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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 26 Jun 2018

Vol. 970 No. 7

Topical Issue Debate

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Provision

My Topical Issue matter relates to the need for the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to address the delays in approving the pathfinder programme for young people with mental health problems. Elaine Loughlin, writing in the Irish Examiner on 16 June, reported:

A scheme to help young people deal with mental health issues is being “blocked” by the Department of Public Expenditure, it can be revealed.

Four departments have agreed on how to fund and run a new coordinated “pathfinder” programme for young people with mental health problems. However, it is being held up by Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe’s department.

The Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Jim Daly, is quoted as saying, “A timeline to full implementation cannot yet be agreed as the participating departments have not received final approval from [the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform]”.

I received word today that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, was not going to take this question and had passed it back to the Department of Health. I do not understand that because the question is very clear and concise. It is directed towards the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and asks why it is not approving the programme. I do not understand the rationale for the Minister and his Department deciding they were not going to deal with it. I do not understand how the Department of Health can answer the question on behalf of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and I note that the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health is also not present.

Pathfinder is a hugely important programme but it is sitting there, undelivered. Did the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform explain to the Minister of State who is present today why it was not taking the question? Has it decided that mental health is not important enough for it? Did it even read the question or did its officials just see an issue dealing with health and decide to kick it back? It is the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform which needs to answer the question as to why this programme is being held up. Is it that the Department is too embarrassed at the Government's failure to protect children and young people by making these programmes available? It appears as though the bean counters in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform are saying that children and young people are simply not a priority.

We have seen the consequences of Departments failing to work together in the past. The pathfinder programme sets out a clear way the Departments will work together as they want to. There is a clear plan and structure but it is not being given the funding necessary to deliver. Why is that? We have over 6,000 children on primary care psychology appointment waiting lists and 2,500 children waiting for the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. In the south east, as indicated by the Ombudsman for Children at a meeting of the Joint Committee on the Future of Mental Health Care last week, CAMHS is imploding because its psychiatrists are all resigning. We have more than 4,000 children with disabilities waiting for their statutory entitlement to an assessment under the Disability Act and almost 6,000 children and adolescents have been waiting for more than a year for occupational therapy assessment. We have more than 10,000 waiting for more than 18 months for hospital outpatient appointments and we are heading towards 4,000 homeless children.

It appears that the Government has an issue in prioritising children and young people and the pathfinder programme is a clear example of that. Good policies are being put in place, including by the Minister of State present, but it appears that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is not putting the proper funding behind many of them. The Department and the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, should have been here to address this issue today as it is that Department which is holding up the pathfinder programme, not the Department of Health or the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Finian McGrath.

I thank Deputy Browne for raising this important issue and for his question on the progress of establishing the youth mental health pathfinder unit. Following Civil Service Management Board and ministerial approval, the establishment of the pathfinder unit is a mental health priority for 2018 for the Department of Health. The motivation for the model comes from an analysis that no single Department or Government agency has the key to all of the policy responses required to address the issues around youth mental health in Ireland. The remit of the pathfinder unit is to identify youth mental health priorities and objectives, developing policy to give effect to those priorities and objectives and engaging with Departments, Government agencies and non-government organisations to achieve the most effective means of implementing these policies.

The proposed model has three key elements: a cross-governmental unit staffed through secondments from participating Departments to operate for an initial three-year period; a pooled budget to drive change; and shared accountability at Secretary General level across sponsoring Departments. Membership will be drawn from participating Departments including the Departments of Health, Education and Skills and Children and Youth Affairs, in collaboration with the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Taoiseach.

It is proposed to utilise section 12 of the Public Service Management Act 1997 to enable a new collaborative model of working across Government. As this will be the first time this legislative provision has been used, a significant amount of work is required to design a robust and workable model for this new arrangement. Officials from the Department of Health, as the lead Department, have been working in co-operation with officials from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform over a period to meet all the administrative, budgetary, governance and legal challenges that need to be addressed in developing this innovative model. I am informed that the next meeting of officials from both Departments is scheduled in the coming days. This model has been approved by the sponsoring Secretaries General and the Civil Service Management Board, which is made up of all Secretaries General and heads of offices.

