Deputies might help me to gain a minute or two that were lost through my fault. Tosóimid leis an gcéad Saincheist Thráthúil le Deputies Conway-Walsh and Tully to discuss oversight and accountability of individualised care services at Western Care Association.
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
Disability Services
I thank the Minister of State for taking this important matter. She will be aware that in 2017 HIQA had concerns that Western Care Association was exploiting a loophole in the legislation and not registering individualised services. HIQA raised these concerns with Western Care Association at the time but the organisation insisted that the individualised care services did not meet the criteria to be registered with the Office of the Chief Inspector of Social Services and be subject to inspections. HIQA raised the same concerns again four years later in 2021. Again Western Care Association argued that no oversight was necessary.
In recent months, a flood of people have come forward to discuss serious issues about the care being provided and the treatment of staff at Western Care Association. Many of the most alarming accounts centred on the care for people living alone in individualised services. Brave and committed workers and former workers at Western Care Association have made protected disclosures and submitted information showing not only that these services should have been registered but that there has also been a significant deterioration in the management and oversight of these services.
Ambiguity in the legislation was used by Western Care Association to avoid HIQA oversight of these services for many years, even though some people receiving care in this way are among the most vulnerable in our county. The legislation as it stands means HIQA does not have the authority to enter and inspect non-registered services without Western Care Association's permission. Last year, Western Care Association agreed to allow HIQA to inspect a sample of five homes where care was being provided. HIQA found that all five should have been registered. Operating unregistered services is an offence under the Health Act 2007. Western Care Association has now confirmed that it has 104 individualised services, of which 47 should have been registered. I call again for an independent investigation to be carried out into how and why this was allowed to happen.
The issues surrounding Western Care Association were brought to my attention by Deputy Conway-Walsh in my capacity as Sinn Féin spokesperson for disability. I have also had occasion to meet current and former members of staff to discuss their concerns in more detail. Western Care Association offers the opportunity for people with intellectual disabilities to live independent lives in their communities with appropriate support. That is the correct way to go. It is what should be happening. However, if the support is not satisfactory, living conditions are not up to scratch or the support is not sufficient or appropriate, people suffer and the people in question are our most vulnerable citizens.
I commend many of the staff in Western Care Association who go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the residents live the best possible lives. I also commend the residents and their families for trying to make Western Care Association a success. However, the concerns staff had about some of the issues in Western Care Association were so serious that they were prompted to make protected disclosures. Those disclosures must be taken seriously, the members of staff must be supported and the issues must be investigated and dealt with.
HIQA has had concerns since 2017 that the individual centres were not registered and that a loophole was being exploited to avoid HIQA inspections. In 2021, when it was allowed to inspect a small number of services, HIQA found they should have been registered. There are 104 individualised services. How many of them should be registered? Western Care Association says 47 but why not all of them? This matter needs to be investigated properly to ensure the services that should be registered are registered to enable them to be inspected by HIQA. Given that she has responsibility for disability, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, must step in to ensure there is proper accountability for what is happening in Western Care Association and the best service possible is being provided.
I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh and Sinn Féin's spokesperson on disability, Deputy Tully, for tabling this Topical Issue matter. Western Care Association is funded by the HSE under the section 39 of the Health Act 2004. It provides services to more than 700 children, young people and adults with learning disabilities in the catchment area of County Mayo. That is a considerable number of individuals whom Western Care Association supports. Recent matters of concern are understood to relate to regulatory compliance and regulatory protection for certain services. I take on board the point that 2017 is not recent.
I am advised that Western Care Association has 35 designated centres that are registered with HIQA. These designated centres currently provide full-time residential support to 105 people. In addition, Western Care Association supports a further cohort of people by way of what the organisation terms "individualised services". Under the Health Act 2007, the requirement for registration with HIQA applies to residential disability services, including residential respite. HIQA determines which services come within its ambit in accordance with the relevant statutory provisions and the authority is examining this in respect of the organisation.
HIQA also has responsibility for setting standards for healthcare services and monitoring compliance with those standards. It regulates facilities that provide care for those with disabilities to determine whether they are meeting the relevant national standard.
The Chief Inspector of Social Services in HIQA has assured me that her office is actively engaging with Western Care Association and action has been taken to prioritise the safety and quality of care and support residents. Work is ongoing to ensure residents have the appropriate regulatory protection.
