Topical Issue Debate

Penalty Points System

Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

As the Minister knows, the Comptroller and Auditor General reported on his findings in regard to the fixed charge notice system. The outcome is absolutely shocking. What he has revealed is that because of clearly widespread maladministration and very poor procedures, one in five motorists facing fixed charge notices are getting off. We are talking about 42,000 cases a year, and half of the summonses that were issued by the courts in regard to these were not served.

This is a crisis. It is not good enough for the Minister to issue circulars. We need to see how the hell this happened. The Minister knows that two Garda whistleblowers brought this wider issue into the public domain last year. He and the Garda Commissioner, I believe, sought to undermine their credibility and talked down the numbers that were involved, and we now see very clearly that they have been vindicated. What is the Minister going to do about this? It is a massive crisis of confidence for the public. The 71% of people who pay their fine, take it on the chin and accept they did break the speed limit, or whatever they had done to break the traffic laws, need to know that the system applies to everybody.

Will the Minister now apologise to the two Garda whistleblowers for the attempts by himself and the Garda Commissioner at that time to discredit them and to undermine the scope of what they were bringing into the public domain? Will he acknowledge they were right that there was a widespread problem with the system of penalty points in this State and that it has to be sorted out?

Deputy Joe Higgins

The problem is that there is a huge contradiction between the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and the report of the Garda into the penalty points issue. The Comptroller and Auditor General found 600 repeat offenders with three or four terminations; the Garda report found a few. The Comptroller and Auditor General found 3,000 statute-barred points cases; there was no mention of these in the Garda report. Thousands of fixed penalty notices went missing and were unaccounted for according to the Comptroller and Auditor General; there is no mention of this in the Garda report. The Comptroller and Auditor General said large volumes of notices were terminated by gardaí from outside their areas; the Garda report said there were three. The Comptroller and Auditor General said there were thousands of notices whose cancellation contravened the rules and regulations; the Garda report said it was 600. The Comptroller and Auditor General said €1.2 million had been lost; the Garda report said it was a few thousand euro. Can the Minister explain?

Is it not the case that the whistleblowers are exonerated as truthful and honest in light of this revelation? One person has left and another member is subject to sanctions. Will the Minister see that justice now prevails here?

Finally, another victim of the penalty points debacle, Gemma O'Doherty, a leading investigative journalist with Independent Newspapers, was sacked because she uncovered a story that the Garda Commissioner was a beneficiary of the cancellation of penalty points. According to the Irish Post, the editor of the Irish Independent who sacked her was also a beneficiary of cancellation. Is that not outrageous and does it not smack of a grotesque abuse of power? Will the Minister speak out on this also?

Minister for Justice and Equality (Deputy Alan Shatter)

I will respond to both Deputies but, on the last issue raised by the Deputy who just spoke, I am not privy to the background circumstances of the termination of anyone's employment with Independent Newspapers and I am certainly not going to comment in any way on that issue.

I welcome the opportunity to comment on the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General in his report on the Garda fixed-charge processing system. I welcome these findings because they confirm what went wrong with the system and what needed to be fixed. Broadly speaking, the findings echo those of the examination of the same allegations which was carried out by Assistant Garda Commissioner John O'Mahoney. I published the O'Mahoney report and a related report by the Garda professional standards unit earlier this year and referred them to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality.

The O'Mahoney report broadly identified the same key issues of concern relating to the operation of the fixed-charge processing system as were identified by the Comptroller and Auditor General, namely, a failure to follow cancellation procedures in a significant number of cases, a lack of adequate record-keeping, and an inconsistency - in many cases, a laxity - in accepting justifications for speeding and other road traffic offences. There is absolutely no doubt that the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General reinforce both the concerns identified by the O'Mahoney report about weaknesses in the fixed-charge notice system and the case for corrective action.

Such action has been taken. Disciplinary proceedings were initiated against several members of the Garda Síochána and a number of others were advised of the absolute necessity to follow correct procedures. A new Garda directive on the cancellation of fixed-charge notices was issued to the entire force on 30 August 2013, aimed at significantly tightening up procedures for cancellation. The Garda Commissioner has accepted and will implement specific and helpful recommendations by the Comptroller and Auditor General on improving the fixed-charge notice system and how it interacts with the Courts Service and the driver licensing system. In addition, as I previously indicated, I have referred the two Garda reports to the independent Garda Inspectorate for its advice on any further measures that might be desirable. I expect to receive its report in the near future.

