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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 22 May 2013

Vol. 804 No. 2

Topical Issue Debate

Fodder Crisis

I welcome the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whose presence is a sign of how proactive he is on this issue. I acknowledge his intervention with the subsidised transport scheme which has helped farmers in very difficult situations.

In the short time available I will set out the context for my county and the north-west region in general. Farmers have been working daily on this issue in the hope and expectation that the weather will improve. Last Saturday's rainfall, however, has effectively set farmers' plans back by approximately two weeks. Intertwined with this, the first cut of silage is behind by approximately one month, giving a figure of six weeks in total. This has put farmers in a very difficult position. There are farmers who, through their own resources, are getting meal, hay and silage from neighbouring farmers, but others are in a very difficult position. I have spoken to the Minister about farmers who have organised private transport to get fodder because the co-op does not have it. How can we help these farmers?

The stakeholders such as farmers' organisations and Teagasc need to draw up a plan for the next 12 months. I would include a more constructive engagement with our UK counterparts in that plan. With this in mind, I wrote formally this morning to the UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Mr. Owen Paterson, MP, to discuss how we could engage further with his Department and the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and the Crown dependencies to plan a strategy for the next 12 months. The problem does not apply simply to the here and now which is the difficulty for most farmers but will continue to the end of the year. With less silage being cut owing to the deplorable weather conditions, this difficulty will continue in the next nine to 12 months.

I thank the Minister for coming into the House and acknowledge the efforts being made in the current crisis. The three Deputies who have raised the issue today come from west of the River Shannon. That indicates how bad things are.

I come from a farming background and have never seen such a drastic situation. When the weather broke last Tuesday and again at the weekend, it put things back significantly, with the effect that there is a shortage of fodder. I consider it to be a fodder famine. Dependence on hay from England and France has proved difficult. Having spoken to farming organisations, particularly in the marginal areas, I do not believe it will stop now. This will carry on over the winter and into next year; therefore, we need some contingency plans in place to deal with it. Will the Minister consider setting up a subgroup involving all of the interested groups in order that they can come up with strategies to prevent what we are going through?

Will the Minister consider opening up ports? In my county farmers are trying to bring in up to 5,000 bales of fodder by boat from France. If that was possible, it would alleviate the problem in the south-west corner temporarily. The Minister needs to remember that there is no cut of silage yet. The only silage cut down my way has been taken straight into the shed because farmers cannot put their cattle out and there is no possibility of proceeding with the main cut, which is the first one. People who used to make two and three cuts a year will be very lucky if they make two this year. On marginal land they will not get this. I would like the Minister to consider setting up a sub-group, as well as opening the ports for farm groups to bring in fodder.

The farming community is going through a terrible time because of the fodder crisis, animal welfare issues and a cash flow crisis which is placing many farmers under serious mental health strain. The Minister must redouble efforts to bring urgently needed hay into the country, not only to deal with the immediate shortage but also to make provision for continuing poor weather over the summer. In my part of the country there are three to four farmers for every single bale that comes west of the Shannon. The Minister must immediately release an interim payment under the disadvantaged areas scheme to allow farmers to access money to purchase fertiliser and get it out on land as soon as possible. May and June are vital months for getting the volumes of grass required for winter forage.

Farmers have already spent their fertiliser money on buying additional fodder. Every possible effort must also be made to export store animals. Marts around the country cannot shift light store animals because farmers do not have the fodder to buy them and farmers selling stock do not have the fodder to keep them and bring them home. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Teagasc must undertake a full audit of stocking rates on farms and ensure assistance is provided directly for farmers who may not have adequate potential fodder supplies to maintain stocking rates in the long term. Additional support must be provided for farmers who have already availed of departmental support on animal welfare grounds. All farmers must complete a basic fodder management plan in conjunction with Teagasc to assess the requirements for and capacity to harvest forage for next winter. If these steps are not taken, we will face a further fodder crisis in the autumn which will require direct financial support, something which will have serious implications for the Exchequer.

