I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, to the House. Senator Kelly will raise the first matter. You have four minutes.
Adjournment Matters
Fire Service Issues
It will not take four minutes. I thank the Minister of State for coming in to address this Adjournment matter. It relates to fire services and the new document launched recently entitled Keeping Communities Safe. I am at a loss to understand how, by implementing this new document, the Government can keep communities safer because the document proposes to cut the number of firemen attending emergencies, such as car accidents and chimney fires, to five per brigade. Under health and safety rules and regulations this may be considered to be unsafe given that a typical incident command team has nine present.
On numerous occasions I have called for a national fire and ambulance service. It would have the blessing of all Ministers. There was a recent incident in my neck of the woods. We have been discussing shared services. We need to establish whether shared services are simply an aspiration on the part of the Government or a principle to be implemented in all cases.
Through the blessing of the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, the chief fire officer and the chief ambulance officer for the western region agreed to co-locate an ambulance in a fire station in my home town of Ballaghaderreen, but a civil servant blocked it. Yet it is Government policy to have shared services and two Ministers were in favour of the move. It defies logic. I am looking for assurances that nothing in this document will be implemented which would put the lives of firefighters or the public at risk.
When one is asked to save money one probably discusses the matter with those in management circles and asks how they would go about saving money. In the case of Ireland, there are 30 chief fire officers, approximately 350 assistant chief fire officers and hundreds of support staff, while in Northern Ireland there is one chief fire officer, two assistants and only a dozen administrative support staff. If the Government wishes to save money in the fire services, this is where it should look. If it is good enough for one chief and two assistants to run the whole show in Northern Ireland, then having 30 chiefs and 350 or more assistant chiefs in the South is not justified. I suggest we are probably looking in the wrong direction for savings.
I thank Senator Kelly for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, who is unavoidably absent. The Minister, Deputy Hogan, recently adopted and published Keeping Communities Safe, the national policy for fire services and fire safety.
Keeping Communities Safe is the blueprint for changes which will align fire services and fire safety in Ireland with international best practice. The policy document was prepared by the Department's national directorate for fire and emergency management in a collaborative process which included the expert input of chief fire officers and fire services personnel and an extensive round of consultation with stakeholders. The overarching objectives of the policy are to ensure as far as possible that people and property are protected from fire and that fire service personnel are as safe as possible when going about their work. The challenges are to reduce the incidence of fire through better fire safety and prevention, ensure an effective response when fires occur and maximise the safety at work of the fire service personnel. To address these challenges, Keeping Communities Safe is underpinned by a risk management approach in which identified risks are balanced with appropriate prevention, protection and response strategies.
For the first time in Ireland, Keeping Communities Safe puts in place an approach to setting national standards for our fire services. The standards, and associated targets, cover the full range of tasks, including mobilisation, initial pre-determined attendance, normal crewing levels and incident reductions. These are intended for use locally but will give us a consistent national approach. The area risk categorisation is one of the first tasks to be undertaken locally by each fire service. This will enable a benchmarking of local services against the associated response service targets. These targets are graded according to risk-rating and national pre-determined attendances are set for the various categories of incidents. Using this approach we can appropriately gauge quality, performance and effectiveness into the future. The risk management approach supports the ability to target resources at fire prevention in our communities and thereby reduce incidents which lead to loss.
The question of whether we should move to a national fire service structure was also considered. In the context of local government's excellent track record in providing effective fire services and the vision for local government set out by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in Putting People First, which was published late last year, the Minister concluded that local authorities are best placed to continue providing fire services for our communities. This will ensure that provision of fire services are underpinned by local democracy and local accountability. However, in the interests of efficient, quality and value-for-money services, we are moving towards a more shared service structure by reducing the current 30 fire service delivery units to 21, comprising 14 single fire authority services and seven multi-authority shared services arrangements serving populations in the region of 120,000 to 200,000 generally. One of the seven shared service delivery units is Roscommon-Sligo-Leitrim.
