The committee has five petitions before it for consideration. Petition No. 36 of 2021 relates to Reform of Insurance for Thatched Heritage Buildings and was submitted by Ms Katie McNelis. The updated recommendation from the committee is that the correspondence from the Minister of State with responsibility for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill be forwarded to the petitioner for comment within 14 days.
Decisions on Public Petitions Received
Can I suggest if we are reverting with correspondence that we flag that, following our conversation there with the Financial and Pensions Ombudsman, it might be another avenue?
The committee also recommends that the secretariat write to the European Ombudsman and request an investigation into the issues relating to the lack of insurance options for thatched properties in Ireland and invite in Mr. Peter Boland, Director of the Alliance on Insurance Reform, to present on this topic. Is that agreed?
Absolutely. It is the right way to go. We just heard it in the conversation earlier.
Petition No. 23 of 2022 is on the lack of facilities in Ireland’s towns from Mr. Tom Larkin. This petition relates to the petitioner's concerns that there are a lack of facilities in Balbriggan town for the growing population. The petitions case manager corresponded with Ms AnnMarie Farrelly, chief executive, Fingal County Council on 22 April 2022 and issued several reminders in relation to this petition and received a reply on 20 April 2023. The committee recommends that the correspondence from Ms AnnMarie Farrelly be forwarded to the petitioner for comment within 14 days. Is that agreed?
Agreed.
The third petition is No. 63 of 2022 entitled Ireland needs a National Lung Cancer Screening Programme from Ms Fiona Doolan. This petition proposes that Ireland should initiate a cost-benefit analysis regarding early screening for lung cancer with a view to implementation of a lung cancer screening programme. The petitions case manager corresponded with Professor Niall O’Higgins, chair of the national screening advisory committee, NSAC, on 24 March 2023 and received a reply from Professor O'Higgins on 17 April 2023. The committee recommends that the correspondence from Professor Niall O’Higgins be forwarded to the petitioner for comment within 14 days, and that Ms Doolan be advised that should she wish to be added to the NSAC stakeholder list that she should contact it directly at the email address provided in the correspondence from the NSAC. Is that agreed?
Agreed.
Petition No. 66 of 2022 is entitled Create a Health Services Student Allowance and is from Mr. Joel Rajesh. This petition relates to the petitioner's concern that healthcare students in Ireland face substantial costs in relation to placements at HSE public hospitals including meals, subsistence, scrubs purchase, laundering, accommodation etc. An allowance scheme to help with these costs now exists for student nurses but does not exist for student doctors, radiographers, dentists, pharmacists, or physiotherapists. A universal health services student allowance would relieve a massive financial burden for these students and would make retaining these future graduates within the health service easier.
Students are often unemployed during term time and rely on family contributions and these measures could help with recruitment and retention of public health service staff. The petitions case manager corresponded with Ms Bernie McNally, Secretary General at the Department of Education and Mr. Ray Mitchell, assistant national director of parliamentary affairs at the HSE on 13 March 2023 and then with Mr. Robert Watt, Secretary General at the Department of Health and Mr. Jim Breslin, Secretary General at the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science on 15 March 2023. Mr Breslin replied on 27 April 2023. The committee recommends the correspondence from Mr. Breslin be forwarded to the petitioner for information. Do members have any views on that?
None other than there is a substantial amount of work in that and it will be interesting to see how it progresses.
As with what was said yesterday, it seems to be a no-brainer that if student nurses are not getting this allowance, this could also make a massive difference to student doctors and so on. It is not putting added pressure on families and it should help with the recruitment and retention of these people. Everybody knows there is a massive shortage in that field, so anything that entices young people to stay in it should be encouraged.
It is an issue with retention, but it is expensive to live in the country and it is not very good when people are starting out. It is the same with apprentices and so on. I used to always ask whether this could be beneficial or cost-neutral. If these people are not going to continue working, not going into apprenticeships or not working at all, they are going to be signing on. Would it not be better for the Department responsible to assess this and trial paying the jobseeker's allowance for the first two years of the apprenticeship to keep the person in the job? At least it makes it in some way affordable, because there are of course costs when people are doing an apprenticeship or serving time. It will be interesting to see what comes back on that.