I welcome the action taken by the Garda Commissioner in this area and his commitment to implement the further recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General. The result will be a fixed-charge notice system that is more open and transparent and more robustly operated. This is essential if public confidence in the system and in the enforcement of road traffic law is to be maintained. The Garda Síochána, the Road Safety Authority and other stakeholders have done much in recent years to improve road safety and reduce fatalities. Everything must be done to maintain that progress, and the Garda Commissioner has my full support in the strong action he is taking.

It is only fair to acknowledge that these reports, and their findings and recommendations, are in response to allegations of improper cancellation of fixed-charge notices. However, any fair assessment must also conclude, on the evidence available, that a great many of the most serious allegations have been found to be utterly without basis, including allegations of avoidable road fatalities linked to speeding drivers being improperly let off fixed-charge notices and allegations of hundreds of PULSE records being destroyed. Perhaps most significantly, the member of the Garda Síochána who made the allegations rejects the findings of the O'Mahoney report and continues to claim there has been widespread corruption and criminality on the part of senior members of the force. These are exceptionally serious allegations, for which the O'Mahoney report found no basis in fact. My Department has written to the member concerned urging him to come forward with any evidence he may have to justify these allegations. It is open to this person, if he so chooses, to make an appropriate presentation to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality. He has not thus far opted to avail of that opportunity.

In conclusion, I welcome the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General, which are in line with the findings of the report by Assistant Commissioner O'Mahoney published earlier this year. I fully support the Garda Commissioner in the decisive action he is taking on foot of those findings. I will do my best to facilitate any further co-ordination that is required between An Garda Síochána and the Courts Service to ensure the efficient enforcement of summonses in the area of traffic offences. I will seek to ensure that the courts have available to them all the documentation and information they require when addressing issues which properly come before them. It would, however, be highly inappropriate for me to interfere in any way with the independent approach taken by the courts or by particular District Court judges in any individual cases which come before them relating to charges arising out of road traffic offences.

Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

The 71% of citizens who paid their fine and took their penalty points on the chin must be appalled to discover that up to one in five of those facing the same sanction managed to get away with it. It is clear, given the massive scale of such practices, that they arose largely due to maladministration. However, there are cases which give cause for serious concern. We have had allegations, for instance, that judges, serving gardaí, State solicitors and others have had points written off repeatedly. We were recently informed that several senior journalists - who are supposed to be working to hold gardaí to account - have had the same write-off. It has been further alleged that one journalist, Ms Gemma O'Doherty, lost her job because of the investigative work she was doing in this area.

Will the Minister undertake to investigate why at least two senior journalists at the publication mentioned in the Guardian and the Irish Post had penalty points written off? Such an investigation is necessary to ascertain whether those write-offs arose from genuine circumstances, as they may well have done. The public has a right to know in either case. We must have the answers in the interests of democracy and if public confidence in the system is to be restored. As I said, the larger problem was clearly one of major maladministration, but there are also cases where very powerful and connected people apparently had their points written off simply because of who they knew. That is totally wrong and the Minister must investigate the extent and circumstances of that alleged practice.

Deputy Joe Higgins

All that is demanded is that any of us who have incurred penalty points are treated in the same way, regardless of whether one is a public figure or private citizen. The Minister indicated that the conclusions of the Comptroller and Auditor General are in line with the findings of the report by Assistant Commissioner O'Mahoney. That is clearly not the case, as is easily documented. I invite the Minister to get his officials to go through the records with a fine tooth comb to revise his view on that.

The Minister further stated that it is only fair to acknowledge that these reports and their findings and recommendations come in response to allegations by whistleblowers, as I would describe them. I am asking the Minister to go the extra mile and be generous here. Perhaps these individuals did not get everything absolutely right, but the vast substance of what they said has proved to be absolutely honest and true. Yet they have been victimised. The Minister must stand up and champion the right of people in vulnerable positions to come out for the public good. I am asking him to do so today and to apologise for the inaccurate comments he has made castigating these people.

Deputy Alan Shatter

Deputy Higgins should be assured that nobody has been victimised.

Deputy Joe Higgins

The individuals in question were victimised.

