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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 2 Jul 2015

Vol. 885 No. 3

Topical Issue Debate

Autism Support Services

I am highlighting an issue that has been causing ongoing difficulties, which I have mentioned previously to the Department. It concerns diagnoses and assessments for those with autism. According to a study from the Irish Society for Autism, about one in 100 people in Ireland have autism. It is imperative that if a person is presenting with autism, he or she receives an assessment as soon as possible to determine the services and supports that are required.

The reason I raise this issue as a Topical Issue is borne out of huge frustration in that I submitted parliamentary questions on 9 June and I was informed today that the questions were misdirected within the HSE. This is hugely frustrating. It is a source of great difficulty for many families in Waterford to find out how many children are currently waiting for a full diagnostic assessment for autism in Waterford University Hospital, the composition of the team, whether all the positions are covered, how many psychologists on the autism team can give a full diagnostic assessment, how long will it take to recruit staff, and what the HSE plan is in the absence of a fully trained psychologist to undertake the assessment procedure. These issues are barriers that parents and, more particularly, young children face every day. I have been waiting for an answer for nearly five weeks and this is a source of huge frustration.

I am also concerned that vacancies currently remain to be filled. It has come to my attention that the speech and language therapist on the autism team in WUH will be leaving in July. This leaves the diagnostic team without a psychologist and a speech and language therapist. These are two key roles. If a child presents with difficulties and a diagnosis for that child is not provided, it prevents the child from getting the services in a timely way. We all know that the sooner services can intervene with the child, the better for the child and, more important, the better the outcome in the long run.

By way of example, I refer to the case of a young boy who, as far back as November 2013, was assessed by the speech and language therapist who concluded that the child was showing some clinical significant markers for autism. It was stated that he would be monitored in future sessions and that he would be referred to the autism team as required. There were further reports from the occupational therapist and assessments were carried out over a number of months which were referring this child to an autism spectrum disorder team for the assessment. The family was informed this would happen in February or March of 2014 and, to date, nothing has materialised. I use this as a case study to show the frustration. It has taken five weeks for me not to get an answer from the HSE and it has taken this young child and his family over a year not to get a service. That is not good enough.

It becomes more idiotic. In the meantime, the family has paid for a private assessment which can be accepted by the Department of Education and Skills but the HSE will not accept it. We have a Minister for Children and Youth Affairs who sits as a full Cabinet Minister and yet we cannot get the HSE and the Department of Education and Skills to work together for the betterment of our children's health, development and well-being. It is a crazy scenario. I understand the Minister of State may not have all the answers here tonight but he can see the frustration that is created when arms of government do not speak to or engage with each other. It creates huge frustration for parents who are very stressed and very concerned about their child's welfare and development.

Over recent months I have tabled a number of parliamentary questions about speech and language therapy staff in Waterford. We have significantly lower numbers of staff compared with other counties in the south east. It is a situation which results in huge frustration for children and their families right across Waterford city and county.

I thank Deputy Conway for raising this matter which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for primary and social care, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. I assure Deputy Conway that the Government is committed to the provision and development of services for children with special needs, including autism, and to improving access by those children to services within available resources.

The HSE national review of autism services and the programme for progressing disabilities services for children and young people from birth to 18 years set out the overall policy context for the provision of autism services to children and young people, including assessment and intervention. This programme aims to remedy the variations in service provision that exist throughout the country. The objective of this programme is to bring about equity of access to disability services in all regions in the country and consistency of service delivery, with a clear pathway for children with disabilities and their families to services regardless of where they live, where these children go to school or the nature of the individual child's difficulties. The transition to this new service model is taking place on a phased basis and includes consultation and engagement with stakeholders, including service users and their families. A number of HSE community health care organisations are successfully implementing this programme which requires significant preparatory work in engaging with families, schools and local communities as well as new policies, procedures and protocols in respect of multidisciplinary and multi-agency working. Once this preparatory work has been completed, additional posts are being provided to support the implementation of the new model of service.

Waterford, which has been working with the other counties in the local HSE community health organisation area, has put in place the required governance structure which will allow for additional posts to be provided in 2015. Additional funding of €4 million has been allocated to the programme in 2015, equating to €6 million in a full year. A total of 120 new therapy posts will be provided throughout the country in 2015. Work on finalising the specific allocation of these posts is nearing completion. The HSE has informed me that Waterford and the south east are being prioritised for therapy posts in 2015.

On the specific issue of autism assessment raised by the Deputy, the HSE has informed me that the multidisciplinary autism diagnostic service for Waterford is operated by the community-based disability service. This comprises a senior clinical psychologist, a senior speech and language therapist, a senior occupational therapist and a liaison worker who is a senior team leader. The first two of these posts are or will soon be vacant and are being prioritised for filling by the HSE.

