I raise the issue of telephone masts that are being erected throughout this country and particularly in my constituency. There have been one, if not two, egregious incidents in Kingswood in Tallaght. Masts are put up under section 254 of the Planning and Development (Amendment) Act 2021. I call that section the "we do not give a damn what people think section". It enables a local authority to bypass most of the effective part of the planning system. What happens is that local residents wake up one morning to see a contractor carrying out work on a telephone mast and that is the first they have heard of it. The local authority in my area, South Dublin County Council, agreed under pressure from me a couple of months back to include it in the list for planning in the weekly planning lists, for which there is a provision. However, there is no site notice or process as there is with a normal planning application. People have the ability to object to An Bord Pleanála. At that stage, as we have seen in particular in the past few days in Kingswood, the mast can be half-built by contractors who do not seem to give a damn. This is totally unacceptable and needs to be changed. We have an opportunity to change it. A new planning Bill is coming in, section 10 of which is intended to replace section 254 of the 2021 Act. It must, at an absolute minimum, install a full planning process for these masts. There is no reason telephone masts should be exempted from the regular planning process. These companies have a lot of money. They are well capable of providing masts. I do not want to stop the provision of masts. What I want is a fair process that gives a right to local communities and residents to say they are in favour of or against a mast in their location. If that were to be the case, it would be a fair process. This sneaky, backdoor section 254 must be stopped. There should be a review of all currently pending masts. They can wait until the new legislation comes in and go through a section 10 process under that new legislation.
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
Planning Issues
I will not repeat what my colleague said, but perhaps I can add some additional points. As a public representative, when I was in conversation with a few residents from Kingswood Heights recently, I came across five of these masts in a very small geographical space. I became more conscious of masts, including very close to where I live. One of the things we need to know is the purpose of these masts. Why are they required? What are they used for? This is not to do away with the fact that we recognise the need for telecommunications and for more instruments to facilitate greater use of telecommunications, including by individuals using their smartphones. We keep so much information and use our smartphone technology for so many functions on a daily basis. Antennae clearly are in the interest of promoting business in a particular area, but I agree with my colleague that there almost seems to be a way whereby these companies get to construct and erect the communications masts and antennae by stealth. Local authorities, including in this case South Dublin County Council, say one day that there is permission for it. One department says that and then another day another department says that it has nothing to do with it, and that in the case of Kingswood Heights, the Luas is responsible for it. Luas then says it has nothing to do with this, even though it is within inches, without exaggeration, of a Luas stop.
We will have more to say when we have heard the Minister of State's response, but we need an awful lot of clarification on why the masts are needed and what the processes are legally in terms of what companies ought to be doing to secure planning permission for them.
It seems to me that Deputy Paul Murphy's issue is the same, so perhaps we will hear from him and then call on the Minister of State to reply. I have given everyone two minutes, so that is perhaps the best way to deal with this.
I do not have a problem, and neither do the residents, with masts in and of themselves. They are part of public infrastructure today. We need them for mobile phones and so on, but what people have a problem with is waking up one morning and finding that significant work is happening at the entrance to their estate. A 2 m high platform has been erected, upon which a 20 m high mast is going to go, all deliberately without a shred of public consultation. That is the abuse that is happening currently of section 254 of the Planning and Development Act. It is a section that is really intended for advertising structures, vending machines, tables and chairs outside restaurants and so on, and it is being used now in hundreds of cases across the country by Cignal-Cellnex to put up huge masts without any consultation or notice to people. It was reported in the Irish Examiner that in the current draft of the new planning Bill the right of people to even appeal to An Bord Pleanála would be taken away. I am interested in the Minister of State's response as to whether that will be the case.