An escalated level of inspection activity in Western Care Association has been initiated and the chief inspector's team is engaging with the organisation's board of directors and executive management. The HSE is also engaging with Western Care Association to address any immediate concerns and prioritise actions, with a focus on improving outcomes for persons supported by the organisation. The HSE is working with Western Care Association in the context of its service agreement and service improvement framework process. There is, therefore, a lot of ongoing work between the regulatory body, the HSE, the board and the management.
I thank the people who have come forward and highlighted issues. I thank the staff who work in Western Care Association for the continuous care they give. I also reassure the 700 families who have loved ones participating. We all know that Western Care Association is a fantastic service provider in Mayo. However, we also need to bring reassurance that their loved ones are protected and minded to the highest possible standard. I thank HIQA for what it is doing.
I thank the Minister of State and acknowledge that some work has been done since these disclosures came to light. However, contravention of the Health Act 2007 over such a long period is a very serious matter. The Minister of State must ensure there is accountability for these failures and outline the steps she is taking to ensure this can never happen again, either in Western Care Association or similar care services. Firm and frank assurances must be given that those who have come forward to expose the non-compliance, be they families, former workers or workers, will not be ostracised. That is very important.
It is clear that the 2007 Act needs to be extended to incorporate all services provided to vulnerable users. A holistic approach is necessary, one where HIQA has the powers and resources to inspect all of the services delivered by providers. A culture of providers marking their own homework and deciding whether to invite inspection cannot be tolerated. There is an opportunity to shape an organisation that fosters a culture of transparency, openness, accountability and respect for service users, their families, staff and future staff.
I have engaged with a number of organisations in a similar position, where concerns have been expressed about the management of a centre or the conduct of some staff. Protected disclosures have also been made in these instances. I find that the HSE tends not to run or provide disability services in many cases. It tends to prefer to have section 39 organisations or charities do so. That is fine if there is proper oversight. However, when a budget has been allocated, there is often very little accountability about how it is spent. I am not suggesting it is spent badly or anything like that because much of the service provision is good. However, there are opportunities for fraud and that is happening too. When things go wrong the HSE sweeps in, dismisses a few people and hires a high-cost investigator to come up with a predetermined outcome. Very often, the person who first raised the concerns and made the protected disclosure is scapegoated. These individuals end up being ostracised, as Deputy Conway-Walsh pointed out. That has to stop. These people have to be protected for doing the right thing.
I again thank Deputies Tully and Conway-Walsh. The Government is committed to providing services and support for people with disabilities, which will empower them to live their lives and provide greater independence in accessing the services they choose. It is important to point out that it is almost a year and a half since the House discussed the Brandon report. At that stage, I looked across the Chamber for support for publishing that report. Deputy Pringle was a lone voice at that stage. The importance and relevance of safeguarding need to be understood. In that case it was the HSE. I do not accept that it is just the charitable organisations that lack scrutiny. They all lack scrutiny and they all need to have a proper framework in place to ensure there is reassurance for the families and proper safeguarding mechanisms are in place for individuals living in care settings. There needs to be an understanding of the culture and relationships within all the organisations. I call on the Deputies to work with me on the Brandon report and on putting in place a proper mechanism in relation to it. If that is sorted, we will have a proper process for the entire country as it relates to reassurance.
Housing Infrastructure Funding
I welcome the opportunity to raise this important matter on behalf of the residents of Birch Hill, Aghadoe and Old Killarney Village. A total of 68 houses, one pub and restaurant and a commercial business are affected by what is happening. I ask that additional funding be provided to remove and replace three non-performing wastewater treatment plants and connect to the live public sewer to take sewage to the treatment plant in Killarney. The pipe has already been brought north of the N22, which was a considerable task along a busy road from the Cleeney roundabout to the bottom of Madam's Hill north of the N22. The dangerous and tough work has been done efficiently and effectively at night by the contractors John McGillycuddy and John Donovan. The latter brought the sewage to his estate, which has been built since. All that needs to be done is to connect to that.
