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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 21 Jun 2018

Vol. 970 No. 6

Topical Issue Debate

School Funding

I am pleased that the Minister for Education and Skills is here in person to take this Topical Issue, which concerns the shortfall in the school capitation grant for primary schools. The Minister is very aware of the situation. The capitation grant used to be €200 and was cut to €170 some time ago leaving a very serious shortfall in the funding for our primary schools throughout the country. With the increased expenditure in the past couple of years, one would have expected that there would have been some move to restore it to the previous level. It is very disappointing that there has been no such improvement in the two budgets to date despite a commitment that this would happen in the programme for Government.

As we all know, there are over 500,000 children in more than 3,000 primary schools around the country. I do not think there is any match between the capitation grant and the cost of running the school. It has resulted in schools having to provide in the order of €50 million through fundraising and other efforts just to keep the school open in terms of light, heat, electricity and insurance and to make it a safe place for the students to learn in and for teachers to teach in. Many people have contacted us about this issue. I believe that in the forthcoming budget, the Minister must start a process of restoring this grant as much as possible as quickly as possible. I will deal with other issues relevant to primary education such as class sizes, leadership, the situation of teaching principals, teacher supply panels and above all, ending the pay inequality that is still rampant in the primary school sector during my second opportunity to speak. My primary issue is to raise capitation grants for small schools with the Minister. It is more severe in small schools where the cost of keeping the building up and running to a safe standard is an enormous burden at local level. I ask the Minister to address this by way of a significant increase in the forthcoming budget.

I also want to raise the issue of the capitation grant. The cut in this grant is having a severe impact on schools. The amount was €200 and, if memory serves, it was cut in 2008 and now stands at €170 per pupil. This has cost schools an estimated €105 million per annum and has left parents to engage in fundraising. Last year, the figure raised by parents through raffles, cake sales and race nights was €46 million. It is not sustainable in the long term. Parents are also making a contribution for basic items, which is putting huge pressure on them, particularly on low and middle-income families. These contributions come on top of paying for uniforms, books, tablets and extracurricular activities. Boards of management tell us that they are struggling to keep heat going and lights on. Earlier this week, Deputy Fleming, the Minister for Justice and Equality and I met with representatives of the boards of management of Catholic schools. Today, we met with the INTO. Both bodies outlined graphically to us the pressures they are under financially. The INTO has calculated that a €20 increase in the capitation grant per head per annum bringing the capitation grant to €190 would cost €12 million. That would have been a huge sum of money at one time and I know money must be found somewhere for everything but it is not a massive sum of money in terms of the budget in today's money. The public finances are in better shape. I ask the Government to look at that this year. I will discuss the minor works grant and class sizes during the second part of my contribution but could the Minister address specifically the issue of the capitation?

I thank the Deputies for raising this issue and for their interest in the education area. Reading between the lines of what they have said, they can understand the difficulties I am facing. They mentioned pay restoration, time off for principals, investment in leadership, minor works and smaller class sizes. These are all needs I would like to be able to address. This year, I had €550 million across all education budgets. Half of that money - €240 million - went on pay restoration so that was the first thing. That was partly contributing to the restoration of pay for new entrants and, of course, the general increases in pay. I paid out the minor works grant last year. That comes to €5,000 for every school plus €18 per head on top of that.

There is no doubt that starting to put money back into capitation grants is something I have the ambition to do but I must set priorities. To be honest, the priorities I set were reducing class sizes, providing 1,500 additional teachers for children with special educational needs and starting the investment in school leadership. I have made a significant investment. A total of 1,000 principals this year will get support. I have also made provision this year for more time off for those principals in smaller schools. Depending on the size of the school, I have added between two and four days extra time off to allow those principals time to plan. In addition, there will be 50 clusters where schools can combine to employ one person who would be available to avoid the problem of finding substitution by those principals. That would be relevant, particularly in areas with a more dispersed population. Capitation is in two parts currently.

There is €170 per pupil, plus a further ancillary payment of €153 per pupil. The ancillary payment has gone up by €16, which reflects salary increases in arbitration awards, but the overall base amount has not gone up. I have also made other changes designed to help schools to better manage their resources. For example, the schools procurement unit has saved some €2 million per year across all schools in each of the last three years. Total capitation payments to primary schools amount to some €205 million and the payment is making a significant contribution to addressing costs.

