Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 29 Apr 2025

Vol. 1066 No. 2

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Vaccination Programme

Deputy Colm Burke

The issue I am raising is the shingles vaccine. As the Minister of State knows, shingles causes quite a lot of difficulty for people who get it. Herpes zoster is the other name for it. It is very painful. It can affect people really badly, especially when they get it close to the eye. I have come across people who have suffered long-term damage to their eyes from getting it in that area and I am sure the Minister of State has too. Over 30% of people who get shingles develop nerve pain and can suffer that for quite a long period. Anyone who has suffered chicken pox is more likely to get shingles at some stage in their lives. There is a high risk for people over 50 years of age. There is a high risk for people who have had Covid infection and also where people have chronic respiratory problems.

This is one area where a lot of work and moneys could be saved if there was a comprehensive vaccination programme, especially for people over 65. There is a recommendation there would be five vaccines for older people available. We currently have three. It was recommended that a vaccine be introduced for this medical condition, particularly for people over 65. I believe 13 countries around Europe have a vaccine in place. It varies from country to country but it shows there is a real benefit not only from a health point of view but from a financial one. A study carried out by the Office of Health Economics has shown that for every euro spent on providing a vaccine there is €23 saved.

This is important. As I said, some people can suffer long term damage and health problems. People will end up in hospital with complications and once a person ends up hospital there is a huge cost in real terms to the health service, whereas a vaccine could save a lot of the costs currently being incurred.

It is about being proactive. The age group over 65 is increasing every year. The good point is people are living longer and the number aged over 65 has increased from over 600,000 ten or 12 years ago to more than 800,000 now. By 2030, we will have more than 1 million people over 65 years of age. People over 65 or even people over 50 are more prone to getting shingles. Now is the time for planning as regards the ageing population and putting in place a vaccine programme to deal with this issue.

Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development (Deputy Jerry Buttimer)

I thank Deputy Burke for raising this matter in the House this evening. I am taking the matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, who shares Deputy Burke's concerns in relation to the current cost of shingles vaccination in Ireland. Varicella is a common, highly infectious disease caused by the varicella zoster virus. The virus is associated with two distinct clinical syndromes, varicella, known as chickenpox, and herpes zoster, commonly known as shingles. Primary infection with the varicella zoster virus results in varicella, after which the virus becomes latent in the body’s nervous system. The virus may reactivate after a period, sometimes several decades later, resulting in herpes zoster or shingles. Approximately one third of people who have had a varicella infection will develop a shingles infection at some point during their lifetime due to reactivation of the virus.

Morbidity associated with herpes zoster increases with age. The most common complication is post-herpetic neuralgia, a persistent pain in the area of the rash. This has the potential to cause significant reductions in quality of life, activity, mood and sleep. Two thirds of cases occur in those aged 50 and older. The risk of developing the disease in those aged 85 and over is 50%. A non-live, recombinant shingles vaccine called Shingrix is available in Ireland and is given as a two-dose vaccine. Shingrix is more effective than the previously available live vaccine Zostavax and can be safely administered to immunocompromised patients. Shingrix has also replaced Zostavax as the preferred vaccine against shingles internationally. The national immunisation advisory committee guidelines state that the Shingrix vaccine may be considered in those aged 65 and older due to the greater burden and severity of disease and post-herpetic neuralgia in this age group and in those aged 18 years and older at increased risk of shingles. The shingles vaccine is not currently provided as part of the national immunisation programme.

The Minister for Health advises that following a request from her Department, HIQA carried out a health technology assessment, HTA, on the herpes zoster vaccine which protects against shingles. This assessment examined the evidence on the clinical effectiveness and safety of shingles vaccines. The cost-effectiveness and budget impact were also reviewed, along with the ethical, social and organisational implications of including the vaccine in the adult immunisation schedule. HIQA published this HTA on 19 July last year. The HTA found that adding the shingles vaccine to the routine immunisation schedule at the vaccine price at the time for all adults aged 65 and over would not be cost-effective and would be associated with a substantial budget impact. While the HTA found that the introduction of the shingles vaccine was not cost-effective based on the cost of the vaccine, it found that it could be cost-effective for vaccination of those aged 75 years and 80 years if the cost of the vaccine was reduced by 80%. Given that the healthcare budget is finite and decisions regarding increased spending relating to a change in one area could impact the provision of other health technologies and treatments within the healthcare system, the cost-effectiveness must be considered in any decision-making process. The Department considered the findings of this HTA and determined that the introduction of the vaccine could be reconsidered when the cost-effectiveness of the vaccine is confirmed as more favourable.

On the question of the shingles vaccine being included in the drugs payment scheme and the medical card scheme, it is the Health Service Executive which has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicines in accordance with the provisions of the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013. The Minister for Health has no role in decisions relating to approving which medical products are covered under these schemes.