Everyone within the agriculture sector must pull together to get through the current weather and fodder crisis and ensure all efforts are made to protect individual farmers in the coming months who may face additional challenges owing to the levels of stock on farms.

I thank the Deputies for raising this issue. That they come from different parties and none reflects the fact that this problem has nothing to do with party politics. This is a genuine crisis that has hit many farms, depending on the part of the country affected, the soil depth and weather, particularly in the past two weeks. This is a problem that we need to solve collectively.

My Department is at the heart of that process, working with co-ops, Teagasc, private advisers, farm organisations and farmers. On 24 April we introduced a transport subsidy to try to encourage those who had the logistical know-how to bring in large volumes of hay from the United Kingdom and make it available to farmers at a normal price. We covered the cost of the transport. We have twice extended the deadline for the scheme and doubled the fund available. It may well be the case that we will have spent more than €2 million on the scheme by the time it is closed. So far, we have a total of 2,158 loads committed, 419 of which have yet to be delivered. That is over 40,000 tonnes of fodder, enough to feed approximately 5 million to 6 million animals.

What has happened in the past three to four weeks has been logistically an extraordinary effort to bring in very large volumes of feed from the United Kingdom and France and now the Netherlands. Deputy Denis Naughten has raised the issue of bringing in a ship. Dairygold is considering bringing in a ship from the Netherlands next week to bring in enough volume and then take it to whatever part of the country most needs it. This is not a matter of providing more for the south, the west or the midlands. We need to get it to whatever area needs it. Everybody needs to work together and is doing so to try to assist in that process with transport. The head of the Irish Road Haulage Association has been very helpful in co-ordinating the effort to bring in fleets of trucks with fodder.

It is extraordinary that Ireland is importing grass, but that is the situation. We will continue to do that as long as is necessary. We are ending the fodder scheme officially this Friday but we are allowing until next Friday for importation. The reason I am doing this is that I do not want to keep extending the scheme through the summer, leading to a drip-feed of fodder week after week. I want to put the pressure and the onus on marts, co-ops and others importing hay, and other forms of fodder like maize, to bring in as much as they can over the next ten days to kill this issue once and for all. This will allow farmers get fodder into storage, as well as dealing with emergency access to fodder, so they can concentrate on grazing and managing silage cuts throughout the summer.

Certain wet parts of the country are four to six weeks behind in grass production. In other parts of the country, it is just two to three weeks. Much silage is being cut this week in some parts while none in others, as Deputy Martin Ferris pointed out.

There is no reason any animal in the country should starve. If a farmer is in the extreme situation where he cannot feed his animals for whatever reason, whether it is because he cannot access fodder or because he cannot afford it, he should contact my Department and we will feed the animals. We have had over 800 calls in the past several weeks, of which 300 were significant welfare cases in which we intervened. So far, we have spent over €130,000 actually getting hay into farmyards to feed animals. We will continue to do that as is necessary and there is no ceiling to that fund as it is an animal welfare issue. We will work on a confidential basis with farmers to help them get over this period. This is not linked to inspections or enforcements. It is purely an animal welfare helpline.

This year we will have to extend the grazing and grass-growing season, if the weather allows. With this in mind, I, along with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, earlier announced a temporary and targeted adjustment to two provisions of the nitrates regulations to support additional fodder production on farms in the coming months. Essentially, we will extend the period for the spreading of chemical fertilisers to the end of September rather than the middle of the month. It also deals with the phosphorous issue which is now a problem as many farmers have fed their animals with more concentrates than normally which has knock-on consequences for the nitrates directive and action plan. Teagasc is in overdrive to advise farmers and help them put new fodder management plans in place to which Deputy Naughten referred. This will continue throughout the summer.

We will also put in place a strategic advisory expert group which will remain in place right through next winter. It will be assessing the audits that we have to do on the availability of fodder and other strategic measures that need to be taken to ensure we can feed animals through next winter. There is much preparation under way for the medium to long-term problem with fodder supply. It is not all about the crisis, although ensuring all animals are fed is what is most important.