What has emerged in regard to Kingswood is that a very good appeal has been put in to An Bord Pleanála, which is the only route we have. We cannot go to the council or put in submissions or objections. An excellent appeal has gone to An Bord Pleanála on the grounds of the locational choice, the procedure and the circular economy. What the mast company, Cellnex, is saying is that it has the legal right to proceed even though there is an appeal with An Bord Pleanála, which is entirely different from how the rest of the planning process operates. I have a response from South Dublin County Council to Councillor Charlie O'Connor where the council says section 254 is unclear as to whether works granted can be commenced, so the work is continuing. Cellnex is planning to put up this massive mast in July without any consultation, with an appeal still pending in An Bord Pleanála. That makes no sense whatsoever.
The fundamental point is that part of this madness is the fact that this mast is for Three Ireland. The mast we had a couple of years ago, on which the residents successfully won a judicial review, was going to be for Eircom. Different private companies are competing with each other, as opposed to an open public consultation and agreement with the community on where a mast will go to serve the entire community.
Thank you for your indulgence, a Cheann Comhairle. I have two responses that overlap so I will try to condense them. I beg the Deputies' indulgence in that regard. I thank the Deputies for raising the issues.
In regard to the Topical Issues before the House on 5G digital masts, two procedures are in place depending on where the telecommunications infrastructure is to be located. In the first scenario, where a developer proposes to place overground telecommunications equipment, such as a telecommunications mast on or along a public road, the developer is required to obtain a licence from the relevant planning authority under section 254 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. Section 254 provides for a licensing system for appliances and structures that are placed on, above, under or along a public road, including footpaths. The section 254 provisions may not be utilised in respect of any locations other than public roads and footpaths. A person applying for a licence under section 254 must provide the planning authority with such plans and other information concerning the position, design and capacity of the appliance, apparatus or structure as the authority may require.
In considering an application for a licence under section 254(5) of the Act, a planning authority is required to have regard to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area, the local development plan, the number and location of existing appliances in the vicinity and the convenience and safety of road users, including pedestrians. In addition, a licence may be granted by the planning authority for such period and upon such conditions as may be specified, including conditions relating to location, design, space taken up by the appliance and the need to protect protected structures. In the second scenario, where a developer cannot avail of a planning exemption and wishes to install telecommunications infrastructure at a location other than on or under a public road or footpath, the developer must apply for planning permission for the proposed development to the relevant planning authority in the normal manner, under section 34 of the Act. The planning authority is required to consider each application on a case-by-case basis, with the process including a five-week period for the public to make submissions or observations on the proposal. The planning authority shall make its decision within eight weeks.
Under section 254(6) of the Act, section 254 licences may be appealed to An Bord Pleanála at any time, while in the case of a normal planning application under section 34 of the Act, the decision of the planning authority may be appealed to the board within four weeks. Where such an appeal is made, any member of the public may make submissions or observations in writing to the board in respect of the appeal within four weeks of the making of the appeal. A decision of the board on an appeal may subsequently be the subject of a judicial review challenge in accordance with sections 50, 50A and 50B of the Act, with the challenge being required to be made within eight weeks of the decision of the board. Where a person does not comply with the conditions of any licences issued or permissions granted, or any court orders following a judicial review, they may be subject to enforcement proceedings by the relevant planning authority in accordance with Part VII of the Act.
With your indulgence, a Cheann Comhairle, I will refer to the second reply. The issue raised by the Deputy this evening refers to two telecommunications masts in the Tallaght area of the Dublin South-West constituency. One is currently the subject of an appeal to An Bord Pleanála, while the second is currently the subject of an ongoing judicial review challenge in the High Court. I am deputising for the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy O'Donnell. In accordance with section 30 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, the Minister with responsibility for planning is precluded from exercising any power or control in any individual planning case with which a planning authority or the board is or may be concerned. This is a fundamental principle of the planning system to ensure that it operates without any political influence or interference. In speaking on behalf of the Minister and the Government, I too must adhere to these principles. With regard to the second case, which is the subject of an ongoing judicial review, I am sure the Deputies will accept that all parties involved are entitled to due process and that it would be inappropriate to comment on ongoing legal proceedings which are a matter for the courts. Therefore, on behalf of my colleagues, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, I will briefly refer to generalities as I cannot discuss any specific details. In general terms, where a licence is granted by a planning authority for overground telecommunications infrastructure such as that in accordance with section 254, this decision may be appealed to the board. I have outlined to the House the other elements with regard to the imposition of that and its clarity in the law.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply to both matters. I appreciate that he is delivering it on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell. I hand it to the Minister of State, that he has done one thing, in that in one speech he has really nailed section 254. It is a sneaky little exemption that allows local authorities to do an end run around the planning law. That is what we all collectively find so totally unacceptable. Where will it stop?
