Seanad Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 20 Feb 2018

Vol. 256 No. 4

Commencement Matters

Schools Facilities

Senator Jennifer Murnane O'Connor

I welcome the Minister. An uncompleted school in County Carlow was promised facilities over ten years ago, but it is still waiting. Those involved in the school in Bagenalstown feel very let down by the Department of Education and Skills, especially in the light of all the promises made in the national planning framework on its release last week. In 2006 Presentation De La Salle in Bagenalstown was promised funding for a PE hall. The Government has been in power for seven years, but the school still has no PE classroom for nearly 700 students. It is the only school in County Carlow without this vital room. An outdoor general purpose area is being used for PE classes, but it is unsuitable when it rains and the students cannot exercise. There has been a lot of talk recently about rising obesity levels and how each young adult needs 30 minutes of exercise each day, but the students feel salt is being rubbed into their wounds because on a rainy or freezing winter's day they cannot go outside and have the recommended amount of exercise they are told they need for their health. The best time to use the general purpose area is in the summer, but the school is closed then. On any one day in this excellent school more than 11 prefab rooms are in use to ensure students are provided with an education. The staff and management are doing their level best, but they are really feeling the pinch. How can we say we value a child's education if we fail to provide proper facilities to inspire learning?

The school is included in a building programme for the period 2019 to 2021, but it has not heard anything about the appointment of a design team or plans. Student numbers have risen from 350 in 2009 to 692 today, with further projected increases to 720 in 2018-19 and 745 in 2019-20. Where will the school put the extra students? The conditions in which the staff and students find themselves are demoralising. Are there plans to proceed with the project? The Government likes to launch ambitious plans, but it often fails to follow through on them with action. That is clearly evident in the fact that five new schools announced in 2013 have yet to be delivered. Every year since the number has increased. Furthermore, sites have not yet been found for the new schools announced by the Government in its school building plan for 2015. The Minister launched a new programme, but sites have not yet been found for the schools he thinks will be built. How can those involved in one school in Bagenalstown have faith that the promises made will be kept?

Already the schools which were scheduled for completion by the collapsed company Carillion are unfinished or lying idle with no staff. Parents and students are wondering what will happen at Tyndall College in County Carlow. Where does Presentation De La Salle sit in the Minister's ambitious school plans? Will he or someone acting on his behalf meet the board of management and the principal? The school has tried on numerous occasions to have a meeting with him, but it has net been successful and no one from the Department has visited it. What is the position on the school project? Can the Minister understand the urgent need for the PE hall, given that in 2018 the school has over 700 students? It is demoralising. We are very lucky that there are two excellent secondary schools in Bagenalstown, one of which was known as the vocational ETB school and is now called Coláiste Aindriú. The Minister needs to make sure what is in place is fixed for the students in the school.

Why is the Minister building new schools when other schools do not have the conditions they should have?

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Richard Bruton)

I will give a bit of context to the Senator's question. Since 2011, despite very difficult economic conditions, my Department has built 200 new schools and provided 120,000 new school places. We are providing school places at a rate of 20,000 per year because we are in the fortunate position of having a demographic bulge going through our schools. We are working very hard to meet needs but these needs are growing continuously and we need to plan ahead. The 2016-2021 plan to which the Senator referred, and in which her school is included, anticipates the needs of the future with a rolling programme which develops according to those needs. The Senator referred - rather critically - to having a national framework which looked forward ten years but she should support this process as it allows us to plan for the things that will be needed in the future, like laboratories and PE provision which we simply have not been able to provide on a stand-alone basis in recent years.