Funding of €401,588 was provided on 21 September 2020. Much has changed since then and this funding is no longer adequate. I am asking for additional funding to ensure this work goes ahead. Kerry County Council has done great work. Tadhg Meehan, Paul Neary and Charlie O'Leary are very able men who have done their best to try to get this over the line. However, the route they were trying to take the pipe or thought it could be taken could not be obtained. They have to take it a longer way around, which will cost more. In 2020, things were much cheaper. The design was much cheaper. We do not know the exact figure but the cost will be almost twice the amount that was granted.
I did not agree with a lot that the former Minister, John Gormley, did in his time. However, one good thing he insisted on and for which he brought a Bill through the Dáil was that estates would have to be taken in charge. These housing estates are typical examples. They were built more than 20 years ago. The residents are very worried because the council's environment section is out to them continuously due to serious pollution problems. The Minister of State can imagine where it is. It is on the top of Aghadoe, looking down on the lakes of Killarney. Anything that goes wrong has to go into the lakes. This request has been ongoing for many years. I raised it several times on Kerry County Council before I left in 2016. Councillor Maura Healy-Rae repeatedly tables motions on the issue. Everyone is doing their best, but Kerry County Council and I realise that we need a lot more money. I am asking the Minister to look at this. If we are serious about pollution and protecting health, we have to address this issue. There are 68 houses affected. I appeal to the Minister of State to give us the extra funding to allow this project to go ahead.
I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. I am taking this Topical Issue matter on behalf of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
The Department has been in contact with Kerry County Council directly on the matter of Old Killarney Village and Birch Hill estate. I understand a report and submission are being prepared by the council.
I am assured by the Department that upon receipt of that submission, the matter will be dealt with as quickly as possible. I would be surprised or concerned if the cost had doubled in the period since 2020. Of course, there has been construction inflation but I would sound that note of caution. The Department has committed to addressing it when the submission is received.
The Deputy is right. The taking in charge of housing estates by local authorities is provided for by the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. The prescribed process in that regard applies to residential developments consisting of two or more dwellings granted planning permission under section 34 of the Act. Local authorities as planning authorities lead the taking-in-charge process of housing estates.
A small number of estates nationally rely on developer-provided water services infrastructure, commonly referred to as DPI, for their water services. They mainly consist of wastewater treatment facilities but a small number provide drinking water services for the estate. The infrastructure was generally provided by the developer of the estate and has not been connected to the public water network. The majority of estates with DPI were constructed in the period from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s and are privately-owned facilities. As the Deputy said, there are legacy issues. The Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government introduced the multi-annual developer-provided water service infrastructure resolution programme to provide funding for the progressive resolution of these legacy issues.
In 2020, funding allocations under the programme were announced, including funding for the Old Killarney Village and Birch Hill estates, totalling approximately €401,000. The focus of the first tranche of funding under the programme is on estates where the resolution is to connect their water services to public networks. A study completed by Uisce Éireann in 2022 will inform and assist in developing further solutions for estates where, due to distance, it is not necessarily viable to connect them to the public network. The Department has been in direct contact with Kerry County Council on this matter, specifically with regard to Old Killarney Village and Birch Hill estates. My understanding is that a report is being prepared by the council. I do not have the timing of that but the Department assures me that upon receipt of that submission, it will deal with it as quickly as possible.
I know the request is to come from Kerry County Council but I know how this works. The local authority will not request funding unless it is assured it will get it because it does not want to embarrass the Government. The Government has to give it the indication that the money will be forthcoming.
We appreciate everything that has been done but it is time to move on. The Minister mentioned that other solutions would be provided when the distance is too great but the distance is not too great in this case. The big work has been done bringing the pipe north of the N22, which was vital. I commend John Donovan for doing this at his own expense. At that time, we sought help from the local authority but we did not get it. We are where we are. The residents paid money for their houses. They did not know there was any problem. They paid whatever charges the developer included at that time and they want this problem resolved. Perhaps some of them want to sell but are tied up in a knot with this. Other people will not move in until this matter is resolved.
There are odours at times and officials from the environment section have been out. The residents are worried and it is time to resolve this issue. I appeal to the Government. I am glad that so much will be given but we still need the money. The Minister of State wonders why the cost is going up. It is going up because the distance has increased. Instead of getting way leave from private property, which was not forthcoming, they had to go around the longer way. I can understand why people would not want a public sewer by the side of their houses. Surely the Government can understand that as well. It will cost more because of that and because building costs have increased in recent times with the cost of materials and labour. I appeal to the Government to address this and work with Kerry County Council.