I appreciate the Minister is on top of this issue. The message has to go out that there has to be a management plan over the next 12 months. While the narrative is often that farmers have it good with good prices for cattle and milk, the real story behind farming is that its costs have gone up in the past two years. Accordingly, we must consider the potential income for farmers over the next 12 to 18 months. Farmers, both small and large, have been hit badly.

The introduction of a means test for the farm assist scheme was a big blow to farmers. It is a dependency social payment and removing this means test should be considered in the next budget. Access to the payment would assist those farmers under severe financial constraints who had to spend more on fodder this year. The moneys they would get under the scheme will ultimately go back into the local economy.

The Minister claimed it was not possible to access the EU Solidarity Fund. Can he revisit that, as it is my understanding that the fund was previously used to assist Austrian farmers who faced a fodder crisis ten years ago?

The weather broke at the end of May last year and has not settled since. This is the problem farmers are facing. Unless they can get some sort of silage harvest this year, then there will be serious problems down the road. Every effort must be made to assist them. I welcome the Minister’s announcement he is extending the time for the spreading of fertiliser under the nitrates regulations. It will help in some way but provisions need to be put in place to ensure adequate fodder can be got in on the understanding that we are heading into a winter with little fodder saved this year with the same likelihood in early next year. I welcome the Minister putting in place a strategic management plan in this regard.

I must acknowledge that in fairness to the Minister he has taken on board every single suggestion put to him and implemented them as far as is possible. Will the Minister examine the export of store animals out of the country? I understand there are licence applications for such exports before the Department. Will he ensure these are expedited and processed?

There is now a problem that agricultural merchants and many of the co-ops have extended credit to farmers to such an extent that they cannot extend it any further and remain viable. Will the Minister examine some mechanism to release part of the disadvantaged areas scheme payment, DAS? I know he cannot make the full payment until all inspections are completed. However, will he look at an interim payment that would allow farmers to purchase fertiliser? In my part of the country where the weather is improving, farmers do not have the money or the access to credit to buy fertiliser. Unless, fertiliser is spread over the next fortnight, we are looking at a very serious animal welfare issue and viability issues for the agricultural sector this autumn.

DAS is never paid before the end of September. There is a reason for that. Legally, one cannot make a payment until one can prove that a farmer qualifies for it. One of the qualification criteria is that the farmer has to have had his animals for seven months. We are not even seven months into the year. I am being asked to give out payments to farmers before they even qualify. If I did that, the Commission would introduce a disallowance, meaning we would not get further payments later on in the year. DAS is a slightly different category to single farm payments because it is a matching fund, as half of it comes from the Exchequer. Naturally, one would assume we could pay that part of the DAS payment now and worry about the rest later. That is not how it works. There are strict rules under which one can make payments. In order to make a payment legally, one must ensure the farmer qualifies and make the necessary inspections to ensure he is compliant.

If I start making payments early without those checks in place, when the Commission audits us, it will point out that we made payments inappropriately and we will get disallowances. In the UK disallowances have been in the hundreds of millions of euro while Denmark’s disallowances came to €110 million. Last year, Ireland’s disallowances came to less than €2 million out of €1.2 billion in payments.

That is how compliant we are. Deputy Naughten is correct that if farmers are not spreading fertiliser because they cannot afford to buy it due to lack of credit, that is a mad situation and we need to address it through the banking system and the credit available from co-operatives and merchants. We need to find a way to do that but that is why we have a banking system. If farmers know they will receive a cheque containing a DAS payment at the end of September and a cheque in the middle of October under the single payment scheme, they should be able to use the banking system, which should give them competitive credit rates during that period. Banks have told me they are happy to make credit available to farmers with no repayments required until the scheme payments come through in the autumn. We should be able to put that facility in place. My Department is not a bank and we would get ourselves into difficulty if we tried to advance payments without putting the necessary structures in place.

I will put in writing the reason we cannot access the solidarity fund for Deputy Ferris. I have pushed hard on that issue to try to get something out of it and it just has not been possible.