The Deputy has referred to the consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist post at Waterford University Hospital. In line with a Vision for Change, there is an important liaison role for these services with the disability services described earlier, particularly in relation to ASD cases where issues of co-morbidity or complexity arise. I understand the consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist post at Waterford University Hospital is vacant. The HSE has informed me that every effort is being made to fill this post, including on a temporary basis while the procedure for permanent filling is proceeding. The HSE is also finalising proposals for a second child and adolescent mental health service response in Waterford.

I am surprised that the Deputy could not have been provided with that information without having to go through this process of submitting a Topical Issue matter. Unfortunately, this happens too often. The Deputy should be entitled to have her parliamentary questions adequately responded to by the HSE and by the Minister for Health.

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I welcome the news that Waterford will be prioritised for speech and language and other social care posts. We are particularly lacking in these services and it is beginning to raise its head more frequently. As a parent I know we all want the best for our children, and when this is not available, we will do what we can to ensure the child gets every access to the service.

The Minister of State referred in his reply to progressing the disability services for children and young people which is being piloted throughout the country. The case example I used illustrates clearly the absolute imperative for this to progress much more quickly when the Department of Education and Skills assesses a child and the HSE not willing to accept that report. Will the Minister of State relay this information back to the Minister because this is not good enough? It is the child and the family who are falling through the cracks. I do not understand why the psychologist in the HSE will not accept the information provided by a psychologist in the Department of Education and Skills.

The Minister of State will be aware that our colleague, Deputy Michael McCarthy, introduced the Autism Bill which has passed Second Stage. The Bill was introduced to provide for the preparation of an autism strategy and a national framework for addressing the specific needs of adults with autism. The broad thrust of the Bill was accepted by the Government and it was not opposed on Second Stage. Will the Minister of State contact the Whips and the relevant Minister to see how and when we can have this Bill on Committee Stage? The issues I have raised are specific to my area but I am sure they are replicated throughout the country for a group of children, young people and older adults who are deeply in need of our support.

I would appreciate if the Minister of State could do this. I ask him to ask the Minister of State to answer me urgently on the more specific questions that were not answered.

As I said, I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. I will relay the concerns the Deputy raised to her. I understand she has been raising them for some time. I will repeat what I said. It is not satisfactory that Deputies are waiting an excessive period of time for information that should be available very quickly from the HSE which is an agency of the State. I hope we have moved some way towards addressing some of the concerns the Deputy has outlined. These are issues we all want to see addressed in our constituencies. I reassure her that the Government has an ongoing commitment to address the needs of all children with special needs, including those with autism. The particular issues she has raised relating to the autism diagnostic service in Waterford are being addressed by the HSE in Waterford and should be resolved in the near future, as I outlined.

I have some experience of the provision of services for young people with autism. For some time I served as a board member in my local ABA school and continue to work very closely with parents of children with autism. I am very familiar with the challenges facing them, those who teach in that sphere and those providing services. The Deputy is correct in pointing out that Deputy Michael McCarthy's Bill developed a very structured and strategic response to the challenges in autism service provision. In the coming days I will establish with the Whip's office the status of the Bill and what the expectation is in getting it through the system. As the Deputy correctly pointed out, it was accepted on Second Stage. It should provide the House with some good policy indicators in terms of what we need to do in the future to provide the level of services to which children with autism are entitled.

We all know that early intervention is critical in allowing children with autism to realise their full potential. I have some experience in my constituency of dealing with the issue of, for example, the Department of Education and Skills or a school accepting a diagnosis from a qualified psychologist and the Department of Health or the HSE taking the opposite view, which I find bonkers. There needs to be consistency on the issue. However, that is a matter for another day. I will relay the Deputy's concerns to the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and we will establish the position on Deputy Michael McCarthy's Bill.

Job Losses

This matter refers to a company with which the Acting Chairman, Deputy Frank Feighan, is familiar, given that he represents south Leitrim from where some of the employees come to the Cavan office.

I express serious disappointment at the announcement that Liberty Insurance is planning to cut 270 jobs at its offices in Cavan, Enniskillen and Dublin. According to the company, the jobs will be phased out in the next 18 months as it seeks voluntary redundancies. Some of the employees in Cavan, to whom I have spoken, do not regard them as voluntary redundancies but see some of them as forced redundancies, unfortunately. Just one week ago the news came as a terrible blow to staff at Liberty Insurance and also to their families and the wider community in Cavan. The cuts appear to have come out of the blue and as a result of the company's decision to withdraw from the British motor insurance market. Some 115 workers in Cavan, 20 in Enniskillen and 135 in Blanchardstown are facing very uncertain futures, many of whom have families, mortgages and other responsibilities. This is an extremely daunting prospect and my thoughts are with the workers following this most disappointing decision by Liberty Insurance.