I have dealt with the issue of voluntary contributions. It is important to point out that such contributions must be voluntary and that there cannot be compulsion to pay for mainstream activities.

I believe the Deputies appreciate that we are recovering from a difficult time. I have to make choices and believe most Deputies would defend the choices I made to reduce class sizes in primary schools, start the process of restoring pay for newly qualified entrants and make particular provision for children with special needs, a measure which has involved nearly 3,000 additional SNAs. Overall, over 6,000 additional teachers have been provided and supported in the last couple of years. Moreover, we are seeking to meet these needs at a time when there is a rapidly growing school population.

I thank the Minister for his presence and constructive approach to this issue. I know that we have thrown a myriad of demands at him and that they cannot all be met in one budget. With regard to capitation grants, the Minister replied to a parliamentary question I asked last week by stating it was difficult to make precise comparisons between the levels of grants and the actual cost of running schools at primary and secondary level. Therefore, there is an indication that everyone within the system knows that the capitation grant does not meet the cost of running a school.

I mentioned the pupil-teacher ratio. We pushed the issue last year and, with our support, a reduction from 26 to 25 was achieved. The INTO told us earlier today that in the next five or six years there might be up to 50,000 fewer pupils in primary schools. Therefore, the Government might be able to make progress on the the issue of the pupil-teacher ratio without any significant increase in cost.

Boards of management are looking for the capitation grant to be restored, as well as the minor works grant. They are very reasonable in what they say to us in that they want a guaranteed but phased programme. While we all know that it will not happen in one budget, we want the Minister to take some steps along the road on this occasion and give a commitment to follow through.

I thank the Minister for his reply. I note that some progress has been made and we welcome the reduction of one in the average class size, although in our budget submission we proposed a reduction of two. We have the second highest class sizes in the European Union, at an average of 25, with the European Union as a whole having an average class size of 20; therefore, there is more work to do. I also understand everything cannot be done in one year, but the capitation grant needs to cover the cost of running a school. We need to go further in that regard. While I do not expect the Minister to announce the budget today and know that he has to make the argument at the Cabinet table, I urge him to make it again this year and go a step further in providing for a reduction in class sizes. It is a work in progress and we need to push on. The Minister should also have another look at the minor works grants to see what could be done in that regard. I ask that the first two areas - capitation payments and class sizes - be prioritised. It would be very welcome to build on the progress which has been made.

I am sympathetic to what the Deputies are saying. The one thing I would say in this debate about what we should do in education is that we need to focus on outcomes for children. The debate in this House too often is about pupil-teacher ratios and capitation grants, which are all about outputs. One of the things I am proud to stand over is that, in the teeth of what was probably the worst recession the country had ever seen, we increased the number of ASD units from 540 to 1,304, or by an 750 additional. The units have transformed opportunities for children and we are now seeing the highest ever proportion of children stay on in school to complete their education. Ten year olds are best at reading and mathematics. The reason this is the case is that we invested specifically in supporting literacy initiatives, reforming the curriculum and supporting teachers with both leadership and, as they call it, CPD, or continuous professional development courses in order that they could make an impact in the classroom. We have put money into SNAs which has seen children progress in education who in the past were overlooked. We need to talk about the impact on children's lives, as well as the ratios about which people tend to talk. While we are doing well in all of these areas, we need to do better. I am keen to see money going into innovation, supporting clusters, looking at DEIS schools and how we can do better in achieving better outcomes, as well as closing the literacy gap between a DEIS and a non-DEIS school. We need to think more imaginatively, rather than always just looking at the crude input per head measures and instead focus on how we can make a real impact in the success of a child. That is why it is more complicated than just spreading the money thinly across the system. We are trying to make a difference with some of the interventions we are choosing to make.

