Adjournment Matters.

Judicial Appointments.

Mr. McHugh

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I acknowledge the presence in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery of the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Deputy Brendan Smith, to whom this matter will be of interest.

This issue relates to the Donegal Bar Association's call for the appointment of a District Court judge in Donegal and of an additional Circuit Court judge for the region that comprises Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal. This matter has been a major bone of contention for those involved in the legal profession in Donegal for a considerable period and has led to great difficulties in the context of expediting cases. In addition, it has led to problems for those involved in the cases to which I refer, particularly those that relate to family law. The latter involve a great deal of trauma and emotional upheaval. The complications and procrastination relating to the failure to appoint a District Court judge for Donegal have caused a considerable backlog and substantial delays. There have been some instances of divorce cases being placed on the long finger for three years as a result of the situation in Donegal.

Counties Cavan and Monaghan each have a District Court judge. There is one District Court judge to deal with the entire county of Donegal. From anecdotal evidence with which I was supplied prior to entering the Chamber, I understand that Donegal had two District Court judges in the 1950s.

Solicitors in Donegal state that the situation is becoming extremely intolerable. In an unprecedented move, they have taken it upon themselves to highlight this matter at a political level. I hope the Minister of State's reply will not indicate that this is a matter for the Courts Service. In my opinion, that is not the case. This decision relates to resources and there is a need to appoint a permanent District Court judge in Donegal and to appoint a Circuit Court judge in the northern region. The population of Donegal is more than 140,000. In light of the number of cases that might arise, the level of work with which one District Court judge and one Circuit Court judge would have to deal could be considerable.

An additional factor of which cognisance must be taken is that many Circuit Court and District Court cases involve people from across the Border. It is not good enough that these individuals are not included in the equation when resources are being provided in respect of the counties to which I refer. It is unacceptable that a perception is being created that judges are not dealing with cases involving people from across the Border because that is clearly not the position.

The courts cannot cope with the backlog of cases with which they must deal and people involved in such cases cannot cope with the delays. Litigation costs rise as time passes and what is happening in Donegal and on the northern circuit will cost more money in the long term.

I hope the Minister of State's reply will be positive, particularly in the context of indicating a willingness to address the major problems that exist on the northern circuit and in County Donegal. I look forward to his reply and I hope we will continue to work together to try to removing the backlog that exists. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform should heed the calls from people who are calling for the immediate appointment of a second District Court judge for Donegal and an additional Circuit Court judge for the northern region.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Mr. B. O’Keeffe)

On behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Michael McDowell, I thank Senator McHugh for raising this important issue. I hope what I have to say will be positive in terms of addressing the issues he raised.

The Tánaiste has asked me to assure the Senator and the House of the importance he places on adequately resourcing the judicial system. In this regard, he was very pleased to announce yesterday that he has secured Government approval to bring forward legislation for the appointment of nine additional judges. Two of these judges are to be assigned to the High Court, two to the Circuit Court and five to the District Court. The additional judges are being appointed to deal with delays and to generally speed up the judicial process. Legislation providing for the additional judges will be enacted as soon as possible. The Tánaiste is confident that these additional judges will go a long way to ensuring the efficient functioning of our courts system and will, in particular, address the problem of delays at all levels of the system nationwide.

With regard to the Circuit Court in Donegal, I can inform the House that Judge John O'Hagan was assigned to the northern circuit with effect from 24 July this year. There is, therefore, no vacancy on the northern circuit at present. The Tánaiste understands that the level of delays in criminal matters on the northern circuit is significantly lower than at many other venues throughout the country. Despite this, however, five weeks of additional sittings were allocated to the northern circuit in the current term alone in order to deal with lengthy criminal trials in Carrick-on-Shannon and Monaghan. Waiting times for family law and civil cases on the northern circuit also compare favourably with other venues around the country.

There is a vacancy in the Donegal district arising from the retirement of Judge O'Donnell last September. The Senator will be aware that three new judges of the District Court were appointed by the President last week and were subsequently sworn in by the Chief Justice on Tuesday. The Tánaiste wishes to assure the Senator that he will very shortly request the Government to assign judges to fill vacancies in a number of court districts, including Donegal.

