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Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 8 Dec 2016

Vol. 249 No. 3

Commencement Matters

Local Improvement Scheme

I thank the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport for coming to the House. It is nice and appreciated that a Cabinet Minister is present to reply to the debate on a Commencement matter.

This matter relates to the local improvement scheme. I am not sure if the Minister was familiar with the scheme in his constituency, but in rural constituencies it was essential in providing small amounts in grant aid, up to a maximum of 90% of the overall cost, for individuals who resided on roads that were classified as accommodation roads. They are private roads, but they accommodate road users, farm and rural recreational activity. The budget allocation for the scheme was small, but the value for money achieved was significant. A contribution was made by those who lived on the road and the council would carry out the work. While I had questions previously about the value derived from the work in respect of who should carry it out, whether it should be the council or tendered for, that is a separate issue.

The primary issue is that the scheme should be renewed in 2017, if possible. It would merely cost a few million euro in the context of the overall transport allocation to cover the entire country. If a pot of €20 million was made available next year, it would help. The scheme was discontinued in 2011. As a result, a large number of roads that would have been repaired under it have fallen into a severe state of disrepair and the individuals living on them do not have the resources to carry out the necessary maintenance or upgrading works. They require a scheme to assist them in maintaining the countryside.

There were environmental benefits attached to the scheme, as well as benefits in the area of transport. There would certainly be benefits for people living in rural Ireland, in particular. Will the Minister give serious consideration to reintroducing the scheme at an early date?

I thank the Senator for raising this matter which I recognise as important. I can understand why he might have thought I was not terribly familiar with the scheme and it is a fair assumption. It is not the case now, but it would have been the case six or eight months ago. Several of my comrades in government have made me familiar with it and I hear of little else from Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran and others. I am familiar with the need for it and I am sympathetic to its cause. As the Senator knows, it is included in the programme for Government that it should be fully restored.

The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each city and county council, in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on these roads are funded from the council's own resources, supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is also a matter for the council. Ireland has just under 100,000 km of road in its network and the maintenance and improvement of national, regional and local roads places a substantial financial burden on local authorities and the Exchequer. As a result of the national financial position, there have been very large reductions in Exchequer funding available for roads expenditure in the past few years. For this reason, the focus has had to be on maintenance and renewal.

Maintenance of private laneways and roads not taken in charge by local authorities is, as the Senator noted, the responsibility of the landowners concerned. There is a local improvement scheme in place whereby a contribution can be made by the State towards the cost of maintaining these laneways or roads. Local improvement schemes are permitted under section 81 of the Local Government Act 2001. Owing to the cutbacks in roads funding, it was necessary for the Department to stop making separate allocations to local authorities in respect of local improvement schemes. The approved scheme remains intact and within it local authorities can use a proportion of State grant funding, which was 15% of the discretionary grant in 2016, for local improvement schemes should they wish to do so.

The reason a separate State grant allocation is not being made for local improvement schemes is that, given funding constraints, a ring-fenced allocation would result in a pro rata reduction in funding for public roads in a situation where public roads are significantly underfunded. Whereas 2017 will see a modest increase in funding for roads, it will take some years yet under the capital plan to restore steady State funding levels for regional and local roads. The primary focus will have to continue to be on the maintenance and renewal of public roads. I do, however, expect that local authorities will continue to be able to use a proportion of their discretionary grant for the local improvement scheme in 2017. In the light of the provision in the programme for Government indicating that as the economy recovers, the Government will promote increased funding for local improvement schemes, I will be raising the issue of increased funding in the context of the planned review of the capital plan.

It is a good result for the Senator. An bhfuil sé sásta?

Go raibh míle maith agat.

Hospital Waiting Lists

I thank the Cathaoirleach for taking a very important Commencement matter and the Minister of State for making time in her very busy schedule.