Will power generation plants be allowed next under a provision such as section 254? This is ridiculous. The section was never designed for this. It was introduced, in my maybe-too-cynical view, because too many problems were being found with the regular planning process and in getting these masts up. However, we have to put a stop to it now. We have, with the new planning legislation, an opportunity to do so. Section 10 can and should reflect the doing away with of the exception. As alluded to by Deputy Paul Murphy, Deputy Lahart and me, all people want is fairness in the application process. We are not Luddites against masts; we are opposed to a sneaky process that allows companies to do an end run around consultation with residents, communities and the people most affected.
I will close with one point. A home I saw the other day has a mast that is over 20 m high approximately 3 m from the side wall. It was provided by a local authority, which banged it in on a piece of grass by the footpath. Could any body other than a local authority get away with that? The answer is that it could not.
I will not repeat points already made. Unfortunately, legislation going through the House is not going to have any impact on what has happened in Kingswood or other areas. I thank the Minister of State for his replies to the matters submitted by my two colleagues and me. There are four points I want to make. Can the Minister of State clarify whether anybody has an appeal before An Bord Pleanála? I presume work must be stopped if there is an appeal against the planning permission. Why is the work ongoing?
According to the Minister of State's response, and as alluded to by Deputy Brophy, a person applying for a licence under section 254 must provide the planning authority with such plans and other information concerning the position, design and capacity of the appliance, apparatus or structure as the authority may require. In the case in question, South Dublin County Council denied any knowledge of the antenna going up. This clearly implies it had to have knowledge in advance – not just knowledge in the sense of its having been told it was going to happen but detailed designs and drawings concerning exactly what was going up and its purpose.
Exactly why are these antennae so important? What are they serving? I take the point on issues currently before the board; however, if I applied for planning permission for a house and someone appealed my grant of permission, I simply could not proceed with construction and would have to wait until the board adjudicated. Despite this, the developers on the sites in question continue as if no law applies to them. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for his latitude.
I thank the Minister of State for the response but unfortunately it did not answer the questions. Therefore, I will go again. Is it the case that where An Bord Pleanála is considering an appeal, the company has to stop? Alternatively, can it continue? That is a very simple question. The written response circulated, which I think the Minister of State did not read out, states: "With regard to the case which is the subject of an ongoing appeal to the board, the board must be allowed complete its determination of the appeal without interference." I presume that building the mast is interference in the sense that before the board has the chance to hear the case in question, the mast will be up. That was the case with another mast, referred to by the Minister of State. It went up over two years ago. Yes, it is the subject of a judicial review before the High Court, but, to all intents and purposes, that has been successfully won by the residents. An Bord Pleanála has said it is instructed not to defend the judicial review. The company has agreed to take the mast down. The decision has national significance because it has serious implications for all masts allowed to go up across the country under section 254. However, it is still there. If Cellnex gets away with putting up the mast to which I have referred, even with an appeal under way in An Bord Pleanála, does it not constitute interference with the process? I presume it is happening in the Minister of State's constituency because it is happening all across the country. A fundamental problem is that section 254 is being used to avoid public consultation and, at a lesser level, to avoid the issuing of site notices or public notices to make people aware of what will happen in their community. Surely people have a right to consultation, to be informed about things and to have an input into where a mast goes. Does the Government agree that section 254 needs to be seriously amended to have a proper planning process?