On foot of representations he received, the Tánaiste raised the situation in Donegal with the Courts Service. He has been advised that the District Court committee of the Courts Service Board has examined the need for the reorganisation of district No. 1, which covers Donegal, but has decided against recommending any change at present.

The question of the need for additional judicial resources on the northern circuit or in the Donegal district is, in the first instance, a matter for consideration by the presidents of the Circuit Court and the District Court. The latter have at their disposal numbers of unassigned judges who can be used, inter alia, to assist permanently assigned judges where pressure of work demands. In this regard, I understand that, last year, 90 extra court sittings were organised in Donegal by the president of the District Court in an effort to tackle delays as they became apparent. The previous year, the president made arrangements for 112 extra sittings and a total of 1,139 cases were disposed of. This greatly reduced the backlog. The President of the District Court will, no doubt, continue to assign additional judges to Donegal as the need arises. The Presidents of the Courts and the Courts Service will guide the Tánaiste on the need for additional permanently assigned judges.

The Tánaiste understands that while the courthouse in Letterkenny is generally in good condition, it is accepted that the space and facilities are not available on busy court days to meet current requirements. A new courthouse for Letterkenny is included in the €50 million package of new court facilities to be provided by way of a public private partnership. This project is being progressed by the Courts Service. Last year, an impressive new courthouse was opened in Ballyshannon which represented a significant improvement on the previous temporary court facilities in the town.

Mr. McHugh

I thank the Minister of State for his response but it is evident that there is no will to change the situation. Extra judges are deployed to Donegal and there are extra sittings but these will not solve the problem, clear the backlog or relieve the trauma experienced by many clients in family law cases.

Who is responsible for this? On the one hand, the Bar Council says it needs extra resources, while on the other, the eminent Judge Fitzpatrick has said publicly that Donegal is a forgotten county. Between them are the suffering clients. Will the Minister of State intervene? This response is not intervention. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is taking no responsibility. He can delegate it to the Courts Service and say the decision rests there, but he deploys the resources. I want the Minister of State to intervene directly to eradicate the problems in the northern circuit and in County Donegal.

Mr. B. O’Keeffe

The Senator's response is disappointing. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has assigned nine new judges to the system to deal with any delays. The President of the District Court, having reviewed the situation in Donegal——

Mr. McHugh

How many of those nine will be assigned to the northern circuit?

Mr. B. O’Keeffe

——has advised the Minister that there should not be any delay. The Minister and the Courts Service have to deal with 1,139 extra cases to reduce the backlog.

Mr. McHugh

The Minister of State should not be getting up on his high horse. No extra judges are going to Donegal.

Water and Sewerage Schemes.

Mr. Finucane

It would be an understatement to say that the Pallaskenry-Kildimo water supply scheme, which involves an extension of the Shannon Estuary water supply scheme, has dragged on for a considerable time. The water in this location was previously sourced from Bleach Lough and there have been local objections to replacing this with the Shannon Estuary scheme extension, which would use water from the River Deel.

The council attempted to connect the water supply in Kildimo and was stopped by the Bleach Lough action committee. It was asserted in the media that people were getting dirty water from the Deel. I absolutely refute that claim. Thousands of people in County Limerick get water from the Deel. The council water from the Deel is high quality and meets ISO standard SI439-2000 drinking water guidelines. That claim has caused concern to people who for some time have been drinking water extracted from the River Deel.

This matter involves the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, even though the council is responsible for selecting the tender and for connections. A long time ago, when I was Chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts, I raised this issue with Mr. Callan, the Secretary General of the Department. I was concerned that over €5 million had been spent on construction works parallel with road improvements on the N69 to link this water scheme from Askeaton to Kildimo. That was completed and large diameter pipes were provided. However, only stagnant water has filled those pipes because the water scheme has never operated.

In two areas, Ballyshonick and Kilcornan, where group water schemes operate, the water is condemned. For over 20 years many of the people in those areas have had no access to drinking water. The council and the Department have been well-meaning in their intention to connect all these people to the Shannon Estuary scheme, but it has not happened because of protests at local level by people who want to continue using the Bleach Lough water.

