Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 11 Oct 2012

Vol. 778 No. 2

Topical Issue Debate

Higher Education Institutions Issues

Deputy Paudie Coffey

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me the opportunity to raise this important matter of public interest, which is also of grave concern to me, especially given the recent revelations of how taxpayers' money has been spent in some of our educational institutions. For example, in Waterford Institute of Technology, the spending in the president's office alone increased from €30,000 in 2000 to more than €600,000 in 2008. From recent reports, I understand there have been numerous breaches of financial governance procedures and protocols within the institute.

I compliment the Committee of Public Accounts and its members who are currently examining this matter and I hope the spotlight will ensure full transparency around this problem. Also in my constituency, De la Salle College in Waterford city, a second-level college with a great educational heritage and reputation, has had its reputation damaged in recent times due to the college's racking up more than €500,000 in debts on school refurbishment projects that, according to a recent whole school evaluation, had little educational benefit. Management and governance were so poor the Department of Education and Skills had to appoint an administrator to manage the college while these debts are being dealt with.

I am aware also of a national school in County Waterford where in recent years it was discovered that a former principal was operating a number of bank accounts and had held school moneys without the knowledge of the school's board of management. The same principal had adopted annual accounts at board of management meetings over a number of years, knowing full well these moneys were neither being accounted for nor reported to the board of management. When this came to light an initial two accounts were discovered, with a further four discovered subsequently. Only under the threat of disciplinary action did the principal give full permission to the board of management to access all the bank accounts he had opened and in which school funds were held. Eventually more than €77,000 was transferred by the former principal from these private accounts back to the authorised board of management bank account. In total, 19 private bank accounts were discovered which had been opened and operated by the former principal without the knowledge or approval of successive boards of management. Eventually, the board engaged independent expertise at its own cost. The experts did a forensic analysis of the accounts and compiled some very important questions that required answers from the former principal. The board requested a break-down and explanations from him regarding the €77,000 which was transferred back to the authorised school account.

I do not suggest any school funds were misappropriated but there were financial irregularities in this case and one can only imagine the distress and upheaval this matter has caused within the entire school community. The board of management asked specific questions of the former principal about certain transactions that went through these private accounts. When these questions were put to him he went on sick leave and never returned. He subsequently retired. To this day many questions remain unanswered regarding the operation of these private accounts and the management of school finances during this period.

What disappoints me is that during all of this time successive boards of management of the school in question sought assistance from the Department to deal with these issues but they received very little support or advice and were left to their own devices to manage what had become a very difficult financial problem. A whole school evaluation was carried out during the period and even though the inspectors were informed of the financial irregularities they did not examine them closely other than to make a passing reference in their final report. This is not good enough. Millions of euro of taxpayers' money is put into our educational system. We are entitled to expect thorough and adequate financial governance, as well as checks and balances to ensure the proper management and allocation of these funds. If this can happen in the two colleges and this primary school in my constituency we can be sure it is happening in others around the country.

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

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The issues raised in regard to expenses which occurred in the past in the office of the president in Waterford Institute of Technology are of serious concern. It is incumbent on all public sector organisations and governing authorities to ensure public funds are expended in an appropriate manner. It is simply not acceptable for scarce public money to be squandered on lavish expenses in public institutions.

The Department of Education and Skills and the Higher Education Authority, HEA, are committed to ensuring the efficient and effective spend of all resources within higher education. While it is not feasible for the Department or the HEA to monitor or approve all individual levels of expenditure within the higher education sector, there are clear accountability and governance procedures in place within institutions and reporting mechanisms to the Minister for Education and Skills and to the Oireachtas.

With regard to the particular issue associated with Waterford Institute of Technology, an external review commissioned by the institute to ascertain the extent of spending by the office of the president is nearing completion and I understand the HEA hopes to receive that report shortly. The Minister, Deputy Quinn, has asked officials in the Department, in consultation with the HEA, to consider what further steps may need to be taken and is awaiting that advice.