Deputy Colm Burke

I accept what the Minister of State said; obviously, there is an issue regarding the negotiated price for the medication. Surely, we must look at the long-term challenges with an increasing older population. As the Minister of State outlined, those in the older age group are more prone to getting shingles. The number of people having to go into hospital will increase, as will the number who require treatment. The cost to the HSE and health service will increase. Even if we started by only providing it to people over 70, that would at least be a start on the programme. We are going nowhere at present.

People require support. There are long-term effects that people do not recover from. I am aware of several people who suffered long-term eye damage from shingles and cannot regain their previous vision. Their eyesight is not the same as it was previously as a result of the damage caused by shingles. We should give careful consideration to this matter and take it step by step. If we cannot afford to provide the vaccine to everyone over 65, we must at least start with some age group so we can then work back to include people aged 65 and, long term, down to 50.

I ask the Department to give serious consideration to this matter to see how it can be progressed. There is a cost to the State. It is a substantial cost every year with hospital admissions and people having to attend their GPs, most of whom have medical cards and will have to attend more often if they contract the infection. I ask that careful consideration be given to the proposal.

Deputy Jerry Buttimer

Deputy Burke made some very valid points. He is right about the long-term effects of shingles and the ageing population. I thank him again for raising this important matter. He is right that we should be forward thinking. Vaccination is regarded as one of the most effective, cost-effective and successful public health interventions that exist, saving many lives every year. As has been highlighted, shingles can impact anyone who has been infected with chickenpox during their life, leaving a significant proportion of the general population vulnerable. Up to one in three people who have had chickenpox will go on to have shingles. That is why the Department requested that HIQA carry out a HTA to review the evidence for adding the shingles vaccination to the adult immunisation schedule in Ireland. It is hoped that the introduction of the shingles vaccine to the immunisation schedule in Ireland can be reconsidered if and when the cost-effectiveness of the vaccine is confirmed as more favourable. Members will be aware that the immunisation programme in Ireland is based on the advice of the national immunisation advisory committee. The committee's recommendations are based on the prevalence of the relevant disease in Ireland and international best practice in relation to immunisation.

To protect the public from serious outcomes of diseases, vaccines included in the national immunisation programme are administered free of charge to those in eligible at-risk groups. More generally, the Minister asked that I take this opportunity to urge all those eligible for any vaccine under the national immunisation programme, at all stages of life, to avail of the opportunity to be vaccinated. In particular, the Minister encourages all parents to bring their young infants, in line with the vaccination schedule, to the GP for their important childhood immunisations. This will help us to reach the shared objective of protecting public health by preventing the spread of disease in our community.

I will take the Deputy's remarks back to the Department and the Minister. He made valid points that should be listened to.

Apprenticeship Programmes

Deputy Michael Cahill

I would like to address the issue of the national apprenticeship training placement system. I understand apprenticeship scheduling is currently carried out on a national basis by co-ordinating providers and all efforts are made to schedule apprentices to their nearest available training location. If this is not possible, they will be called to the next nearest available location. However, the system is restricted by the availability of training spaces within the pool of college providers for the craft in question. In some instances, apprentices in Kerry have been assigned to a programme in Dundalk and apprentices in Dundalk to programmes in Kerry. There are similar cases elsewhere.

Apprentices are entitled to request rescheduling should a college location not be their preference. They are only permitted to request a reschedule up to three times. When an offer is refused, the length of the delay will be specific to when the next available scheduled class is due to commence. It is my understanding that there is no guarantee that a closer location would be available for those who request it.

It is clear from speaking to constituents in County Kerry that apprentices are being sent unacceptable distances for their necessary training. This issue disproportionately affects rural and working-class families and those without personal transport. The current system discourages these individuals from pursuing careers in their desired trades at a time when we are facing a huge shortage of skilled labour. I appreciate that the Government has put significant resources into dealing with the backlog in the system, which is falling significantly. Credit is due here and I urge the Government to continue to work on that. However, I ask the Minister and his Department to work to find a solution for those apprentices travelling long distances to training centres by allocating increased resources to build capacity in current training centres and develop new training facilities across the country. Another issue is the short notice when trying to acquire accommodation, in particular given the national housing crisis.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Deputy James Lawless)

I thank Deputy Cahill for raising this important matter. I acknowledge the Deputy's continued advocacy for his constituency of Kerry and his interest in this topic. He has raised this issue with me via parliamentary questions as well as elsewhere. I am aware of the issue the Deputy has raised. It is an important and frustrating issue. It has been raised with me in a number of different situations. In my response I want to set out the reasons why this can arise, how it arises and how it may be best managed.

As the Deputy acknowledged in his remarks, the Government is fully committed to making apprenticeships a strong, productive and positive journey for learners and employers. That is set out in the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-25. As the Deputy has acknowledged, the resources that have matched that include millions of euro, in particular in the last budget, to cement that track. Apprenticeships play a vital role in our education and skills ecosystem, combining on-the-job training with off-the-job learning. It is sometimes put as earn as you learn and delivers real career opportunities in every part of the country in a vital range of skills.