I am pleased to tell the Senator that we have committed to the school in Bagenalstown which she mentioned, and we have committed to include a PE hall in the new build. We will not follow through on the very strict approach there has been to PE halls. Presentation De la Salle is a co-educational school which has had a significant growth in enrolments, from 470 to 691 pupils. We have provided additional accommodation for the school on a temporary basis across a range of needs such as home economics, science and woodwork, but the long-term plan is to construct a new school. A school site visit by my Department's architectural staff has taken place as part of the preparatory work which is required to initiate the architectural planning process for the project. The next step includes devising the schedules of accommodation for the purposes of the schools project brief, and this process is in train. When the schedules have been finalised, my Department will be in further contact with the school authorities and, as I said, pending construction of additional accommodation my Department has provided temporary accommodation to cater for its interim needs.

The fact that a long-term planning process is in place shows that we anticipate the needs of schools, such as the one in Bagenalstown referred to by the Senator, and that we are in a position to plan. Every school would love its needs to be met yesterday but we are managing a tight capital budget at a time of a rapidly growing population and growing pupil numbers. We have to manage it to the best of our ability. I hope the information is of some help to the Senator.

Senator Jennifer Murnane O'Connor

I welcome all the new schools that are being built but I am concerned about the excellent schools we already have but which we are not looking after. There are 700 students with no PE hall and this is unacceptable in 2018. It does not matter what plans the Minister puts in place, our existing schools have to be fit for purpose but some of them are not. That is a major issue but the biggest issue is the lack of communication between the Department and the school, although I welcome the fact it is addressed in the plans. Can the Minister give a commitment to have more meetings with the school and communicate better with the board of management and the principal? The parents do not know what is going on with the Department nor does the principal, which is unacceptable and unfair. I ask the Minister to get in contact with the school to let it know what is happening.

I ask that he will liaise with it.

Deputy Richard Bruton

I take the Senator's point but as the reply states "a school site visit by my Department's architectural staff has taken place". The next step is the drawing up of the project brief and there will be further communication with the school.

Senator Jennifer Murnane O'Connor

That was two years ago, just to clarify that.

Deputy Richard Bruton

There is a process in place.

On the wider issue, it is important we try to give a better view of the future for all the projects because when people see a school appearing on the list they tend to think that is an automatic commitment that it will be built-----

Senator Jennifer Murnane O'Connor

Yes.

Deputy Richard Bruton

-----but that signifies it is entering into a planning phase at that stage and there is a process that follows that. We can communicate better; the Senator made a fair point in that respect. Efforts will be put in place to try to manage that better and in that way people would have a clearer view of the path ahead.

This is an important project for the school. On the Senator's point about whether we are neglecting matters, a fair balance has been struck. Of the roughly 120,000 new places, a little more than half of them have been in new schools and the rest have been in existing schools, either by way of expansions or refurbishments. There is not an emphasis just solely on the new growth areas to the exclusion of others. There is a balance in the approach taken by the Department to ensure all needs are accommodated. Apart from these major programmes, there are other programmes that try to support existing schools.

A positive aspect is that we can look forward in the future to growing provision to meet the needs in areas such as digital science, physical education and so on, which I believe most Senators would agree are areas for which we need to be planning.

Senator Jennifer Murnane O'Connor

I thank the Minister for that response.

Acting Chairman (Senator Paul Daly)

The Minister is also taking the second Commencement matter. Therefore, we have a smooth transition to the next matter.

School Enrolments

Senator Rose Conway-Walsh

I thank the Minister for coming into the Seanad to address this important issue and hopefully provide some much needed clarity to parents and those involved in Educate Together schools. While my question relates to Castlebar Educate Together national school, I am aware of difficulties and commonalities in Tuam, Tramore, New Ross and Trim.

Many parents believe the Minister is trying to fix a problem that simply does not exist. All five schools have demonstrated pre-enrolment numbers for 2018-19 to accommodate a full stream and have expressed frustration and anger at the prescribed barriers to further development being applied by the Department of Education and Skills so late in the school year.