I appreciate the points made by the Deputy, which is why it is so important that a detailed submission is made by the council. We all understand the construction price inflation issues that are there but it concerns any additional costs that are different from the proposal that was granted funding at an earlier stage. As Minister of State in the Department of Finance, I am not in a position to commit to funding on behalf of any other Department. More broadly, it is important that funding requirements are set out by local authorities in a detailed way to Departments. This is the way it must work. The Department has a multi-annual programme in place to resolve a number of these issues through a series of funding cycles and funding has already been committed to Kerry County Council, as announced previously. The commitment to resolving the programme is there but the local authority must provide detailed costs to the Department. I know the Deputy knows the report is being developed, which is very important.
In addition to the multi-annual programme, there are a number of more complex demonstration projects that require further examination. Those projects have been considered by an independent expert panel and were found to require further information from local authorities to inform a decision before a funding commitment was made under the multi-annual programme. Local authorities were asked to submit further applications for projects that could have problems resolved by connecting to Uisce Éireann. A number of applications were made. In the coming weeks, the expert panel will made a submission on these applications and the Minister will then be in a position to make an announcement for a further tranche of funding. I hope this is helpful to the Deputy.
Air Quality
It is not an exaggeration to say that Phibsborough junction in my constituency is literally riddled with air pollution. Locals say the smell and the heaviness of the air are inescapable as are the negative effects on one's body. Some in the area, including businesses, feel they are forced to keep their windows closed as what is allowed in when they open them is the furthest thing from clean. In a world where we have rightly become sensitive to the underlying health conditions of the immunocompromised, we cannot stand for our residential areas violating EU air quality limits, which clearly outline a danger to our well-being.
Although anybody caught in traffic at Phibsborough junction for just minutes could explain the dearth of clean air at Doyle's Corner, we now have statistics painting a dire picture of this reality. Under the EU air quality directive, countries must limit air pollution to below 40 micrograms of nitrogen dioxide per cubic metre an hour on average over the course of a year, among other thresholds. When these levels were surpassed in Kilmainham in 2019, the local authority drew up an air quality plan that outlined traffic management, pedestrianisation, cycling projects and the discouragement of car ownership in that area. Phibsborough junction has now exceeded the EU air quality directive limits, at times reaching an monumental and unacceptable 60 micrograms per cubic metre. Plans need to be urgently drawn up to correct this before substantial damage is done to residents' health and the local environment. Many residents are already highlighting respiratory issues in the area. Horrifyingly, the World Health Organization states this number should not even exceed ten micrograms.
Sadly, it is not just this one crossroads in my constituency that suffers from unacceptable air quality. Amiens Street, much of the quays and some other areas of East Wall suffer the same fate, while residents in areas such as Stoneybatter, Drumcondra and Cabra wonder when they will be next. With so many areas in Dublin experiencing this phenomenon, we have reached a point of urgency that demands the attention of the Dáil and not just local authorities.
Will the Minister of State make a commitment to produce a strategy for improving air quality in inner-city Dublin? I also call on the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, to install monitoring stations in the worst-affected areas such as Phibsborough so that the rehabilitation of the local air quality can be monitored while attempts to solve this issue are actioned. I believe there are monitoring stations in the Phoenix Park, which seems somewhat counterproductive.
Climate change is often viewed only in a macro level with its threat to our existence as a species. Important as it is to realise the truth of this terrifying fact, we must do all we can to observe this threat at a local level and tackle it at its source.
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which is close to my heart. Clean air is fundamental to our well-being and quality of life and is essential for the health of the environment on which we depend. People have no choice about the air they breathe. We have an important role in developing policies that deliver clean air, hence the high priority given to improving Ireland's air quality in the current programme for Government.
The results of the Google Project Air View Dublin study are interesting. They show that while our overall air quality is generally good, there remain a number of localised issues of concern. It is important to note that the measurements taken as part of this project provide useful insights and indicative data but are not of the frequency, quality or accuracy required under EU legislation for comparison with current EU limits or World Health Organization guidelines.