It has also been approved to further some of the recommendations of the national task force on youth mental health, including taking a lead in formalising mechanisms to ensure that the voices of young people are fully considered in the development and implementation of legislation, policy and services for youth. The pathfinder team should develop mandatory protocols, which will work to safeguard young people against potential changes in policy that could negatively impact on youth mental health. It will also carry out a detailed assessment of the services and supports currently available in respect of youth mental health to identify gaps in service provision and to scope what improvements could be achieved through greater co-ordination.

In conclusion, the Departments of Health and Public Expenditure and Reform, together with other participating Departments, continue their ongoing collaboration in delivering this new, innovative and complex project and I look forward to following the development of this positive interdepartmental proposal.

In its key message, the final report of the youth mental health pathfinder project states that urgent action is required on youth mental health in Ireland. It states that evidence shows the majority of children and young people in Ireland are highly resilient but suicide and self-harm rates among our children and young people are extremely high by international standards. The rate for young men is the third highest in the EU and the rate for young women is the highest in the EU. It states that Connecting for Life, the national suicide reduction strategy, prioritised young people but is insufficiently clear about how, when or where to take action and by whom and a sift of the evidence shows we are not serving children and young people well enough.

The Minister of State said the motivation for the model came from analysis that no single Department or Government agency has the key to all of the policy responses required to address the issues around youth mental health in Ireland. That is true and it is clear from the pathfinder report. The Minister of State also noted that the Departments of Health and Public Expenditure and Reform, together with other participating Departments, were continuing their ongoing collaboration in delivering this new innovative complex project. All the other Departments have done their job but the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is not doing its job. The pathfinder report is dated March 2017 and I understand it was finalised last December but we are now coming into the second half of 2018. I reiterate the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health was reported as saying that a timeline for full implementation cannot yet be agreed as the participating Departments have not received final approval from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. It is the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform which is holding this up and which is not prioritising mental health. That Department and its Minister, Deputy Donohoe, should be here to answer this question today and not the Ministers of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Jim Daly or Deputy Finian McGrath. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform needs to step up to the mark.

I fully accept the Deputy's genuine concerns on the suicide figures and on youth mental health.

I also firmly believe that children have to be a priority. Funding is an issue and we must have and continue to have detailed consultation with young people. I also commit to bring the concerns expressed back to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe. The status at the moment, however, is that a cross-Government unit staffed through secondments from participating offices and agencies will operate for a three-year period. It is proposed to recruit a director for the unit. The Department of Health has agreed to fund this post, subject to the agreement of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. As approval to proceed is still awaited, I take the Deputy's point.

It has also been agreed that the participating Departments will cover the cost of their own seconded staff, subject to approval by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform that Departments be allowed to backfill seconded posts. A draft job description for the director has also been prepared. It is also essential that we have a budget to drive change. It is proposed to utilise section 12 of the Public Service Management Act 1997 to create a pooled budget between participating Departments. A draft order, entitled the Public Service Management Act 1997 (section 12) (youth mental health) Order 2018, is in preparation, with an input from the Department of Health legal unit and the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, OPC. This is currently being reviewed before being resubmitted to the OPC.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform raised queries - and this is partly a response to the Deputy's concerns - on this approach in December 2017. The Department of Health responded to those queries in January 2018. Further queries were then received from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on 21 June 2018 and a meeting has been scheduled between the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and officials from the Department of Health. We have to focus on this and I will bring these concerns back to the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, and, more importantly, to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

Mental Health Services Provision

I wish to raise the state of the psychiatric services in west Clare but these problems are reflected nationally throughout the psychiatric services. In west Clare, we have not had a psychologist in the community psychiatric service for the past six years and this is putting huge pressure on other aspects of the health services. We only have a half-time equivalent social worker and for the past six weeks, we have not had a consultant psychiatrist. Recruitment of experienced psychiatric nurses is an issue but because of the deficiencies in the membership of the community psychiatric team, clinics regularly have to be cancelled. Emergency cover is often only provided from other sectors.

Junior staff are prevented from practising fully in an unsupervised role. As the staff left behind are just burning out, we have a huge deficiency in the membership of our community psychiatric teams. This situation is not unique to Clare. In the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Future of Mental Health Care recently, we heard from Dr. Kieran Moore from County Wexford. He and two of his colleagues are resigning from the psychiatric services in the Wexford area because they find that what they are being asked to do is unsafe and unfair to their patients. Rather than continue to work in an unsafe and unfair manner, they have decided to resign. This is a poor reflection on our psychiatric services and we do know that recruitment and retention is a huge issue right across the health service but particularly in the psychiatric services.