These schools never opened to remain as half-stream schools and some opened with more than 13 students. Castlebar Educate Together national school and New Ross Educate Together national school were two of those. At no stage in the establishment of any of the five schools currently in this situation did the Department of Education and Skills suggest to Educate Together that they would remain as "half-stream and non-developing schools" as was outlined in recent correspondence. This correspondence appears to directly contradict the agreed terms upon which these schools opened. At no time did the Department of Education and Skills say that numbers were to be capped at 13 - this was always a minimum requirement. The decision now means parents are faced with splitting up their families. One parent I spoke to this morning has two children. One started in an Educate Together national school last year and had a most enjoyable experience through the year. His second child is due to start school in September and he has been told there will not be a place if the numbers continue to be restricted. This simply does not make sense.

The uncertainty attached to carrying out a review will obviously influence the decision of parents as to where to send their children for the next school year. In a letter from the Department of Education and Skills it was stated that national demographic exercises are to be carried out at primary and post-primary levels to identify areas of demographic growth, but this has already been done and submitted to the Department by Educate Together. Why would the Minister seek to have the same work done again? When is this duplicate report due to be completed and when will its recommendations be implemented?

This is also a question about choice both for parents who want their children to attend a religious ethos school and those who prefer a non-denominational educational setting.

Most of all, it is about obtaining clarity for the parents. Without it, it will be impossible for them to make the proper choices about their children's education.

The programme for Government states:

We need a dynamic and innovative education system that reflects the diversity of Twenty First Century Ireland. We will strengthen parental choice and diversity in our school system, reflecting the need in modern Ireland for new forms of multi-denominational and non-denominational education, while also safeguarding the right of parents to send their children to denominational schools that offer a distinct religious ethos, should they so wish.

I know that the relationship between Castlebar Educate Together national school and the other national schools in the area is healthy, productive and inclusive. The schools were set up in urban areas where there would be no effect on existing schools. That the State must intervene and force parents to choose a religious education in order to "preserve a balance among all schools in an area and to ensure that one school is not expanding at the expense of another" is not the rationale one would expect in a democratic republic.

Deputy Richard Bruton

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. It dates back well before my time to 2012 and the report of the advisory group to the forum on patronage and pluralism in the primary sector which recommended that demand for patronage diversity be met in areas with a stable population by divesting patronage of existing schools where there was evidence of parental demand for change. In that context, in 2012-13 my Department undertook surveys in 43 areas. The surveys were carried out as part of the patronage divestment process put in place by the former Minister Ruairí Quinn. In 28 areas, including Castlebar, a sufficient demand for more choice was established. The divestment process was always conditional on property becoming available from existing schools.

The establishment of Castlebar Educate Together national school as a four classroom school has its origins in the report which indicated a size of at least half a single stream school, comprising four classrooms, being required to accommodate parental demand in the area. As part of the patronage divestment process, a school could be opened where a school building became, or was due to become, available as a result of an amalgamation or the closure of an existing school. In some areas, in responding to demand for diversity where existing patrons were unable to make school properties available, the Department also included an examination of properties held in public ownership. That was the background in Castlebar where a school was suggested but deemed to be unsuitable. In that case, a property owned by Mayo County Council - Marsh House - was obtained from it and the Department arranged for refurbishment works to be undertaken to facilitate Castlebar Educate Together national school to operate from there and provide four classrooms and ancillary accommodation for it.

It is a general policy of the Department that schools, irrespective of their location, have to operate within their available accommodation and manage annual pupil intake accordingly. The initial establishment of Castlebar Educate Together national school as a four classroom school and the need to be cognisant of managing the available accommodation have been reflected in my Department's engagement with the patron body of the school. When the school raised the issue of expanding its enrolment, my Department invited Educate Together to submit a case to it in that regard. Expanding the enrolment of the school would mean that the accommodation currently provided would no longer be suitable. A case has been submitted by Educate Together to further expand Castlebar Educate Together national school and four other schools under the patronage of Educate Together which opened as part of the patronage divestment process. As outlined by the Senator, they are New Ross Educate Together national school, Trim Educate Together national school, Tuam Educate Together national school and Tramore Educate Together national school. The case is under consideration within the Department.