I take the point made by Deputy McHugh. Management plans are needed at national level and at individual farm level to prepare for next winter and we have to put them in place over the summer.

National Monuments

I feel a little inadequate raising an issue of this nature in the immediate aftermath of a discussion on a fodder crisis and animal welfare. However, I agree with the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht that heritage and cultural issues need to be at the heart of the national recovery we are working towards. Perhaps on that basis I should not feel so unhappy about raising the issue of the Croppies' Acre. It is a well known site in central Dublin close to the National Museum at Collins Barracks, Heuston Station and a Luas stop. In 2011, significant moneys were expended by the Office for Public Works, OPW, renovating the site. There was controversy when it was proposed that the site be developed as a bus and car park for the National Museum, which would have been a travesty. At the time, between €35,000 and €40,000 of public money was expended on developing and preserving this unique site, which houses the burial place of many members of the 1798 Rebellion. Matthew Tone and Bartholomew Teeling - I do not know if he is related to the owner of the Teeling Whiskey Company - are reputed to be buried there.

The grounds have been misused by a tiny section of the public. Syringes and other drugs paraphernalia have been found there and anti-social behaviour is an issue. People are climbing over the walls to enter the grounds to drink and it is no longer open to the public as a result. This national monument has been closed by OPW officials because they do not have available to them the small amount required to keep this site clean in order that it can be safely accessed by the public.

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, who is standing in for the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Can priority be given to dealing with this relatively minor issue in order that the site can be reopened to Dubliners and the people of the country as a whole? It is an issue that is well capable of being solved by the Government.

This issue falls exclusively under the remit of the OPW and the Deputy should not feel the need to apologise for raising this matter. It is an important issue, not least because of the historical connection but also because of its location. The site is on a major thoroughfare running alongside the River Liffey into town. Hundreds of thousands of cars pass the area every year. It is also close to the National Museum at Collins Barracks and, therefore, it is an important tourist location. The Deputy is correct to raise the issue and to put the OPW and myself under as much pressure as he can to resolve it. He should make no apologies whatsoever for that.

The area known as Croppies' Acre lies between the National Museum at Collins Barracks and the River Liffey. It is enclosed by walls and has access gates. The area is managed by the Commissioners of Public Works, whose staff maintain the grounds, cut grass, etc. Croppies' Acre has been susceptible to anti-social behaviour for some time. The walls are easily scaled in certain parts and the grounds are frequented by drug users, junkies and people abusing alcohol generally during the hours of darkness and especially at weekends.

The grounds had been opened to the general public by the OPW, usually between 9.30 a.m. and 5.00 p.m., Monday to Saturday, in line with the opening hours of the nearby National Museum. However, it was becoming increasingly common for the OPW to discover used syringes among other rubbish discarded on the preceding night. In consequence, a decision was taken in May 2011 to close the area to the public on health and safety grounds. Sufficient resources are not available to the OPW to sterilise the entire area every day before opening the gates and inviting the public to enter and the commissioners, reasonably, were not prepared to accept the risk of, say, a child picking up a discarded needle with potentially disastrous consequences for his or her health. It was with reluctance that the commissioners decided to close Croppies' Acre, and they have been exploring ways of reopening this small park for some time. Discussions are ongoing with Dublin City Council in this regard and I am hopeful that the park can be reopened to the public in the not too distant future under the management of the council.

I would like to correct recent media reports which stated that the Croppies' Acre park contained the Anna Livia fountain and sculpture originally located on O'Connell Street. This monument is sited in an area nearby but outside the Croppies' Acre grounds and it is not under the management or control of the Commissioners of Public Works. The monument is still accessible to the public.

It is my intention and that of the OPW and Dublin City Council to see if we can reopen this small park as soon as possible. Logically, its management should lie with the city council and we are having discussions with its officials. I hope the fact that the Deputy has put the issue on the agenda of the House will ensure that a common-sense solution can be found between the OPW and the council. I look forward to that meeting shortly.