Climate Change Policy

I hope the Government was as shocked as most citizens at the report the other day on how different countries in the European Union were performing in meeting their climate change obligations. We are rightly fond of stressing how well Ireland does in many international assessments, given the difficulties we have come through in the past ten years, but the report was a kick in the pants for a Government and a Department supposedly dealing with climate change. However, they are all talk and almost no action. In fact, I was amazed to see the Taoiseach and four or five Cabinet Ministers who perhaps included the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, although I am not sure how many attended, launch yet another report on climate change the other day. The report about which I am talking placed us second last in the European Union after Poland. As the House probably knows, Poland has a Government that is climate sceptical and also produces a lot of coal. That we should rank second last in the European Union is a real shame. More importantly, it is a shame in the context of future growth opportunities in Ireland. Unless we have a Government and Department policy that really goes after climate change, we will not improve. In that respect, while I have no objection to the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, answering this question, I am extremely disappointed that the Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, who was in the House only a couple of hours ago has failed to show up. With all due respect, I do not believe the Minister of State works in his Department or has a function in it. I can understand her helping out a colleague and I have no objection to her at all, but the Minister is just funking out of coming into the Dáil to speak about how badly we are doing on climate change. Because it affects us all and the planet, I would have expected more from the Government and the person responsible for climate change policy in government, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

Before the Minister of State responds, what we have been trying to do on Topical Issues is reach a situation where, when a Member has a matter selected, the Minister responsible will come into the House to address it.

Where the Minister is not available, he or she should communicate with the Member and suggest an alternative occasion on which he or she would be available. It is regrettable if that is not happening. The Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, is welcome to the House as always.

I only received word that I was to take the Topical Issue a while back.

I appreciate that and thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I have no issue with her.

I acknowledge that but to clarify, we contacted the Deputy's office to leave a message that I would take the matter. We said that if she wanted to make a change with the Ceann Comhairle, that would be fine by us. I will read the statement and then perhaps discuss the other matters Deputy Burton has raised. By the way, I was not at the launch.

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment. Yesterday, the Taoiseach, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment and other members of the Government launched the climate action priority element of Project Ireland 2040. The funding commitments in the national development plan will see a major step change in the funding available for climate action over the next decade. Almost €22 billion is to be directed to addressing the transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient society through a combination of Exchequer and semi-State investments. The national development plan also allocated a further €8.6 billion for investments in sustainable mobility. This means that well over €1 in €5 spent under the national development plan will be on climate action. This capital investment will enable us to deliver a significant reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions over the period to 2030.

Building on the existing measures to reduce our emissions set out in the national mitigation plan published last July, key investment priorities in the national development plan for climate action include transitioning Moneypoint away from coal by the middle of the next decade; energy efficiency upgrades of 45,000 homes per year from 2021; support for a major roll-out of heat pump technologies; delivering energy upgrades to BER "B" level to all public buildings and a minimum of one third of commercial buildings; implementing the new renewable electricity support scheme to deliver an additional 3,000 MW to 4,500 MW of renewable energy with an initial focus on shovel-ready projects, which could contribute to our 2020 targets; roll-out of the support scheme for renewable heat and national smart metering; at least 500,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2030 with additional charging infrastructure to cater for planned growth and a €5 million climate action fund, which the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment announced last month, to leverage investment by public and private bodies in climate action measures.

The Government recognises that expenditure alone is neither affordable nor sufficient to meet the scale of the climate challenge ahead and that we need a targeted balance between Government and private expenditure, taxation, regulation and behavioural change. New regulatory commitments in the national development plan include a commitment to no new non-zero emission cars to be sold in Ireland post 2030, with no NCT certificates to be issued for non-zero emission cars post 2045. This is one of the most ambitious commitments on zero emissions on passenger vehicles in the EU. There is a further commitment to a transition to a low emission urban bus fleet, including electric buses, with no diesel-only buses purchased from 1 July 2019. Further consideration will be given to climate-focused taxation measures in the context of budget 2019.

The Government is a strong supporter of the Paris Agreement and its objectives. Ireland is also committed to the EU commitment under the Paris Agreement to achieve at least a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 1990 levels relative to 2030.

The most important Government commitment, not only since the appointment of the current Taoiseach but over the course of its lifetime, was to set up the strategic communications unit. This quasi-press release from the Minister, Deputy Naughten, is not an answer to a parliamentary question. It tells us about all the great things that will be done, commencing in five and seven years' time. Very little of what is here explains how we will move from second last place with a rating of 22% compliance with the Paris Agreement, which we signed up to as a country. We are all in favour of the agreement. That is great. We all debated it and signed up years ago. The evidence of the Climate Action Network, CAN, report, however, is that we are second last in Europe in respect of the agreement. In our daily lives and in our constituencies, we are all becoming increasingly familiar with yellow and red storm warnings, snow storms and other unusual and extreme weather events. While Ireland is small, it is subject as an island to the full forces of the Atlantic and the Irish Sea. We do not have to be scientists to see that extreme weather events are becoming relatively more frequent with consequent enormous costs. I feel sorry for the Minister of State who had to read out what is basically a PR statement. The publicity event was straight out of the strategic communications unit. This issue is far too serious to be dealt with as a publicity stunt.