There are 77 apprenticeship programmes, ranging from traditional craft apprenticeships to non-traditional things like cybersecurity, accounting technicians, digital marketing and many other areas that may not have been part of the apprenticeship spectrum in the past. The Government is continuing to expand training capacity for apprenticeships, with budget 2024 providing €144 million for apprenticeship training. There are national programmes delivered through ETBs at local level and technological universities, with SOLAS being the co-ordinating body.

It is important, as I said the outset, that the goal of every apprenticeship programme is to match capacity with demand and to match the needs of apprentices and their employer. The objective is to get the apprentice into training as quickly, efficiently and productively as possible, and ideally always at the nearest available training centre. If it is not available at the nearest centre, the next closest is offered. There can be challenges when a placement is offered that is not local. Every registered apprentice is assigned a dedicated training adviser in the ETB as the go-to point when issues arise. That person is a key contact point for guidance, problem solving and practical support throughout the training journey.

Apprentices and their employers - it is a two-way pact - can decline up to three offers if the timing or location does not suit their needs and can be rescheduled. There are three goes at this. Three offers can be made, and there can be three refusals and three attempts to reschedule and rebalance. It is not a perfect system but it aims to balance fairness, urgency and regional capacity constraints.

Just like university or college courses, not every apprenticeship course is available in every region. There are reasons for that. For example, stone cutting and stone masonry is a very specialist niche area, and a very difficult and highly skilled one, but there are only 30 places available nationwide. They are delivered in Kerry, the Deputy's county. The training of farriers is again a specialist niche area delivered in my constituency of Kildare because it is the home of the horse. It has a particular and narrow number of places, and there is a reason for that. Such places will not be available nationwide.

However, many other courses are available nationwide. The difficulty is finding a course on a schedule that suits a particular apprentice that is becoming available at that time. If the apprentice is not able to take up that course, the next best offer may not be guaranteed to be in the closest location and may in fact be further away. There is a degree of lottery that kicks in at that stage.

The Department is very aware of the burden that travel and accommodation can impose on an apprentice who is asked to travel away from home. There are targets and supports in place, such as the rent-a-room relief. People can avail of €14,000 tax free while providing dig type accommodation. Other measures are provided. There is an accommodation allowance for craft apprentices who have to travel outside of their home region to avail of accommodation elsewhere.

I acknowledge there is a difficulty. There is no easy answer for the Deputy. There are three refusals allowed, but it is not a guarantee that the next will be in a preferable location. I will respond further on that.

Deputy Michael Cahill

I thank the Minister for his detailed response and the work he is doing in this area. I would like to briefly mention Kerry ETB, of which I was a member for many years. I know first-hand the tremendous variety of courses provided there. I would like to take this opportunity to ask the Minister to increase the number of courses provided in all of our colleges, not just in Kerry but throughout the country. I believe that is important.

I mentioned middle and low income earners and how difficult it is to pay for and acquire accommodation at short notice. I would like to see an effort being made in that regard to give better incentives, more time and improved assistance for families if at all possible. I again thank the Minister for his response.

Deputy James Lawless

I thank the Deputy for his advocacy. I appreciate that there can be short notice - I understand it is typically seven days from a letter of offer to a response. If an apprentice is not in a position to take up the offer that time, it is given to the next person on the list. There are two competing goals. One is to keep the system moving and keep apprentices on the waiting list moving forward through the queue while at the same time accommodating people's preferences in terms of region or location in order that they can continue their studies.

As I said, it may not always be the closest location but it is the next on the list at that particular time. Timeliness and location are the two competing issues. There can be anomalies, which I have seen in cases raised with me. If the Deputy wants to raise a particular case or cases, I would be happy to take a detailed note on that. Perhaps I can engage with the Deputy off-line to see whether we can progress a particular issue for him.

International Protection

Deputy Louis O'Hara

Public representatives were made aware of a contract having been signed to provide international protection accommodation at the Merriman Hotel, Kinvara, on 18 March. This was the first anybody had heard about this. It has caused enormous anger in the local community. I need to stress that the people of Kinvara have always been very welcoming to refugees from different parts of the world over many years. However, in this instance, there was zero engagement with the community in advance of this proposal, which could have allowed for potential issues to be identified and addressed, but no respect was shown to the community and no engagement took place.

There was a failure to follow the Government's stated policy of not locating new IPAS centres in the sole hotel in a town or village. The Taoiseach has informed the local community council that this does not apply to the Merriman Hotel because it has been out of use as a hotel.

This is an absurd response. The building has been in use accommodating Ukrainian refugees, and if Government is moving away from providing refugee accommodation in sole hotels, then why does this not apply to the Merriman?