I thank the Minister of State for clarifying the position. Dubliners will be delighted to be reminded that the Floozie in the Jacuzzi is located outside the Ashling Hotel rather than in the Croppies' Acre. There was concern in the past that this small park would form part of the National Museum complex and be integrated into that, but the Government and the OPW have decided to go down the road of discussions with the city council, which I accept. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, who is sitting beside the Minister of State, will be well used to councils throughout the country telling him that they are strapped for cash and have great difficulty funding their current operations without taking on board additional responsibilities.

What sort of assurances can the Minister of State give us that there is a likelihood that Dublin City Council will take responsibility for this site and clean up the appalling mess? I agree with him that it is completely unacceptable that hypodermic syringes and needles and so on need to be removed from this site on a regular basis. We would all appeal to those people who are irresponsible users of this particular facility not to be but given that they are, what sort of assurances can the Minister of State give us that the funding will be available to Dublin City Council to get on with the job and to take this on board?

We are looking at this issue very closely. As I said, I hope it will be resolved in the not too distant future and that we can work up some flexible arrangement with Dublin City Council. We are in the parks business in the context of our own properties, such as Phoenix Park and St. Stephen's Green, and the many other national historic properties which fall under the responsibility of the Office of Public Works. We are not really in the business of neighbourhood parks or parks which are, generally speaking, not attached to national historic properties or national monuments.

Given the proximity of this very important historic site to the National Museum, we must work up a solution. The Deputy put his finger on it when he said that this was an important historic site which is right beside the museum and that it is also important for tourists as a kind of overspill area. However, people need to feel some semblance of safety walking around it during the day or in the early evening, in particular over the summer. I hope we can work up a flexible arrangement with the city council to resolve this issue. I have given a commitment that it will be in the not too distant future and the Deputy can hold me to that.

Water Services Provision

I thank the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, for being present to discuss this very important and pressing issue which has now become an issue of public health and safety in County Wicklow. What started off nearly three months ago with a small number of houses in Kilpedder not being able to access a regular supply of water has now extended to literally thousands of people in County Wicklow being unable to access a water supply. Local media reports today have said there will not be a regular supply of water available to these homes for months or even into the foreseeable future. There is a complete confusion and lack of clarity as to what the problem is, not to mention there being any solution to it.

It seems Dublin City Council is responsible for this water supply. I am worried that it is showing less concern for the people of Wicklow than it might for the people of Dublin if they were affected. Cancer patients are living in houses without a water supply and people with babies have had no water for 14 days. This cannot continue. It is affecting people in Kilmacanogue, Kilpedder, Enniskerry, Newcastle and Delgany.

While I would not normally raise an issue such as this in the Dáil, because it is a matter for the local authorities to resolve in the first instance, considering that it has not been resolved at local authority level, it is important the Minister asks his Department to intervene, to bang heads together, to tell us the truth about the problem as there seems to be much rumour and speculation and, most important, to put in place a solution and demand that Dublin City Council meets Wicklow County Council to find a solution and to give a timeframe for it.

I thank the Minister for attending the House for this important issue which has been going on since St. Patrick's Day and which concerns the Roundwood reservoir where there is algae growth over the filter beds which means a sufficient amount of water is not getting through. I have spoken to several senior engineers who have said there is enough water in the reservoir - we all know that because we have been rained on for the past number of months - but that it is not getting through the filter beds.

I understand Dublin City Council is looking at this. However, it originally told Wicklow County Council that the issue would be resolved by the end of May but it recently came back and said it would be the end of June at the earliest. The indication I have from officials in Wicklow County Council is that it could go on for several months.

Two nights ago, the water supply in Enniskerry was shut off at 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. the following day. This will continue seven days per week for the foreseeable future. Willow Grove, Delgany and various areas in north Wicklow are being hit. My concern is that, as the water stocks fall and the block in the filters remains, this situation will not only not be fixed but could actually become much worse. Such a concern was expressed to me by a senior engineer in Wicklow County Council two days ago.