Deputy Alan Shatter

There is no basis for alleging that anybody has been victimised. The allegations that were made were taken very seriously. They included claims that a number of road accidents in which people lost their lives were a consequence of fixed-notice charges being cancelled. That was established, on a very detailed basis, to be untrue. Those allegations could have caused a great deal of distress to families already distressed as a consequence of losing a loved one. Despite the very detailed addressing of these matters in a report that is before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality and was published by me, the individuals who raised these issues are adamantly insisting that they disagree with the contents of the report.

The allegations alleged widespread corruption and conspiracy in An Garda Síochána. There is absolutely no doubt that there have been administrative and bureaucratic failings. It is also clear that a number of fixed-notice charge cancellations were, based on the background circumstances as detailed in the report, absolutely justified. Anybody would stand by them. There were some decisions which I have described as "exotic" and are certainly open to question. That is one of the reasons the Garda Commissioner, having made an initial statement when the original reports were published, went on to oversee the provision of detailed new guidelines providing for greater oversight. It was suggested earlier today in this House that these new guidelines simply reproduce the ones that went before. That is not the case. The new guidelines address matters in such a way as to ensure there is proper oversight, cancellation decisions are made only where appropriate and everybody is treated equally and transparently. In fact, it could be said there is some disadvantage under the new system for people who are in prominent positions, such as Members of this House.

They will be treated less than equally because there is an additional level and a particular layer in the new guidelines to ensure applications by them for cancellation are dealt with at a higher level of the Garda Síochána. There is complete transparency and everything is monitored. I am very happy with this.

In so far as individuals who raised issues are alleging that the Garda reports published are untrue, let them bring forward chapter and verse and proof of this. I am open to being convinced, but they have not done so. Having engaged with Members of this House and published material, they did not co-operate with the Garda investigations that took place. I do not know why that was the case. There is no question of anyone being victimised.

It is important to keep cancellations in perspective. I say this in particular to Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn. The Garda Síochána and Comptroller and Auditor General's reports are consistent in showing the level of cancellations of fixed charge notices to be around 5%, meaning that 95% of fixed charge notices have been processed correctly. Within that 5%, in half of the cases there was irrefutable evidence and indisputable reasons for cancelling them. The wrong people had received fixed charge notices or the registration number photographed turned out to be different for the car owned by an individual. It is true that the Comptroller and Auditor General's report identified some weaknesses in the process, particularly in issuing enforcement notices, but I am glad that the Garda Commissioner is taking action in this area. The Deputy can assume I will continue to monitor the position to ensure matters are dealt with appropriately. I have no doubt that the Garda Síochána Inspectorate will keep oversight of the area in order that everyone in the House will be satisfied the system is fair and operating efficiently and appropriately.

Community Welfare Services

Deputy Dara Calleary

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this issue with Deputies Seán Kyne and Thomas Pringle.

In the past week it has been brought to my knowledge that the Department plans to withdraw the community welfare service offices serving Ballyhaunis and Claremorris in County Mayo and transfer them to Castlebar. I sought clarification from the Minister's office, but I have not received it. I assume the move is going ahead. A number of rural community welfare offices in County Mayo have been closed in recent years, but they had the benefit of far greater proximity to the towns in which the service is now based. On this occasion, the entire service is delivered out of east Mayo and two towns with a particular need for it. This raises the need for a full-time community welfare service to be based in rural areas.

One of the difficulties people will not understand by looking at a map is the lack of public transport. People do not have the opportunities available in urban areas in terms of bus and rail transport. The clients who use the community welfare service have serious financial issues and do not have the cash for taxis. They may not have their own resources for transport and we will leave them in a serious position.

The broader issue is the withdrawal of Government services from rural areas and the need to examine this issue in an audit. The area in question has suffered in recent years from the withdrawal of services, including under the previous Government. Departments reorganising services need to come together to ensure they are not targeting specific areas for the withdrawal of services in order that the burden can be shared.

I would like to know what the position is on the offices in Claremorris and Ballyhaunis. I spoke to the Minister over the summer about delays in respect of domiciliary care allowances. She indicated that she would act and there has been a transformation in the delivery of the service since we spoke, which I acknowledge.

Deputy Thomas Pringle

I join Deputy Dara Calleary in thanking the Ceann Comhairle for allowing this issue to be raised.