The importance of safety for our 3,200 fire fighters and officers as they go about their work cannot be over-emphasised. The risk management approach is intended to ensure that, despite the hazardous nature of the job, all fire service personnel are as safe as possible in their work. Keeping Communities Safe prioritises the development of a safety management system which will complement other safety at work initiatives introduced into the fire service over the last decade, as well as the ongoing training programme within the fire services.
In summary, Keeping Communities Safe will help make Ireland a safer place to live, work and visit. It has been developed using a collaborative approach between central and local government, and involved extensive consultations with all stakeholders. The same ethos and approach will be adopted as we now move to its implementation.
Reducing the number of fire fighters who respond to calls from nine to five is not going to improve safety. Two years ago an incident occurred in Limerick in which one fire tender responded and a Garda and a fireman lost their lives on the road because health and safety requirements were not being fully observed.
We should be selling the property tax to people on the basis that we are providing a service to them. We are not charging for fire services. A considerable number of people are getting bills from local authorities following call-outs but the reality is that house insurance only covers a proportion of the cost. It was recently suggested that whatever portion of a house insurance policy is paid to the insurance companies should be paid to local authorities to provide the service. That is one way of financing it.
An individual from Scotland contributed extensively to this report. In Scotland there is one fireman for every 500 of population. In Ireland the ratio is 1:1,600.
We cannot have speeches.
These points have to be taken into account.
I thank the Senator for his comments and I will bring them to the attention of the Minister concerned. I regret the loss of anybody's life, and particularly the two people who died while responding to an incident.
In regard to the potential impact of these proposals on staff working in the fire services, should matters arise at the implementation stage which could affect the terms and conditions of employees they will be dealt with through the national directorate's consultative committee, at which unions, including SIPTU and IMPACT, are represented. I take the Senator's point, however. Some policies included retained firemen who, while they would not be officially firemen, were trained and available to respond in the event of a serious fire. Whatever complement of personnel our fire services need to respond to a fire should be assigned. I cannot envisage a situation arising under the Minister's proposal where that will not obtain. There will always be adequate and proper cover for any fire. Clearly, however, a chimney fire would not require as many responders as a major industrial or commercial incident.
Sheepmeat Sector
I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to respond to the need to outline the steps that will be taken to protect the Galway sheep breed from extinction. I ask that breeders be admitted to the AEOS 3 scheme for this purpose. Galway sheep have been granted rare status due to the steady decline of flocks in recent years.
National statistics show that the percentage of Galway ewes relative to all lowland ewes decreased from 61% to 8% between 1975 and 1992, which is a remarkable change. The Galway Sheep Breeders Association has 70 members and, while not every member is active, most are endeavouring to preserve a unique part of our agricultural heritage. The major decline in the number of Galway sheep is a worry for those who are actively involved in the industry. We have worked hard as a country to retain a degree of breed development since the 18th century but if we are not careful this breed could be lost forever. Galway sheep have already been listed as a breed in danger of extinction and, as such, qualified for financial support under REPS. This was a great initiative in terms of encouraging sheep enthusiasts in various parts of the country to keep purebred Galway sheep and it led to an increase in the number of registered breeders and the size of the pedigree population of Galway sheep. At this juncture we need the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to support a similar facility to encourage breeding. We need to conserve this industry for cultural, scientific and agricultural reasons and on that basis I urge the Department to introduce a special scheme under AEOS 3 to ensure the continuity of the breed.
I thank Senator Higgins for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, who regrets that he cannot be here.
I emphasise the commitment of both the Minister and the Government to the agri-environment schemes operated by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The schemes put environmentally friendly farming to the forefront and they recognise the vital role farmers play in delivering public goods and protecting the environment and the natural heritage for the benefit of society as a whole. This commitment is evident in the fact that more than €750 million was spent by the Department on agri-environment schemes in the last three years alone and also in the fact that, despite the financial pressures facing his Department, the Minister made a further €200 million available in 2013 under the rural environment protection scheme and the agri-environment options scheme, commonly known as AEOS.