I have two specific requests. The first is that the Minister ask his officials to liaise with Dublin City Council to ensure that its engineers have all the resources they need to resolve this. It may be the case that this simply will take a very long time and that it is very complex but I would like to know that the council is not wanting in terms of technology, staff or other resources in order to get this solved very quickly. Second, will somebody look at the locations being cut off? I would be concerned if areas in Wicklow were being cut off by Dublin City Council but that areas in Dublin were not. It might be easier - I am not saying it is - for Dublin City Council to turn off Enniskerry rather than Stillorgan, for example.

I apologise to the Deputies for my delay in arriving in the House and for not being here for the appropriate slot but I thank them for raising this important issue. It would be useful to clarify the role of both the Department and the water services authorities in the provision of water services.

The Department does not have responsibility for, or any role in, the management, maintenance or operation of water infrastructure. As the Deputies know, it is a matter in the first instance for the relevant water services authorities, in this case Wicklow County Council and-or Dublin City Council, which are responsible under statute, for the operation, maintenance and management of water infrastructure, under the general supervision of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The primary role of the Department is to support those water services authorities in providing the necessary water infrastructure and this is done through the Department's water services investment programme. I assure the Deputies I will ensure the personnel on the engineering side are in constant contact with the Wicklow and Dublin city authorities to ensure this matter is resolved sooner rather than later.

Water supplies in the greater Dublin area, including north Wicklow, are generally provided on a shared basis under agreements drawn up between the relevant water services authorities under powers available to those authorities in the Water Services Acts and which are exercised under arrangements entered into without reference to me as the Minister. However, from inquiries made to Wicklow County Council, I am advised that there is an ongoing issue with the water supplied from Dublin City Council's Vartry reservoir, as indicated by the Deputies. Apparently, due to algae problems at Vartry, the capacity and output from the reservoir has been reduced by 50%. I am informed that Kilpedder, Glen of the Downs, Kilmacanogue and surrounding areas are fed directly from the Vartry reservoir and that with the drop in pressure of the water being supplied from the reservoir, householders are experiencing a reduced water supply and, in some instances, no water supply at all.

I understand that Wicklow County Council is providing consumers with water by locating water tankers throughout the affected areas, including locations such as Foxes Meadow, Bellevue Hill in Kilpedder, Jameson’s Corner in Delgany and Kilmacanogue. In addition, Dublin City Council has crews working on the problem at the Vartry reservoir on a full-time basis, with a view to increasing the output from Vartry and reducing the need for tankering of water.

I also understand that consumers in Enniskerry, as was mentioned, and the surrounding areas have been advised of interruptions to supply, mainly overnight, in order to ensure that the supply in the reservoir is replenished for distribution during the day. That is not acceptable and it is something which could have been better planned.

To date, the Department's water services investment programme 2010-13, water supply and watermain rehabilitation contracts, costing in excess of €16 million, have been completed in County Wicklow. Contracts for further water supply improvements and mains rehabilitation, costing in the region of €25 million, are being planned and I will check at what stage they are in regard to rolling out this programme. Additional substantial works are proposed to improve the water supply from Vartry and Dublin City Council is advancing the planning of these works.

I understand the difficulties being experienced by consumers at the lack of a continuous supply of water in their areas; it is unacceptable and it demonstrates once again the need for reform in this area. As Deputies know, we have a very ambitious water reform programme but in the immediate and short term, we want to see consumers are able to enjoy the supply of water from their local water services authority as quickly as possible. I will undertake to do whatever I can to expedite this work.

I thank the Minister for his answer. I know he does not have direct responsibility for these services and neither does this House. We have a moral responsibility at this stage. While I appreciate the answer the Minister has given, I suggest the information he has been given by officials in the council or his Department underestimates the seriousness of the issue. Thousands of people in County Wicklow do not have a trickle of water. Some of my constituents have not been able to have a shower in their house for two, three or four weeks. I accept that water has been supplied from tankers. However, mothers and fathers have been told to walk down hills to these tankers to get water for their babies. Cancer patients who are terminally ill are dealing with this issue in their homes.

