I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, to the Seanad Chamber.
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
School Enrolments
I welcome the Minister of State. It is great to have him in the Chamber to discuss Clonakilty and the need for secondary school places to be provided for the academic year of 2023-2024. Clonakility is a thriving town with a thriving hinterland which feeds into the educational hub that is Clonakilty. We have two dynamic secondary schools. Both the college and the convent provide top class subject choice across a wide range of topics. There has been a major redevelopment of the college campus under the stewardship of Paddy Duggan, the former principal. Now Tommy Brown is there and is doing a fantastic job in driving the complex forward. There is a significant proposal which would see a multimillion redevelopment of the convent site.
That is in the future but there is considerable concern in the town about academic places for 2023-2024. On 15 December, the students who have applied to the college will be informed whether they are successful or not. A waiting list will be put forward then. We are not sure how long that list is or what is the capability for the list to fit the capacity of the students looking to go to the college. There is a unique dynamic in the town regarding the need to make sure boys can get education. Traditionally, the boys went to the college and the girls to the convent. We are unsure how that dynamic will play out. Maybe the Minister of State will elaborate on that.
We had a similar situation in Bandon several years ago and it took some time for us to sort the issue. It took a long-term change in ethos in the school and massive development in two of the four complexes in Bandon. Clarity on school places from here to 2023 is needed in the next few weeks. There is concern in Clonakilty about whether the offering will be there for the students. I ask for clarity on the length of the waiting list and on the plans the Department will put in place to make sure every student who applies to go to a school in Clonakilty will have a place made available to them.
This adds to the bizarre scenario of the school transport scheme, which will open in a few weeks. Kids do not know what school they will go to, never mind how to apply for that scheme. We have seen the debacle whereby children in west Cork have failed to get a school bus yet, and we are running into Christmas.
Time is the most important thing in this debate. We need clarity on numbers and on the long-term approach for parents and students to be able to move forward and get their school place for the next academic year.
I thank the Senator for raising the matter as it provides me with the opportunity to give some clarity on the current position relating to post-primary school provision in Clonakilty, County Cork.
For school planning purposes, the Department of Education divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a geographical information system to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sources, including child benefit data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity is used for this purpose. Additionally, Project Ireland 2040 population and housing targets inform the Department's projections of school place requirements. Projections of post-primary school place requirements are informed by multiple factors, including primary school enrolments in the area and primary to post-primary transfer patterns.
The Department's projections of post-primary school place requirements in Clonakilty area show some continued growth in overall enrolments in the short to medium term. However, despite projected overall growth, first year place requirements are anticipated to remain generally stable.
While the Department is aware of increasing pressures and demand for additional school places in Clonakilty, it is important to note that where enrolment pressures arise, it may be driven by the following factors: duplication of applications where pupils have applied for a place to a number of schools in the area; school of choice where pupils cannot get a place in their preferred school while there are places in other schools in the town or area; some towns or areas have single-sex schools and while places are available in the school they are not available to all pupils; and external draw, that is, pupils coming from outside the local area.
The Department is working to establish the true extent of any capacity issues across school planning areas through ongoing discussions with the relevant school patrons and authorities. This close engagement will allow the Department to identify at an early stage particular capacity requirements for the forthcoming years which may necessitate further action to that already in train, including, where required, the provision of modular accommodation solutions.
There are two post-primary schools in the Clonakilty school planning area. Sacred Heart Secondary School is an all-girls school under the patronage of CEIST. That school had an enrolment of 534 pupils for the 2021-2022 school year. Clonakilty Community College is a mixed school under the patronage of Cork Education and Training Board. It had an enrolment of 643 for the 2021-2022 school year. With regard to meeting the current and future accommodation needs of the Clonakilty planning area, both schools were approved for projects on the Department’s capital programme.
Sacred Heart Secondary School currently has a project under way which will provide accommodation for 600 pupils at the school, along with three classrooms for students with special educational needs. This project is currently at stage one. Clonakilty Community College recently completed a project which provided for a total enrolment capacity of 650 pupils and two classrooms for students with special education needs.
The requirement for additional school places is kept under ongoing review. Additionally, the Department will continue to liaise with the local authority in respect of its review of development plans with a view to identifying any potential long-term school accommodation requirements.
I assure the Senator that the Department will continue to work with schools and patrons to ensure there is appropriate provision for all students in Clonakilty for the 2023-2024 school year.
The Minister of State highlighted a particular problem. Children have applied to Clonakilty Community College and been told they will find out on 15 December whether they have a place. They have been further informed that, after that date, there will be a waiting list. Most of the children affected are boys. The difficulty is that there is no other secondary school in the town for them. This is a significant issue for the many parents who have contacted my office in the past ten days. We have a scenario in Clonakilty that is mirrored in many other towns. The real issue is that, as the school website, parents and students are telling me, a waiting list will be put in place on 15 December for boys who want to go to school in Clonakilty Community College. They have no other offer and cannot go to any other school.
I am a little concerned by the Department's approach to this. I realise that it is not the Minister of State's Department. There does not seem to be a figure for how many are on the waiting list and what the follow-up plan is to ensure these children, particularly the boys, have an option. At the moment, the boys have no other option for a place in Clonakilty. They must either go to another town, whether it is Bandon, where the schools are full, Dunmanway, Skibbereen or Rosscarbery. The Department must take a proactive approach to this problem. Will the Minister of State come back with the figures? We need to know how many children are on the waiting list. Until we know that, we will not know the extent of the problem.