Liberty Insurance, formerly Quinn Insurance, has been an extremely important and major employer in Cavan town since the mid-1990s. Many of the people who work on the sites in Enniskillen and Blanchardstown are also from Cavan and Monaghan, given the level of interaction and exchange between the different offices. It will have huge knock-on effects on communities, particularly in County Cavan.

The sale of Quinn Insurance to Liberty Insurance was concluded in October 2011. The company's statement last week stated it employed more than 950 people in Cavan, Enniskillen, Blanchardstown and London. In April 2011 the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, stated that, regarding the sale of Quinn insurance, he welcomed the positives in the proposed agreement in that almost all of the 1,500 jobs in Quinn Insurance would be retained. Unfortunately, in the meantime, there has been a very severe reduction in the level of employment in Liberty Insurance, from 1,570 jobs in 2011 to 950 today, with more to be lost in the immediate future.

I am glad that the Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Gerald Nash, is present. I have called on the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, to engage immediately with Liberty Insurance with a view to ensuring the retention of the maximum level of employment in the company. The Minister, his Department and all of the statutory agencies must get answers from the company on the commitments it made at the time of the purchase of Quinn Insurance. These commitments are not being honoured. The Minister, the Minister of State and of all the statutory agencies need to make a very serious effort to support the employees who face redundancy. The need of redundant workers in the area for retraining or upskilling must be addressed. I know that there is a very committed and highly skilled workforce in Liberty Insurance. I have known many of the individuals involved for many years and the least they deserve is the full support of the State agencies to ensure they will not be deprived of the opportunity to successfully re-enter the workplace.

The employees have been given two weeks to give notice of voluntary redundancy. A week has already passed and no assistance has been made available by the company or the statutory agencies to assist the employees in the decision-making process. There were redundancies in Quinn Insurance in 2010 and 2012. On each occasion the statutory agencies, with the company, immediately offered a very comprehensive programme to assist employees in making decisions. The Department of Social Protection, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, the then VECs, the Department of Education and Skills and FÁS all worked together in a timely and appropriate manner to provide that support for workers while they had to make extremely difficult decisions. Unfortunately, one week of the two-week timeframe the employees have been given to consider taking voluntary redundancy has passed. To my knowledge, unless something happened this afternoon, no assistance has yet been made available. That is not tolerable from anyone's point of view. I hope the Minister of State will bring a message back to all of the statutory agencies and each Department involved that they must be proactive in providing the necessary assistance without delay for those who, unfortunately, face a very uncertain future.

My Department has contacted other relevant agencies to seek a co-ordinated response by State bodies. I know that the Department of Social Protection has already been in touch with the company, with a view to arranging briefing sessions with employees. This will happen in a matter of days. They will be advised on the Intreo process, jobseeker's payments and redundancy entitlements, as well as provided with information on the available schemes in the system. One-to-one consultations can also be arranged with that Department. In addition, I have made sure the National Employment Rights Agency, for which I have responsibility, is available to advise the employees. The local education and training board, the Cavan-Monaghan Education and Training Board, and SOLAS have been asked to assess relevant courses that might be provided for staff, as appropriate.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and share his concerns about Liberty Insurance's recent announcement. The most significant issue of concern for this jurisdiction is the proposed reduction of 150 jobs in Cavan town and also the jobs reduction in Blanchardstown.

This will be a very significant blow to Cavan town. I appreciate that and accept it is a difficult time for all the staff. It is incumbent on the agencies of the State to assist them in every way possible.

Deputy Smith outlined the reasons for the redundancies. The company conducted a strategic review of its businesses and will as a result withdraw from the personal motor insurance market in Great Britain and make significant changes to its operations here in Ireland. The company is now focusing solely on the Republic of Ireland market. I am quite encouraged by its statement that it is fully committed to the country notwithstanding the difficulties around the job losses it announced. These will be voluntary-led redundancies and will not take place immediately but will be phased out over 18 months. Despite this bad news there has been one positive job creation development by the company in Ireland. In 2013 it announced the creation of 150 jobs in an information technology project in its Blanchardstown operation. This project is not affected by the recent announcement.