I appreciate what Deputy Burton has said and her knowledge and passion on this subject. I am given a task to do. While the Deputy may not be happy with the reply, the issues she has raised have been noted and I will go back to the Minister on them. I will read part of the follow-up material in reply.

The Government does not accept the assessment in the CAN Europe publication of 18 June ranking member states on climate ambition and progress against targets. The report's conclusions do not reflect Ireland's ambitions on climate action, our commitment to the Paris arrangement, our very ambitious domestic 2050 objectives or our support for the EU 2030 targets. There are difficult days and challenges ahead and we are playing catch-up as a country on our climate change obligations. This is as much an opportunity as an obligation. In any event, it is a moral necessity and a vital national interest. Addressing climate change and our climate targets to 2030 and beyond is at the top of the Government's policy agenda. I was not at the launch of the climate change report yesterday but I assure the Deputy that I understand fully that she may not be happy with the reply. I only have what is in front of me. As my knowledge is not as clear as hers, I will bring what she said back to the Minister. While I am grateful to be allowed to take this matter, I stress that Deputies should be informed when a Topical Issue is to be taken by a Minister of State who might not be able to answer some of the questions that are put.

Cross-Border Health Services Provision

The Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, is very welcome. I appreciate, as always, her courtesy in attending. Time and again, she is the person who has to come to the House to deal with health issues. While I appreciate that she is a Minister of State within the Department of Health, it should be the senior Minister who takes these issues. It is regrettable that he does not.

I raise the matter of the 511,904 people on outpatient waiting lists.

This is the highest number on record, which is a national disgrace. Of that number, 79,647 have been on the waiting list for more than 18 months. Three years ago, the then Minister for Health - the current Taoiseach - stated that by 2018 nobody would wait for more than 18 months for a procedure. Despite this, the waiting lists are at an all-time high.

The cross-border directive was introduced by the European Parliament to better define the rights of EU citizens when seeking treatment in member states other than their own. Under the directive, Irish residents have the right to avail of medical treatment in any other country in the European Economic Area, EEA, and to be treated on the same basis as they would be treated here. Provided certain criteria are met, EEA residents are entitled to request the treatment and receive reimbursement of the cost.

All Deputies are contacted daily or weekly by constituents who are enduring difficulties that impact on their quality of life. Since I became aware of the directive, I have been advising patients on long waiting lists in my constituency of Kildare to avail of it to access care. Cataract removals, tonsillectomies and joint replacements are the treatments I encounter most frequently. One gentleman, who had been unable to work for three years while waiting for a hip operation, recently thanked my office for pointing him in the right direction. The five-star treatment he received abroad changed his life. It is ridiculous that the Health Service Executive cannot have operations performed here but can pay for them to be done abroad. Given the record number of people on waiting lists, should more people not be encouraged to travel abroad to obtain treatments that cannot be provided in the Irish health system?

The cross-border directive is not advertised well enough. While it is advertised on the Internet, every primary care centre and general practice should have information on the directive because many older people who could avail of it are not Internet savvy and will not be aware of it. None of the people I informed about the directive was aware of it previously. Given our scandalous waiting lists, we should point people in the right direction and help them improve their quality of life.

I apologise on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, who cannot attend today. The Minister responded to several Topical Issue matters, including one on cervical cancer, during the week. I do not know where he is but in any case I will respond and the Deputy may contact the Minister's office to relay her concerns about his absence.

I have done exactly what Deputy O'Loughlin suggested in that I have asked general practitioners in my primary care area to ensure information on travelling abroad for treatment is made available to patients. The majority of them indicated they do this in any case.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The vast majority of EU patients receive healthcare in their home country and prefer to do so for many reasons, such as language differences, culture, family support, distance of travel to other countries and, importantly, familiarity with the medical culture of their home state. However, for Irish patients seeking access to health services in another EU-EEA country, the cross-border directive introduced in 2014 has proved to be an important scheme. The Health Service Executive operates the directive in Ireland and, through the national contact point office, provides information for patients on the directive on its website and by telephone, email and post.