As of yesterday, clinics have been closed in County Donegal. Some 12 clinics have been closed and clients are being asked to make their way to larger towns to avail of community welfare services. This does not recognise the geography of rural Ireland and counties and the difficulties many of the clients of the Department face in accessing services. The 12 clinics are in outlying areas where there is no transport link to get people to larger towns to access the clinics. It does not recognise that these are the most vulnerable people in society and, through their need to access services, they must have a lot of contact with community welfare officers. Many will be reviewed for rent supplement and must access the service on that basis. Others may be looking for exceptional needs payment and simply cannot afford to travel across the county to access these services.

The letter issued in County Donegal states that it is due to the roll-out of the Intreo programme and a one-stop shop for employment services. However, I fail to see what the community welfare offices will bring to the roll-out of the Intreo service when they need to be kept in place to provide the services which are vital to those using them. The Department has not taken account of the difficulties of people in rural areas in accessing services. In recent years we have seen the closure of post offices and Garda stations and threats to rural schools. People see these public services being withdrawn and it leads to a huge amount of concern and difficulties in our communities. I, therefore, ask the Minister to reverse the decision, on which there was no consultation. Some of the clinics being closed are the busiest.

Deputy Seán Kyne

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for facilitating this Topical Issue debate.

I acknowledge the work of the Minister and her Department in ensuring the continued provision of services, despite the extraordinary and unprecedented challenges we face. The economic crisis has put extra strain on Departments' budgets, particularly that of the Department of Social Protection, and I appreciate the need to minimise administration costs. I understand the rationale behind Intreo offices and the provision of one-stop shops. I also acknowledge the support and advice I have received from the staff within the Minister's office. In the Galway office Mr. Eoin Brown has provided great information on the issue. However, the new rationalisation measure to centralise community welfare offices has been ill-thought out. The community welfare services are required by people in a vulnerable state and experiencing financial difficulties through job losses or another traumatic event. I tabled a number of questions to the Minister last week. The replies inform me that the criteria on which the reorganisation is made include the distance between clinics, the available transport, the number of customers, as well as the time and duration of clinics. I find it hard to believe these criteria were applied to the office in Galway, which I am sure is similar to that in County Mayo and County Donegal. My fear is that the decision was taken without an understanding of the large geographical area which it serves. Ó inniu ar aghaidh, beidh ar dhaoine i gConamara a dteastaíonn seirbhís ón oifig leasa shóisialaigh uathu taisteal go Gaillimh nó An Clochán chun seirbhís a fháil. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil plean d'oifig taistil ag teastáil agus go mbeidh seirbhís trí Ghaeilge ar fáil, ach tá faitíos ar an phobal faoi an athrú seo. I understand the rationale and have seen it explained, but I am concerned about the distances people will be required to travel. They must access services in Galway and from tomorrow new services in Clifden. This is causing undue hardship for the most vulnerable of people.

Minister for Social Protection (Deputy Joan Burton)

I thank Deputies Dara Calleary, Seán Kyne and Thomas Pringle for raising this issue.

The Department is examining the operation of all its services, including the community welfare service, in the context of the Pathways to Work commitments and the development of Intreo services nationally. The Pathways to Work programme represents a significant reform in the social welfare system and highlights the need for the Department to focus its resources on the provision of opportunities, supports and assistance for unemployed persons.

The Department is intensifying its level of engagement with the unemployed, particularly those who are long-term unemployed. I think all the Deputies here would share that concern. The new Intreo service offers practical, tailored employment services and supports for jobseekers, a model which is currently being rolled out across the country. It is expected that 300 staff will be redeployed to activation work from within the Department's existing resources by the end of the year. The first 160 staff members are in the process of being redeployed. These include staff from the community welfare service.

Overall, this will result in a rebalancing of resources across the Department's range of activities, including the relocation of some staff to main centres, primarily Intreo offices. Intreo centres will provide a full range of services, including the community welfare service, and these will, in general, be available in one location. As a consequence, it has been necessary to restructure the operation of community welfare services, including those in County Galway, where changes came into effect this week, and elsewhere in Galway and Mayo. In preparation for these changes, the Department contacted all affected customers directly, advising them of the changes in the services. In addition, arrangements were put in place to provide dedicated phone services allowing, in most cases, for customer queries to be processed without the need for attendance at a clinic. I stress that the basis of the service should be a modern telephone service, so that customers do not have to travel to and queue up in a community welfare office other than in exceptional circumstances. However, if a person is unable to travel to a clinic - for example, due to illness - alternative arrangements are in place, including visits to the client's home should that be necessary.