At the time of the 2011 purchase of Quinn Insurance the commitment given by Liberty as part of the takeover was that the 1,570 employees in both jurisdictions, North and South, would be transferred under the EU’s protection of employees rights and transfer of undertakings. This did not, does not and never would guarantee that these job levels would be retained indefinitely. Unfortunately, no new employer could be expected to give such a blanket guarantee especially in a volatile and changing market. I know that in his heart of hearts, Deputy Smith would understand that. Our immediate focus rests on the instruction the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, issued to IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to redouble their efforts at job creation in County Cavan and to explore all options to replace the jobs lost there.

The past couple of years have been good in the Cavan-Monaghan area. It is encouraging to see the strong performance of a number of Irish-owned companies in recent times and several of them cross two counties. Companies such as Lakeland, Combilift, Swift Fine Foods and Glanbia have expanded their operations and made a huge contribution to job creation. It is encouraging that in 2014 the IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland job base grew by 9% and that there was an 11% increase in the number of jobs created by the local enterprise office, LEO, in the area, which is a very good performance by any stretch of the imagination. This shows the huge contribution the LEOs are making to the development of small and micro-enterprises in communities up and down the country.

One aspect of the proposed redundancies in Cavan has been brought to my attention. I happen to know a few of the employees in the claims division of the company. I understand that between 30 and 40 staff comprise the claims department in the Cavan office. Their role is being relocated to Blanchardstown. The decision does not make sense to someone outside the company, particularly to the employees in that division. It would be very difficult for those people to relocate. Many of them live west of Cavan town and further afield and commuting to Blanchardstown is not the easiest or cheapest proposition. Their collective experience and corporate knowledge will be lost if they do not relocate to Blanchardstown. The decision to move one division in toto to a different location brings the possibility of a sizeable loss of the current staff of that division.

The Minister of State mentioned, as did the Minister, Deputy Bruton, in reply to a parliamentary question, that an additional 150 jobs have been created in the IT department in Blanchardstown. I welcome the creation of jobs anywhere on the island. The Minister stated in his reply that the State, through IDA Ireland, will continue to engage with the company to seek to influence corporate decisions and to broaden the scope of their operations here. Will the Minister of State, the Minister, the Department and the statutory agencies make a case in regard to the division I alluded to and try to reverse the job losses that will affect Cavan? Cavan-Monaghan, being my constituency, is my main worry. The Enniskillen side is a loss to us as well because many Cavan people work there too. I appeal to the Minister of State. There is a two-week timeframe for applying for voluntary redundancy. In his reply the Minister of State said that within days the statutory agencies will be in place. The two weeks will be up and the guidance, assistance and personal support will not have been given in time. We have to be conscious, as the Minister of State knows from his former work experience, that people who must make difficult decisions must be as well informed as possible. When redundancies occurred in that company the statutory agencies, along with the company, were very active in putting in place an immediate support system for people who had to make decisions about seeking redundancy.

I will relay those concerns to the Minister and to the agencies concerned. I agree it is very important that our State agencies swing into action to support people in the difficult decisions they have to take and ensure they have the complete information they need to make an informed decision. I am not aware of the specifics about the claims department but I assure the Deputy I will relay those concerns to the Minister.

We have had a difficult few years in this country but we are back in business and the recovery is accelerating and it is important that we say we want to see a jobs recovery that is balanced across the country. Much of the evidence shows that the Border region, which includes my county, Louth, has been making significant progress in adding jobs and making significant reductions in the live register over the recent past. As recently as the third quarter of 2012 the unemployment rate in the region was 17.7% but by the first quarter of this year that had fallen to 10.2%, which is still high. We are working every day, might and main, to have full employment across the country and that includes across the regions. An additional 18,000 jobs have been put in place in the Border region and that is an impressive achievement.

Jobs in Government supported companies in Cavan, supported by the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs, have increased by 7% in recent years, following the crash. Ensuring that our regional jobs growth is accelerating across the country means that we must take discrete regional approaches. The Minister and I recently co-chaired a stakeholder forum in Carrickmacross for the Louth, Cavan and Monaghan areas to work with private industry and the public agencies in the Border region to identify sectoral opportunities for job creation that would be unique to the Cavan, Monaghan and Louth areas and the Border region in general. That was a very successful process. We intend to publish that plan in the autumn. It is one of eight regional action plans for jobs which we believe can deliver sustainable job growth for each and every region in the country, including the Border region which I and Deputy Smith represent.

Water Services Provision

I am delighted the Ceann Comhairle chose this issue. It is a critical issue for people seeking a rural water supply and affects in particular counties such as Mayo and other rural counties.

I ask that the Minister, Deputy Kelly, would, in accordance with the recent recommendation of the national rural water services committee, implement its recommendation and thus provide a special funding mechanism to grant aid new group water schemes which were in the pipeline for delivery in certain disadvantaged rural areas but which lost out upon the cessation of CLÁR funding and which, under the current funding rules, are not viable for delivery because of funding shortfalls, leaving affected households without a proper water supply and in limbo for a number of years. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Phelan, for coming to the House. I am disappointed the Minister, Deputy Kelly, is not present but I know the Minister of State's brief and know she is pushing the rural agenda.