REPS, which was the first of the agri-environment schemes, was introduced in 1994 to promote ways of using agricultural land which are compatible with the protection and improvement of the environment, biodiversity, the landscape and its features, climate change, natural resources, water quality, the soil and genetic diversity. Currently there are just under 30,000 participants in REPS and their contracts will continue until expiry of the five-year contract period in each case. AEOS, which is the successor to REPS, is a more targeted agri-environment scheme for which funding is provided from modulation funds under the Common Agricultural Policy health check. Not only is it mandatory to spend the modulated funds on the so-called new challenges but the EU regulation also stipulates the type of actions to be funded and the kinds of effects that are required to be achieved in dealing with those challenges. This Government's commitment is also illustrated by the fact that, despite serious budgetary pressures, AEOS was reopened again last year.
Given the background of serious economic and budgetary constraints, the Minister's decision to re-open the scheme in 2012 was a very challenging one and involved very difficult choices.
As the House will be aware, AEOS, as currently framed, specifically targets three challenges that have been assigned the highest priority at EU level as needing urgent action. These are: halting the loss of biodiversity; contributing to the improvement of water quality; and combating climate change. The format of AEOS is a menu-type approach, as distinct from the whole-farm perspective, consisting of actions which can be demonstrably linked to those three important challenges. The range or menu of individual measures available to farmers include traditional hay meadows in the case of biodiversity, riparian margins in the case of water quality, and minimum tillage practices in the case of climate change.
There are currently approximately 15,000 participants in AEOS 1 and 2, which were opened to new participants in 2011 and 2012. The scheme builds on the important environmental work that commenced with REPS in 1994 and will go some way towards addressing the serious challenges of sustainability and conservation which we face. The Minister is very conscious of the number of farmers who have left REPS and who are anxious to continue to participate in an agri-environment scheme, hence the re-opening of AEOS late last year with an annual budget of €20 million.
Both the REPS and AEOS schemes operated by the Department provide support for breeds in danger of being lost to farming, including Galway sheep. Under schemes 1 and 2, a total of 541 farmers have selected the rare breed measure, declaring between them a total of 2,250 livestock units. The rate of payment is €200 per livestock unit of the breed per annum and evidence of the registration of the animals claimed with the relevant breed society is required. Payment is made retrospectively, after the livestock units on the holding have been verified in respect of the claim year.
As the Senator is no doubt aware, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, recently announced the re-opening of AEOS to new applicants and approximately 9,500 applications were received by the Department by the closing date on 7 December 2012. The initial processing of the applications has been completed and acknowledgement letters have issued to all applicants. The detailed actions listed in each application will now be recorded and all applications will be ranked and selected according to the predetermined selection criteria. It is expected that just over 6,000 farmers will be successful in this process and they will be awarded contracts of just over five and a half years. As under previous AEOS schemes, Galway sheep will be considered eligible for support and it is expected that ranking and selection will take place in the second quarter of 2013 when letters will issue to all applicants informing them of the outcome.
I thank the Minister of State for giving such a detailed response to my question. I am glad to see Galway sheep will be considered eligible for support and I urge the Minister to ensure that all such applicants who apply for assistance will be furnished with moneys. It is important to ensure the continuity of the breed, which is under a significant threat of extinction. There are cultural, scientific and agricultural reasons this is necessary.
I will bring the Senator's comments to the attention of the Minister.
Schools Building Projects Applications
I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I was hoping the Minister for Education and Skills would be here, but I know he has been detained for the sake of the Magdalen apology in the Dáil.
The story I will bring to the attention of the Minister of State is one I expect he will hear a lot more about and I believe it is a national story. It is a national disgrace to leave the children and the teachers of Gaelscoil de hÍde in Oranmore in their school in its current condition. I make the case that the building project for Gaelscoil de hÍde, a school on the capital building programme for 2015-16, should be expedited and brought forward. The school is experiencing chronic over-crowding and this poses serious risks to children in terms of their education and health, and they are losing class and teaching time.
The demographics of the school are as follows. There are 292 children and 11 teachers on a site of less than half an acre. Most of us have half an acre of a site, but there are almost 300 children and teachers on this particular half an acre. When the children want to go to the toilet, they must put on their caps and coats. There is no circulation space or hallways in the school. These children are losing out in every way. The risks are increasing for the school and the Department and next September, the school is due to admit another 81 children. No gaelscoil spaces exist in the locality for some and it is unlikely there will be space for any new families as there is no other gaelscoil capacity in the local area.