The numbers availing of the directive continue to increase since its introduction. According to the latest information from the HSE, 1,422 applications have been processed under the directive so far this year. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, the number of Irish people treated under the directive were 164, 793 and 2,011, respectively. Patients are primarily availing of orthopaedic, ophthalmology and orthodontic services under the scheme, with the majority of these treatments being carried out in Northern Ireland and other parts of the UK.

Noting that the directive states that its implementation should not result in patients being encouraged to receive treatment outside their member state and recognising that any decision to avail of treatment, at home or abroad, is a matter for a patient in consultation with his or her health professional, the HSE has sought to educate health professionals about the directive. Specifically, the HSE has met general practitioner organisations, such as the Irish College of General Practitioners, ICGP, and GP practices as it recognises that general practitioners are on the front line with regard to providing information and referrals to patients on their treatment options, both at home and abroad. Under the directive, general practitioners as well as consultants can refer a patient for overseas treatment.

In addition, the HSE has met and communicated with other professional bodies and organisations, including the Independent Hospital Association of Ireland and various voluntary hospitals and hospital groups, to inform them of how patients can access healthcare under the terms of the directive. The HSE has also held various public meetings on the directive and continues to meet and is available to meet a range of groups regarding the directive.

In summary, the number of people availing of the directive continues to increase, which points to an increased awareness of the directive by both healthcare professionals and the wider general public. In recognition that the decision to seek treatment overseas is one for the patient, in conjunction with his or her health professional, the Health Service Executive plans to continue to engage with healthcare professionals and professional bodies to provide them with information on the operation of the directive.

I completely agree that the vast majority of EU patients prefer to receive healthcare in their own country for the reasons the Minister of State outlined. It is, therefore, a shocking indictment of the Irish health system that 1,422 applications have been processed under the directive to date in 2018 and it is only 21 June. This figure shows the dire state of the health service.

The cost incurred by the Health Service Executive under the directive to date in 2018 is €2.79 million. Since the directive came into force in October 2014, the HSE has incurred costs of €9.247 million under the directive. As such, almost €10 million has been spent reimbursing the costs of 4,615 procedures. Would this money not be better spent on improving our health system? When people who genuinely need to have procedures done have to travel abroad we still end up paying the costs. It would be far better to invest in improving the health system.

On the issue of doctors referring patients for cross-border services, while I have come across doctors who are aware of the directive, from what I hear, they have no further contact with their patients once they have been referred for treatment abroad. From speaking to constituents, there appears to be a lack of communication between consultants and patients on health services in other countries and following treatment abroad. We are in a catch-22 in that the Government must either commit to providing the healthcare services required in this country or, alternatively, it must actively promote the cross-border directive while we wait for services to be provided here.

I have no argument with the Deputy. We all want what is best for the patient.

In light of the concerns the Deputy has raised and the fact that when people are informed by their GP or other professional and they go to a consultant in the hospital, somewhere along the way the message may get lost that there is another way forward. I do not have the specific answer on why the consultants and surgeons are not able to cope with the numbers that need operations and assessments. I do not have anything further to add but I will relay the Deputy's concerns to the Minister and hopefully over the next week he will be able to give the Deputy some insight into why so many people have decided to go abroad because of the lack of theatre space or surgeons to perform the operations in our own country. I will ask the Minister to reply directly to the Deputy.

Homeless Accommodation Provision

As the Minister of State, Deputy English, knows, we have a major housing crisis with almost 9,652 men, women and children homeless, of whom 3,689 are children. These figures exclude the contentious number of people who have been removed from the homeless list. Latest figures also show that there are 763 families in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation. Some of these families have had to resort to self accommodating, that is, ringing around hotels to secure a booking. This is extremely difficult and very stressful as the Minister of State can imagine, especially in the case of families. Hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation are often booked on a daily basis, leaving families in a terrible and uncertain situation, sometimes having to travel long distances, if they can even afford it, at the last minute to secure beds for the night. Most families and individuals who are homeless with Dublin City Council are now spending up to three or four years homeless waiting on council accommodation or sometimes less if the housing assistance payment, HAP, can be secured.