In the context of the legislation we voted on earlier and the issue of people paying for water, there are seven areas in my county - Massbrook, Aghaloonteen, Downpatrick Head, Carracastle, Kilmurray, Tonacrick and Fermoyle - which contain 235 houses where people cannot drink or bathe in the water, in many cases for years. The problem arises from ground conditions. Many people have spent a small fortune trying to drill wells and access other sources, all to no avail. Until CLÁR ceased in 2009-2010, many of these schemes were in the pipeline, with many of the people on these schemes having spent money and made contributions towards design and planning. I know of one scheme where €36,000 was spent but nothing was seen for it. If these people want to progress the scheme again, they will have to spend more money on engineers and they have no assurance they will get through under the current funding rules.

I raised this issue with the Minister's predecessor, Mr. Phil Hogan. I had a Topical Issue matter in 2013 and, at that stage, the national rural water services committee had been examining how the issue might be addressed, given CLÁR was finished. Basically, the cost of delivering these schemes per household is a lot more expensive because of the terrain and the dispersed populations. At that stage, the then Minister made some changes to the rules, which came in during 2014 and saw the amount allowable per household increased from €6,500 to €7,500. Believe it or not, of the seven schemes I have named, while we thought two of them would get through the net, each of them still has a shortfall.

It is imperative these people know they are not forgotten about. Some have been waiting 20 years for water. It is a disgrace to hear some of the Deputies on the other side of the House talk about human rights and everything else, which I would call a lot of baloney, when many people in rural Ireland are already paying for water. I was in contact with a woman tonight who told me how fearful she was when she was sick because she did not know where she was going to get water. She is out in the middle of nowhere and relying on neighbours to bring potable water in order that she can drink and be looked after. She said she had a cheque ready and would pay for the water without a problem. These people know that pipes have to go into the ground and there is a need for infrastructure and water treatment as well as ongoing costs. They are willing to pay for that but they do not have water, yet here, we have the problems of privilege. People here have water and can turn on a tap like they would flick an electricity switch on a wall. Are people in rural Ireland second-class citizens when it comes to human rights? I never heard one of the speakers raise that issue, even though they are against any sort of payment for anything, as far as I can see.

This matter has been going on for quite some time. Efforts have been made and our economic climate has changed. I believe these people in rural Ireland should be prioritised. They should have a basic right to water. It is not a question of whether they should pay for it. These people will pay. They should have water when they turn on their tap for their children, for the elderly and for everyone else.

I know the Minister of State will agree with me. Now that the rural water services committee has deliberated in conjunction with my own county council, I know the Minister, Deputy Kelly, will deliver. We have been allocated €400,000 for new group water schemes and we cannot spend one red cent of it given the way the rules stand. Something has to give or it is a complete nonsense. I ask that the same priority be given to this and that we could have a focus on these people, who do not have water, compared with the people who do have water but who do not want to pay for anything or to address problems in wastewater and water treatment.

I certainly understand the Deputy's frustrations, in particular when those who are willing to pay for water cannot get it while those who have water do not want to pay for it. I understand her concerns in regard to CLÁR funding and how precious CLÁR funding was for people who live in disadvantaged areas. I am taking this Topical Issue matter on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, but I assure the Deputy I understand exactly the type of schemes she speaks of.

Between 2000 and the end of 2014, my Department, under the rural water programme administered by the local authorities, provided almost €800 million towards the capital costs of improving existing group water schemes and the provision of new group water schemes. This is evidence of how the group water sector is valued by the State. I am glad to say this investment is continuing and that, this year, a further €14 million has been notified to local authorities by way of block grant allocations under the rural water programme for group water and group sewerage schemes.

The Minister and I are well aware of the difficulties in setting up some new group water schemes where the financial viability of the scheme is questionable. The national rural water services committee, which has a role in advising the Minister in regard to policy and investment in rural water services, has been considering issues relating to the establishment of new group water schemes and the financial viability of same. Following a recommendation by the committee, an increase of €1,000 in the maximum grant per house applying to new group water schemes was announced in April 2014. My Department now funds 85% of the cost of such schemes, subject to a maximum grant per household of more than €7,000, rather than the previous limit of €6,500 to which the Deputy referred in the context of the difficulties that exist around the shortfall.