There is no room for site expansion after 2014, which is the reason I make the case the building project for this school should be brought forward on the capital programme for 2013-14. At the latest, building should begin on the project in January 2014, or otherwise September 2014 when the rental of another interim site will be required. That rental will be a waste of public moneys and is a strong reason to bring forward the works for this school on the capital programme. The risk is that as well as the current €200,000 rent per annum, a unnecessary extra €1.2 million will probably have to be spent or wasted on a new temporary site in 2014. In times of austerity, that is a big waste of money. It would be unwise to pay out this money and far better to spend it on the new school, which I stress is on the current capital programme. All I am asking is that the project be brought forward.
The Minister of State will appreciate that the time spent in school is a serious issue for the infant year in education. These children are losing two and a half hours per week or half an hour a day. This is against Department of Education and Skills guidelines. Why is this happening? They are getting full tuition time, but their yard breaks are curtailed. Infants now get only ten minutes per day instead of 40 minutes per day. Breaks are staggered for all other pupils, but that does not allow for the full time for infant breaks. Therefore, these children lose two and a half hours per week of play. We all know play is extremely important for learning, for the development of the brain, for socialisation and for the prevention of obesity. These children are being deprived in this regard.
I checked the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and can verify that play has been enshrined as a childhood right within it since 1989. Chronic play deprivation, particularly during the period between birth and seven years, has been linked to impaired brain development, lack of social skills, depression and aggression. Having been an infant teacher myself, I assure the Minister of State that aggression is a strong likelihood when children do not get enough time at play and enough fresh air. The risk is that school play time will continue to be denied to these children.
The current school is on a half acre site, with only 29% of recommended classroom and circulation space. Therefore, pupils and teachers suffer a loss of up to 70% of space. Four pupils have serious, unusual medical conditions and the school has no medical room to act as a holding centre for these pupils. There is no car-parking space on site and the road outside the school is a narrow country road. There are severe health and safety risks and one can only imagine what would happen if, God forbid, there was an outbreak of meningitis. It would run through the school because of the cramped physical conditions, with less than 70% of the recommended space. On public health grounds, I would be fearful of an epidemic in the school.
I have not touched on the issue of traffic on the narrow, bog road on which the gaelscoil is situated. I know the Minister wanted to hear this motion but is unable to be here. I urge him to look seriously at expediting the case of Gaelscoil de hÍde. We now have the signed agreement on the site and have outline planning permission for the new school as of yesterday. I urge the Minister to bring the project for the school forward from the 2015-16 programme and start it in January 2014 at the latest, so that the children can move into their new school in September 2014, saving the State over €1 million. This will improve the quality of education for the children, save gaelscoil education for local children and provide a healthier and safer place for them. I have not even touched on the risks to the teachers.
Before I call the Minister of State, I welcome to the Visitors Gallery Senator Eamonn Coghlan and his party. I notice that he is accompanied by Mr. Des McCormack and Mr. Ronnie Delany. I do not recognise anybody else. They are all very welcome.
I also welcome Mr. Ronnie Delany who was and still is one of my heroes. I welcome Senator Eamonn Coghlan, too.
Ta mé ag glacadh na díospóireachta seo thar ceann an Aire Oideachais agus Scileanna. Mar a dúirt an Seanadóir, tá an tAire sa Dáil faoi láthair. Glacaim leis go bhfuil an díospóireacht seo an-tábhachtach don Seanadóir Healy Eames, a d'ardaigh ceist Gaelscoil de hÍde in Orán Mór. B'fhéidir go dtuigeann an Seanadóir cé chomh práinneach is atá an scéal ó thaobh an méid daoine óga atá ag teacht ar an saol faoi láthair. Total enrolment in primary and post-primary schools is expected to grow by níos mó ná 70,000 by 2018 - níos mó ná 45,000 ag an bunleibhéal agus 25,000 at post-primary level. Leanfaidh an fás seo ar aghaidh go dtí 2024 ar a laghad at post-primary level. Recent birth rate data published by the Central Statistics Office show that almost 20,000 births were registered in the first quarter of 2011. Is é seo an méid breitheanna is mó riamh ó thosaíomar ag comhaireamh na bhfigiúirí sa bhliain 1960. The birth data also show that 19,313 births were registered in the first quarter of 2012. This indicates a continuation of the high birth rates experienced in recent years. In the light of such recent population growth, we will have a much increased enrolment at all levels of education. This is expected to continue in the medium term. It is vital that there is sufficient school accommodation to cope with this increase, as the Senator pointed out.