Again, at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Future of Mental Health Care two weeks ago, we discovered there are 25 different hoops that must be gone through before a member of staff can be recruited. That is before looking for a member of the medical profession to actually take up a post. There must be huge deficiencies in how we are managing recruitment and retention issues. The most common requirement for people in the front-line staff, particularly general practitioners, GPs, is access to counselling and to psychologists. Not every patient with a mental health issue has a biochemical abnormality, yet because talk therapies and counselling are not available and because psychological services to deliver non-medical therapies such as cognitive behaviour therapy, occupational therapy and all the other therapies that go to help people who have mental health issues are not available, there is an overreliance on medication.

We heard, again at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Future of Mental Health Care, that €400 million is spent on medication in the mental health services and only €10 million is spent on talk therapy, psychological therapy and counselling. Medication obviously has an important part to play but the disparity and imbalance between what we are spending on medication and what we are spending on counselling is unacceptable. Talk therapy and access to psychology and counselling is extremely important yet many of our community psychiatric teams are lacking in those disciplines.

We need to have one-to-one therapy with patients. The issue is that there must be continuity of care, there must be one-to-one therapy with people and they must know that they have a person they can contact when they have a problem. What is happening at present is that our services are disjointed, there is no continuity of care and there is no consistency in providing staff. Some areas have excellent recruitment and retention and others have not. I ask the Minister of State how consistency can be brought across the board.

I thank Deputy Harty for raising this important issue and I commend his own work in respect of the health issues, particularly in his own native county but in the national debate as well. It is essential that we acknowledge the work that many of our colleagues do. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, is aware that west Clare has faced difficulties in locating a consultant locum to provide cover for a consultant who began maternity leave on 14 May this year. I accept that point. The good news, though, is that the HSE is confident that a locum consultant will be in place on 9 July. It has informed the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, that as an interim measure, the executive clinical director has run two clinics in early June in Kilrush and Ennis and a registrar has continued to provide outpatient reviews. Until the placement of the locum consultant, the executive clinical director will continue to attend a number of clinics.

The clinical director is also in regular contact with the staff in Kilrush, providing support as required. The west Clare inpatients in Ennis are being supervised by two other consultants, which will continue until the arrival of the locum. In respect of the broader mental health services and supports, I am glad to say that the local action plan, Connecting for Life Mid-West, was launched in April 2017. This local implementation action plan is based on the same vision, goals, objectives and measurable outcomes as outlined in the national strategy, Connecting for Life, Ireland's National Strategy to Reduce Suicide 2015-2020. Together with identifying the local statutory and non-statutory mental health services and supports in the area, it sets out specific local actions based on the feedback received from a public engagement process in May 2016 and the best available evidence relating to suicidal behaviour.

On a national note, I would like to reiterate that the strengthening of the mental health services is a priority for the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, and for the Government. The mental health budget has risen from €711 million in 2012 to €912 million in 2018. That is an increase of more than €200 million, or approximately 28%, in six years. The Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, has already secured agreement from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform that the budget will increase by a further €55 million in 2019. Other positive activity to note in this area includes increased staffing levels, the introduction of new posts, improved seven-days-a-week response and liaison services, as well as continued work on clinical programmes. In April, 10,008 staff were employed in mental health services. Staffing levels in mental health services show an increase of approximately 193 when compared with the April 2017 figure. In excess of 2,000 new posts have been approved since 2012 up to the end of 2017, of which some 1,352 have been recruited or are in the recruitment process.

The level of vacancies, the difficulty in recruiting skilled staff and the substantial increase in demand pose a significant challenge. The provision of 136 new primary care psychologists, including 22 basic grade psychologists and 114 assistant psychologists, will, however, help to reduce pressure on these services.

We will also provide funding to increase psychiatric nurse undergraduate places by 130 per year by 2021-2022. In the context of an improved seven-days-a-week response and liaison services, the HSE is now in the final stages of recruiting staff required to deliver the 7-7 mental health service cover for the areas that do not currently have such a service in place.