Most concerning, there has been a failure to provide any clarity for the current Ukrainian residents on what their future is. We are told there is a freeze on moving Ukrainians at the moment but that this could change at any time. These people are well integrated into the community. They have built their lives there. The work there and go to school. They have made Kinvara their home, and any day now they could be told that they will be moved elsewhere at short notice. How can that be justified? It is a disgraceful way to treat human beings, especially people who have already been forcibly displaced from their home country. Now, the Government is going to put them through that again. The only people whose interests it is acting in here are the owners of the hotel who have received a very lucrative contract from the State. The community in Kinvara want a pause on these plans to allow for meaningful engagement with them and for clarity for the Ukrainian residents on their future. Will the Minister of State provide for this?

Deputy Mattie McGrath

I, too, have tabled a Topical Issue matter about Dundrum House Hotel in County Tipperary. I am appalled that the Minister who is responsible for this, Deputy Foley, left this Chamber 20 minutes ago. She fled, but she cannot hide from the people. It is disgusting to treat elected representatives like this. If she was not here, I would say something, but she was here all evening in this Chamber. The contract on Dundrum House Hotel raises some very serious questions. I am extremely concerned about the lack of transparency with regard to the matter. We need to know how such a contract has been awarded to Utmasta Limited, a newly formed private company incorporated in Spain last January. The company lists a single director, Ms Ana Maria Fernandez Sanchez, with a declared income of €120. This contract for €20 million of taxpayers' money was signed in such a fashion. The Tánaiste, Simon Harris, stood in this Chamber some months ago and told me that this would all be paused. I have been running after the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, who will have responsibility for this on May Day, which is in two days' time. The Minister, Deputy Foley, has it now and she will not deal with it. Somebody signed this contract with a shady, dodgy company that is before the courts. Three cases have been in the courts this week across the river in this city with the receivers, the funders for the company and, indeed, the Dundrum heritage company.

I salute na daoine ó Dhún Droma i dTiobraid Árann. They are decent people. However, blackguarding has gone on here. This is taxpayers' money on a €20 million contract. It is €20 million in taxpayers' money with a paper company that is not there. We know it is the same owners who have it, and the people who have been dealing and blackguarding and who are not interested in the well-being of IPAS people. They are interested in their greasy pockets. I am shocked that the Government think they can wash their hands like Pontius Pilate. I know it is after Easter. That is what it is from the Minister, Deputy Foley, to evade this question. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, is saying he has not got it. The Minister of State is here tonight. No disrespect to him; he is probably reading out an answer. However, the public need answers about enormous amounts of taxpayers' money going into companies that have no track record and as I said, are before the courts. The Department of integration was made clearly aware of this. To have signed this for 277 applicants to be put into a village of 200 people is simply GUBU territory. That is grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented. It is shocking.

Deputy Jerry Buttimer

I thank Deputies O'Hara and McGrath for raising these important matters tonight and for allowing me, as Deputy McGrath said, to respond on behalf of the Minister.

I say to Deputy O’Hara that the Department recently announced that 98 beds for families seeking international protection will be provided at the Merriman Hotel in Kinvara. The property was previously used to house people who were beneficiaries of the temporary protection directive due to the war in Ukraine and was also used as an international protection accommodation services accommodation centre prior to 2022.

The community engagement team has been sharing information with local representatives and community groups since 18 March, including, as the Deputy said, a detailed briefing note, meetings and personal contacts. My information is that the engagement with the community has been extensive over recent months, and we will now progress to providing refuge to families at this location. In terms of the people from Ukraine who remain at the property, they will stay at the Merriman and will be accommodated under the new arrangements.

One of the queries raised during community engagement in Kinvara was the agreement to not contract IPAS accommodation in a given town’s only operating hotel. This was accepted by Government and was agreed to on the basis of not removing an important current amenity from public use. The hotel has not been in public use since the Covid-19 pandemic, and since 2022, it has been providing accommodation under contract to the Department. As such, it was not considered necessary to exclude it from consideration for this much-needed accommodation for families in need of shelter.

Deputy McGrath raised the issue of Dundrum House Hotel, which ceased operation as a hotel in 2015. There is a golf course, grounds and a hospitality business on site, which have remained open to the community while part of the site operates as an accommodation centre. The former hotel has been providing refuge to a peak capacity of 270 people from Ukraine since 2022, and to more than 50 international protection applicants since the summer of last year.

A new contract has commenced at this property, and the centre will provide accommodation to up to 277 people in families seeking international protection. This figure includes beneficiaries of temporary protection due to the war in Ukraine who were already being accommodated and is not therefore an increase in the overall capacity at this centre since 2022. The community engagement team has extensively engaged with the local community about this property since May 2024, including discussions on the potential accommodation of international protection applicants.

On 15 April 2025, the community engagement team sent a formal briefing note, including the name of the accommodation provider, the type and nature of accommodation to be provided and details about the services to be put in place. In terms of the provider themselves, the Department can consider offers of accommodation from a tax-compliant company, subject to compliance with statutory requirements and minimum standards. Offers of accommodation can be made by a property owner, leaseholder or other authority. As part of the Department's appraisal process, it can confirm if an offer has come from someone with the appropriate authority. The Department carries out due diligence on accommodation being contracted to ensure Companies Registration Office and tax compliance.