In the wider higher education sector, under both university and institute of technology legislation, the president is the accountable officer of the institution and is answerable to the committees of the Oireachtas in regard to the disposal of moneys. The legislation also provides that the Comptroller and Auditor General undertake annual audits of the financial statements of universities and institutes of technology, which include a review of expenditure incurred by the institutions. The Comptroller and Auditor General reports regularly on these audits.

Furthermore, and in line with practice in the public and private sector, codes of governance have been agreed at a sectoral level which provide for a range of effective measures around procedures for procurement, tendering, financial reporting, internal audit and travel. This further increases the accountability of institutions by requiring the establishment and implementation of specific mechanisms in these areas.

Robust processes and systems combined with constant vigilance, regular review of processes and procedures and prompt reaction to any failures are key components of an effective accountability and control system. Each university and institute of technology is required to submit to the HEA an annual statement confirming adherence by the institution to all appropriate procedures and measures in regard to financial control, such as I have outlined.

The Deputy spoke also about financial governance in second level schools. Voluntary secondary schools are privately owned and privately managed. The accounts of such schools are provided annually to the financial support services unit, FSSU, which is operated under the auspices of the joint managerial body.

In effect, the FSSU provides an internal audit function for schools in the sector and conducts audits and investigations where necessary. The VECs are audited annually by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The accounts of comprehensive and community schools are monitored on a monthly basis by the schools financial section of the Department of Education and Skills.

The Deputy also referred to primary schools. As he is aware, there are more than 3,000 primary schools in the State and each of these is privately owned and operated under a range of patronage arrangements. Most commonly, the local bishop will be the patron of the Catholic primary schools in a particular diocese. Educate Together, the Protestant bishops, providers of disability services and Foras Pátrúnachta na Scoileanna Lán-Ghaeilge are the other patrons involved in the arrangements to which I refer. There are no formalised financial accounting procedures in place in respect of primary schools. However, such schools are required to make their accounts available to the Department of Education and Skills upon request.

Deputy Paudie Coffey

I note the protocols and procedures to which the Minister of State referred in respect of second and third level. However, as the examples to which I refer illustrate, breaches have occurred. I am of the view, therefore, that there is a need to reconsider the position.

I accept that primary schools are privately owned. However, the Minister of State should acknowledge the fact that millions of euro of taxpayers' money are being invested in private schools - which come under the patronage of various bodies and entities - to be expended on the education of our children. I outlined an example in which assistance was sought from the Department of Education and Skills in respect of problems that had been highlighted. I am disappointed that when the assistance to which I refer was sought, support was not forthcoming. I have raised this matter in the public interest. We must be able to rest assured that taxpayers' money which is meant to be expended on the education of students is, in fact, spent in this way. I ask the Minister of State to address the particular problem I have raised in respect of primary schools and to review, from the point of view of governance, the position with regard to accounts and how school funds are expended.

Deputy Ciarán Cannon

It is most disappointing when failings in financial controls of the magnitude of those which occurred at WIT are discovered. I assure the Deputy that more stringent controls have been put in place in WIT. In addition, financial controls and audit mechanisms are in place in all higher education institutions. However, the arrangements in this regard vary across these institutions and the HEA is considering whether a more consistent approach should be adopted.

I am a former member of the board of management of my local primary school. One of the positives with regard to our system is that primary schools enjoy a huge degree of autonomy and independence in the context of their governance. However, this brings with it a serious burden of responsibility for members of boards of management. There is also a burden of responsibility on local communities in the context of ensuring that those who are elected or appointed to these boards possess the relevant expertise to allow them to be effective in their work and to identify and cope with issues such as those to which the Deputy refers. I am disappointed that when those on the board of management to which the Deputy refers sought support, advice and guidance from the Department, this was not - in their opinion - made available to them. I undertake to ensure this will not happen again.