That committee also considered whether some elements of the proposed new group schemes would merit a special contribution to help address funding shortfalls, especially where such schemes incurred significant verifiable expenditure prior to the cessation of funding for group water schemes under CLÁR, on the understanding that CLÁR funding would be forthcoming. The Minister announced in May last that he had accepted the committee's recommendation and that he wanted to find a funding mechanism to facilitate the progression of proposed new group water schemes which are not viable at current grant rates. My Department has been liaising with Mayo County Council and Galway County Council in regard to examining the feasibility of the committee's recommendation for appropriate schemes in these areas on a pilot basis. Submissions from both councils are being actively considered in this regard.

I believe the recommendation was that this special funding mechanism was to be set up to match the funds which CLÁR had available and to apply the rules that CLÁR had applied. Therefore, it was to be a de facto CLÁR but it would be dealing with a defined number of new schemes. These are schemes which have not just been thought about today; they have been thought about since CLÁR ceased. These people are in limbo. What is the point in allocating money for new group water schemes if the rules do not allow the funding to be spent? People do not see that as sincere, nor do I.

People see red iron oxide in the water in their houses and they must accept it as a fact of life every time they wash their whites, which means that, over a period of time, they will turn red. It is not a joke. People are at their wit's end. I would like to think, now that the rural water services committee has reported, there will be action. We all know it is question of funding. These people will pay. They have already paid in one scheme and they will be asked to be pay again. I am not talking about their yearly payment because they will be asked to pay towards the setting up of the scheme. However, I cannot advise any of the people who are in charge of the schemes to go back looking for money from their neighbours because, given the way the rules stand at the moment, nothing can be done.

Not alone have these communities spent €36,000, but they set up a company limited by guarantee as a vehicle to deliver the scheme and it must make returns to the Companies Office and pay an auditor every year. Therefore, they are constantly out of pocket, have nothing for it and have no water. Previous administrations had money and failed to deal with this issue. This is a legacy issue, but we are at a time now when where we need to deal with it and do something for people. Will the Minister act on the recommendation and will that happen in a matter of weeks as opposed to some time down the line? When the change was made in 2014, no project got across the line. It will become apparent that the project is ridiculous if it does not happen soon.

I assure the Deputy that I understand the position regarding this project. I understand these communities have been 20 years trying to gather funding. Every week, they pay into funds to provide water for themselves. However, their project seemed to fall off the cliff due to circumstances. I understand that and know these people need to know soon when they can expect to have their water and sewerage scheme.

County Mayo is one of the biggest beneficiaries of funding for the group water schemes. I heard what the Deputy said about the rules and about not being able to get projects across the line because of that. For 2015, Mayo has been notified of a block grant allocation, totalling €2.7 million, towards group water schemes. Nevertheless, the Minister is aware that further work needs to be done and that there is a need for continuing investment in the group water sector to allow schemes to provide water to required standards. The Deputy's comments will be kept in mind in this regard.

The Department will engage separately with Irish Water on broader issues around rural water and sewerage programmes, with a view to ensuring there is appropriate integration of the Department's rural water programme and Irish Water's capital investment programme in order to fully support rural development and address any environmental issues that may arise. Such discussions will involve the national federation of group water schemes and local authority management. The introduction of a rolling, multi-annual funding programme to provide certainty to the group water scheme sector is also being considered in this regard. Some appointments are awaited currently.

I understand the Deputy's frustration with being so close but yet so far. I accept her point regarding some Members of the Opposition. It is easy to be glib on these issues when one can turn on a tap and high quality water comes forth, but this is not the case for the people in Mayo mentioned by the Deputy. It is a question of equality. People in rural Ireland have always paid for their water. Everybody should pay a little. I accept that in times of plenty we did not pay attention to these issues and that is one of the reasons we are now in this situation. I understand the Deputy's concerns and will take them on board.

Job Creation

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter and welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber.

The Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation launched a report in March of this year entitled "Policy Options to Support Business Growth and Job Creation in Town and Village Centres." I commend the chair of the committee, Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, the vice-chairman, Deputy John Lyons and all the members of the committee, across the parties, who engaged in the process and produced the report.

The committee heard evidence and received submissions on a wide range of issues to do with improving the conditions for businesses to thrive in town and village centres. These included issues such as rates and supports for businesses. Some four recommendations were made surrounding rate reform, reductions, upward only rent review and grant relief schemes. For example, one of the old chestnuts concerns the ability to vary rates for small corner shops rather than the local authorities having to reduce the rates for all businesses such as big out of town retailers or multiples. Unfortunately, this has not happened in the past four years.

In regard to online sales and digital hubs, the committee made two recommendations, namely, to expand the Government trading online voucher scheme, which has been deemed successful and that LEOs work with chambers of commerce etc. re online sales. Up to €6 billion is spent by Irish consumers on online sales per year, but only one third or less of this goes to Irish retailers. Only 23% of Irish companies engage in online sales.