In line with EU trade arrangements, a company or company director from another EU member state may operate contracts within Ireland or work with an Irish business to do so. In terms of the contract in this case, the registered company named on the contract is a newly established entity that fully met the Department’s requirements. The company is part of a wider commercial group that has experience in providing international protection accommodation. Where the Department enters into a contract, the onus is on the accommodation provider to ensure all activities at the property are within legal limits.

The Department understands the local authority is in contact with the property with regard to planning matters, and as this is a large site with various distinct areas and uses, these matters are largely unrelated to the areas of the site contracted to the Department. The Department is also aware of ongoing court proceedings with regard to this property, which is not appropriate for me to comment upon. I assure the Deputy that should any action be required as a result of any court proceedings or the local authority’s engagement at the property, these will be addressed by Department officials as appropriate.

Deputy Louis O'Hara

Engagement is no good after a decision is made. That is not consultation. Communities cannot be kept in the dark on these proposals and treated with utter contempt. It is a recipe for disaster. Stating that the sole hotel policy does not apply to hotels like the Merriman is a cop-out. It is a hotel. It is the only one in the village. This is a tourist village, and the loss of this hotel is having a serious economic impact. There is no clarity for the Ukrainian residents - 40 people are still there, by the way. Shame on this Government for treating these people in this manner and leaving them in limbo and in this uncertain situation. There should be a practical plan put in place to keep these people in the community and in the hotel until that is achieved. Government needs to put this contract on hold and engage with people in the local community. The Minister, Deputy Foley, or an Taoiseach should come down to Kinvara and explain to the local community how this is not a hotel and explain to the Ukrainian residents why they cannot provide any clarity to them on their future. I ask that this be taken back to the Minister, Deputy Foley, and Minister of State, Deputy Brophy. I agree that it is very disappointing that the Minister left before this.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

I am extremely disappointed with the reply the Minister of State read out. I want the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for Justice and the Minister, Deputy Foley, to halt, pause and withdraw this contract because of the company that is involved. The Minister of State gave me gobbledegook there. It is not legal to pay €20 million to a company that has not filed taxes and that is not compliant with the Companies Act. Both Brogan Capital Ventures Limited and Utmasta Limited are subsidiaries of Steelworks Investments Limited.

That holding company last filed accounts with the Companies Registration Office in 2017. In the name of God, there is collective Cabinet responsibility under the Constitution to serve the people of Ireland and not to be trading with these cabal outfits that have no trust. The people in Dundrum House, Tipperary, and all over the country are incensed. The Government continues with this failed policy and makes greedy people richer and fat cats fatter in the name of looking after people. They have no interest in looking after people. They are interested only in the money in their pockets. It is disgusting that this contract has been signed. I want it withdrawn and I want a full investigation. I have referred the matter to the Committee of Public Accounts, and I hope the Minister of State will support me with that. This is a shocking vista and it is not acceptable.

Deputy Jerry Buttimer

To Deputy O'Hara, I repeat that those people from Ukraine who remain in the property will stay at the Merriman Hotel and will be accommodated under new arrangements. That is fairly black and white. I take on board the comments of both Deputies and will bring them back to the Minister.

The Department has been working with communities all over Ireland to source and provide accommodation for people applying for international protection. Emergency centres have been opened in all parts of the country. This is part of Irish and EU law and is also part of our humanitarian duty to provide shelter to people fleeing war and persecution in their home countries. I repeat that it is our humanitarian duty.

The State is currently accommodating over 33,000 people in over 320 international protection accommodation centres around the country. The Government is working towards a more sustainable international protection accommodation system that will include moving away, over time, from an over-reliance on commercial and emergency accommodation contracts. The Government is working to ensure that a greater proportion of accommodation is provided on State-owned land over time. The degree of control given to the State by the creation of a core supply of State-owned accommodation for both emergency and permanent options will increase as supply is delivered, re-establishing strategic direction over the accommodation type, location and dispersal pattern. This work will be progressed as part of the development of a new migration and integration strategy, and will shortly transfer from this Department to the Department of Justice. That move is to be completed in the coming days.

Deputy Mattie McGrath made reference to May Day. I repeat that there has been engagement. We have a humanitarian duty. The Government and Department are working in compliance with tax requirements, the Companies Registration Office and EU trade agreements.

I ask Members to be careful in the language they use. I recognise their views are sincerely held. However, our language and how we express ourselves is very important. We are talking here about people who are looking for refuge and are living in communities. I urge all Members to be sensitive to the needs of everybody.

Sports Funding

Deputy Aidan Farrelly

I thank the Minister of State for being here. The community sports facilities fund, CSFF, is seen by clubs and groups throughout this country as a vital cog in the revenue raising machine, specifically when it comes to development or expansion works that sports clubs might require in order to grow. I know that in County Kildare, the fund is very much relied upon for the development of pitches, clubhouses and other relevant infrastructure.