Cardiac care for patients in the south east has been an issue of concern for quite some time. I have raised many times with the Minister of State and her predecessors the issue of inequality in access to cardiac care for patients in the south-east region and especially for those who reside in east County Waterford, south Kilkenny and south County Wexford. They are not in close proximity to interventional cardiology care services after hours. This is a matter of deep concern that must be addressed. Access to interventional cardiology in the event of a heart attack after hours is simply not available, which is unacceptable. The reason we do not have this access is quite clear from some recent controversies; it is because we do not have a second catheterisation lab. Dublin, Cork and Galway have numerous catheterisation labs and Limerick, a city in the west, has numerous catheterisation labs also. This is a matter of equality of access to health care in the country that must be addressed.

Further to this, I was deeply concerned to learn recently that University Hospital Waterford patients had been on a waiting list for over a year to access cardiac diagnostic procedures. They are now being outsourced to private hospitals in other parts of the country. I understand over 90 patients have been transferred to other hospitals for this care, which is unacceptable for patients in the south-east region. How many more are on the waiting list and to be referred to this private service? How much is this costing the State, as I know that the Minister of State is rightly concerned about the health budget? It seems we are spending far more money in referring patients for private treatment, rather than dealing with them within the public health service. University Hospital Waterford already has expert cardiologists and staff and the service must be enhanced, as recommended in the recent Herity report.

The Minister of State might be able to clarify the issue. My understanding is the HSE at University Hospital Waterford has applied for a mobile second catheterisation lab to deal with the waiting list. It would be far more efficient in delivering a good public health service if patients were treated in the hospital in which they are patients. I am interested in the Minister of State's response as this is a matter of deep concern. As I stated before, as a Government Senator, I see it as no longer acceptable that people, patients and citizens of the country are treated in an unequal way in comparison with patients in other parts of the country.

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. I also convey the apologies of the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, who is personally unable to attend.

The Minister visited University Hospital Waterford recently and is aware that there are waiting lists for cardiology procedures at the hospital which, as the Senator knows, is managed by the Health Service Executive. The Minister is keenly aware of waiting lists in cardiology and other specialties in hospitals around the country and I assure the House that the Government is committed to improving waiting times for patients. For that reason, last August, the Minister requested the HSE to develop an action plan on waiting lists, focused on those patients waiting the longest. Under the waiting list action plan, over 8,000 patients have since been removed from the inpatient and day case waiting list, either through the provision of treatment, clinical validation or because the patient has been given a date for the procedure.

The Senator may wish to note that €11.25 million in funding from the winter initiative contingency funding has recently been allocated to progress treatment for patients on inpatient and day case waiting lists. Of course, supporting waiting list measures under the winter initiative contributes to ensuring people receive timely treatment and consequently do not end up requiring emergency care. I am glad to advise the Senator that the HSE has put in place process improvement plans in all hospitals in order to drive improvements in waiting list management at hospital level. In that context, University Hospital Waterford is arranging to outsource 90 patients from the cardiology waiting list to undergo cardiac diagnostic procedures in public and private facilities. These 90 patients, referred to by the Senator, have been on the waiting list for over a year and because of this outsourcing initiative, they will, I hope, receive their procedure by year-end. All of these procedures will be undertaken in the Munster area, with the majority being undertaken in Cork University Hospital. The House will be aware that both Cork University Hospital and University Hospital Waterford are members of the South/South West Hospital Group.

I am pleased that this hospital group is operating to maximise capacity to diagnostics across the group and that spare capacity in the Cork University Hospital's catheterisation laboratory is being used to address the Waterford waiting list.