The Senator has indicated that my Department is carrying out a nationwide demographic exercise and asked if it is duplicating the work done by Educate Together. The work is being done by the Department based on the very best databases available in the country. It is looking at 314 separate planning areas and using up-to-date data for child benefit payments, school enrolments, preschool enrolments and other matters. It is a very sophisticated forecasting.

The Department sits down with the local authorities to assess the projected levels of property or housing development in their areas so it can factor them in. Therefore, this is not a question of Educate Together providing data and the Department seeking in some way to duplicate it; this is a planning exercise carried out in all 314 planning areas. I was speaking to Senator Murnane O'Connor in this regard. The exercise is designed to ensure we anticipate areas of need, plan for the new schools in the areas of expansion and have a patronage exercise whereby parents would decide what would happen in the event of what I describe.

I fully agree with Senator Conway-Walsh that we need to respond to the changing nature and make-up of this country. We are doing so in respect of a range of issues. We are reforming the admissions legislation. My intention is that religion will not be used as a criterion for selection in the vast majority of schools. I am making a new provision whereby children who do not want to participate in religious instruction in a denominational school will have clear programmes. These will be stated in the admissions policy. I am seeking to introduce a parent and student charter, which will involve legislation.

Let me return to the issue of patronage. The initiative of 2012 to divest based on amalgamations and closures has proven to be a very inflexible model. It has generated only ten cases in the relevant period. I am considering a new approach to try to encourage patronage transfer. The original proposal of the patronage group was to see patronage transfer from existing schools to new schools. The new approach I am proposing would see live transfers so a school would transfer from an existing patron to a new patron without requiring closure or amalgamation. We hope this will be an easier system to adopt. It will be done through surveys by the local community-influenced education and training board.

On the substantive point, my Department is reviewing the requests from Educate Together. I have given the background. I note the point the Senator made. Generally, the Department's policy has been not to provide for the growth of a very popular school that is growing very rapidly if there are empty places in neighbouring schools that are not so popular. That restriction has been based simply on the money available. We do not have the ability to build schools when there are empty places elsewhere. That has been the general policy; it is not a special policy to disadvantage Educate Together in some way. As I stated, we will review the submissions made to us.

Senator Rose Conway-Walsh

When will the review be completed and when will the recommendations be implemented? The Minister said, in reference to transferring patronage, that we must be honest and admit the system has not worked. We must also be honest and admit that the Educate Together schools do appear to be working. They are demand led and they are what families want in the areas in question. This speaks for itself. In Article 42 of the Constitution, it is provided that the State shall not oblige parents, in violation of their conscience and lawful preference, to send their children to schools established by the State or to any particular type of school designated by the State. On legal grounds, these restrictions would need to be lifted with immediate effect, and buildings should be provided to allow the schools to cater for the growing demand that exists under this inclusive school model.

I accept the Minister's point that nobody wants to see a school left without pupils, or the number of pupils being reduced, but the areas in question were specifically picked as urban areas in which there are sufficient numbers of children to do as proposed. Whatever review is to be carried out needs to be carried out in a very timely way, and the recommendations need to be implemented. Within the review, it is crucial that the Minister speaks not only to the local authority and other bodies but also to the parents and families who are most affected.

Deputy Richard Bruton

There is a huge surge in demand for non-denominational schools but we must begin from a starting point where 95% of schools are denominational. The State honours its commitment to provide free primary education through that structure.

The constitutional provision is that no child should be forced to take religion in their class. There is not a provision, however, which states every parent should get the school of their choice. Such a provision, unfortunately, would be unworkable.