Student Grant Scheme Applications

Deputy Jonathan O'Brien

When the Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, system was launched in June, it was heralded as an efficient and cost-effective means by which to process student grant applications. There is no doubt that it is better than the old system, with which 66 awarding authorities were involved and to which were attached different types of application process. I accept that there have been improvements. Unfortunately, however, the new system has proven to be problematic for a number of students. In certain instances, information has not been forthcoming. When students make contact by telephone in order to obtain additional information, the operators on the other end of the line do not have it to hand. This has created significant problems for a small number of students in the context of having their grants awarded. The latter is having a knock-on effect for such students in that they are having difficulties in accessing timetables because they have not yet been able to access the grant system. They are also encountering problems with regard to accessing facilities as a result of the fact that they are not yet registered.

I am aware of one case involving a family that is in receipt of social welfare and whose child is attending UCC for the first time. The family in question lives 40 miles from the college. As a result of difficulties with regard to registering under the grant system, it is costing the family almost €100 per week to send the student in question to and from UCC by public transport. It has not been possible for the family to purchase textbooks because the grant has not yet been approved. This is giving rise to major problems. The family in question applied for the grant and submitted all the necessary paperwork in advance of the relevant deadline. However, the paperwork was returned and additional information is being sought. When the family tried to obtain the latter from the Revenue Commissioners, they were informed that it would take a week. A further three weeks will have passed by the time this information is obtained, returned and processed. What has happened in this case has led to a huge financial burden being placed on the student in question. He now faces the possibility of being obliged to drop out of college. He applied to his local credit union to try to secure a short-term loan but, unfortunately, he was unsuccessful in this regard because he could not get a guarantor.

As a result of the flaws in the SUSI system, a small number of students have not been awarded their grants and are facing some really tough choices in the context of whether they can continue to pursue their college courses. Will the Minister of State review the position with regard to the SUSI system? The Union of Students in Ireland, USI, has highlighted a number of improvements which could be made in order to make the system more efficient and cost-effective. I ask that the Department consult the USI in respect of some of the proposals it has put forward. The USI carried out a survey in respect of all the students who use the SUSI system in order to discover whether the flaws and inefficiencies to which I refer can be ironed out prior to the next round of applications in 2013.

Deputy Ciarán Cannon

I thank Deputy O'Brien for raising this important matter. As he stated, a new, fully centralised online student grant application system was launched in June. This system is being operated by a central grant awarding authority, Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, which has been established as a unit of the City of Dublin VEC. Up to last year, students applied to 66 different local authorities and VECs for grant assistance and the Deputy will be aware of the difficulties these bodies had in dealing with the huge increases in the numbers applying for student grants in recent years. The new facility automates and replaces the previous manual application arrangements with a centralised, easy-to-use online system of application for all new grant applicants nationwide from the 2012-13 academic year. It has been designed in such a way as to interactively guide students through the application process. Renewal applications for students already in receipt of a grant for their current courses will continue to be dealt with by the existing 66 grant-awarding authorities.

Under the old system the majority of third level students were paid by cheque, a costly and inefficient method of making payments. Under SUSI, students will be paid on a monthly basis directly into their bank accounts. This will lead to all SUSI grant applicants in an institution receiving their payments in the same way by means of electronic funds transfer. The main aim of the project is to substantially improve the grant application experience for over 66,000 new applicants each year. A tailored list of the documentation required to support these grant applications has issued to all students concerned. A significant change to the process for this year is that only photocopies, rather than originals, of the supporting documentation are required.

The Deputy will appreciate that the completion of the award process and subsequent payment of grants depends on students' returning the required documentation to SUSI. Some 19,000 students have yet to return this documentation to enable their applications to be processed to completion. A further 20,000 have returned incorrect or incomplete documentation. I understand that SUSI is actively following up with all of these applicants - by post, e-mail and text message - to ensure that the correct supporting documentation is returned as quickly as possible in order that their applications can proceed to the final decision stage.