In summary, the Irish mental health service faces challenges, including increasing demand for these services and the difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff. I am confident, however, that the steps we have taken will ensure that we meet these challenges.

Most of the reply from the Minister of State refers to patching up deficiencies in services, particularly in west Clare. The answer he has given offers only stop-gap solutions. When speaking about recruitment and retention last week, the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Jim Daly, indicated that, in the context of the challenges that are arising, there should be telepsychiatry in the future. In other words, psychiatric services will be delivered to those who need them from a remote site. This is how he intends to deal with the problem. We all know that one-to-one consultation and continuity of care are so important for people with mental health issues.

The Minister of State made no mention of the fact that west Clare has not had a psychologist in place for the past six years. This is a huge deficiency in service. The social services in the area are also deficient; we are now down to a half-time equivalent supply. Almost half of the budget increase in the mental health sector this year has been used to employ agency staff. It would appear that the main focus on dealing with the recruitment and retention issue is to employ agency staff. Failing that, the new solution seems to be telemedicine and remote treatment in respect of mental health issues. This is totally unacceptable.

The Minister of State mentioned that 2,000 jobs have been approved in the area of mental health services. However, many of those jobs have not been filled and remain vacant. Recruitment and retention are major issues. The problem is that the pay and conditions and the infrastructure are not satisfactory, and there is no support from management. The morale of the service is so low that it is almost impossible to recruit people. Many of our nursing graduates are emigrating en masse once they receive their qualifications. These issues must be addressed.

I take the points made by the Deputy about the Clare region. The locum consultant will be appointed on 9 July. I also agree with the point he made about one-to-one services. It is a very crucial aspect of psychiatry and psychology. I will bring to the Minister's attention the concerns he has raised about the large number of agency staff used by the service.

It is important to remember, despite some of the criticisms - and I accept that the Deputy has made genuine, valid points - that the level of vacancies and the difficulty of recruiting skilled staff continues to pose a significant challenge to provision of service. This is particularly the case with child and adult mental health services, CAMHS. That is a sad reality. The provision of 136 primary care psychologists, including 22 basic grade psychologists and 114 psychologists, aims to reduce this pressure. There is an issue about staff, and I accept the points made by the Deputy, but of the 22 basic grade psychologist posts 20 are currently filled. We also face difficulties in recruiting nurses, and the issue of undergraduates as well.

I take the points the Deputy has made and I will bring them to the attention of the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly. If we are investing the money - and the budget is available - we need to ensure that the services are up and running. They must be patient-led and the vision for our psychiatric and mental health services has to be developed in a positive and constructive way. We are committed to doing that.

Water and Sewerage Schemes

Coachford is a great area. It is a fantastic village with great potential. There are great facilities there, serving a huge local community. There is a secondary school, shops, pubs, pharmacies, a credit union, an undertaker and two childcare facilities serving a huge community around the area. Right on its doorstep Dell EMC and VMware are major employers. The area has real potential. A new school building is being proposed for Coachford college. However, while the area around Coachford is growing, the village itself is stuck. People cannot get houses. They cannot obtain planning permission or buy houses because it is impossible to get sewer connections. There are two unfinished estates that cannot be built out because the developers cannot get sewer connections. The county council had plans to build social housing which had to be parked because it could not get a sewer connection. One can imagine that the unfinished estates are also attracting unwanted attention.

Locals are unable to build in the village itself. They are struggling to get planning in the village and the wider area due to planning restrictions. Even in the village, if one is lucky enough to get planning permission, it is on the condition that a temporary treatment plant is used, which the residents have to pay to maintain. Some residents have been doing this for up to ten years while waiting for the council and Irish Water to put in place services that have not been forthcoming. In the meantime they are being charged development charges and connection fees for a sewer that is not being developed.

The need for a sewer in Coachford was recognised. Cork County Council advanced the project; it had Part 8 planning on a site beside the hurling pitch and was discussing outflow pipes with landowners. That was over ten years ago. However, the project did not proceed because of the economic downturn. When Irish Water took over in 2013, it discussed advancing the project as well. It produced various different business cases and continued with planning and design. It has even switched sites and now has planning permission on alternative sites, but it is still stuck with discussing land acquisition and talking to landowners. In 2015, Deputies in government at the time told us that construction would start the following year. Three years later there is no sewer, no contractor has been appointed, and land still has to be purchased.