I fully acknowledge the quality of the Educate Together model. I also commend the Foras Pátrúnachta and the Gaelscoil model, as well as the education and training boards' community and national schools. These are all multidenominational models with different approaches and are excellent in their approach. I strongly commend them. Virtually every new primary school which I and my colleagues before me have built has gone to non-denominational patrons. There is no question about parental preference. The model that is driving this is transfer of patronage. The old model through amalgamation, divestiture and selling off has proved difficult to deliver. Complemented by a new model, we are hoping we can get greater progress.

On the specific situation concerning the schools which developed under that model, I will look at the case being put forward. I cannot say when that review will be completed at this point. The Department will have to see the demographic numbers in each area, as well as issues around feasibility of accommodation solutions and the nature of available space elsewhere. Ideally, we would like to see patronage transferred to new patrons, including in areas such as these.

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I know it is an issue of particular concern to parents which we are taking seriously.

Life Insurance Policies

Senator Kieran O'Donnell

I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing this matter to be raised in the House. This long-standing matter came to my attention when a constituent came to me about a whole-of-life assurance policy he had taken out ten years previously when he was 80 years of age. It was a policy of around €100,000. When he reached 90 years of age, the policy was reviewed. By this stage, he had paid 1.3 times the value of the life cover into the fund. He was informed by the insurance company that if he did not continue to make annual contributions to this whole-of-life policy, it would have no value and the policy would die.

When he was buying the policy, his impression was that he would pay into it over several years and there would be an investment element to it. Effectively, it would come to a point where it would have an investment value which would link in with the life cover. In the main, these policies are held by people of a more mature age. People are under the misapprehension that they are buying an investment product with life cover. Instead, it would appear to have all the aspects of a rip-off. Suddenly, before they know it, it becomes purely a life cover policy whereby, if they do not continue to pay exorbitant premiums every year, their policy dies. Someone could have a life cover of €100,000 year but, if they lived to a ripe old age, could have paid €200,000 into the policy.

Will the Minister of State commit the Department to undertake a review around this area?

In this particular case, he would have gone to the Financial Services Ombudsman but got no satisfaction of any degree.

There are three aspects. Where does the review stand, how does the Minister of State believe it can be addressed and what does he think of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman's remit with regard to people having recourse to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman, where substance would be placed over legal form? In reality, policies are being sold with all the benefits for the insurance company and all the losses and risks for the person being insured. Surely that is not fair.

Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Michael D'Arcy)

These products are designed to cover policyholders for their entire lifetime or for as long as the policyholder wishes to continue to pay premiums. To decipher that, there is, in effect, no such thing as a whole-of-life policy in that the policy is reviewed every five years. That is the net effect of what is happening. A consumer who has made a formal complaint to a financial institution and is not satisfied with the outcome may go to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman to have it investigated independently. The ombudsman is independent in the performance of his statutory functions. A role of the ombudsman is to investigate, mediate and adjudicate complaints about the conduct of regulated financial service providers. As the Senator may be aware, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Act 2017 which commenced on 1 January 2018 established the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. The legislation provides the FSPO with various powers to determine jurisdiction of a complaint.

Complaints of conduct against a financial service provider must be about conduct which occurred during or after 2002. Although the sale of a product prior to 2002 is not a bar in itself to investigation by the ombudsman of conduct which occurred after 2002, it is important to note that the legislative provisions governing the power of the ombudsman to investigate such complaints are complex. Section 51 of the Act prescribes a period of six years for the making of a complaint to the FSPO that does not relate to a long-term financial service. Complaints about long-term financial services can be made to the FSPO within whichever of the following periods is the last to expire. One is six years from the date of the conduct giving rise to the complaint, so if one found out about this circumstance at a certain stage when someone was getting older and the premiums raised so much that it was obvious that the person could not continue to pay his or her premiums, it would be six years starting from that period. Another is three years from the earlier of the date on which the person making the complaint became aware or ought reasonably to have become aware of the conduct giving rise to the complaint. A third is such longer period as the ombudsman may allow where it appears to him or her that there are reasonable grounds for requiring a longer period and that it would be just and equitable in all the circumstances to extend the period.