Petition No. 1 of 2023 from Mr. Mark Darmody on behalf of his daughter, Miss Cara Darmody, concerns seeking immediate financial relief for autistic children whose families are paying privately for assessments and therapies; the petitioner seeks proper oversight and an external complaints system for the HSE and a full review of carer's allowance and how carers are viewed. The petitioner advises the petition has three aspects to it, all of them connected. The first aspect is that more than 18,000 children are waiting long periods for autistic assessment on HSE waiting lists. It is accepted it is the State's responsibility, through the HSE, to pay for those assessments. However, because the State is failing in its responsibilities by not assessing in a timely manner, parents are forced to pay privately for those critical assessments. Additionally, parents are also forced to pay privately when the State fails to provide therapy services such as speech and language therapy, SLT, occupational therapy, OT, psychology, etc. Mr. Darmody advises no parent should have to finance such services or assessments and that a mechanism must be immediately introduced to ensure that no parent bears the cost for the State's failure to provide services. The second aspect of the petition seeks an external complaints mechanism for the HSE, as well as a health oversight authority similar to the present Garda policing model. Parents across the country believe the HSE is not accountable for its actions as it investigates itself. Mr. Darmody contends the Ombudsman for Children does not have the investigative powers to properly oversee the HSE. The third aspect of the petition is about how having disabled children leads to a parent to becoming a carer. The petitioner seeks for a full review of the position of carers.
The petitions case manager corresponded with Mr. John McKeon, Secretary General at the Department of Social Protection, on 2 March and received a reply on 9 March setting out the Department's position on this matter. This correspondence was forwarded to the petitioner and Mr. Darmody replied on 5 April 2023. The secretariat also corresponded with Mr. Leo Bollins, clerk to the Joint Committee on Autism, on 20 February 2023 with regards to this petition and received a reply on 13 April 2023. The Joint Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen at its meeting of 30 March 2023 discussed some issues arising from this petition, namely the cross-Border directive and the Northern Ireland planned healthcare scheme. The secretariat corresponded with the HSE on 6 April 2023 and the HSE responded on 21 April 2023. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has advised the issues raised in this petition do not fall within its remit. The committee recommends the correspondence from the HSE be forwarded to the petitioner for comment within 14 days. Do members have any views on that?
There is a lot of work in that. We just had a chat about accountability and responsibility and here is something being pushed back. If we go back to one of the responses, such as the one dated 9 March 2023, it states:
... this Department will continue to keep a range of income supports provided to family carers under review [...] However, any changes to these supports would have implications for the overall spending and can only be addressed in an overall budgetary and policy context.
Are we to go back to the Darmody family and tell them the Departments that are supposed to be responsible for this are saying they are not? It would be very unfair. Supporting carers is a benefit not a cost. I have seen it. I am aware of a case where an individual gets a carer for three quarters of an hour per week so they can be washed, and that is it. It must be highlighted. These are human beings. The petitioner is looking for a review. It should be a speedy one and look at the situation of carers up and down the country and the benefits they provide to the State. They save so much money for whichever Government is in power. What they are doing should be acknowledged and there should be a review so their voices can be heard. It should not always be about costs.
No.
It should be about the basic needs of those people. We are getting the runaround. I am disappointed with that response.
As the Deputy says, I think the money families save the State is estimated to be €10 billion per year.
Crazy.
That they are being pushed around in circles like this is crazy. The Department has admitted it is responsible. We have spoken to the Darmodys on several occasions and they have been up here in Leinster House. They and other families are prepared to go and pay privately, but if they do so they will not be reimbursed.
It is madness.
A simple system should be brought in such that if a family is in a position to seek the services their child needs by paying for them privately, they should be reimbursed.
I cannot understand why it cannot work like the cross-Border initiative that is in place. That goes for assessments across every sector. It is a nice one to keep following. An external complaints system is called for. We can see from the departmental response that not enough information is being delivered. I will be interested to see what response comes back on that.
On the allowance itself, the Darmodys and Richie Molloy from Family Carers Ireland gave a presentation yesterday. In that family, the mother was working in a good job and was on good money of over €800 per week.
Paying taxes.
That is now down to €225. That works out as €1 per hour. It is a kick in the teeth to any family and for anybody who has had to give up work to care for youngsters. We will see what the response is once that is sent on to Mr. Darmody.
That concludes our consideration of public petitions. I invite members of the public to submit petitions via our online portal, which is available at petitions.oireachtas.ie. A petition may be addressed to the Houses of the Oireachtas on a matter of general public concern or interest, or an issue of public policy.
Is there any other business?
No, Chair.
All right. To inform people, as previously discussed petitioner Mr. Joe Hughes will make a presentation in the audiovisual room to Members and staff on the afternoon of Thursday, 18 May 2023 on the topic of sepsis awareness. The secretariat will issue an invitation in the coming days. This is in lieu of a committee meeting and as such, the committee's next private meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 31 May 2023.
Do members wish to make any other comments?
No, Chair.
Very well.
On behalf of myself, the committee, Ms Semple and the rest of the staff, I take this opportunity, as this is his first public meeting with us, to welcome Mr. Alex Alino on board. The amount of work done behind the scenes by the staff of the secretariat makes our job very easy. On behalf of the committee, I thank them.
The joint committee adjourned at 3.01 p.m sine die.