Deputy Jonathan O'Brien

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I fully accept that the wrong paperwork can sometimes be submitted or that additional information may be required. However, the student to whom I refer submitted the necessary paperwork two months ago and it was only this week that he received a letter indicating that additional information was required.

It is not solely down to the students. A student may be unaware that the paperwork with the application is not complete. I know of a case where the short form of a birth certificate was submitted instead of the long form. As a consequence, the decision to offer a grant was delayed. A number of issues need to be ironed out. I am aware that USI has proposed a clearer tracking system to enable students to follow the progress of their application and a more user-friendly website. I have been told by those using the website that it is not user-friendly. The Unions of Students in Ireland wants better briefing and training of the help desk workers because on many occasions the information is not readily available to callers.

I have no doubt that the SUSI system is a much better process and I welcome it wholeheartedly. However, flaws still exist and there is an opportunity between now and the next application period to deal with those flaws in the system.

Deputy Ciarán Cannon

I wish to impress the importance of the applicants taking a degree of personal responsibility when submitting information. I doubt if the description of the long form of the birth certificate was not available on the website and that applicants were not made aware that this was the required format. The Deputy is correct that the system was delivered in a very short time period. Any new system and in particular a system dealing with 66,000 new applicants every year, will throw up challenges and teething problems. I am aware that the SUSI processes are being reviewed. The customer help desk has dealt with 130,000 inquiries this year. This system marks a significant cultural change in the student grant awards system. As the Deputy confirms, I am confident it will prove to be a very successful changeover to a new and more efficient and more customer-friendly process of grant awarding. I agree with the Deputy that USI should be actively involved in ensuring the glitches in the process are dealt with over the next few months before the new cohort arrives early next year.

Hospital Staff

Deputy Seamus Kirk

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter for discussion which I have raised in order to seek clarification for the staff concerned. I am advised that approximately 13 people are on the laundry staff of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. There are also seven contract staff comprised of three full-time and four part-time staff. They provide laundry services for the whole hospital.

The HSE staff have been offered redeployment within a 45 km radius of the hospital to undertake other duties in other areas of suitable employment. I ask the Minister of State to confirm or clarify this point.

I am advised that the unit cost of the HSE staff who provide laundry services in the hospital is quite competitive. This should be borne in mind when any significant changes are being made. I ask whether this proposal will be replicated in other hospitals and whether it will be a prolonged process involving the gradual introduction of contract staff. Is this the intention of the HSE and the Department?

Staff morale is being affected by this uncertainty because they do not know where they will be in one year's time. The HSE is the employer and the staff need to be advised of the future plans. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, has announced there will be a further redundancy package for the public sector and I ask if this will be available to staff in these circumstances. The laundry staff in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital would much prefer to remain in their present employment without the need to contemplate the significant changes proposed. I ask the Minister of State to clarify the situation.

Deputy Ciarán Cannon

The funding pressures now being experienced in the health services mean that the acute sector must reduce its costs in order to deliver the agreed level of activity within the resources available to it. Hospitals must concentrate on maximising efficiency and getting the best possible services for patients from the budgets available to us through cost-containment measures such as a reduction in spending on agency and overtime, a reduction in activity to bring it into line with approved levels, and better management of in-house support services such as catering, laundry and back-office functions. In meeting the challenge of managing within budgets, the focus is on ensuring that essential services are protected and that patient safety and quality remain paramount. Greater efficiencies are possible in both front line and support services. Reductions in costs are currently being realised through measures such as the implementation of the HSE's acute medicine clinical care programme, which has saved 121,003 bed days to date this year. Other clinical programmes are also gradually reducing the average length of stay for patients, which in turn reduces the number of bed days needed. Similarly, the HSE's transitional care initiative is shortening the average length of stay in acute beds by putting in place 190 transitional care beds and 150 rehabilitation beds this year, to which patients can move when appropriate. The Deputy raises the matter of laundry services at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda. The Department is aware that the provision of these services has been significantly impacted by a number of retirements of staff who, under the current moratorium, cannot be replaced. The Department is also aware that at present there is no capital allocation for the replacement of laundry equipment at the hospital.