In 2002 the Department asked the council to reassure it about the provision of water. Following a public consultation process, the council reported back to the Department in November 2002. It stated:

..... 8.6% of the people who attended the public consultation and completed the questionnaires were against changing their water supply source, 34.6% had general or no comments and almost 57% required the new water supply source. In total, over 91% of people either had no comment or were in favour of being provided with a new water source because of difficulties experienced with the reliability of water quality, pressure, etc. of their existing supply. In light of the outcome of the consultation process, the pressing need for additional water capacity to facilitate development in the area and the position of a number of group water schemes that were suffering from serious water quality problems and requiring a new source, it was resolved that the extension of the Shannon Estuary scheme to Pallaskenry and Kildimo should go ahead as planned.

People still resist this and over the summer months a mediation process took place with the council on one side and on the other those who opposed losing their water supply from Bleach Lough. Regrettably this seems to have foundered and no compromise formula has been reached. It has even gone to court.

The people who would have availed of those connections have the pipes outside their doors but have no water. Can we not have a meeting of minds to ensure that those with a defective water supply get an improved and enhanced supply since the resource is available?

Mr. B. O’Keeffe

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. My Department has provided significant funding for various improvements and extensions to the Shannon Estuary water supply scheme. The Water Services Investment Programme 2005-07 includes some €5.5 million for an upgrade of the treatment works and an extension of the supply system to Pallaskenry and Kildimo. The Department also provided moneys in recent years to extend the scheme to Askeaton.

Protests by some people who want to retain their present supply from the Bleach Lough source, rather than be connected to the Shannon Estuary scheme, are delaying completion of the extension to Pallaskenry and Kildimo. The issue has been before the courts, and Limerick County Council, which is the sanitary authority and also the contracting authority for the works involved, is trying to resolve it as quickly as possible. I, too, am anxious to see an early solution, not just for Pallaskenry and Kildimo but also for the group waiting for a connection to the Shannon Estuary scheme so that its members will no longer have to put up with a sub-standard service. Group schemes in Ballyshonick and Kilcornan, currently supplied from seriously deficient sources, are waiting anxiously for the Shannon Estuary scheme extension so they can connect up to it and have clean drinking water. I understand the distribution networks of both group schemes in these areas are currently being upgraded by Limerick County Council in anticipation of the connection to the Shannon Estuary scheme.

My Department provides a significant amount of funding nationally to improve water and sewerage facilities for the benefit of communities. Ultimately, it is the local authorities which are responsible for putting the physical infrastructure in place and for dealing with related issues on the ground. This is local government in action and we should respect the democratic mandate it carries.

The best way to summarise the position in this case is to quote from a press release issued by Limerick County Council in recent days after its latest effort to advance the works was halted by protesters. The press release stated:

Limerick County Council has made every effort possible to reach a compromise with protestors in the Kildimo-Pallaskenry area and has engaged in over 50 hours of discussions with their representatives since talks commenced last June. However, objectors refused to accept any of the compromises on offer and it was agreed, in the company of two independent facilitators, at our last meeting on November 23 that negotiations could go no further. In accordance with that, Limerick County Council has decided to proceed with completing the interconnections. The council is fully committed to completing the interconnection at the earliest possible date.

This is a local issue and it will have to be resolved at local level. I hope good sense will prevail and that the current impasse can be resolved in the near future in the best interests of the health and safety of local people.

Mr. Finucane

I am grateful for the Minister's response which outlined the up-to-date position. The water is up to ISO standard. Is it not the policy of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government that anyone extracting water should conform to European guidelines? I wish to nail down the veracity of the story propagated in the media to the effect that people who are currently using water supplied by the Shannon Estuary and Deel water schemes are, by definition, getting dirty water. Am I correct in asserting the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government would not allow anyone to extract water without conforming to EU guidelines?

Mr. B. O’Keeffe

Ultimately, responsibility has been delegated to local authorities. They have their own science laboratories to test water quality. Water supplies must conform with the water framework directive. Accordingly, I can only conclude that, in certain circumstances, it is. The underlying problem is that the water is not up to the standard required by the directive in certain areas. For that reason, the Department has provided funding to ensure good, clean, healthy water is supplied to people in those areas. This scheme will go ahead. We ask that compromises should be made in the interests of all the people rather than of the sectional interests involved.

EU Directives.

Dr. Mansergh

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brendan Smith. The previous matter related to a lack of clean water and this matter has a lot to do with the excess of soiled water.