Official assessment of Ireland's air quality against these limits and guidelines is conducted using data from the national ambient air quality monitoring programme, which is funded by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and is operated and maintained by the EPA. Monitoring air pollution is essential to help us better understand where issues are arising so that we may ensure national measures are in place to deliver air pollution reductions and look to target policy measures to those areas with specific issues. The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has provided funding for a significant upgrade to the monitoring network in recent years. The number of monitoring stations has increased from 29 in 2017 to 116 this month. That is well above the EU requirement for 30 stations. Additional stations are not planned for the national network as we are now moving to a modelling and forecasting system through the Life Emerald project. This will allow us to use information from our monitoring network to provide near real-time mapping of air pollutants throughout the country, which will fill in the gaps between monitoring stations and provide a national three-day air quality forecast.
This project will improve Ireland's ambient air quality management capability and will deliver a system that will provide better information to the public. It is essential that we use the data from our official national monitoring network to focus on implementation and enforcement of the policy measures introduced to achieve air pollution reductions. For example, Ireland recorded an exceedance of nitrogen dioxide in 2019 at the St. John's Road West monitoring station in Dublin 8 when emissions were just above the annual limit of 40 g/m³. In response to this, the urban transport-related air pollution working group was set up. The four Dublin local authorities came together to develop an air quality management plan for the area. The urban transport-related air pollution group has acted as a valuable forum for engagement and co-operation between the key urban transport and air quality stakeholders. It has enhanced awareness among stakeholders of clean air legislation and facilitated increased co-ordination and coherence between the policies, plans and strategies developed by each of the members concerning air pollution control. Its final report was published last month.
Since 2019, there has been no official exceedance of these limits. It should be noted that up to 2021, the WHO guidelines for annual nitrogen dioxide mirrored the Clean Air for Europe limit of 40 g/m³. However, in September 2021 the WHO issued revised guidelines with a new annual mean for nitrogen dioxide of 10 g/m³. This is the figure the Deputy mentioned. It is important to note that this refers to an annual average. It does not follow that the levels of nitrogen dioxide must be below this figure at all times. Nevertheless, this guideline of 10 g/m³ will be extremely difficult to achieve so long as petrol- and diesel-fuelled vehicles remain in widespread use. In recognition of this, the WHO has set a number of interim targets for nations to work towards ahead of striving to meet the final guideline.
Ireland's ambition in relation to air quality will be set out in the national clean air strategy and in other transport-related policy. In addition, the revised climate action plan includes a number of actions which will have a significant impact on reducing emissions and improving air quality. These include specific targets for electrification of the national fleet in the years ahead. The Government remains committed to improving our air quality for the benefit of all and is taking a range of measures to do so.
I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response. I do not doubt for a second how close the issue is to his heart. The issue is also close to my heart and the hearts of the people in my constituency of Dublin Central who seem to be disproportionately impacted by it. Inner-city communities are, by their very nature, areas that are going to be disproportionately impacted by a multitude of different issues. One that is very hard to separate ourselves from is an inequality of clean air. That is very much what were talking about in Phibsborough, around Seán McDermott Street, along the quays, into East Wall and around Sheriff Street. This problem is having consequences for the health of the population in my constituency. I fully appreciate the Minister of State's commitment to the issue.
A couple of suggestions have been made over the last number of years. In 2019, the then Dublin City Council acting executive manager talked about the potential for low-emission zones around our areas. Has any consideration been given to such a suggestion? I know it comes with complications, particularly regarding the inequity of the people can afford electric vehicles and those who cannot. That needs to be dealt with if that consideration is to be advanced. What practical measures can we take that we can introduce quickly? This problem is having significant impacts. Is there potential for air quality management plans to be advanced by local authorities, along the lines of that drawn up in Dublin 8? I ask that a similar plan be advanced in Dublin 7 and Dublin 1, if possible. It is coming to the point where we need this type of action. I ask the Minister of State to provide some tangible actions that we can advance quite quickly.
Overall, we have approximately 1,410 premature deaths from poor air quality or air pollution. It is a terrible problem. It is estimated by the European Environment Agency that 100 of those premature deaths are related to transport emissions rather than solid fuel. However, they are localised. As the Deputy mentioned, many of them are localised in his constituency.
The Deputy asked for the fastest or most immediate things we can do. I think the pedestrianisation of Capel Street must have had a dramatic effect. There has been air monitoring of that and I am keen to see the results. I would like to see the before and after.