Every time major events take place in Dublin we have a crisis in accommodation with some hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation opting to take in clients at the expense of homeless families even though they have nowhere to go. This human tragedy is repeated year in year out and will become even more obvious when over the weekend of 25 and 26 August, Pope Francis will visit Ireland. He will visit the Phoenix Park and Croke Park in particular. With the expected crowds and the peak season for tourists, accommodation will be impossible to get and more often than not the prices will be inflated by some establishments taking advantage of the occasion. We have already experienced that in the past. Once again this leaves us with a human tragedy in the making and a major crisis for those homeless families.

Does the Minister of State have an estimate as to how many families could potentially be displaced over the weekend? If action is not taken we will have more families sleeping rough in cars, couch-surfing or sleeping in any nook or cranny they can find. What contingency plans has the Minister of State put in place? Does he intend on putting a crisis management team together? Where are the facilities or accommodation to be had considering that we have 763 families dependent on this type of accommodation at present? The Minister of State cannot leave this until the last minute. The families and their children need certainty. Can the Minister of State guarantee them security and a safe and decent place to stay during that weekend because we have not seen that up to now? We have experienced when there are major events such as concerts that a lot of people get displaced. I also believe that hotels putting up prices on these occasions is something that should not happen because some of the prices that we have seen are crazy and as a result some people are made homeless. Some hotels want to get people out and bring in tourists so they can jack up prices.

I thank Deputy Ellis for raising this issue and giving me a chance on my behalf, on behalf of the Department and on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, to outline the position on this because it is a story that has been discussed over recent days.

Addressing homelessness is an absolute priority for this Government. Rebuilding Ireland, the Government’s action plan on housing and homelessness is a six year plan to increase the supply of housing significantly, particularly in terms of social housing. The plan also includes a range of measures to address homelessness and my Department is working proactively to deliver on these measures. Last year alone saw more than 26,000 additional households having their social housing need met, utilising a budget of €1.4 billion. In order to build on this progress and to meet the needs of further additional households, the budget has increased by 36% to €1.9 billion this year. We are also making progress in exiting households from homelessness. In 2017, 4,729 individuals exited homelessness into an independent tenancy. While the numbers coming out are positive, we accept that there are still far too many living in emergency accommodation, bed and breakfast accommodation and hotels. It is far too high and no one is trying to say otherwise. It is more than 9,500 as the Deputy said. Progress is being made but it is not enough and the Minister and I acknowledge and accept that but we did see 2,080 households leave emergency accommodation in hotels last year, with the majority of these households exiting into homes, rather than hubs. There is some movement through the system but there are still far too many people there. It is correct to say that there are more than 9,500 in emergency accommodation. To be honest, it is probably not true to say that they are all there for three or four years, but I will not argue over that. The majority are getting through the system. There are some cases that are there a long time but the majority are not and in some cases people might be in a hotel or emergency accommodation for three to six months and then find a home. Others are there for longer but it is not the case that all of these people are there for three or four years because 2,000 families have left hotels. It is also true that many families are offered other solutions, not always a permanent house or social housing but they are offered HAP or other rental assistance - some take it up and some do not for whatever reasons. It might not always suit them but very often people are offered that solution.

Rebuilding Ireland is working and everything is on target and all of the trends are correct in terms of the supply of housing coming in, for example an additional 7,000 social houses became available last year through all the different methods and they are in use. There will be more than 8,000 houses this year. Unfortunately, there are continuing presentations to homeless services in the Dublin region on top of that. That means that we still have far too many families in emergency accommodation. As a consequence, we still have a reliance on hotels to provide additional accommodation for families until we can increase the availability of longer term solutions. Additional supply will help to solve that and that is the way to do it.

Pope Francis will be making the first Papal visit to Ireland in almost 40 years on 25 and 26 August and the visit is expected to put additional strain on the availability of hotels across the Dublin region around this time, which happens during many other events as well. It is not just because of the Pope's visit, it would happen with seasonal events and in August because of the tourist season anyway. The Dublin Region Homeless Executive, DRHE, closely monitors the demand for emergency accommodation and has contingency plans in place that provide additional bed capacity when required. Such plans were successfully activated, for example, during Storm Ophelia and Storm Emma and more recently during the series of concerts in the Phoenix Park, which placed demands on accommodation across the city because other events also increase the demand and it is not just the Papal visit. The DRHE actively pursues all accommodation options, which may include providing accommodation in neighbouring counties to ensure that families are provided with emergency accommodation when needed which is as appropriate as possible to their needs. We accept that it is not ideal to have to go to a neighbouring county. We always try to find solutions in the county in question.