I have been involved in the family farm for 37 years, first with my father and brother and subsequently with just my brother. A number of inspections have taken place in connection with various schemes, in addition to TB and brucellosis tests. Not only do I not have any complaint against the way in which those various tests were conducted, or against departmental officials, I would go so far as to praise the smooth interaction that took place. As far as I know, the same is true of my father's experience for the 30 years previous to that. Anything I have to say does not have any personal reference.

One of the advantages of the introduction of the single farm payment was that it would lead to a reduction in the level of bureaucracy, form filling, etc. We hope that will be the case. There have been some difficulties in negotiating the precise, correct format for introducing the nitrates directive but, happily, an agreed solution was eventually arrived at by the interested parties. We are now implementing that, unfortunately, against a background of fairly exceptional weather conditions which have resulted in there being a good deal more water than usual flowing into various tanks.

Some cases may have occurred but, as much as anything else, certain fears exist about the implementation of the directive. A letter that appeared in the Irish Examiner referred to unannounced farm inspections being carried out where inspectors arrive with a checklist of 1,450 items. For all I know, a Dublin Bus driver has a rule book containing 1,450 rules and one can wonder how he or she is ever able to set out with the bus. The experience of the vast majority of farmers is that inspectors operate pragmatically. Of course they are on the look-out for breaches of environmental standards. I accept the Department has the difficulty of dealing with the EU Commission at its back, which gets very concerned because reports emerge in other countries about abuse of schemes etc. which generate bad publicity.

In many ways, the NCT test provides a good model because it encourages compliance among car owners. If faults are found, one is given an opportunity to correct them and to return for a limited inspection of those points. If a significant number of faults have been identified, one may have to undergo the complete process again. Most farmers operate within fairly limited income margins and they are not easily able to accommodate large fines. If a fault is found, people should be given an opportunity to correct them and, in the case of a more fundamental infringement being identified, it may be possible to withhold a portion of a payment until the situation is resolved, rather than drastically docking farmers' incomes in a way they can ill afford.

The specific problem in hand relates to the interpretation of the regulations at a time when slurry tanks are overflowing due to weather conditions. One can well ask what is soiled water and what is slurry. Some farmers are under extreme pressure to address the problem of slurry tanks that have reached full capacity. Intelligent pragmatism is required. Investment may be required for the improvement of facilities. The Department operates generous schemes which I accept cannot always be carried out overnight. Regard must also be had to the basic economics of the operation.

I raise this issue because of acute pressures on farmers as a result of current weather conditions. Pragmatism is required in applying the rules and regulations to allow farmers reasonably conform with environmental best practice. The Department, where necessary, must allow a little margin and not be so afraid of those sitting at their desks in the Berlaymont building.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food (Mr. B. Smith)

I thank Senator Mansergh for raising this important issue. I am aware he has raised the matter directly with the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Coughlan.

The Department of Agriculture and Food, in the context of delivering the single payment scheme, is required to carry out on-the-spot inspections on a number of farms covering such issues as eligibility, compliance with EU legislation on the environment, food safety, animal health and welfare and plant health and ensuring that the farm is maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition.

A minimum of 5% of single payment scheme applicants is required to be inspected under the eligibility rule. Up to two-thirds of these inspections are carried out without a farm visit, using the technique of remote sensing. The rate of on-farm inspection required for cross-compliance is 1% of those farmers to whom the statutory management requirements, including the nitrates directive, or good agricultural environmental conditions apply. However, at least 5% of producers must be inspected under the bovine animal identification and registration requirements as prescribed under the relevant regulations.

Of the 130,000 farmers who applied for the single payment scheme this year, 8,200 have had their holdings selected for on-the-spot inspection. Almost 100,000 of these are also applicants for the disadvantaged areas scheme. The value of both schemes to Irish farmers in 2006 is €1.55 billion. The policy regarding on-farm inspection has been to give advance notification of up to 48 hours in all cases. This policy was questioned by the European Commission in July 2006 and as a result the Department was obliged to agree to a proportion of single payment scheme inspections in 2006 being carried out without prior notification.

Some 650 farms of the 130,000 involved in the single payment scheme were subsequently selected for unannounced inspection. The balance of inspection cases, representing 92% of the 8,200 farms selected for single payment scheme-disadvantaged areas scheme inspection in 2006, are pre-notified to the farmer.