The Deputy also mentioned low-emission zones. This is a proposal from Dublin City Council, as I understand. I am happy to go back to it. I think Mr. Liam Bergin is the point person on that. I am happy to talk to the Deputy about that or meet the council with the Deputy if he wishes.
There has been a reallocation of road space towards cycling and walking. The use of electric taxis and buses is particularly worthy of mention. The Deputy mentioned that the grants towards electric vehicles can be inequitable. The electrification of our bus and taxi fleets is critical because those vehicles do huge mileage in the city centre where lots of people are breathing in the air. We are ordering 800 double-decker electric vehicles. We are seeing more electric taxis on the street. The grants of between €20,000 and €30,000 are having an effect. Those measures will have direct effects. The crossroads at Phibsborough is choked with traffic. One can see that it is having an effect on air pollution. It also affects quality of life through noise pollution and through the fear that one might get run over in such heavy traffic. Clearly, we need to change going into the future. We can look at other cities and see formerly incredibly congested junctions that have changed to a more human-focused, healthier and happier pattern. That is going to happen here, based on sustainable transport policies.
Schools Building Projects
I thank the Chair for facilitating this urgent if short debate on a matter of some importance in the Laois-Offaly constituency. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, for attending. Some weeks ago, the House was told that 58 school building projects have been placed on hold due to some financial pressures. The project at Kolbe Special School in Portlaoise is one of them. The school is currently catering for 43 children aged between four and 18 years. All of them have severe to profound learning disability issues. Due to a lack of space, the current building no longer has a sensory room. The physical education hall is full of equipment due to a lack of storage facilities. In short, the building is totally inadequate.
The school has been visited by three Ministers for Education over the last decade. The poor conditions in the school have been highlighted on national television. In 2019, it was announced that Kolbe Special School was one of 17 schools to be included in the Department of Education's accelerated delivery of architectural planning and tendering programme, known as ADAPT 2. Just days after the preliminary works started at the site in Portlaoise, staff, parents and students were informed that the works had been placed on hold, pending a budget review. The Department of Education has stated that the planning and building unit is currently assessing its work programme and reassessing its priorities for 2023 in the context of overall budgetary requirements.
I concur with what Deputy Flanagan has said. The school is in dire need of a new building. No words of mine can overstate this. I have visited the school several times, as have several Ministers. The children of the school need support at a high level. It is a special needs school and almost 40 children attend, with the number increasing each year. The conditions in the school are totally intolerable. There are prefabs and only one solid classroom. It is the worst case I know of. Large equipment is stored all over the place and the staff and pupils have endured a lot. I have raised this with successive Ministers for Education, including Mr. Ruairí Quinn, Deputy Bruton, Deputy McHugh and the current Minister, Deputy Foley, but here we are again.
Solemn promises were made by current Ministers to the effect that money would be available for the project and that work would proceed. On 9 May 2018 the previous Minister, Deputy McHugh, told me in the Chamber that the project was in the programme for 2018 and that money was not a constraint, meaning it was not a question of the project being delayed for financial reasons. The Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is in the Department of Finance. Both Opposition and Government Deputies want results on this for Laois–Offaly. The go-ahead has to be given. Four days before the works were due to go to the next stage, the school was informed they were put on hold and pushed to one side. Only the previous Friday, the architectural team was given the go-ahead to move ahead with another part. Without any warning, the project was pushed to one side. This is not good enough, and we need to get this back on track. The needs to be met are the highest I know of. Many new schools have been built in the constituency, all of which I welcome regardless of who builds them or the Government in power, but this is the worst case I have seen. I cannot believe what I have seen in the school over the years. I ask the Minister of State to make a special effort in the Department of Finance to make sure the project is put back on track as soon as possible.
I thank the Deputies for raising this really important matter. I am taking it on behalf of the Department of Education and the Minister for Education. They have asked me to outline the current position on the major building project that is so necessary for Kolbe Special School in Portlaoise. I understand it is a major building project providing a new eight-classroom school for pupils with very special educational needs, plus ancillary accommodation and associated site works adjacent to the current location, which both Deputies have said is deeply unsuitable for children from four to 18 with severe and profound learning disabilities or autism.