The public service agreement outlines the importance of right sourcing: the need to consider whether support services, such as laundry, are best placed in-house, whether it is economically advantageous to outsource these services and whether outsourcing could be disadvantageous to those using these services. In the spirit of that agreement, the health service implementation body has met with local union representatives and local management and discussed the matter at a full hearing. The HSIB has recommended that both parties work together to ascertain the feasibility of providing an in-house laundry service for the region. Site visits have taken place. No decision has been taken but discussions are ongoing and following these discussions, a report will issue with recommendations on which option is more favourable.

Deputy Seamus Kirk

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I ask him to deal with the point of whether it is intended to make changes in other hospital units. Will the decision with regard to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital be the template for other hospitals? It would be useful if he could clarify that point.

Deputy Ciarán Cannon

I am not aware if that is the case. One would suspect that in a time of very scarce resources and when we need to continue channelling those scarce resources to the front line of the health service that any efficiencies that can be achieved through outsourcing back office or support services could be replicated across the whole hospital system. I must stress that in the case of Drogheda there is ongoing engagement between management and the trade unions. No decision has been made in this regard and following consideration of the matter, a report will issue with recommendations on which option is more favourable.

Flood Prevention Measures

Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for allowing me to raise this issue and the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, for dealing with it. The latter has shown an excellent commitment to flood prevention measures generally and has responded to all of the issues I have raised in this regard in the House. I am obliged, however, to raise the situation of the residents of Maryfield Crescent in Artane, which was flooded in the summers of 2008 and 2009 and again in October 2011. On rainy days such as today, the residents become worried that they will endure further flooding.

Dublin City Council has indicated that before any flood relief measures can be taken in the area, there must be a hydraulic analysis of the Naniken river. The problem, however, is that the council claims it does not have the €50,000 required to undertake that analysis. When I inquired recently as to whether the Office of Public Works might provide the council with the funding it needs to proceed, I was told that such an analysis is not eligible under the minor works scheme. The situation, therefore, is that the council cannot proceed with the hydraulic analysis which is a prerequisite to the implementation of any potential flood relief measures. The expenditure involved, at €50,000, is very little in the overall scheme of things but could have a huge impact for these families. Some of them have no home insurance and, as such, their properties are effectively worthless. Any potential buyer of a house in Maryfield Crescent would likewise be ineligible for home insurance and would not, therefore, obtain a mortgage. In other words, the residents are locked into their current homes for the foreseeable future.

Will the Minister of State indicate whether the OPW will provide the necessary funding to Dublin City Council to carry out the required hydraulic analysis of the Naniken river? Without that analysis, the council cannot identify a long-term strategy for the alleviation of flood risks in the estate and the residents will remain in a no-man's land. I acknowledge that significant flood relief work is ongoing in other parts of the country and in other areas in my constituency, including the Clanmoyle Road in Donnycarney. In the case of Maryfield Crescent, however, no remedial process can commence until the hydraulic analysis is carried out, after which the council would be in a position to identify a way forward. As I said, an outlay of only €50,000 might be the first step in making life easier for the residents.

Although I am loath to raise this issue in Dáil Éireann, I have little choice in the matter since Dublin City Council has washed its hands of it. It is probably not a matter for this House, but I am obliged to take this opportunity to seek the Minister of State's assistance in moving towards a solution.

Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Brian Hayes)

The Deputy should not apologise for raising this matter in the House as he is quite entitled to do. I understand his frustration at the bureaucracy he has encountered both from our side and from Dublin City Council. He is absolutely within his rights as a Member of this House to highlight the matter publicly.