It should be noted that the long-term financial service should not have expired or otherwise been terminated more than six years before the date the complaint is made. It should also be noted that the ombudsman must be cognisant of the provisions of section 52 of the Act which prescribe that he may decline to investigate a complaint where, in his opinion, the conduct complained of occurred at too remote a time to justify investigation. As I have stated, the ombudsman is independent and each complaint is dealt with on its own merits and there may be a number of aspects to this.

Officials in the Department of Finance are examining whole-of-life policies as they present, by their nature, atypical customer protection issues which may not become fully apparent for many years. This examination has only recently commenced. Once this examination is complete, the Department will provide technical advice to the Minister on whether legislative change should be considered. It will then be a matter for the Minister and Government to make policy decisions.

Senator Kieran O'Donnell

I thank the Minister of State. Based on my experience with these policies, I think legislative change will be required. These policies are being sold as whole-of-life. As the Minister of State said, there is a review every five years. An element which is not pointed out is that people, particularly older people, pay an exorbitant premium, with many taking out the policies, traditionally known as section 60 policies, to pay for inheritance tax on their deaths to ensure that beneficiaries are not caught by liabilities.

Suddenly, they find themselves in a situation where the amount they have paid into the fund is far in excess of the value of the policy. Legislation must be introduced to provide for such situations. If people take out such policies which are deemed to be whole-of-life policies, they must get to a point where if they have paid an amount into the fund that is higher than the value of the policy, they should not be required to make further contributions.

Deputy Michael D'Arcy

I have met a number of people who have got caught up in these policies and cannot continue with them because of the premia being charged. For example, there are people with policies worth less than €100,000 who have paid in over €100,000 and the premium is now €10,000 or €12,000 a year. There is a substantial case to be investigated and my Department has recently started to look into the matter. It has to consult stakeholders. I tried to get a date on which they would come back to me on it. I did not get one, but I am requesting that it be done before the summer in order that these matters can be brought to a conclusion and decided on by the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. I have an issue with the mis-selling of products. I am not saying this is the mis-selling of a product, but none of the people I have met knew or understood that every five years there would be a review and a ramping up of premia as they got older. The difference in premia for people aged between 75 and 80 years and those between 80 and 85-----

Senator Kieran O'Donnell

Is phenomenal, at about €10,000 a year.

Deputy Michael D'Arcy

It is something we want to try to pursue. I have to admit I am annoyed at this behaviour. For people who are mis-sold a product, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. That is the place where we should be able to bring the matter to a conclusion. If legislation is required, I assure the Senator I will not be slow to bring it forward.

Road Projects

Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee

My Commencement matter concerns a slip road onto the M1 at Donabate. The villages of Donabate and Portrane are situated on a peninsula in north County Dublin and have a combined population of approximately 9,000. There is significant ongoing development and approximately 4,000 new housing units are planned in the not too distant future. The construction of the national forensic hospital on the St. Ita's Hospital site is well under way and it is thought it will be operational at the start of 2020. Over 500 staff will be employed in the new hospital.

The largest building in Ireland is the Tesco distribution centre in Donabate. It measures 78,000 sq. m in size on a 40 acre site. Over 1,000 employees are based at the distribution centre from where goods are distributed across Ireland and Europe. There is a significant volume of traffic in the area because of the centre and the large population living on the peninsula. This trend is set to continue once the national forensic hospital is fully operational and the extra 4,000 housing units are built in the area.

Around the time the Tesco distribution centre was built ten years ago, it was envisaged that a slip road would be built close to it at the top of Turvey Avenue. That project should be looked at again as the slip road was not constructed at the time. There is significant pressure on the M1 slipway at Hearse Road.

There are significant tailbacks there at particular pressure points. This M1 slipway off the top of Turvey Avenue, as was envisaged at the time, should be seriously considered now. As it will just be a slip road and not a bridge, the outlay will be very much contained.