It is important to note that under the new arrangements, the frequency of available clinics is being increased to five days a week in the case of Galway and to three days a week in the case of Clifden. In addition, the number of staff available to these clinics is being increased, providing improved access to services. It is planned to roll out similar changes in Mayo in the coming months. It should be noted that although more than 100 clinics closed in 2012, the service to customers was, I would argue - Deputies can check with their colleagues - not only maintained but expanded and enhanced, allowing vital social welfare staff to help the unemployed get back to work. This is a win-win situation, I hope, for everybody, not only the customers who need help - they are the most important - but also the unemployed, to whom I have given a commitment on behalf of taxpayers in Ireland to help them get back to work and become financially independent.

The Department is conscious of its obligations to those who are Irish speakers. We are committed to providing services through Irish to customers. There are a number of staff in the offices covering the Connemara Gaeltacht who provide a service through Irish, and this will continue to be the case. The Department is also committed to the continued development and training of staff to facilitate the provision of services through Irish. The Deputies will be aware that a range of forms, leaflets and other documents are available, in both Irish and English, on the Department's website. The staffing needs for all areas within the Department are continuously reviewed to ensure that the best use is made of all existing resources with a view to providing an efficient service to those who rely on the schemes operated by the Department.

Much of the old work and a significant part of the work of community welfare officers, as the Deputies will be aware, was to do with supplementary welfare. Where we introduced the Intreo office system, the need for supplementary welfare payments in many cases was reduced to a fraction of what it used to be, because we can sort out matters such as jobseeker's claims within a week. As the Deputies will be aware, such matters were a significant part of the work of the clinics.

Deputy Dara Calleary

The difficulty continues to centre on a number of issues such as access on a geographical basis. I note the Department will put telephone arrangements in place. There is a fantastic community welfare system, with front-line community welfare officers who work incredibly hard. Their personal knowledge of clients is essential in serving not only the clients but also the Department. They know the real circumstances of the clients. By moving to a telephone service, the Department will lose that.

The location of the Intreo offices - an important service whose roll-out I welcome - will be away from clients. The three Deputies who raised this issue all share the view that this seems to be missing in the consideration of the Department. The Minister is forcing those who do not have resources to use the telephone. The possibility of engaging in human interaction about what they are seeking is not available, based on what she is saying.

Deputy Thomas Pringle

While there may be a telephone service available, it will be interesting to see how that will work where there are application forms to be filled out or paperwork to be sent in to the community welfare officer for a decision. I do not know how that will work out in practice. I ask the Minister to keep this under review with a view to reopening the clinics if necessary if the service fails the clients who deserve it.

One of the clinics closing in Donegal is in Pettigo, and an offer has been made to clients to use the clinic either in Ballyshannon or Donegal town. There is one bus service a week to Donegal town from Pettigo and there is none to Ballyshannon. For those in Gaoth Dobhair, where the service is closing, there are two clinics: one in Dungloe, which is 15 miles away, and one in Falcarragh, which is also approximately 15 miles away. One cannot get a bus to Dungloe. If one gets a bus to Falcarragh, one arrives at half past ten in the morning and cannot get a bus back again until half past five in the evening. This is the type of service that these clients must access and it is simply not the best way of dealing with them. The Minister at least should be willing to keep this under review over the next number of months and, if it is not working, to reinstate these services.

Deputy Seán Kyne

I thank the Minister for her reply. I concur with Deputies Calleary and Pringle regarding keeping this matter under review.

There is a concern that the Minister is taking the community out of community welfare provision. While telephone, e-mail, letters, etc., are fine, some living in parts of my area who must see a community welfare officer may have to travel 60 km one way for a service, and, as Deputy Pringle outlined, using an infrequent public transport system. It would be like sending somebody from Blanchardstown to Drogheda or from Clonsilla nearly to Mullingar to avail of a service, and if the person had to go to those places, he or she would have a much better public transport system than we have in Connemara and the other regions mentioned. Where it is vital that a service is provided, we need to ensure that we provide it. I again ask that this matter be kept under review.