Budget 2017 provides for the patients who are waiting the longest. Some €20 million will be allocated to the National Treatment Purchase Fund in 2017 and this will increase to €55 million in 2018. It is important to note that additional funding will be provided for University Hospital Waterford in 2017 to implement the recommendations of the Herity review which has been mentioned by the Senator. In his review of the need for a second catheterisation laboratory at University Hospital Waterford Dr. Herity recommended that investment be made to enhance cardiology services at the hospital. Funding will, therefore, be provided to increase the number of weekly catheterisation laboratory sessions provided. This will help to address waiting times and provide improved access for patients. Details of this investment will be set out in the HSE's national service plan for 2017 which will be brought to the Government shortly. I have not yet had sight of the plan, but I am looking forward to reading it.

While I welcome the enhancements recommended in the Herity report and University Hospital Waterford should engage in making these improvements immediately, I am disappointed with the statement in the Minister of State's response that "the majority" of patients will continue to be referred from University Hospital Waterford to Cork University Hospital. The Members of this House who are from Cork will confirm that Cork University Hospital is already experiencing capacity pressures. I understand patients are being referred to the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork, a private hospital, but the Minister of State did not mention this in her response. The cost to taxpayers of referring patients to this hospital is far greater than the cost of providing a second mobile catheterisation laboratory in Waterford to deal with the waiting lists.

I advise the Minister of State to take into account that some decisions are being made by officials in the Department of Health. I suspect that an effort is being made within the Department to downgrade cardiac services. Many of my colleagues share my concerns in that regard. I welcome the presence in the Chamber of Senator Grace O'Sullivan in support of what I am saying. We need to act on this. I ask the Minister of State to engage with the officials in the Department and write back to me in detail in response to my questions. What would be the cost to the Department of having these patients transferred to private services? What would be the cost of providing a mobile catheterisation laboratory, which is the obvious solution the Department should consider?

I emphasise that the hospitals across the country are managed by the HSE, not by the Department of Health. The funding obtained by the Minister for Health in the budget is allocated to the HSE which manages the budgets that are needed to run hospitals. According to the information I have received from the HSE, there is spare capacity in Cork University Hospital. There is no reference in the information I have received to patients being referred to the Bon Secours Hospital. I will make further inquiries for the Senator to ascertain whether such referrals are being made. It is clear that any spare capacity within public hospitals should be used. On the downgrading of cardiac services, the patient has to be at the centre of everything we are doing and the heart of the policies being developed by the Department of Health. It is clear that patients have to come first. Therefore, the downgrading of any cardiac service would be a retrograde step and certainly not be condoned. I will ask the HSE to provide the Senator with the details of costs he has sought. I will also make inquiries about the use of private hospitals.

I thank the Minister of State.

Garda Stations

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy David Stanton.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting for debate as a Commencement matter the question of the lack of a full and comprehensive Garda station in Maynooth, County Kildare. I spoke to officials in the Garda Commissioner's office yesterday to confirm some facts which I will now outline.

Maynooth Garda station opens for two hours a day, Monday to Friday. The highest ranking officer in the station is a sergeant. This is an issue of concern in the light of a vicious attack that took place outside the local university recently. I will not go into the details of this ongoing matter, other than to say the incident has heightened tensions, sensitivities and awareness of security among local residents. Numerous councillors from all parties have contacted my office in the past two weeks to ask what is going on. There is an unusual dynamic in Maynooth because there are 14,000 people coming and going on the university campus and a further 16,000 living in the immediate catchment area. This means that the Garda station has to police 30,000 people, which is a huge number by any stretch of the imagination.

There is a general feeling in the north Kildare area that something needs to be done. There are Garda stations in Leixlip and in Clane. The people of Maynooth are crying out for the Garda station in the town to be fully resourced in order that it can open seven days a week. Members of the Dáil from all parties and none have spoken previously at length about the need to do something. It is certainly not acceptable that the Garda station opens for just two hours a day, five days a week, and is of such limited capacity. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House and look forward to hearing what he feels he can do.

I am responding to the Senator on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality who, unfortunately, cannot be here, but she sends her apologies to the Senator.