Not only would the population of Donabate and Portrane benefit from this, commuters from Rush, Lusk and Skerries feeding into the current slip road onto the M1 would be diverted through this before they hit the roundabout at the top of the Hearse Road. It is a simple piece of infrastructure that would have a significant positive impact on people's lives there. Fingal County Council received €8.5 million at the time of the development of the Tesco distribution centre. That money should be used to relieve the pressure on the local population.

While speaking about the infrastructure on the peninsula, I also mention the severe lack of pedestrian footpaths and cycle lanes in the area. I welcome that the new distributor road, which has just started construction, will have cycle lanes. However, once the cyclists come off the distributor road onto the Hearse Road, they will be met by a large volume of traffic on what is in effect a country road. Cycle lanes should be introduced on the Hearse Road and around the peninsula in general. A large population now lives there without adequate footpaths for pedestrians. The lack of cycle lanes on the Hearse Road makes it very dangerous for cyclists and causes considerable tailbacks on the Hearse Road. That will intensify when the distributor road opens and when the extra population arrives on the peninsula.

The population cannot grow as rapidly as it is currently growing in the area without proper infrastructure being put in place. I appeal to the Minister to consider introducing such an M1 slipway which would have a massive impact on the area for a very small outlay. North County Dublin is the fastest growing area in the country and we need proper infrastructure.

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (Deputy Shane Ross)

As Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, I have responsibility for the overall policy and funding of the national roads programme. The planning, design and implementation of individual national road projects is a matter for Transport Infrastructure Ireland under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. Within its capital budget, the assessment and prioritisation of individual projects is a matter in the first instance for TII in accordance with section 19 of the Roads Act.

Donabate is served by the M1 Lissenhall interchange which connects to the R132 and R126. A major upgrade of this interchange was completed in 2013. The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads in the Donabate area is a statutory function of the local authority in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. While any proposal on the construction of an additional slip road to serve Donabate would be a matter in the first instance for Fingal County Council, as the road authority concerned, it would also need to be considered within a wider transport planning framework. In this context the National Transport Authority’s transport strategy for the greater Dublin area, GDA, sets the overarching policy framework for transport infrastructure development in the region. This strategy examines the future national, regional and local road network as part of its consideration of a strategy aimed at addressing urban congestion and improving the efficiency and sustainability of the urban transport system in the GDA.

The strategy sets out principles for road development in the GDA, including that alternative solutions such as public transport provision, traffic management or demand management measures cannot effectively and satisfactorily address the road proposal or are not applicable or appropriate together, that each proposed road scheme is consistent with the strategy and Government policy, and that each scheme does not diminish in any significant way the expected beneficial outcome of the strategy.

As part of a corridor options appraisal, the strategy considers the measures needed to meet travel demand on the economic Drogheda to Dublin city corridor. While the strategy does refer to the need for a distributor road around Donabate, it focuses primarily on public transport options and improved rail services.

This is reflected in the national development plan launched last week, which makes provision for the delivery of priority elements of the DART expansion programme, including the electrification of existing lines. This is to include electrification of the rail line to Drogheda.

Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee

On the point regarding the DART expansion programme, we have heard this on numerous occasions. It was first announced in September 2015 but we are still waiting for it to happen and as such, with respect, I have to take what the Minister says with a pinch of salt. He is the Minister with responsibility for transport policy. This slip road, which was supposed to be delivered ten years ago, could be easily delivered now. I ask the Minister to review this project with a view to including it in the transport framework and to liaise on this matter with Fingal County Council and the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, who also has a role to play in the delivery of this slip road. North County Dublin and, in particular, Donabate, is absorbing a lot of the housing need of Dublin and we need adequate infrastructure. Along with the much-promised DART expansion, we need this slip road delivered to ease the pressure in Donabate.

Deputy Shane Ross

I take the Senator's point and I will convey what she had to say to the National Transport Authority, NTA, and Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII.