budget 2012. I understand there are suggestions from the HSE that the budget for mental health and intellectual disability services may be cut by up to 4% or 5%, which would devastate organisations such as St. Michael's House. I hope the Minister of State will, on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, be able to provide some reassurance to the St. Michael's House community and its magnificent workforce that no cuts will be imposed on the organisation under budget 2012.

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Róisín Shortall)

I thank Deputy Broughan for raising this matter. I am responding on behalf of my colleague Deputy Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State at the Department of Health, who is not in a position to attend today. I will bring Deputy Broughan's concerns to her attention.

Under the Health Act 2004, the HSE is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services, including disability services. The integral role of the non-statutory agencies such as St. Michael's House is of particular relevance to the provision of health and personal social services to people with a disability. These agencies provide a very significant and broad range of services in partnership with and on behalf of the HSE.

Expenditure on health services for people with a disability in 2011 will be around €1.5 billion, with an overall staffing level of 15,800 whole time equivalents. The majority of that funding is used by the non-statutory agencies providing services, such as St. Michael's House.

The HSE's national service plan for 2011 includes the maintenance of core disability service levels, 9,200 people in residential places, 20,000 day service places, 7,500 people receiving respite residential support and 3.34 million hours of personal assistant or home support hours.

I am very aware of the excellent work done by St. Michael's House, generally and in the north side of Dublin. Its facilities are in my constituency and the Deputy and I regularly have an opportunity to express our appreciation of the outstanding work of the organisation. We know how much this work is valued by our constituents. We are very conscious of the wide range of services St. Michael's House provides, including community-based day, respite, residential and early services for people with an intellectual disability on behalf of the HSE under section 38 of the Health Act 2004. Services are provided through a service level agreement which is reviewed on an annual basis. The HSE provided funding of €72 million to St. Michael's House in 2011.

Expenditure on health services for people with a disability in 2011 will be around €1.5 billion. Special consideration was given to disability and mental health in budget 2011 through a maximum reduction of just 1.8% in the allocation for these two sectors. Nobody wants to see any cuts in this area but it is important to point out that the reduction of 1.8%, which is relatively low by comparison with other reductions under the health budget, recognises that these services are provided to vulnerable groups and should help to ensure that existing services are maintained and that priority is given to the delivery of front line services. The HSE has informed me that it is working closely with service providers in 2011 to ensure the maximum delivery of services in an efficient and effective manner.

The HSE was provided with an additional €10 million for disability services in 2011. Taking the reduction in the overall HSE disability budget into account, the HSE was asked to manage the additional resources and engage with service providers to ensure existing support needs, and demands for additional places and supports, are managed most effectively within the overall allocation.

The level of funding available for the overall health budget is being considered as part of the comprehensive review of expenditure and the Estimates process for 2012, which is currently under way. Deputy Broughan is keen to establish the budgetary position on behalf of St. Michael's House. However, deliberations by the Government on the expenditure allocations for next year are likely to continue until budget time and it would, therefore, not be appropriate for me to comment further at this stage pending the outcome of those deliberations. The very difficult financial position facing the Exchequer will obviously require very careful management of the sector in question.

There is a value-for-money review under way at present and it is expected to be completed by the end of 2011. Notwithstanding that, I note what the Deputy said on the streamlining work that has already been undertaken with St. Michael's House and the efficiencies it has achieved. The review will make recommendations that will ensure the very substantial funding provided to the specialist disability sector is used to the maximum benefit for persons with a disability, having regard to overall severe resource constraints that regrettably affect all sectors at this time.

Deputy Thomas P. Broughan

I agree that the delivery of front line services must be the absolute priority. I wish the Minister of State well in the comprehensive review of expenditure and hope she will do battle for us on the north side and for St. Michael's House and similar organisations. I wish her success in that regard.

Last year, the then Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, former Deputy John Moloney, issued a directive that funding for mental health services and children with an intellectual disability should be ring-fenced and not cut by more than 1.8%. Had the then Government survived, this commitment would have had to have been honoured. Does the ring-fence still exist? Are we still committed to the figure in question? This is first and foremost an issue for the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch.

I understand the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, has met the leadership and board of St. Michael's House. Has the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, made a response to the organisation or will she do so? Does she plan to meet them again in the final days coming up to the expenditure review?

As the Minister of State is aware I have had first-hand experience of the work of St. Michael's House and other fantastic providers such as the St. John of God services and the desperate struggle that took place to build the current level of services. I impress on the Minister of State that the parents in their 70s, 80s and beyond are the first generation of Irish people to have cared properly for people with intellectual disability. They made great sacrifices to create the St. John of God and St. Michael's House network and this generation and this Government has an obligation not to drop the ball. I urge the Minister of State to go in with her colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and the Minister, Deputy James Reilly, and do battle for us and secure no cuts for this great organisation.

Deputy Róisín Shortall

I assure the Deputy that all Ministers in the Department of Health are battling hard to ensure that, to the greatest extent possible, we can protect the health budgets in difficult circumstances. There is an attempt to ring-fence several critical areas within the health sector and that work is underway at the moment. I am conscious that St. Michael's House has experienced severe cuts in the past three years. Its base figure is especially low and we are conscious of this, as is the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch. We are working hard to ensure that these critical areas are protected in the budgetary context. St. Michael's House has been in touch with me, as a northside representative, seeking a meeting and I realise Deputy Broughan raised this matter with me only last week. I am pleased to liaise with Deputy Broughan to set up an early meeting with St. Michael's House. I am happy to meet them and I am aware of the excellent work they do in the area. I assure Deputy Broughan of my determination and that of the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, to support this work to the greatest extent possible. I thank Deputy Broughan for raising this important issue.

Dáil Éireann debate - Thursday, 20 Oct 2011