To go back to the points of Deputies Lahart and Brophy, I reiterate that a person applying for a licence under section 254 of the Act must provide the planning authority with such plans and other information concerning the position, design and capacity of the appliance, apparatus or structure as the authority may require. I am not getting into the ins and outs of a particular planning application because I am precluded from doing so in this House, but I am sure Deputies will know, since they have been members of local authorities, that there is a mechanism by which that can be checked in each and every local authority.
I stopped responding to Deputy Paul Murphy's point because I ran out of time. I will address it now. With regard to the case that is the subject of an ongoing appeal to the board, the board must be allowed to complete its determination of the appeal without interference.
With regard to the case that is the subject of an ongoing judicial review process, the court must be allowed to issue a final judgment. Further to processes that are under way, these cases may later be subject to enforcement proceedings by the relevant planning authority in accordance with Part VIII of the Act. Should these circumstances arise, they will be a matter for the relevant planning authority concerned.
The role of the Minister with responsibility for planning is mainly to provide and update the legislative and policy guidance framework. I have noted Deputy Brophy's point on amending legislation and upcoming legislation and will ask the Minister of State responsible, Deputy O'Donnell, to revert to him directly. The legislative framework comprises the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, and the associated Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended. It is a matter for the relevant planning authority, the board and the courts to consider each case before them individually on a case-by-case basis.
The planning system provides a balanced and proportionate approach regarding the provision of telecommunications infrastructure. The planning Act provides for decisions of planning authorities on both section 254 licences and planning applications to be appealed to the board and in turn for decisions of the board to be subjected to judicial review.
As outlined in the response I have provided to the Dáil, I am unable to comment on the specifics of any individual case. Ongoing appeals to the board or judicial reviews must be let run their course, and where breaches of the planning code do occur, including proceeding with the installation of a telecommunications mast prior to the conclusion of the statutory planning process, there are enforcement powers available to the relevant planning authorities under the planning Act to address any issues as they arise.
We appreciate the Minister of State coming in to deal with a matter that is difficult and sensitive. On the questions Members have raised about appeals to An Bord Pleanála, all of us who have dealt with planning matters over many years have found without exception that where an appeal is made to the board against a development, that development may not proceed. I have never known of a development that could legitimately proceed. I have known some chancers who proceeded with developments but they were not too bothered about the planning permission in the first instance. Anyway, I thank the Minister of State again and the three Deputies for raising this matter.
Fire Stations
Fire brigade staff in Cork have raised concerns with me, Deputy Ó Laoghaire and local councillors on the ground about their ability to ensure there is a proper fire service in Cork. There are currently three pumps in operation in Cork, with 18 crewing on a 24-7 basis. Once there were 18 staff covering a population of 126,000 but they are now expected to cover a population of over 240,000 as a result of the boundary extension of Cork city. Within the same area, they used four full-time pumps.
Ballincollig fire station closed in November 2021 and has not yet reopened. Last July saw 300 fires responded to by the fire brigade in Cork. They do Trojan work and save lives regularly, in addition to businesses and homes, and they need the pump in Ballincollig reopened. The staff who man it tell me they are overstretched, causing difficulties for them. The council keeps pointing to a recruitment campaign for retained staff to reopen the service but the reality is that this has failed.
The campaign has been running since October 2020 - almost three years - but the council has yet to hire a single retained staff member. We need full-time staff and Ballincollig fire station needs to be reopened. Will the Minister of State provide funding for that and give the firefighters of Cork that commitment?
The fire station closed in November 2021, just days after the Government party councillors voted to cut the fire service budget in Cork City Council. Is that a coincidence? At last night's meeting of Cork City Council, a call for the reopening of Ballincollig fire station was unanimously passed by councillors from all parties and none who called on the Minister of State and the Government to provide the funding.