Currently the DRHE has 41 family units available in Dublin city which are used on a one night only basis should any family be unable to access accommodation. The Deputy asked what new measures we are taking. A further 30 contingency units will be in place by the end of this month, located centrally so that those who make use of them have easy access to transport options to attend schools, work and other facilities. In addition, two new family hubs, which will provide additional capacity, have recently opened in the Dublin region. My Department will continue to support the DRHE with resources and funding will not be an issue.

I accept that there are occasions when there are events and people end up homeless. This special occasion, however, will bring hundreds of thousands of people into Dublin. Its impact will be exceptional. While the Minister of State says he has 30 extra beds and a few extra hubs that will not be sufficient if several hundred people will be put out of hotels. We have to have a real plan that says we need to have not just a small amount of accommodation. These are families with young children. This affects children's safety and well-being. We have seen what Tusla has said about the fact that children are in hotels. That has been an indictment of the system.

The Minister of State said there will be extra accommodation available in the hubs but I do not know where. I have spoken to many of them and they are at capacity. I have told the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government that in Hampton Wood 130 units are coming on stream for the housing assistance payment, HAP. They have been bought by a crowd called Irish Residential Properties, Ires, which has bought hundreds of units around the country. The Government should be buying up many of these units and not allowing vulture funds or pension funds or other crowds like that to buy them. It makes more economic sense for the State to get them and use them for social housing.

The Government recognises that hotels are not a suitable accommodation option for families. That is why we are supporting local authorities to develop family hubs and new housing projects, and to purchase vacant houses from banks or others. Last year an additional 7,000 houses were in the system and this year there will be an additional 8,000 available for social housing. That is a combination of direct build, Part V, vacant houses that we buy through the agencies from the banks, as the Deputy says, and other properties that we source. That is in addition to properties we rent and have on long-term leases. Many houses are coming in. They will become available on a monthly and weekly basis and will be used to house people who are homeless and are on the housing waiting list too in order of priority. They come on stream every week and month and will help us reduce the numbers in hotels too. Family hubs also offer family living arrangements with a greater level of stability than is possible in hotel accommodation with the capacity to provide appropriate play space, cooking and laundry facilities and communal recreational space while move-on options for long-term independent living are identified and secured. There are now more than 20 family hubs in place nationally providing accommodation for more than 500 families, including 19 in the Dublin region. This includes a family hub which opened in the Coolock area of Dublin this month. The Department will work closely with the Dublin local authorities to ensure that further family hubs are developed to reduce the reliance on hotels as a form of emergency accommodation. Moving families to homes is the ultimate goal but hubs offer a better form of emergency accommodation in the short term. I think the Deputy agrees on that point but they are not a permanent solution.

Earlier this year we saw higher than expected increases in family homelessness in the Dublin region. In response to this the Minister requested that the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, DRHE, prepare a report on issues impacting on homelessness in the Dublin region. The Minister received the report this week and a report from the inter-agency group on homelessness was submitted to him last week. The Department will review this and will take appropriate actions too. The difficulties that might arise at peak seasons or when there are events concern new presentations. They do not and will not affect existing families in hotels. We do have contingency plans for every night of the week if someone presents. That is why I said there is no reason for anybody to have to be accommodated in a Garda station or anywhere else like that. There are contingency plans in place for every night of the week for weather events such as storms and for concerts or other major events such as the papal visit. We have plans in place. We will certainly make sure they are increased in August which is a busy period anyway but they are for new presentations. They are not for people cleared out of hotels. That is not the case. They are for people who are not already in the system. I stress that we have many new accommodation solutions coming on stream weekly and they will bring the numbers down. Last year 26,000 families were helped. That does not mean that everybody gets the help they need. I accept that but if we can increase the pace as we are doing with new supply it will help provide solutions in the form of permanent homes.

I am sure that all of us here appreciate that Pope Francis I is the last man on earth who would want to see vulnerable people driven out of their emergency accommodation.

I am not accusing the Minister of that.

That is not going to happen.

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