The EU regulations governing the single payment scheme would allow my Department to give prenotification of inspection in all cases where certain elements of cross-compliance are involved, namely, the nitrates regulations as referred to by Senator Mansergh. However, my Department is committed, in the Charter of Rights for Farmers 2005-2007, to carrying out all single payment scheme and disadvantaged area scheme checks during a single farm visit in most cases. This then obliges my Department to respect the advance notice requirements applicable to the most stringent element of the inspection regime, namely, a maximum of 48 hours notice but with no advance notice in a proportion of cases.

The Department of Agriculture and Food is also committed in the charter of rights to pursuing with the European Commission a strategy to deliver advance notification of 14 days for inspections, a strategy strongly supported by Senator Mansergh. The matter has been raised with the Commission on a number of occasions since 2004, particularly in the context of the Irish situation where we are applying a fully decoupled and essentially area-dependent single payment scheme. I personally made the case again recently to Commissioner Fischer Boel and this issue is a key point for me in the CAP simplification initiative which is now under way. I assure Senator Mansergh and Members of the Seanad that the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Coughlan, has consistently raised this issue with the Agriculture Commissioner. In the past few weeks the Minister travelled to Germany to meet with the German Minister, who will assume responsibility for the Council during the first six months of next year, in regard to advancing the simplification model. This issue is top of the Minister's agenda. It is being pursued at every opportunity at Council of Agriculture Ministers level and with fellow agriculture Ministers in the other 24 member states.

The prenotification of single payment scheme-disadvantaged areas scheme inspections fits in with the practicalities of Irish agriculture where increasingly farmers are also engaged in off-farm employment. In a decoupled single payment scheme system, the provision of advance notification of inspection to the farmer should not negatively impact on the effectiveness of the control. However, as EU regulations stand, my Department is obliged to carry out a small proportion of inspections without prior notification and this is being done in 2006. I have made available to the farm organisations and those farmers being inspected the checklist of items to be inspected. I propose to send it to all farmers early in 2007.

Regarding sanctions, the EU regulations set out a range of percentage reductions for non- compliance. Where the non-compliance results from negligence by the farmer, a 3% reduction may be applied but this can be reduced to 1% or increased to 5% depending on the extent, severity and permanence of the infringement. If the non-compliance is repeated within a three-year period, a multiplier of 3 must be applied. A 20% reduction is proposed where intentional infringement occurs but this can be reduced to 15% or increased to 100% depending on the extent, severity and permanence of the infringement.

The crucial element in the regulation is that, for a sanction to be applied in the first place, the non-compliance must result from negligence by the farmer. My Department, therefore, takes due account of infringements of the cross-compliance requirements that are, on their own, inadvertent and minor in nature and do not result from negligence of the farmer and are capable of occurring in practical farming situations. This refers to Senator Mansergh's final comments in regard to compliance and the NCT system. In such circumstances a certain level of tolerance is applied while, at the same time, the farmer is notified of the infringement. Some 1,127 farmers who were technically non-compliant during 2005 did not incur any financial penalty as a result of this tolerance. I am sure those figures will re-assure Senator Mansergh in terms of the operation of the scheme.

Ireland has adopted a weighting system that results in fair and equitable sanctions under cross-compliance. The system that has been developed also ensures that the sanctions are applied in a standardised fashion throughout the country. I trust my reply deals with the various raised by Senator Mansergh.

Dr. Mansergh

I thank the Minister of State for his helpful and reassuring reply both in regard to the relatively small nature of the reductions except in severe cases of infringement and equally the reassurance — which would have been my experience in the past — that a certain level of tolerance is applied, which is all I seek. I understand the Department is working hard on the exact definitions of soiled water and slurry as they apply to the nitrates directive regulations. Many farmers are under greater pressure than they would normally be at this time of year.

Mr. B. Smith

I thank the Senator for his comments. At a meeting as recently as yesterday the Senator had an opportunity to raise with the Minister, Deputy Coughlan, and me the concerns of some farmers regarding the issue of soiled water and the particular problems that have arisen due to the level of rainfall this autumn. The Department is working hard to bring about a resolution and to allay the fears of some members of the farming community.

The Seanad adjourned at 4.20 p.m. until10.30 a.m. on Friday, 15 December 2006.

Seanad Éireann debate - Thursday, 14 Dec 2006