In regard to business costs, there were two recommendations. These were to continue discussion between Government and banks re charges being levied and a co-ordinated campaign between Government and industry bodies to switch energy providers and provide a platform to allow businesses compare prices more easily. On promotion and marketing, we had one recommendation relating to tourism, that Tourism Ireland strongly market our towns and cities as shopping destinations. In regard to making town centres better places to visit, there were two recommendations, namely, the roll-out of town teams and the roll-out of the business improvement district model. On the high street innovation fund, the recommendation was to provide funding to local authorities to rejuvenate and regenerate our town centres. On car parking, a bugbear of many retailers, the recommendation is to provide free parking for several hours per day and to combat the over zealous issuing of parking tickets by our local authorities.

In regard to crime and safety, we recommend a strategic policing operation in urban centres to provide a safer shopping environment and higher visibility policing in conjunction with town teams and other stakeholders. I ask that these recommendations be acted upon by Government agencies and urge that the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, play a role in this. I commend its successful jobs action plan which has been rolled out over a number of years and urge that these initiatives be part of the 2016 jobs action plan. Before that comes into play, I urge the Department to engage on them. The recommendations should be acted on and the initiatives rolled out. The report should not be left on a shelf because it has some excellent recommendations.

The bigger picture here is that the population trends in this country are to Dublin and the east. The greater Dublin area accounts for approximately one third of the population and up to 50% of the population lives in Leinster. We need regional balance. In the west, in my constituency, for example, significant money is being spent currently, including €500 million on a new motorway - the M17/M18. This is welcome and will improve access to the area. We know the Government has a plan in regard to broadband and that this should go to tender at the end of the year to improve access. Both of these projects will include mobility and ease of movement for businesses, enabling growth in the regional areas. We need regional balance and we need to provide growth within our towns and incentives for job creation.

I know that as a member of the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Kyne has a genuine interest in seeing a recovery in the retail sector and has made a strong contribution in that policy area.

The retail sector is an important part of the social fabric of both rural and urban areas. The retail and wholesale sector employs more than 270,000 people and constitutes the largest sector of private employment in this country. It also indirectly supports jobs in sectors such as logistics and distribution and provides an important outlet for Irish products and produce. The wholesale and retail sector combined suffered losses of more than 45,000 jobs in the period between 2008 and 2012. In spite of employment growth in the economy generally in the past two years, employment growth in the wholesale and retail sector has been sluggish and somewhat inconsistent. A key objective of the retail consultation forum, which I chair, is to establish how industry and Government can work together to support the recovery of jobs in the sector.

As chair of the forum, I very much welcomed the report published by the committee in March. One of the key issues raised with me by retailers, as chairman of the forum, was the need to focus on actions that can be taken to support retail in town centres around the country. A number of different Departments and agencies and local authorities across the country are directly responsible for this area. We want to work closely with all of the stakeholders to ensure we can advance practical policy measures to effect real change in our town centres.

Shortly after publication of the report I convened a special meeting of the retail consultation forum on 27 April to discuss it. I invited Senator Feargal Quinn, a member of the committee, to address the meeting to highlight the main elements of the report. There are 15 recommendations in the Oireachtas committee's report which covers a wide range of issues. Our objective in the retail forum was to identify the recommendations considered most feasible for delivery, whether from within the public sector or by the private sector. On the basis of our discussions, the recommendations in the committee's report identified by the forum as holding particular potential for action centred on, for example, developing training for retailers in online sales and social media and highlighting the increased cost of bank charges and other administrative burdens on retailers. These issues were raised directly with me when I visited Galway recently with my colleague, Deputy Derek Nolan. I discussed them with retailers at the invitation of my colleague. Another recommendation was to explore how retailers might get improved deals from energy providers, for example, as is the case in the hotels industry, and the identification of towns that might be suitable for a pilot approach to the town teams model referenced in the committee's report and also by Deputy Seán Kyne. These and other recommendations for implementation will be considered further by the forum in the autumn. We are in the process of nuancing it.

I am strongly of the view that a collaborative approach on the part of retailers is the most effective way to implement some of the recommendations made in the report. My Department will be happy to continue to support and assist retail bodies in whatever way it can, including, potentially, through the setting up of working groups within the retail consultation forum if we consider it appropriate to drive forward some of the recommendations.

As part of the eight regional Action Plan for Jobs strategies the Government has introduced this year, Enterprise Ireland is accepting proposals under a new community enterprise initiatives fund. Retail bodies might be interested in exploring opportunities to support the recovery of town centre retailing. Some retail bodies are very interested in pursuing potential funding through this stream. I believe the Deputy is aware of the full details of the call for proposals. The closing date for receipt of applications under the scheme is 10 July.