In 2024, the Government stated that it allocated more than €250 million to community sports clubs and facilities. I commend the previous Government on its commitment to sport. I wish the Minister of State well as he embarks on a review of this fund. I look forward to seeing the outcome of the review. I can only stress that the number of clubs that have not yet benefited from this fund continue to far outweigh those that have. The Government's continued commitment to sports capital projects should remain a priority.

I raise an issue of critical importance to the governance and oversight of significant sums of public funds taken from the CSFF. Two of my boys play soccer in the Kildare and district underage league, KDUL. I am a proud coach of the Prosperous United under-14 team. It has been the highlight of my week for many years now to take training sessions on a Thursday evening and to prepare for a soccer game on a Saturday morning. It is a unique privilege to play such an important role in the lives of young men and women. I have seen fellow parents dedicate their free time to the development of the game in their local clubs or even at county level. The work ranges from grass cutting to running table quizzes, from registering players to painting dressing rooms and from marking pitches to making burgers, all for the kids. One can imagine the collective shock and concern when we read Mark Tighe's excellent reporting in the Sunday Independent of alleged financial irregularities that have been ongoing for many years in Kildare underage soccer. Questions first arose about the KDUL finances when Ian Mallon wrote about it for the Irish Examiner in 2023. The media have been asking questions for many years. The clubs have been asking questions. It is time for answers to be forthcoming.

I will focus on one specific area that I hope the Minister of State will be able to examine. The interim KDUL committee has commissioned forensic accountants to examine the bank accounts of the league because it is reported that the league's assets were transferred to a separate legal entity, the KDUL Academy CLG, between 2020 and 2024. I am going to repeat that. The league's assets were transferred to a separate legal entity. The league is simply made up of thousands of kids, parents and volunteers. Despite paying annual subscriptions, a portion of which were kicked up to the KDUL committee, it was reported that the league had no assets in 2022 apart from a set of gear. A sports capital grant of €350,000 was awarded to the KDUL to develop a new facility in 2006. It was not the intention of the Minister of the day to award such a grant to the KDUL Academy but to the thousands of players in clubs throughout Kildare who should have this facility available to them but do not.

Thanks to the dedication of the interim executive, football continues to flourish in Kildare. However, on behalf of the children and young people, the parents and volunteers in Kildare want what is rightfully theirs handed over. The executive has sent the Department correspondence which outlines some observations and questions, and I appreciate the Minister of State taking the time to acknowledge this. Will he commit to meeting the interim executive when it publishes the independent report? Will he commit to re-examining the €350,000 sports capital grant awarded to KDUL and use all powers available to him to ensure the intended recipients have full responsibility for and full access to the site?

Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (Deputy Charlie McConalogue)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and for recognising the important role that the sports capital grant plays in helping sports clubs across the country to develop facilities and back the work done by so many volunteers across sporting clubs. As the Deputy outlined from his experience in his role with Prosperous United, massive work makes sport an important part of people's lives. That is something that we, as a Government, want to continue to support and develop in the time ahead. A key mechanism for doing that, as the Deputy said, is the CSFF, which is the primary means of providing Government support to sport and community organisations at local, regional and national level across the country. The programme aims to foster an integrated and planned approach to the development of sports and physical recreation facilities and assists the purchase of non-personal sports equipment.

Over €250 million was allocated to 3,048 community sports clubs and facilities in 2024 from the 2023 round of the CSFF, representing the largest ever investment in sports facilities in communities across Ireland. There are a comprehensive set of controls in place to ensure that grants are used in accordance with the objectives and rules of the fund, which I know is a key point raised by the Deputy in his Topical Issue. When making applications under each round of the CSFF, all organisations must agree to the terms and conditions of the programme and include a statement that all information provided as part of an application is truthful. All grants under the CSFF are initially allocated on a provisional basis and grantees must provide the documentation set out in the letter of provisional allocation prior to receiving formal approval.

In all cases, the letter of provisional allocation informs grantees that submission of false or misleading information to the Department at any stage is treated very seriously. Any organisation that does not comply with the terms and conditions of the sports capital programme may be subject to inspection, have their grant withdrawn, be required to repay all or part of a grant or be barred from making applications for a period of time. All serious breaches of the terms and conditions of the programme will be notified to An Garda Síochána. Grantees must guarantee that the facilities funded will remain in sporting use for a minimum period of time.

This is five years for equipment or capital grants of €25,000 or less and 15 years for any larger capital grants. Once grantees have formal approval, they may commence work and draw down the grant. The drawdown of grants involves the submission of documentation which is checked within the sports capital programmes division and must include invoices that detail the work carried out, proof of payment of these invoices by way of bank statements and a signed certificate of compliance with the terms and conditions of the programme.