Ballincollig is a place that has grown from not much more than a village 40 or 50 years ago to one of the biggest towns in Ireland. There are well over 20,000 people there and when the census results come out, there could be 25,000 people. The fire service has been there for much of that time but the growth in the area has significantly overtaken the station. It is important to understand this, and not only in the context of Ballincollig. It is very important for Ballincollig and its outlying area. It is a crucial piece of the jigsaw. Since Ballincollig has come into the functional area of Cork City Council, it is a key part of the jigsaw of the whole city's fire service and each station assists each other. It is a city of 200,000 people or more and each service has a crucial role to play.
The staff there are pulling their hair out. The station has been closed since November 2021. When you boil it down, we are talking about a closed fire station. They are concerned for their own situation and the implications for the safety of the people of Cork. We are coming into the summer, which is potentially the most hazardous part of the year and a time when they might have the most issues to respond to. Upcoming occasions like bonfire night will be very busy for the fire service. When they are overstretched, it presents a threat to their own safety and welfare so this is crucially important.
Clearly, the retained firefighter model is not working for Ballincollig. I am not sure if it is particularly practical in any community but in a place like Ballincollig where most people are working full-time in multinational corporations and so on, it is not always that easy to find an arrangement with your employer that allows you to be on call. It clearly has not worked because the recruitment has not been successful and they have not been able to take on any staff over this period. It has led to a situation where we have a closed fire station. A building that could serve Ballincollig and a significant chunk of the city and protect people's welfare is not available as a resource. We want the council to come forward with a recommendation. If it does, will the Minister of State sanction additional full-time staff?
I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy O'Donnell. The provision of a fire service in its functional area, including the establishment and maintenance of a fire brigade, the assessment of fire cover needs and the provision of fire station premises, is a statutory function of individual fire authorities under the Fire Service Acts 1981 and 2003.
The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage supports fire authorities by establishing policy, setting national standards for fire safety and fire service provision, providing a central training programme, issuing guidance on operational and other related matters and providing capital funding for priority infrastructural projects and the procurement of essential front-line fire appliances, ancillary vehicles and equipment.
Fire services are provided in Ireland by local authorities in accordance with the provisions of the Fire Services Acts 1981 and 2003. Under this legislation, 31 local authorities provide fire prevention and fire protection services for communities through 27 service delivery structures. Local authority fire services are delivered by approximately 3,300 local authority staff engaged at 217 fire stations nationwide with 16 of these stations being staffed by full-time firefighters, a further four having a mix of full-time and retained firefighters, and 197 being staffed by retained firefighters.
Following the boundary extension of Cork city in May 2019, the retained fire station at Ballincollig, which was previously under the auspices of Cork county fire service, was incorporated into the Cork City Council fire service. I understand that following a recruitment competition, a number of the city council's retained firefighters from Ballincollig fire station were successful in securing whole-time positions in the council's fire service. This resulted in vacancies in the retained fire service at Ballincollig. As an interim measure, Cork City Council deployed a crew of whole-time firefighters from the fire brigade headquarters in Anglesea Street to respond calls in the Ballincollig station area while a recruitment process got under way to fill the retained firefighter vacancies in Ballincollig.
The prioritisation of work and effective management of all resources is, in the first instance, a matter for the fire authority, based on its assessment of risk, needs and resources. In relation to the staffing requirements in each local authority, under the Local Government Act 2001, it is the responsibility of each chief executive to employ such staff and to make such staffing, funding, recruitment and organisational arrangements as may be deemed necessary for the purposes of carrying out the functions of his or her local authority.
It was the determination of Cork City Council following an assessment by senior fire service management that the interim measure of placing a whole-time crew at Ballincollig fire station was a significant overprovision of fire service cover from a risk assessment perspective, and could not be sustained. The average number of calls per week for the period was four, categorising this as C2 in terms of risk profile, which is substantially below the threshold that would justify whole-time staffing. Consequently, the interim measure was withdrawn and crews currently respond to fire calls in the Ballincollig area from Cork city. Cork City Council has determined this to be the optimal approach given the current constraints in recruiting retained firefighters in Ballincollig.