It is easy to imagine the frustration of the people of Coachford. The village has such potential. It has a really active community and it wants to get this project going. In Coachford, the foul water and surface water are mixed together in the network. If there is bad weather and flooding, foul water becomes backed up in the gullies in the village. That is not the only environmental concern here. Coachford is immediately adjacent to the Inniscarra dam, the water supply for Cork city. This matter has been raised repeatedly with the various authorities, but people do not feel that Irish Water has recognised the problem or responded with the necessary urgency. I understand that it is proposed to bundle the Coachford project with a number of other schemes, namely, those in Ballyvourney, Dripsey and Innishannon, so that they can be constructed together. Each scheme is needed. From a social, economic and environmental perspective, Coachford must be released.

Will the Minister of State impress the urgent need to address this matter on Irish Water? Will he light a fire under it to get it moving and ensure that the Coachford wastewater scheme becomes a reality?

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy. I thank Deputy Aindrias Moynihan for raising it and for providing me with the opportunity to outline the position on the prioritisation of investment by Irish Water, including in respect of communities such as Coachford, County Cork. I know that part of the world quite well. The Deputy is correct when he says that it is beautiful.

Since 1 January 2014, Irish Water has had statutory responsibility for all aspects of water service planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local level. The primary function of Irish Water is to provide clean, safe drinking water to customers and to treat and return wastewater safely to the environment. Irish Water, as a single national utility, is taking a strategic nationwide approach to asset planning and investment.

The first ever water services policy statement, prepared in line with the Water Services Acts, which the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government launched last month, outlines a clear direction for strategic planning and decision-making on water and wastewater services in Ireland. It identified key policy objectives and priorities for the delivery of water and wastewater services in Ireland over the period up to 2025. The water services policy statement sets out a series of high-level policy objectives across the three thematic areas of quality, conservation and future-proofing. It provides the context within which necessary funding and investment plans by Irish Water will be framed and agreed.

On foot of this water services policy statement, Irish Water's forthcoming strategic funding plan will set out the costs of providing domestic and non-domestic waters services and the recovery of these costs. Subject to the Minister's approval of the strategic funding plan, it will feed into the allowed revenue determination for Irish Water by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities as the economic regulator of Irish Water, and will ultimately feed into future annual estimates and the budgetary process.

Irish Water's next investment plan, for the five-year period from 2020 to 2024, will set out the financial plan for capital investments to support its strategic objectives as set out in the water services strategic plan and the forthcoming strategic funding plan to deliver improvements to water services throughout Ireland where they are needed most. Irish Water's water services strategic plan, published in October 2015, sets out a high-level strategy for the next 25 years to ensure the provision of clean, safe drinking water, effective management of wastewater, environmental protection, and support for economic and social development. Irish Water will also take account of developing subsidiary programmes within its investment plan to assist in implementing the national planning framework and the national development plan such as those aimed at addressing the needs of smaller communities. Irish Water will work with each local authority to develop these programmes further for inclusion in future funding requirements.

As the Deputy mentioned, in partnership with Cork County Council, Irish Water is currently prioritising a wastewater and sewerage scheme for Coachford, County Cork as part of a wider project that will also involve upgrading infrastructure in Dripsey, Innishannon and Ballyvourney-Ballymakeera. The upgrade will be delivered under a single contract as part of what Irish Water is calling the Cork mid-west sewerage schemes. Upon completion, each of the newly upgraded wastewater treatment plants and associated sewer network will improve treatment, quality and capacity and ensure compliance with the urban wastewater treatment directive and Environmental Protection Agency wastewater discharge licensing. Consultations on each location are ongoing, with all landowners on the proposed schemes identified.

I understand from Irish Water that the procurement process for the construction contract is under way. Irish water aims to be in a position to award the construction contract in the first half of 2019. In addition to ongoing negotiations with landowners, Irish Water has undertaken engagement with local elected representatives both in person and via the local representative support desk, and will continue to engage and update on the progress of the project when new information becomes available. In addition, Irish Water representatives have met local community associations and interest groups. This engagement will continue throughout the period of the project.