In order to meet the needs of our growing population of schoolchildren, the Department of Education and Skills must establish new schools, as well as extending or replacing existing schools in áiteanna ina bhfuil an daonra ag fás, ach go háirithe. The delivery of these schools, together with extension projects to meet future demand, will be the main focus of the budget of the Department in the coming years. The five year plan the Minister announced in March 2012 outlines the major school projects planned to proceed to construction over the duration of the plan. This represents a major advance in how the school building programme is publicised. It provides certainty for patrons and school communities, including those at Gaelscoil de hÍde, that the Department is in a position to progress. The schools included in the five year plan know when their projects will proceed to construction. This will facilitate schools in planning to meet the educational needs of children in their areas. I gcás Gaelscoil de hÍde, tá sé pleanáilte go mbeidh an scoil nua á tógáil idir 2015 agus 2016.
The Senator will appreciate that the scheduling of schools within the plan takes into account the funding available, the progression of other major projects required to meet significant demographic needs, the stage of progression reached by individual projects in the architectural design process, the availability of sites, where appropriate, and the technical readiness of projects to proceed. It is not possible to advance all projects in the early stages of the programme. Maidir leis an ngaelscoil seo, b'fhéidir go mbeidh an Seanadóir sásta an scéal seo a ghlacadh ón Aire: contracts have been signed and acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of mí an Mhárta i mbliana. Once the site has been acquired, the project will be progressed through the architectural planning processes. The Department will be in direct contact with the school.
Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Seanadóir arís as ucht an cheist seo a chur faoi bhráid an tSeanaid. Beidh mé sásta na tuairimí a nochtadh anseo a chur ar aghaidh go díreach go dtí an tAire Oideachais agus Scileanna.
Tá sórt náire orm nach bhfuil nuacht níos fearr ag an Aire Stáit dom sa chás seo. I already knew everything the Minister of State has told me. I know about the high birth rate between 2007 and 2013. The school in question has experienced 100% growth in attendance. I will make a final point and ask a final question.
I appreciate that the Minister of State is speaking on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, and I am aware of his commitment to education. If this school has to wait until 2015 or 2016 for a new building, it will be too late. It would be short-sighted of the Department to take such an approach in this case. A brand new school may well be needed to accommodate the 300 children and the further 81 who are expected next year. The school is located on a site of less than half an acre and has no more room for buildings. As I said, most of us have half an acre at home. The school has to organise five staggered breaks and infant classes do not have any play time. If the school is not moved up the scale to allow the project to begin in 2014 and be completed in September of that year, it will be a shame and a national disgrace. The only good line in the Minister of State's reply was "the Department will be in direct contact with the school". I hope that contact will bring better news than the statement we have just heard. Will the Minister of State mention the importance of the issue I have raised to the Minister if he gets an opportunity to do so? That is all I am asking.
Mar a dúirt mé, beidh mé an-sásta na tuairimí a nochtadh anseo a chur faoi bhráid an Aire chomh luath agus is féidir. Caithfidh mé a rá arís go bhfuil suíomh faighte acu agus go bhfuil sé soiléir go mbeidh na conarthaí sínithe agus an suíomh aimsithe roimh dheireadh na míosa seo chugainn. Tarlóidh an méid sin tapaidh go leor. Mar a luaigh an Seanadóir, dúirt mé go mbeidh an Roinn ag caint go díreach leis an scoil.
Tá sé sin go maith, ar aon nós.
Tá mé sásta tuairimí an Seanadóir a thabhairt chuig an Aire.
The Seanad adjourned at 5.50 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 20 February 2013.