Following the publication of the Keeping Communities Safe policy document in 2013, which set national norms, standards and targets for the provision of safe and effective fire services in Ireland, fire authorities were requested to undertake an initial area risk categorisation process for their functional area using a process set out in Keeping Communities Safe and to prepare a short report on the process and outcomes. The area risk categorisation process resulted in the area to which the first response is sent by each fire station, known as the "fire station ground", being assigned an area risk categorisation grading.
Over the course of 2014 and 2015, an external validation group, EVG, from the management board of the national directorate for fire and emergency management in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage visited every local authority in the country as part of the first external validation process on area risk categorisation in Ireland arising from implementation of Keeping Communities Safe. This culminated in the publication of the first EVG report entitled, Local Delivery - National Consistency. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage will be conducting a second EVG process, which is due to take place in 2025.
A further capacity review of local authority fire services, Response, Resilience and Recovery - A Review of the Impact of Covid-19 on Irish Fire Services, was completed in 2020. It reported many strengths and the outstanding commitment and effort of front-line teams, and made recommendations for service development that are now in the final stages of implementation.
The firefighters have been to the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, numerous times and have still not been able to reach a solution. The firefighters are telling me that they are willing to work with Cork City Council. Billy Crowley, who is one of the firefighters, said they want to resolve this issue. Having retained staff is not going to work in Ballincollig. They need full-time staff with the Ballincollig fire station reopened. Why has Cork City Council been insistent for almost three years on trying to recruit retained staff? These are on-call firefighters. In 2023 in the town of Ballincollig, which is now part of Cork city, those people do not work in the village like they did in the old days. They could be working for Apple, in Ringaskiddy or in Little Island. This model does not work. We want Cork City Council to put what it has to offer on the table and engage with the workers. I gave a figure. The existing cohort of fire staff is the same now as it was in 1975, which is 48 years ago. How can that be right?
Two points arise here. The first concerns the WRC. The firefighters are telling us that they have been to the WRC on two occasions about issues relating to this so there is no lack of engagement on their part but, unfortunately, it has not borne fruit.
The Minister of State is not wrong. It is to a large extent a local government function. I appreciate that but we came here with a particular ask. We are not asking the Minister of State to second-guess the functions of Cork City Council. Obviously, a portion of this has to be worked through. If it comes to a point, which we are working on and we hope the WRC and the firefighters can get to that point, where Cork City Council brings a proposal forward to the Minister of State seeking full-time staff, will he okay it?
That is the function the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, and his Department has regarding this. Will he give it clearance because I think it is warranted?
As Deputy Ó Laoghaire points out, I am taking this on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy O’Donnell. It is important to note that the non-availability of any particular fire station does not mean that fire risk management, including fire service response, is diminished. The systemic approach to fire risk management, which has been the policy in use in this country for a more than a decade, has seen a welcome and steady downward trend in fire losses in Ireland. While each fire death is one too many, the fire fatality rate per million of population, averaged over three years, stands at 4.3. Everyone will recognise that is too high but it is one third of what it was 20 years ago which is a huge improvement. That level of fire fatalities positions Ireland among countries with very low fire fatality rates.
Provision of a retained fire service in Ballincollig remains the objective of Cork City Council, and there is a live recruitment campaign for retained firefighters in Ballincollig. It is hoped that suitable candidates in Ballincollig will be interested in taking up roles as retained firefighters, and, going back to what Deputy Gould said, that the local business community will consider facilitating any staff that go forward for this valuable community service.
The Department continues to support the council through the Minister’s fire services capital programme, with approved expenditure in excess of €1.8 million since 2020 for the procurement of emergency appliances in the form of a new aerial appliance, a new class B fire tender and additional fire service vehicles and equipment.
In conclusion, I note what Deputy Ó Laoghaire said in relation to the WRC having invited Cork City Council and staff representatives to talks with a view to building a consensus and finding a resolution on the Ballincollig dispute. On behalf of the Minister of State, I strongly encourage all parties involved to use the established industrial relations machinery of the State to resolve this dispute in the interests of the people in the area.
Disability Services
I thank the Minister of State for coming in. We have talked about some of the cases over the last few months and she has been very helpful. I want to put that on the record.
The Minister of State will be well aware that in all counties the parents of children or young adults with challenging behaviour or intellectual disabilities do their best right through their life as long as they can. There are daycare services where this is done, which I recognise, and there is respite but there is one instance that I have discussed with the Minister of State. People get older, obviously, and the other person may lose their health. There can be a worry about making sure that their loved one is looked after. This happens right around the country; it is not "my back door" stuff.
Unfortunately, there has been an issue in the past six or eight months. I compliment the Minister of State, because any time I have gone to her she has tried to help me, and also John Fitzmaurice in the HSE. We get a reply back from one service provider in particular, Ability West, that it does not have the funding to do something. Then you go to John Fitzmaurice and try to beat him up about funding and, in fairness, funding would be made available, but then you get something back that says that the patient will have to be assessed. The Minister of State will be aware that in the case that I am on about, among others we have talked about, when someone unfortunately passes on in one of those residential places, they then have to assess the person. For whatever reason, the person will offer every excuse and they do not have staff etc. and parents are left in limbo. It is regrettable.
We need a sea change in how we are doing this. In rural Ireland it is not the solution to send someone from Glinsk to Galway city or 50 or 60 miles away. Their parents may be getting old and they love to see that person. They have saved the State a fortune over the years because many of these people are incontinent and non-verbal. Their families have done everything possible right throughout their lives and it breaks their hearts to let go but for the betterment of those young and middle-aged people or older adults, they do this to make sure they have a secure future when their loved one is moving on or in bad health.
Great people set up a lot of the foundations down through the years with voluntary groups collecting money and all of that but something has changed in the last six months to a year where there are now a lot of refusals. In every county in Ireland there are children with challenging behaviours and disabilities and we need to make sure that we plan for the future to accommodate those as citizens of this country as much as possible.
Close to me at home in Creggs, and the Minister of State has been down there, I hope a proposal will soon go in about trying to do that very thing of bringing the services closer to the areas where they are required. I hope Ger Dowd will soon send something in to the Minister of State and to John Fitzmaurice and that that can be looked at and assessed, and they would work with the community on that into the future. It is very frustrating. The Minister of State will have seen the case when we were told that someone was going to the family to assess the person. They did not come out for a week after that. The language they use is mesmerising. Those people need help. I ask the Minister of State to try to resolve that case especially. I thank her for everything up until now.
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Without getting into specifics I know exactly case that the Deputy is talking about. I cannot imagine what it is like for that mum needing that assistance or for any mother or father as they age who needs that assistance to ensure that before their time comes they have catered for their loved one. There is a huge amount of unmet need out there and a huge amount of emergency residential places required which means there is no capacity building whatever for the planned phase of support. To be fair to John Fitzmaurice and his team last year, they assisted in 28 planned residential spaces in county Galway. Galway has 458 people availing of residential spaces. That is the guts of 120 houses. That does not mean that providers cannot be empathetic or understanding and that they cannot reorganise and be a bit more agile because there is a willingness there and funding available within the HSE to make things happen.
At no stage should a person be left abandoned and unsupported or a family feel it is abandoned and unsupported. That totally goes against the ethos of this Government and it certainly goes against the ethos of how I aspire to support families. That is why over the past three years, I have always ensured there was enough funding there so that we could start chipping into that unmet need. I hope over the coming months, as we prepare for the budget, that the unmet need and capacity building that is so badly required will support people like John Fitzmaurice and all his colleagues in the HSE. We have funding there and we must also work in partnership with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to ensure there is housing coming on stream and that at the same time the revenue pool is there to support the families who have parents over 70, 80 and 90 so that they can have proper transitional support and at the same time ensure that when an emergency case presents, and a family’s back is to the wall, the funding should be the last issue. It should be the resource to ensure that the staff and the bed is available and that a person can be cared for as close to their home as possible. We talk about new directions. New directions is about ensuring that people are as close to home as possible and feel supported in the community where they are known and minded. I look forward to the proposal that Ger Dowd and his colleague, Kieran, will send in to me.
To return to the matter the Deputy has raised, it is unfortunate that over the past 12 months, many people have come forward who have been seeking residential spaces. They do not feel they have been supported or that the capacity has been created to meet their needs. Sometimes, where they are already availing of five-day services, they need an extra two days to ensure that a full service is made available to them. That is one of the issues that John Fitzmaurice is very clear about. To be honest, it does not sit well with the disability manager either, that we have to go to private providers when there are well-established service providers who have staff, a skillset and who also know the various people who are in need. They know their needs and their wants. They know their abilities and how to mind them.
I will continue to work with the Deputy on that case and, to be fair to the head of disability, so will he. That case is an incredibly harsh one. It is unfortunate that Deputy Fitzmaurice has been raising this for the last four months and that family still has no positive resolution.
I welcome everything the Minister of State has said. To be honest, the system is broken. If the system were not broken, I would not have to address the Minister of State here tonight and raise the issue on the floor of the Dáil. Unfortunately, as I outlined earlier, it is sad to think - this is no disrespect to any other county - that someone who may be in County Galway has to go looking in some other county to be facilitated. While it is welcome and while I am not saying we are against it, it is sad to think that this is a matter of where you come from or close to where you come from. No one is looking for “my back door” stuff. What needs to be understood is that it is a last resort when someone puts up their hand. It may be parents who are looking for the help of full-time care. They will have tried everything in their power and they will have worked as hard as they can. They will have done everything they can to make sure they will make a good life for their loved one. It is a matter of trying to think of the future and making sure they will have a future of security above all and that they are looked after properly for the rest of their life. As I said, this goes for every county in the country.
I want to also put on the record of the House for anyone who is watching that John Fitzmaurice has the same name as me but he is nothing to me. In fairness to him, we have spoken to him. My staff have spoken to him on numerous occasions, and he has helped us in cases. I hope this case can be resolved because it is urgent, but there are other cases as well.
That is right.
I do not want to come in here and pick up one issue at a time. If we solve the overall issue, it will be a job well done. I think the Minister of State for her help in it all.
I want to recognise the hurt and upset it causes families when they reach that stage where they are no longer in a position to care for their most precious. They reach out for help, and they really need it. Yet, they do not find that that help is being provided. We have to work. The system is not working. There is an unmet need. There are two parts needed to make it work. It is my job to ensure there is enough revenue in place to ensure we can move away from just emergency and building capacity towards the unmet need. That will come with the launch of the disability action plan. On the other side, I need the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, as well as the local authorities, to think at all times about individuals with disabilities so we ring-fence and hold properties for them.
I will share an initiative I have worked on in the county, namely, the Living My Life project, which is a residential pilot project for Galway city and county. It is organised between the Brothers of Charity and Ability West. I have ring-fenced funding for a five-year project and I am trying to trial it in Galway where my eyes can be on it, no more than Deputy Fitzmaurice’s eyes will be on it. This is for young people to be able to live independent lives and to support them into employment and education. At the same time, they will have the watchful, useful eyes of their parents who will be assisting them.
This is to build a residential space for them in their own community so that it never becomes an expensive emergency package. The project is getting in at the bottom and at the start in order to phase them into the community. I would like to tell the Deputy that the 32 spaces have been filled. However, I am 18 months into the project and it has taken me 18 months to get two social workers. I would therefore like to see a little bit more progress and force behind it. This is a model that I believe can work so we can prevent expensive emergency residential projects at the end. It also will ensure that when an emergency arises, it will be prioritised because we will have addressed the unmet need along the way.