I have spoken to officials in Galway to see whether a service can be provided on a half-day-a-week basis, concentrated, for example, in An Cheathrú Rua, where the Minister was present for the opening of the MABS office. The Minister will appreciate the distance even from An Cheathrú Rua to Galway city. The Minister might be able to keep that under review.

Deputy Joan Burton

I thank the Deputies.

Let me explain a little of the background. Some 1,000 staff transferred from the HSE to the Department of Social Protection in October 2011. At that time, my Department took over 900 clinics, many of which were situated at crossroads and in hotels, as the Deputies will be aware, for an hour, a half-hour or even, in some cases, ten minutes.

Previously, a large part of the work of a community welfare officer was providing supplementary welfare payments. With the transformation of the service, when somebody goes into the new Intreo office and identifies what he or she wants to claim - for instance, jobseeker's allowance - by and large, the person will get it within a week.

The following may be of some reassurance to the Deputies, because I understand why they are concerned about it. To date, we have closed 268 clinics, and to be perfectly honest, we really have not received the kind of negative feedback about which the Deputies are apprehensive. Of course, I will bear in mind Deputy Pringle's request that we keep the situation under review.

The Department provides a telephone service and in special cases of illness, for example, it will send an official to the home. It will have an extra 300 officials available whose work it will be to get people back to work. I refer the Deputies to the significant support provided by my Department for community employment and Tús schemes in their areas. It identifies and selects those eligible to participate in these schemes. Therefore, there is a significant level of work being carried out by the Department. From my travels around the country and in the areas represented by the Deputies, I know about the significant contribution of some of these schemes to the different areas all this year, including the Tidy Towns competition and The Gathering. I ask the Deputies to be aware that the work of activation, particularly the expansion of community employment scheme opportunities, Tús and other schemes, has produced a significant dividend at local level in the areas to which they have referred. This is a trade-off arrangement which I undertake to keep under review. That is why we gave everyone involved very detailed information in advance. We will certainly keep the conversation going.

I thank Deputy Dara Calleary for his comments on the domiciliary care allowance. I have said in the House that we took on the job to revamp the IT platform. This was a risk and it took quite an amount of time, but we have now cleared the backlogs in respect of domiciliary care allowance and carer's allowance. Not everyone who applies is eligible, but those with a clear, solid and substantial application will receive an allowance. This also applies to family income supplement and the Department is now able to be more up to date on changes in family circumstances. These reforms, although painful for many Deputies, have produced a significant gain. I hope when we come to discuss the matter in the future, we will see similar gains to the benefit of everyone in the local community, as well as getting people back to work.

Apprenticeship Programmes

Deputy Robert Dowds

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for choosing this topic for discussion. I also thank the Minister for Education and Skills for his reforming work in his Department.

It is agreed by everyone that gas and electrical installations must be installed by a qualified technician because the safety and lives of people depend on such work being done properly. The same does not pertain in the motor industry, even though the work is related to safety and the preservation of life. Courses are available in all areas of car maintenance such as body repair, tyres, engine and windscreen maintenance. While many workers in this sector are qualified, I understand there is no recognised national regulatory system or national professional register of qualified personnel, despite the fact that the work done in the motor industry is so important for our safety.

Other advantages of a good regulatory system and a professional register of qualified personnel would include a guarantee for customers that the work is undertaken by qualified individuals. It would give trainee mechanics and others working on cars a recognised qualification; it would help to eliminate fly-by-night car repairers who give the business a bad name; it would guarantee that waste products were disposed of safely. It could even be a requirement of the NCT to have fully traceable documented and accredited repairs and it would also lead to higher levels of tax compliance in the car industry. We should aim to have EU-wide recognition for all motor qualifications. This would guarantee standards across a wide range of countries, meaning that a person with recognised skills could move to work elsewhere in times of work shortages.

I ask the Minister to sort out this regime in order to help strengthen road safety and reward those who are playing by the book. I ask if there could be links with other countries in order that qualifications acquired here would be recognised in Britain, France or Germany, for example.

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn)

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Economic recovery will depend significantly on the quality of skills available in the workforce. A clear link has been demonstrated internationally between skills and qualification levels, on the one hand, and productivity and income growth within the economy, on the other. It is important that those who exit the education and training system have relevant and up-to-date competencies required by the 21st century labour market. In that context, my Department is undertaking a review of apprenticeship to ensure the model of apprenticeship which has been in place in Ireland up to now is fit for purpose in producing individuals whose qualifications address the needs of the economy. Obviously, as well as trades such as electrician, plumber and bricklayer, the review will look at the apprenticeship model which has applied in the motor industry. Certain trades within the motor industry already attract a nationally recognised qualification.