I thank the Minister of State. I understand that the procurement process for the construction contract is under way and that Irish Water is now aiming to be in a position for construction to begin in the first half of 2019. We had false dawns and promises regarding construction in 2016. What is different this time? How confident is the Minister of State that Irish Water will get going on that and begin construction next year? Can he advise what is different from 2016?

Furthermore, I refer to the fact that the Coachford scheme is bundled with a number of other schemes. I understand that this is being done to gain efficiencies through economies of scale. However, will delays in other schemes hold back schemes such as this? The local experience of bundling has not been positive. For example, our Garda station in Macroom is bundled with projects in Sligo and Clonmel. Although a site has been available for the past two years, there has been no progress in Macroom because the project is waiting for progress on a site in Sligo. Will bundling these sewerage schemes together and having to deal with a range of different issues cause a delay in any of these schemes? The Coachford and Ballyvourney schemes will have to go through land acquisitions and contested compulsory purchase orders, CPOs. The Minister of State should also bear in mind that those delays are not just delaying the scheme itself. As construction costs go up, delays in the contract will mean a more expensive scheme, which undermines the bundling in the first place. If a scheme is ready to go, can it proceed independently of those with which it is bundled? Could the Coachford scheme move ahead without being held back by any other scheme in the bundle?

The Minister and I do not have a role in the prioritisation of individual water services projects, but I accept the Deputy's point about the mid-west Cork bundle. Irish Water expects that there will shortly be an announcement on the proposed CPO for the scheme, and the information I have been given is that the contracts will be signed in the first half of 2019. I will endeavour to find the answer to the question on the bundling issue and whether it could have knock-on effects. I understand from what the Deputy has said and from the comments that have been made by Irish Water that the Coachford scheme is at an advanced stage. There seems to be no reason that work could not commence if there were delays in the other areas. I will endeavour to get that particular answer from Irish Water. The company expects that the announcement on CPOs will happen shortly and that this contract will be signed in the first half of 2019.

Road Projects Status

Thurles town suffers from severe traffic congestion. We have been promised a bypass for a generation or more. Ten years ago three routes for a bypass were proposed and one was selected. We have heard nothing about the bypass since. The general view is that we will not see a bypass of the town in my lifetime.

However, there has been some talk of work on an inner relief road proceeding. While it would not answer all of our problems, it would be a significant move forward. In January this year, the county council issued a statement saying that this scheme is important to the economic viability of Thurles and would support the social, recreational and business travel needs of the town and district. Transferring town centre traffic to a purpose-built link road would also have safety benefits, particularly for pedestrians. The project provides for a second bridge crossing over the river Suir within the town environs. A second bridge crossing in the town is key. We are lucky in that we have four superb second level schools in our town, all of which are well attended. During the academic year, the traffic flow in the town is deplorable. Between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., traffic jams are such that it could take an hour to get from one end of the town to the other.

Other towns in our county have been lucky enough to have bypasses. Our town and Tipperary town are the two towns that are suffering from traffic congestion. This link road got a mention in the famous Project Ireland 2040. When will money will be put in place, when exactly will this work commence and when can we hope to see this link road?

Plans are in place for Liberty Square in the centre of the town. Those plans are ongoing at the moment. Additional car parking will be provided. Retail activity in the town has suffered greatly from the traffic congestion. This redevelopment of Liberty Square, which is the centre of Thurles town, is still dependent on the river crossing. Traffic flow will worsen following the redevelopment of the square. Members should not get me wrong. I am not opposed to the redevelopment, because the businesses in Liberty Square have to be given a lifeline. Something had to be done, because the centre of our town was dying.

It is essential that the inner relief road is put in place as quickly as possible. I would greatly appreciate a timeline for when the required money will be put in place. In January this year the local authority put down figures for what the inner relief road would cost. In overall Exchequer terms the cost would not be huge as it would be a short inner relief road. As I said, it would not solve all of the difficulties in our town. We had an inner relief road a couple of years ago and it greatly helped the western side of the town. We hope this relief road will do the same, but it is essential. In the 2014 plan we were told that after 2021 discussions would begin on whether this road could proceed. We cannot wait that long. The town is choking with the congestion and we need the road now.

The proposed Thurles inner relief road is a regional and local road project, while the proposed Thurles bypass is a national road scheme. In relation to an inner relief road for Thurles, which I understand would include a second bridge crossing over the Suir, the improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority and works on those roads are funded from the local authority's own resources supplemented by State road grants. The selection and prioritisation of works within its area of responsibility is a matter for the local authority.

Before the financial crisis, local authorities could apply on a regular basis for specific and strategic road improvement grants for the strengthening, widening or realignment of regional and local roads, including bridges. However, the extent of the cutbacks in grant funding during the crisis meant these grant schemes had to be curtailed after 2013 because expenditure on maintenance and renewal was falling so far short of what was required to maintain the regional and local road network. The current capital plan does provide for the gradual build up in funding for the road network, but it will take some years yet to reach the level required for the adequate maintenance and renewal of the network. For this reason there continues to be limited scope for funding projects under the specific and strategic grant programmes. Any projects proposed by local authorities for consideration under these grant programmes are assessed by my Department on a case by case basis. All projects put forward by local authorities for consideration must comply with the requirements of the public spending code and the Department’s capital appraisal framework.

The Department has revised the specific and strategic grant appraisal forms and associated guidance documents. A circular on this updated appraisal process issued to all local authorities on 19 April this year. Appraisals received from local authorities relating to road improvements under the regional and local road grant programmes will be evaluated vis-à-vis projects submitted by other local authorities. It is, of course, open to local authorities to advance schemes from their own resources and I understand that Tipperary County Council has been progressing some elements of the proposed inner relief road scheme in that way.

As regards a Thurles bypass, as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme. The planning, design and implementation of individual national road projects is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Within its capital budget, the assessment of individual projects is a matter in the first instance for TII. Given the many competing projects across the country, TII has to prioritise schemes. The projects included in the national development plan reflect the outcome of TII's prioritisation of projects in the context of the national strategic outcomes in the national planning framework. Unfortunately, the Thurles bypass was not one of the schemes included in the NDP on foot of that process.

I thank the Minister for his reply, even though the content of it does not rest well with me. In my initial comments I stated we would not see a Thurles bypass in my lifetime and the reply confirms this. With regard to the specific questions I asked about when funding will be made available, the local authority has made it a priority project and advancement of the project is wholly dependent on money being made available from the Department.

The retail businesses in the town cannot survive with the congestion there currently. The local authority's estimation of what this would cost is approximately €5.5 million and the lifeline it would give to our town is immense. It is galling that we have such a good rail infrastructure and we are within two miles of a motorway but the traffic congestion in the town is still hampering our development. In the past 30 years our town has seen closure after closure of factories. We consider that one of the major inhibitors to attracting jobs to the town is the congestion. Anyone trying to get from A to B in the morning or evening can lose 45 minutes to an hour getting from one end of the town to the other, which is hard to believe about a provincial town. A second river crossing is absolutely essential. It is very easy to understand why the congestion is there with only one river crossing in place. I implore the Minister to put in place a timeline for funding to be made available to the local authority so it can proceed with this essential infrastructure for Thurles. It is the only obstacle there at present. The local authority has prioritised this as essential infrastructure for Thurles and the economic viability of the town. We need a commitment on a timeframe for the funding.

I am afraid the Deputy is asking me for something I am not willing to give him, and I think he knows that. It is something to which I am unable to commit at this stage. While a limited number of road improvement projects were selected for funding in the Building on Recovery capital plan and in the extra capital plan review allocations, the Thurles inner relief road is not included among the projects identified for development in the period to 2021.

Tipperary County Council indicated to the Department a number of years ago that the estimated costs of competing land acquisition, advanced detailed design and the preparation of tender documents for the bridge and road construction stage of the project was in the order of €6.4 million. It is understood that Tipperary County Council has been undertaking some elements of further design work and land acquisition. This is being carried out by the council from its own resources. Tipperary County Council would need to submit an appraisal under the new appraisal process if it wishes to pursue grant funding for the construction of the scheme. In the meantime I must emphasise to the Deputy what I said in the first part of my response, which is very simply that the projects included in the national development plan reflect the outcome of TII's decisions, and the Thurles bypass was not one of the schemes included in the NTP on foot of that process.

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