I understand this is nobody's specific problem. I do not think the requisite degree of urgency is being applied to it, particularly by Dublin City Council which has been extremely evasive in its provision of information for Wicklow County Council. This frustration is shared by many of the staff of Wicklow County Council. The only change in the press releases issued by the council in recent days has been the addition of estates and roads.

I ask the Minister to examine whether there can be any redistribution of the existing water supply. We do not want to deprive the constituents of Deputies in south Dublin like the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White, of water. However, there may be additional supplies in parts of south Dublin. Perhaps water pressure might be reduced in some areas to make water available for redistribution in others. That would allow everyone to have some water. It would be a much more humane way of dealing with the problem.

I thank the Minister for his comprehensive answer. I appreciate that he understands the urgency of the matter and I am pleased he will look into it. I will make a quick comment before asking two follow-up questions.

The night-time refilling of water tankers, mentioned by the Minister, is becoming less frequent. The water tanks in areas not getting any water during the day were filling up at night. At least, those residents had some water for sanitation, etc., during the day. Since last Friday, however, that has stopped happening every night. As a result of the failure of the water tanks to refill at night, some houses are not getting water for several days at a time. I wanted to let the Minister know about this.

While it is great that water tankers have been made available, it has been pointed out to me that more could be done. Some of those who have to walk long distances to get water to bring back to their houses have impaired mobility. Can a means of distributing water other than by water tankers be found to make the interim problem a little less difficult? I do not know whether that is possible.

I seek confirmation of an aspect of the Minister's response that I did not understand. Did he say work was not taking place to deal with the algae problem? Did he say that work was planned in that regard? Is it the case that work on the problem is ongoing as a matter of urgency and that additional work is being planned?

I will deal with the last point first. Work is being done on the algae problem. I assure the Deputies that I will ask the local authorities and the officials in my Department to give this matter the sense of urgency it deserves, in line with the information they have given to the House. I acknowledge the difficulties that people and consumers are experiencing. It is unacceptable in this modern age that we have such difficulties. It demonstrates the fragility of our natural resources and the importance of water. It is unacceptable in this modern day that so many people waste so much water. It is a finite resource, as demonstrated by the problems we are having in counties Wicklow and Dublin. I will speak to the officials at the end of this debate to ensure there is a sense of urgency in this regard and these problems will be remedied on a temporary and a permanent basis as soon as possible.

Medical Card Reviews

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White, for taking this Topical Issue. It is always good when someone with direct responsibility for an issue comes into the House to face the music.

When the centralisation of medical card applications was announced, the HSE and the Government promised that it would result in a more streamlined, efficient and, ultimately, compassionate system, in which people's needs would be responded to quickly, directly and compassionately. It is clear, however, from what I am hearing from my constituents in County Clare that this is simply not happening, unfortunately. I have heard numerous stories of medical cards being withdrawn from children with disabilities who are among the most vulnerable in our society. The parents of these children did not find out about the withdrawal of the medical cards until they went to pharmacies, as they do on a regular basis, to obtain the drugs or pharmaceuticals needed by their children. When they learned that the medical cards were no longer valid, they contacted the centralised unit and were told the matter would be dealt with if they filled in an application form. The people concerned have been treated with very little compassion or understanding of the very difficult situation in which they find themselves. That is certainly not what the Government promised. As someone who regularly goes through the voting lobbies in support of the Government, it is certainly not what I would have expected.

I do not intend to take up a very long period. There are some specific questions I would like to have answered. How many medical cards have been withdrawn this year from children with special needs, particularly with autism and cancer? Has any of these medical cards been cancelled without a statutory review being conducted? In other words, have they simply been cancelled on a whim, with people being asked to reapply if they believe they really deserve them? Is there a deliberate policy of cancelling medical cards to save money, before making people reapply and prove they should have had them in the first place? How many medical cards have subsequently been restored on appeal? I appreciate that the Minister of State might not have an answer to that final question.