Apprenticeship is the recognised means by which people are trained to become craftspeople in certain designated trades in Ireland. It is a programme which is driven by employer demand, aimed at developing the skills of the apprentice to meet the needs of industry and the labour market. The designated trades include several in the motor industry such as heavy vehicle mechanics; motor mechanics and vehicle body repairs. While FÁS has responsibility for promoting and overseeing the training and education of these apprentice trades, the curriculum for all trades is validated by Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI, as an NFQ level 6 advanced certificate - craft.

The review of the apprenticeship system in Ireland which is under way will address a number of themes: consideration of the strengths and weaknesses of the current model of apprenticeship and what improvements can be made to its current structure; an examination of the alternative methods of work-based training in Ireland; consideration of the structural mechanisms and criteria under which collaboration with industry-employers can be pursued into the future, either through improved, alternative or complementary models of work-based training. It is in this context that the needs of the motor industry and the individuals who wish to work in that sector will be examined. I am aware that the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, SIMI, has provided a submission for the review and that it will be examined, together with the submissions of the other relevant stakeholders.

Deputy Robert Dowds

I thank the Minister for his reply. I ask him to indicate whether a professional register which is fully recognised nationally will be provided. I also ask if moves are afoot - if not, I encourage him to do so - to ensure qualifications acquired in Ireland in this area will be recognised in Britain, France and Germany and, similarly, that qualifications earned in these countries are recognised here. Fixing a car in Ireland or Germany is the same job and cultural issues do not impede the work involved.

Deputy Ruairí Quinn

I thank the Deputy for his supplementary comments and questions. The answer to the second question is that we are moving within the European labour market towards having a set of recognised standards applicable and recognised across all 28 member states. The Irish ten point national framework administered through QQI, Quality and Qualifications Ireland, is replicated in similar forms across the European Union. In tandem with the apprenticeship review, it is my intention to return to a much more healthy, balanced supply of trained individuals in the workforce with recognised qualifications for which there is a demand. The model that failed during the height of the Celtic tiger madness was completely driven by employers. When the construction boom ended, many young people who were halfway through their training process were left high and dry and unable to complete their training.

We are trying to find a model that will balance the need for people to obtain qualifications in trades in which they wish to work and the need for industry to have a regular supply of competently trained individuals. That is the objective.

Deputy Robert Dowds

Is there a timescale for the review?

Deputy Ruairí Quinn

I expect to have the apprenticeship review at the end of the year. I would like to see something emerge in the next 18 months.

Long-Term Illness Scheme Coverage

Deputy Michael McCarthy

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this issue. It has been well publicised in recent years that the incidence of chronic illnesses such as Crohn's disease has significantly increased, yet the long-term illness scheme has not been updated since 1970. It is time for it to reflect this increase and I ask the Minister to relay to his colleague the need to provide some assistance for people suffering this blight on their health. It is a very unpleasant condition.

Crohn's is a serious, chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract that affects approximately 5,000 people in Ireland. There is no medical or surgical cure for it and there are few treatment options for patients suffering with this chronic condition. Crohn's disease affects people of all ages, but it is primarily diagnosed in adolescents and young adults, with onset typically between the ages of 15 and 40 years. It can have a devastating impact on the day-to-day lives of people and commonly occurs during a time of life when people are most active such as when they are in school, going to college or having a family. It can limit personal choices, resulting in many dropping out of third level education, working part-time rather than full-time, or working closer to home to reduce travel time. Many opt for low stress lifestyles and less pressurised careers. The condition poses challenges for those who wish to travel and some are also fearful of starting a relationship or family. It varies in an acute or chronic form and can be characterised by flare-ups and periods of remission. The severity of symptoms, the times without illness and the length of flare-up vary from person to person and there is no identified cause for its occurrence and little public understanding of the pain and chronic suffering with which patients cope every day.