The Naniken river runs underground for most of its length through the built-up suburbs of north Dublin, including Artane. As it is conveyed by way of a culvert for a substantial part of its entire length, it forms an integral part of the urban storm drainage system and is monitored and managed as such by Dublin City Council. The only open section runs through St. Anne's Park. Responsibility for the design, construction, maintenance and upkeep of drainage infrastructure rests with the relevant local authority in the first instance and with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government as the funding body for investment in that infrastructure. The Office of Public Works does not have a role or function in this area.

In order to ascertain why the drainage system in the area is not performing as it should, Dublin City Council must undertake a hydraulic analysis of the culverted river. Regardless of the cost involved, it does not fall within the remit of the OPW to take the lead in or fund such a study. That is a matter for the council. As I said, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government provides funding to local authorities to undertake such works. In this instance, Dublin City Council has indicated that it has insufficient funding to carry out the required analysis. The issue for the OPW is that getting involved in this project would set a precedent for every other drainage scheme in the country. Moreover, the OPW can only take on a project where it has a mandate to do so. The minor works scheme is operated in accordance with a transparent model whereby applications from local authorities are assessed on the basis of a cost analysis. Were the office to take on a project outside of that model, it would set a precedent for every other local authority to seek funds. That is a difficulty.

I am acutely aware that it is of little interest to the residents of Maryfield Crescent which arm of the State carries out or funds the study. Nonetheless, it is important that clear lines of responsibility are maintained and that Dublin City Council takes the lead in carrying out the necessary work to address the drainage problems and associated flooding in the Artane area. I am advised, based on information provided by the council on the extent of its culverted length, that the Naniken river will not be included in the eastern catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, study being undertaken by RPS consultants. It was deemed that the upper reaches of the river are piped to such a degree that it is effectively part of the storm drainage network, the assessment of which is outside the OPW's remit. Moreover, the OPW has concluded that the lower open reach through St. Anne's Park does not pose a risk of such scale as to warrant inclusion in the study.

I understand the residents of Maryfield Crescent met with engineers from Dublin City Council in recent weeks. It was agreed at that meeting, which was attended by Deputy Ó Ríordáin, that a local flood forum is to be formed in the area. This will consider ways in which individuals can develop their resilience to floods and protect their own properties by way of devices such as individual flood gates, non-return valves and so on. This is an excellent initiative which I would like to see replicated in other parts of our main cities and towns and, indeed, within rural communities. Everyone has a role to play in minimising the impact of flooding. The State, for its part, through the OPW and the local authorities, is making huge efforts to deal with the main flooding problems throughout the country.

The OPW, in association with Dublin City Council, has overseen significant flood relief projects in Dublin, including the completed River Tolka flood relief scheme and the ongoing works on the River Dodder. In addition, the OPW has approved a total of €1.854 million under the minor works scheme for the city and greater Dublin area. Under its major capital works programme, meanwhile, the OPW has nine major flood relief schemes at construction stage. It is expected that another four schemes will commence construction before the end of 2013, subject to completion of procurement and other preparatory formalities and availability of funding. A further 11 schemes are at various stages of design and planning. In addition, under the minor works and coastal protection scheme, the OPW provides funding to local authorities for smaller-scale, more localised mitigation measures in their areas.

Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

I thank the Minister of State for his reply and his acknowledgement of my frustration and that of the residents in question. Will he give a commitment that the OPW will liaise with Dublin City Council officials in order to move the situation forward? I am sure he will agree that the current stalemate is unacceptable. Every heavy rain warning is a cause of great anxiety for the residents of Maryfield Crescent.

Deputy Brian Hayes

I assure the Deputy that I will organise a meeting between the Dublin City Council engineers and officials from the OPW to see whether a more creative solution can be found. I will attend this meeting myself and will invite the Deputy to join me. Just as the OPW is governed by its mandate, the council is equally governed by the mandate it receives from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. Nevertheless, I will arrange a meeting in the next two weeks to bring all the parties together. I give the Deputy my word on this.

Sitting suspended at 4.20 p.m. and resumed at 4.30 p.m.