I commend the Minister of State again for coming into the Chamber to deal with this important issue. It is very difficult for families to deal with the severe stress caused by lifelong conditions such as autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The removal of medical cards from such families adds very much to and compounds the pressures they are facing at a difficult time for everyone in the country.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Budget 2013 introduced some amendments to the guidelines governing the provision of medical cards and GP visit cards for those under the age of 70 years and those over that age. None of the changes that have been made to the schemes would affect this specific group of children in the manner suggested by the Deputy. No change has been made that would have such an impact. The Deputy has referred to instances of people who have been advised while attending a pharmacy that the medical cards awarded for children with certain conditions have expired and that reapplication is required. That is essentially the issue he has raised. I am surprised and concerned that this situation, as outlined by the Deputy, could arise. I will outline briefly to him and the House the standard and uniform processes required to be applied when medical cards are being renewed.

The medical card scheme is operated by the primary care reimbursement service, PCRS, to which the Deputy referred. Since the medical card scheme was centralised under the PCRS, every medical card shows an expiry date, before which the eligibility of the holder is reassessed by the PCRS. A letter is issued to the medical card holder three months before the expiry date and again one month before that date. The medical card is renewed after the case has been reviewed and eligibility has been confirmed. A medical card will remain valid, regardless of the expiry date shown on it, as long as the medical card holder is genuinely engaging with the PCRS review process. The medical card holder does not need to take any action other than to co-operate in a genuine way with the review process and communicate with the PCRS on an ongoing basis throughout any review that may take place. Eligibility can be confirmed by any doctor or pharmacist through the GP practice or pharmacy IT systems, or by medical card holders at www.medicalcard.ie. While I appreciate that not everybody is online, this facility is available to those who are. A person can continue to receive drugs and GP services while he or she awaits a decision on his or her medical card renewal application simply by using the medical card number.

While people with specific illnesses are not automatically entitled to medical cards under the provisions of the relevant legislation, the legislation provides for discretion by the HSE to grant a medical card where a person's income exceeds the income guidelines. The HSE takes a person's social and medical issues into account when determining whether there is "undue hardship" - the phrase used in the Act - for a person in providing a health service for himself or herself or his or her dependants. It is important to stress that the medical card system is founded on the "undue hardship" test. The basic infrastructure of the medical card system provides that medical cards are allocated to persons on the basis of their material circumstances rather than on the basis of a particular illness. The discretionary system is an exception to the general rule.

However, the general rule is that we allocate medical cards on the basis of material means, which relates to the phrase "undue hardship" in the 1970 Act.

I understand the cards referred to by the Deputy are discretionary medical cards. On average, discretionary cards are valid for two to three years and the renewal processes that I outlined earlier also apply for discretionary cards. People should not receive, out of the blue, statements from pharmacists or anybody else to the effect that their medical cards are gone. I am most concerned to hear this is occurring in the manner that has been suggested, and I have no doubt the Deputy is raising the matter on the basis of information he has received. Even for the short-term discretionary cards of six months or one year, they will receive a renewal notice three months in advance of the stated expiry date. In setting review dates and to avoid causing anxiety, the HSE must be and is, so far as I can see, sensitive to the needs and conditions of the individual. The target turnaround time for discretionary medical cards is 20 working days.

Having said all of that, if the Deputy has specific cases which he would like to have examined, the PCRS would be happy to do so. If the Deputy needs any assistance in this regard, I will be happy to afford it to him.

I thank the Minister of State for that comprehensive reply, which comes as a relief to me and, more importantly, to my constituents. As I said, I am a Teachta Dála, and I am bringing the message to the Dáil that this issue has arisen in my constituency. It may well be a localised failure due to a systems failure. I am satisfied with the Minister of State's reply and, if the problem persists, I will take up the matter with the PCRS, as the Minister of State has advised. If that fails, I will bring it back to the Minister of State.

I cannot put it any more plainly than I have. If any further issue arises for the Deputy, I will attend to it.

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