People with long-term illnesses have a heavy load to bear in terms of the cost of treatment, the effect on their lives and their ability to and availability for work. The costs incurred in having an inflammatory bowel disease can have a huge effect on family finances. With Crohn's disease, the issue is not just medication, there is also the matter of consultant fees, the cost of GP blood tests and other procedures that mount up. Sufferers face a lifetime of medication, GP sessions, blood tests, endoscopy and regular consultant visits. As such, a Crohn’s disease patient may spend thousands of euro per year in managing the condition, with little potential for State support via the provision of tax relief at the standard rate.

Symptoms which patients can experience include abdominal pain and cramps, diarrhoea and blood loss, exhaustion, loss of appetite, nausea, fever and weight loss. It is a horrible illness. Crohn's disease patients are often treated with immunosuppressant drugs, resulting in infections being contracted on a regular basis. As a result, expensive visits to the GP are a requirement. Furthermore, one of the common side effects of Crohn's disease is joint pain, which means a trip to the physiotherapist is also a necessity. There is also the cost of health insurance and the drugs which are not available on prescription but which are also a necessity for treatment. These include paracetamol, medication for heartburn, anti-inflammatory gels, vitamins, etc.

Many patients suffering from Crohn's disease are prescribed steroids in times of flare-up. These drugs are extremely harmful to bone density and often lead to the onset of another long-term illness, osteoporosis, which is not covered by the scheme either. Does the Minister agree that by including Crohn's disease in the long-term illness scheme, it would help keep patients well and manage their conditions? I am sure the Minister is well aware of the affliction I have described and people suffering from the condition. I would appreciate it if we could, in straitened economic times, spare a thought for those who must endure this severe illness on a daily basis and deal with the associated cost.

Deputy Ruairí Quinn

l am taking this issue on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Alex White, and thank the Deputy for raising it.

The long-term illness scheme is a non means-tested scheme introduced in 1971 which provides free medicines and medical appliances for people with specified conditions. The conditions covered by the scheme are mental handicap, mental illness for those under 16 years only, phenylketonuria, cystic fibrosis, spina bifida, hydrocephalus, diabetes mellitus, diabetes insipidus, haemophilia, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, conditions attributable to the use of thalidomide, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophies, Parkinsonism and acute leukaemia. There are no plans to extend the list of conditions covered by the scheme.

People who cannot, without undue hardship, arrange for the provision of medical services for themselves and their dependants may be entitled to a medical card. In the assessment process the Health Service Executive can take into account medical costs incurred by an individual or a family. Those who are not eligible for a medical card may still he able to avail of a GP visit card which covers the cost of general practice consultation. Non-medical card holders and people whose illness is not covered by the long-term illness scheme can use the drug payment scheme which protects against excessive medicine costs. Under this scheme, no individual or family pays more than €144 per calendar month towards the cost of approved prescribed medicines. The scheme significantly reduces the cost burden for families and individuals incurring ongoing expenditure on medicines. In addition, non-reimbursed medical expenses can be offset against tax.

The Government is committed to a major reform programme for the health system, the aim of which is to deliver a single-tier health service, supported by universal health insurance, UHI, where access is based on need rather than income. Under UHI, everyone will be insured and have equal access to a standard package of primary and acute hospital services. An insurance fund will subsidise or pay insurance premiums for those who qualify for a subsidy. The Department is preparing a White Paper on universal health insurance which will provide further detail. The Government is also committed to introducing, on a phased based, a universal GP service without fees within its term of office, as set out in the programme for Government and the future health strategy framework. It has been agreed that a number of alternative options should be set out with regard to the phased implementation of a universal GP service without fees. A range of options are under consideration, with a view to bringing developed proposals to the Government shortly.

Deputy Michael McCarthy

It is widely speculated that in the next budget the Government will extend free GP cover to those under five years, which would be a wonderful initiative that could reduce the increased burdens on families struggling to deal with the current economic recession. We should also bear in mind the people I have described. We owe it to such persons to consider them in what I know are very difficult economic circumstances. They are trying to survive and not blessed with good health; therefore, we must do our best to ensure any significant financial burden can be offset in as much as it can be, given the straitened economic times in which we live.

Deputy Ruairí Quinn

I understand the Deputy's concern about the matter. I also understand that not only are the physical consequences of the disease debilitating and very painful in some cases, but that they can also generate emotional turmoil because of a sense of helplessness. That is an additional burden that the people concerned and their immediate families must carry. I will convey the remarks made by the Deputy to the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White.

Dáil Éireann debate - Tuesday, 1 Oct 2013