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. He will be aware that the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of resources among the various Garda divisions and that the Tánaiste has no direct role in the matter. It is a matter for the Garda Commissioner. As the Senator knows, Maynooth Garda station is in the Leixlip Garda district which forms part of the Kildare division and is open from 10 a.m. to noon, Monday to Saturday. Furthermore, neighbourhood watch and community alert schemes are in place in the Leixlip area. The district officer in Leixlip attends municipal forum meetings, joint policing committee meetings and other meetings in respect of Maynooth town and its environs. During the academic year An Garda Síochána liaises closely with the university security and staff of NUI Maynooth. Each September gardaí deliver a presentation to all first year students during freshers' week to address matters such as personal safety, general behaviour and community engagement.

I am informed that on 31 October last, the latest date for which figures are readily available, there were 307 members of An Garda Síochána assigned to the Kildare division, 12 of whom were assigned to Maynooth Garda station. The division is also supported by 22 members of the Garda Reserve and 29 civilian staff. The work of local gardaí is supported as appropriate by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the National Economic Crime Bureau and the National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau. The 57 Garda vehicles that operate throughout the division provide a highly visible and mobile Garda presence. Garda management keeps the distribution of resources under continual review to ensure the optimum use is made of them. This is reflected in the fact that local Garda management in the division has implemented additional policing measures in response to recent incidents, including additional Garda foot patrols, check points and patrols by the regional support unit.

A Programme for a Partnership Government recognises community policing as the embodiment of An Garda Síochána because it provides a means of recognising that every community, both urban and rural, has its own concerns and expectations. It commits the Government to ensuring there is visible, effective and responsive policing in every community, with the most minimal response times possible. In support of this objective, the Tánaiste has asked the Policing Authority to oversee a review of, among other things, the dispersement of Garda stations in rural areas. I understand the authority has formally requested the Garda Inspectorate to examine the dispersement and use of resources available to the Garda in the delivery of policing services to local communities and make recommendations for the provision of a more effective, visible and responsive policing service that takes account of the changing environments in rural, developing, urban and suburban areas; the views of local communities; the allocation to and deployment of Garda resources at local policing level, including the use of the Garda Reserve, Garda facilities and Garda equipment; and relevant recommendations made in previous inspectorate reports.

The Tánaiste recently announced that the Government had approved her proposal for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021, comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Garda Reserve members and 4,000 civilians.

For 2017, funding has been provided for the recruitment of 800 Garda recruits and up to 500 civilians to support the wide-ranging reform plan in train in An Garda Síochána. Approximately 300 appointments will also be made to the Garda Reserve. I understand that since the reopening of the Garda College, 679 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána, of whom 35 have been assigned to the Kildare division. In addition, it is anticipated that in 2017, as recruitment continues, An Garda Síochána will be in a position to allocate more probationer gardaí to the division.

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. Will he keep this matter under review? It is unique. This is more than a rural Garda station. There are 14,000 students on campus and 16,000 living in the catchment area. Recent events have heightened their anxiety. I call on the Department and the Minister to keep the issues surrounding the station under review. I thank the Minister of State for his response.

Again, on behalf of the Tánaiste, I thank the Senator for raising this important matter in the House. As I have stated, the Government is committed to ensuring visible, effective and responsive policing in every community, including by way of minimal possible response times. In that context, Garda management keeps the distribution of resources under continual review to ensure optimum use is made of them. Garda management has implemented additional policing measures in response to the recent incidents in the Kildare division to which the Senator referred. Additional measures include Garda foot patrols, check points and patrols by the regional support unit. This is in addition to the high level of Garda co-operation with local communities in the Maynooth area and the local university. The division has benefited from the Government's accelerated Garda recruitment programme. It is anticipated that in 2017, as recruitment continues, An Garda Síochána will be in a position to allocate more probationer gardaí to the division.

I again thank the Senator for raising this important matter and his interest in these vital issues.

Sitting suspended at 11.05 a.m. and resumed at 11.35 a.m.
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