The Department has a detailed non-compliance policy which is used to examine any suspected instances of non-compliance with the terms and conditions of the fund. On the rare occasion that a serious instance of non-compliance occurs, the grantee is required to repay the Department any grant money paid that was not used for an approved sporting purpose.

As per the relevant departmental guidelines, a system to carry out annual spot checks of capital projects is in place. This is designed to help the Department ensure compliance with all relevant guidelines, including national and EU public procurement procedures and tax clearance requirements as laid down by the Revenue Commissioners. The inspections include a desk-based assessment of projects and site visits to ensure that the projects have been completed and are being used as per the terms and conditions of the CSFF programme.

Each year officials from the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General examine a sample of CSFF payments. This audit includes a checking of the record keeping and management of the documents supporting payments and an examination of the procedures and policies of the sports capital programme unit. Regular audits are also carried out by the internal audit division of the Department into all aspects of the operation of the programme.

The Deputy raised a particular sports capital allocation, which was not part of the initial topic, in his contribution. I will respond to him directly on that topic following his raising it on the floor of the Dáil today.

Deputy Aidan Farrelly

I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate that. It ultimately boils down to governance. When we are talking about such significant sums of money given to wonderful groups that are based in our communities and doing important work, these issues will be rare. At the same time, we may see evidence of or signposts towards grave concerns in terms of the end product. The Minister of State mentioned spot checks. I will not pin him to it now but I would appreciate if he and his Department would consider examining the process in terms of the outcome. It seems the fund was spent. Certainly, we have a state-of-the-art facility now but the problem is that who is getting to use it does not seem to match up with what was applied for. We have thousands of kids who should be able to avail of the facility but right now it is only a League of Ireland academy, essentially, that is getting to use the facility. We need to see that improve. I would appreciate if the Minister of State would give his time and attention to that.

I commend the Government on its commitment to sports. We see the outcomes for kids' and young people's physical and mental health. It makes such a difference and there is proper bang for buck from sports investment. I commend the Minister of State, wish him the best in his brief and thank him for the opportunity to raise this. I look forward to meeting with him again. I hope, once the report is published, he will meet with the interim executive in KDUL to get to the heart of the issue.

Deputy Charlie McConalogue

The KDUL grant has been brought to the Department's attention. The grant was fully drawn down and the Department is not aware of any evidence to suggest it has been used for any purpose other than that intended, nor is there any evidence of non-compliance with the terms and conditions of the programme in respect of the grant or on the part of the grantee. I will respond to the Deputy directly with more detail on the issue.

I think we are all agreed on the massive importance of this sports capital funding. The funding last year was on an unprecedented scale, reaching over 3,000 clubs. In the management of that, the Department is committed to having appropriate checks and balances in place to make sure any grants awarded are spent as intended. I outlined in my initial reply the checks and balances in place with regard to that.

The Department has also recently set up a capital inspection unit. As part of its work, the unit will develop a formal capital inspection process that covers departmental capital grants and departmental capital expenditure. The unit is working to design and implement a risk-based capital inspection programme to cover an appropriate percentage and volume of capital grants and expenditure, including both the community sport facilities fund and the large-scale sport infrastructure fund. This inspection programme will be complementary to the post-completion check already carried out by the sports capital programmes unit.

I am satisfied that the robustness of controls in place is adequate, and that those controls comply with the relevant Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform circulars and represent an appropriate balance between the need to have accountability in how public money is disbursed and the need to advance as many worthwhile sports projects as possible.

Electricity Grid

Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí

The blackout yesterday in Spain and Portugal was a jarring but very real reminder of the vulnerability of our energy systems. In five seconds, the Iberian power network lost 15 GW. That is about 60% of normal consumer demand there. By way of comparison, the peak that has been recorded in Ireland is 6 GW, so two and a half times the full consumption of Ireland went off that grid in five seconds. It is incredible that that happened. Rail and metro services stopped, traffic systems stopped, lights were not working and many other things went. Some 60 million people on that peninsula were impacted, directly or indirectly.

Power is back, more or less, but many questions remain, fundamental questions as to what caused the outage and whether it could happen here. We are not immune to extreme events. We saw what happened with Storm Éowyn, particularly in the west of Ireland, and the challenges getting power back. Communities were left off air for two weeks-plus as the ESB worked hard to get them back on stream. Researchers in the University of Galway warned recently that though Storm Éowyn caused significant damage, we were lucky. It could have been even worse. I do not think any event in recent years has highlighted the vulnerability we have, particularly in power, like Storm Éowyn, and it could have been much worse.

The Commission is saying there are lessons to be learned by the European Union from the blackout. I believe that, because it was an international impact, Spain has to give a detail report to the Commission within three months, setting out what happened, the impact and what steps Spain will take to ensure it does not happen again. We need to plug into that and see what changes we need to make, if any, on the Irish side to minimise the risk of this happening to us. We will have to do this again and again to build resilience into the network.