I understand the project is included in the Department of Education's construction programme being delivered under the national development plan, NDP, as part of Project Ireland 2040. The Department's planning and building unit is currently assessing its work programme and priorities for 2023. The Department's published NDP allocation for 2023 is €860 million. High construction inflation is a continuing factor for every Department, but the Department of Education has a track record in delivering on its schools building programme and I expect it to utilise its capital budget fully every year. It has received very significant additional funding under the current allocation, and special schools are to be covered by the free hot school meals scheme under the Department of Social Protection.
Obviously, the immediate priority of the Department of Education is to cater for the requirements of September 2023. The Minister for Education has asked me to say she is very conscious of the urgency of providing special schools, including Kolbe Special School, with modern facilities. I understand the Minister is in discussion with the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, regarding capital funding pressures. This will enable them to support the operation of the school system and the development of school building projects to tender and construction in 2023, and minimise project delays to the greatest extent possible. That includes the major building project for Kolbe Special School, which is due to proceed to tender. I understand that prior to the major project being progressed to tender, enabling works are required to underground ESB cables at the site for the new school. I am told those works are to be carried out in the near future. I have asked for a more specific timeline. If I do not get it before we finish, I will revert to the Deputies during the day when I receive the information from the Department of Education.
I thank the Minister of State for the reply and for acknowledging in the House that she is conscious of the urgency and importance of the project in Portlaoise. Since the news was received in Portlaoise, students in the school have become despondent and parents are distraught. Teachers and staff feel let down again. Therefore, I urge the Minister of State to use all her power and influence to ensure the project goes ahead.
I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I know she has a commitment to special needs from her time as a member of the Committee of Public Accounts along with me. It is an issue she cares about. However, no words can explain the level of need of the children in Kolbe Special School. They are children of high dependency. A huge amount of equipment is needed. This is no ordinary school. Large pieces of equipment have to be stored in prefabs and all over the place to try to facilitate the operation of the school.
There is an issue of health and safety for the staff and the 40 pupils. In a letter dated 28 June 2022, staff raised concerns with me about their ability to provide a safe environment for pupils and others.
There is a public meeting tonight. I, and hopefully Deputy Flanagan, will be attending if we can get out of the Dáil on time. Parents and staff are very concerned about the matter. The site has been secured and planning permission is in place. It is a ready-to-go project. As regards the ESB, I can assure the Minister of State that the ESB will leave no stone unturned to get this work done. We can put pressure on it locally. When we ask the ESB to pull out the stops on a special project, it does so. The county council has fast-tracked the project and has done everything we wanted it to do. Therefore, everything is ready to go. The Minister of State is in the Department of Finance. I realise that is not the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform but it is fair to say they are brother and sister. They are in the same building and operate closely together. I ask Deputy Carroll MacNeill, as a new Minister of State, to use her position to get answers for Deputy Flanagan and me today on this so we can give good news to the people of Portlaoise and the rest of County Laois tonight. I thank the Minister of State.
The Deputy knows that the one thing I could never do is promise something I could not deliver. I am completely honest about that. What I do know is that the Department of Education has, over the past two years, secured real delivery of projects for children with additional needs. Even in my constituency, there are, I think, 13 new classes that were not in existence prior to 2020. There is a genuinely different approach to delivery for children with special needs. Deputy Stanley is right that I have a long-standing interest in this. In addition to being a member of the Committee of Public Accounts, I was a member of the autism committee, which is continuing its very strong work on behalf of children, particularly those with special needs and very significant learning difficulties and those on the autism spectrum. It is quite impossible to imagine how difficult it is to teach children with so many additional needs who struggle daily in an environment that is not suitable for them, an environment in which one cannot access therapeutic machinery, occupational therapy and all the support tools needed to give children an opportunity to learn daily in the best possible way in a special school.
There is no question about the commitment of the Department to the special school in question, as with others. I understand that, from a financing perspective, the Department has a very significant capital budget and is discussing it with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform.
I know about delivery and commitment over the past couple of years from the Minister of State in the Department of Education, Deputy Madigan. I can see the progress in my area but it is important that the project be delivered in the Deputies' area as quickly as possible for the children there. I understand the concerns of the local community and the efforts they have made. They are meeting this evening. I note the efforts of their representatives in Dáil Éireann and of the ESB. Everybody seems to be completely behind this project. I thank the Deputies for raising it with me today.