I acknowledge the work of the retail consultation forum which the Minister of State chairs. It is very positive that he is taking on board the recommendations made in the report published in March on the retail sector and the areas identified in the report. Small towns need to be the drivers of growth and recovery. As well as doing all we can to encourage job creation and job retention in existing businesses, we must encourage people back onto the main street of town centres. We must incentivise the development of derelict and vacant sites for commercial and residential use. We must get people back living on main streets. In the 1960s there were towns in the Minister of State’s county and elsewhere where 150 people were living but today there might only be ten. People have moved out and there is now dereliction or high vacancy rates in town centres. We must examine every measure we can to incentivise the development of town centres. We must also stop penalising development. For example, local authorities impose development contributions on developments on main streets. I accept that they must fund themselves, but we must incentivise development on main streets. We must consider living over shops, a subject in which my colleague, Deputy Michelle Mulherin, has a particular interest, to rejuvenate such areas. We must get people back into town centres and encourage business. In areas where commercial businesses have moved out we must allow for changes from commercial use to residential use where this is sustainable in town centre areas. We must encourage the provision of a mix of housing, not just social housing, within towns.

Property rights are protected in the Constitution, rightly so, but we must incentivise development. If people refuse to make town centre properties available for housing or other use, the introduction of a stick approach should be considered. If we continue to allow rural towns to die, the regional imbalance that is evident which has progressed in recent years will continue. I encourage the continuation of policies to get people back into town centres and allow businesses to grow. The more footfall there is and the more people there are living in them the better, including people from new communities who are more used to rental accommodation and city and town centre living. We must encourage such an approach.

I thank the Deputy for his contribution to this debate on the ongoing work of the committee and his input into its report. The importance the Government is placing on the retail sector is reflected in the fact that there are 12 discrete actions in the 2015 Action Plan for Jobs designed to support recovery in the retail sector. They includes a commitment to review the recommendations made in the Oireachtas joint committee's report. Apart from these recommendations, public bodies have been progressing other recommendations in the Action Plan for Jobs relevant to the issue. The County and City Management Association recently published a series of best practice initiatives which are being taken by local authorities to support retail development at local level and which could serve as exemplars for other local authority areas.

The Deputy has referred to the local enterprise offices which are rolling out the trading online voucher scheme on behalf of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. I am delighted to be associated with the scheme because it is very effective. This week the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Alex White, the Taoiseach and I awarded the one thousandth online trading voucher to a company from Kilkenny. I had a very interesting conversation yesterday in connection with the award. We were in a shop in Dawson Street, a relatively new business, Kingsize, that is performing well in terms of online sales. We were struck by the fact that, to an extent, we had been missing a trick in this country in recent years in building an online trading presence for retailers. When a shop’s shutters go down at 6 p.m., the business can still operate and make money by retaining a presence online. The conversation in that regard really struck home with me. Such an approach makes money for businesses, keeps people in employment and adds jobs also.

When we awarded the one thousandth voucher, the Minister, Deputy Alex White, launched a report on the impact of the scheme to date. A survey of 225 companies that had received trading online vouchers showed there had been an average increase in sales of 21%, which is phenomenal. A total of 71% of the companies surveyed expected to take on staff to cover increased sales. The average number of new jobs is 1.4 per business in a sector that has been struggling in recent years for a variety of reasons. As the economic recovery accelerates and we put more money back into people’s pockets in terms of tax and USC reforms, we hope the performance of the retail sector will improve. This is an opportunity for retailers to gain a competitive advantage.

In the retail consultation forum we have also been looking at a host of other areas, for example, upskilling and career paths in the retail sector. There are career opportunities, but too few workers see the retail sector as a viable career option. We must professionalise the sector. We have a strong story to tell and are good at retailing in this country. I would like to see Ireland become a retail destination as that would provide opportunities for us.

Reference was made to the living city initiative in the context of trying to bring people back into city and town centres. That could improve the position in terms of encouraging over-the-shop living. We want town and city centres to become 24-7 spaces, not simply spaces where people go to work and shop between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. each day, but vibrant, dynamic places with vibrant and dynamic communities. Some of the changes the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, wishes to introduce for vacant sites will also help. The pilot initiative introduced by the Minister of State, Deputy Ann Phelan, for rural economic development zones, REDZ, schemes could also help local authorities to revitalise rural towns and villages, in particular.

The Dáil adjourned at 10.30 p.m. until 10 a.m. on Friday, 3 July 2015.
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