Deputy Jerry Buttimer

I thank Deputy Ó Muirí for raising the matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister. The Deputy is right that we are not immune to extreme events and he rightly illustrated and highlighted our vulnerability in terms of 2.5 times our usage having gone in five seconds. He is bang on. It is important to note that we do not yet know the causes of yesterday’s event. This kind of cascading event has happened to power grids before. We remember the north-east of the US in 2003, when 55 million people were affected, in particular in New York, and more recently in Chile in February of this year, when the vast majority of the 19 million customers lost electricity for a number of hours.

EirGrid regularly tests the resilience of our grid to extreme events such as these as part of National Emergency Co-ordination Group emergency exercises. EirGrid’s recently published generation adequacy assessment shows a significant reduction in risks from recent years. This substantial improvement is in large part due to the mitigations from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities-led programme of actions to ensure security of electricity supply.

New temporary emergency generation capacity has now been delivered in four locations, namely, North Wall and Huntstown in Dublin, Shannonbridge, County Offaly, and Tarbert, County Kerry. Additionally, Moneypoint power station is converting from coal to heavy fuel oil and has been contracted to remain open until 2029 as an “out of market” unit to provide power only when required by the system operator for electricity security. Moreover, a number of power generation projects have been delivered over the last few years, including capacity market projects, renewables and a new 500 MW interconnector to Great Britain that began operation this year.

It is important to note that conventional generation is still critical for the secure operation of a power system. The spinning motion of conventional fossil fuel generation provides inertia to the system that can protect frequency oscillations from cascading through the system and causing other generators to trip off. EirGrid is already taking a range of actions to ensure our system security during the energy transition. It is also continuing to assess how it can securely integrate further variable renewables at any one time. For example, EirGrid is procuring low carbon inertia services to replace the need for running conventional generation in a highly renewable grid. Ireland has successfully implemented up to 75% variable renewables sources on the grid at any one time and these inertia services will allow us to go further.

The Department has also commissioned the International Energy Agency to conduct a study of our electricity security in the context of our energy transition to 2035. This study will be focused on the role of the power sector in achieving that secure transition. It will help Ireland to plan the integration of power sector planning within the wider energy sector as we electrify heat, transport and industry. Furthermore, it will provide an independent internationally peer reviewed assessment of what Ireland needs as we move to a highly renewables system to ensure both security of supply, that is, whether we have enough supply to meet demand and system security, that is, the ability of the electricity system to retain a normal state or to return to a normal state after any type of event as soon as possible. The Department expects to receive a copy of this report before the end of the year and will publish it thereafter.

Deputy Ó Muirí's points are well made and I will bring his concerns back to the Minister. I congratulate Deputy Ó Muirí on his appointment as Chair of a committee and I wish him well in his term ahead.

Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí

I appreciate the Minister of State's comments. I welcome the news that temporary emergency generation capacity has got to four power stations, two in Dublin and two down the country. I also welcome the IEA’s study of our electricity security with regard to energy transition. The one point I want to repeat concerns the European experience. We were very happy to welcome, and it was great to see, crews coming in from France, Germany, Austria and the UK during Storm Éowyn as a response to that incident and the clean-up and restoration work that was required. We need to do something similar in reverse given what has happened in Spain and Portugal. We need to find a way to learn, if there is anything to learn from what has happened there. I do not know what that mechanism is, how we share that information or what level of co-operation there is. Perhaps it is down to encouraging EirGrid to look internationally and to contact the commission. I again thank the Minister of State for taking this item. It is an issue that will get more and more important in the years to come.

Deputy Jerry Buttimer

I again thank Deputy Ó Muirí for raising the matter, which is of critical importance. The Deputy is right that there must be learnings from what happened yesterday, whatever the cause of the Iberian blackout is, and that has not been confirmed yet. The authorities in Portugal and Spain are continuing to assess the cause and it may take time. The point the Deputy makes is that we must take learnings from this.

In Ireland, EirGrid recently published a resource adequacy assessment, which has forecast a significant improvement in terms of security of supply over the next ten years. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities-led programme of actions has delivered a number of actions to ensure security of electricity supply since 2021, namely, temporary emergency generation and the conversion of Moneypoint from coal to heavy fuel oil. Moreover, a number of generation projects have been delivered in recent years, including capacity market projects, renewables and, as I said, a new 500 MW interconnector to Britain has begun operation. Emergency exercises regularly take place with key stakeholders to test the resilience of our national grid in extreme scenarios like this.

As the Deputy rightly said, it is incumbent on us to take the learnings, to plan and to understand what has happened here, and to bring the learnings and best outcomes for our country to ensure we have security of supply. I will bring the Deputy’s concerns and his points back to the Minister.

Cuireadh an Dáil ar athló ar 11.45 p.m. go dtí 9 a.m., Dé Céadaoin, an 30 Aibreán 2025.

The Dáil adjourned at 11.45 p.m. until 9 a.m. on Wednesday, 30 April 2025.