I accept the Senator's point that many people do not have clarity as to their standing at this time. It is very hard to give clarity until the 15 December deadline has passed. I expect the schools have some of the information he has requested. I will feed back to the Minister that we need to get that information from the schools and give clarity to people as soon as possible. I am hopeful the fog will lift after 15 December for the students waiting for an allocation of places. I will report back to the Minister with the specific information the Senator outlined.
Education and Training Provision
In recent months, the Joint Committee on Autism, of which I am Chairperson, has been meeting with parents' groups from all over the country. A theme that keeps coming up is the lack of therapy services. When we drill down into that issue, we find there are more than 800 posts that are fully funded by the Government across all therapy services, including speech and language, occupational therapy and psychology, but which are not filled because we do not have qualified people available to take up the jobs within the HSE. The reality is that children are suffering.
I will give an example. At the Phoenix Centre in my home county of Longford, there was a period during the summer when only 3.8 posts were filled across the services to cover a county with a population of more than 45,000 people. There was a half-post for a speech and language therapist to look after children and schools. More than 230,000 children were on a waiting list for assessment of needs and more than 700 were waiting for services. The future looks very bleak because we do not have the people coming through the system to take up these posts. As I said, the posts are fully funded by the Government, which is important to acknowledge.
There must be an increase in the number of positions in third level colleges to train people to fill the posts across the services. There are only 100 places on occupational therapy courses between all the colleges in the country. A certain percentage of graduates will go abroad and another percentage will go into private practice. That leaves a narrow group of people to work within the HSE. We must increase dramatically the number of places in colleges and put graduate programmes in place. Otherwise, children will continue to suffer by not getting the services they need and deserve.
If we want to give children in this country an equal opportunity in life, we must ensure they can access these services at a young age. I recently visited a national school in my area, St. Joseph's National School in Longford, where I met parents who are massively concerned about these services. We need to take serious action to address the problem. The HSE has neglected forward planning in this area.
The Minister of State with responsibility for disability services, Deputy Rabbitte, has described community healthcare organisation, CHO, 9, which covers Dublin West, as the most challenging of all areas when it comes to implementing reforms under the progressing disability services, PDS, programme. The children's disability network team, CDNT, in my area either cannot give a timeframe for when a child will be seen or it is saying it could take up to three years. In October, the Minister of State advised me there were 96 posts to fill across CHO 9 in speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and psychology. That represented an improvement from having 50% of posts filled to a 74% rate of posts filled. This week, I checked the figures for Dublin West. In Blanchardstown CDNT, 23% of the whole-time equivalent positions are unfilled. In Blakestown, the figure is 44%, and it is 48% in Cabra. An additional 29 whole-time equivalent staff are needed.
I do not need to tell the Minister of State the impact this has on families and schools. We saw it in the reports yesterday from the National Principals Forum, detailing principals' lack of confidence in the ability of the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, to provide for children with additional educational needs. There are periods when there are no special educational needs organisers, SENOs, or National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, psychologists appointed to individual schools. We have seen a delay in the reinstatement of therapies in special schools because the CDNTs are overwhelmed. Money is being thrown at this problem but when qualified people are just not there to fill the posts, we have another problem. An additional factor is that there are people who do not want to work for the HSE.
I commend the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, on his vision for transforming third level education. He is blowing up the pathways for learners to give them better opportunities and address skills shortages. He is putting a working group, a hub and new courses behind this strategy. Provision for training in therapies must be part of that effort. Another point to consider is that people's ability to find their purpose in life should not be based only on the points they get in the leaving certificate examination. There are many people, including parents, who have experience of these issues. Some of them have a vocation later in life to work in these areas. There should be the possibility to transfer from courses that offer some foundational experience.
In the case of psychology, 28% of posts in CDNTs are unfilled. The Psychological Society of Ireland has stated that another 322 psychologists are needed in the context of workforce planning. We need those places to be filled. The Minister is delivering them in medicine but they are also needed across clinical services, counselling and educational psychology. We must address the inequity in funding in those areas.
I thank the Senators for raising this matter. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, who are unable to be here.
The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science is committed to engaging with all Departments and industry representative bodies to support them in their workforce planning needs. Officials meet regularly with colleagues in other Departments on workforce planning, particularly the Departments of Health, Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and Education. This collaboration is vital. The Department stands ready to help others articulate their workforce needs and to establish whether increased provision is required.
In regard to therapy disciplines, a joined-up approach with the Departments of Health, Education and Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is necessary to determine system-level demand in any given discipline. Officials have met with the relevant Departments to discuss the requirements in the disability-related therapy teams. Ongoing engagements are planned to progress this work. Officials from the Department were also represented on the interdepartmental working group tasked with developing an action plan for disability services. The Department will work with the HSE and the Departments of Health and Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to progress actions arising out of the plan. The provision of healthcare through the therapies area is complex and involves many different parts of the system. The availability of appropriate placements and placement supports is a key enabler of this expansion. Engagement with the relevant Departments on these issues is ongoing.
When increasing capacity in any area of the education system, it is vital it is done in a sustainable way that maintains the high quality for which our education system is known.
Earlier this year, the Minister, Deputy Harris, published Funding the Future, the Department's ambitious policy to address funding issues in the higher education sector, improve the quality of programmes and learning outcomes, and reduce the cost of education to students and their families.
Five priority strands of work were identified in the funding and reform framework one of which, specifically relates to driving skills and engagement, with a particular focus on essential public services. Work on these pillars of reform is being addressed through the Funding the Future reform and implementation group, which is chaired by the Minister, Deputy Harris, and its associated subgroups, led by co-chairs Professor Tom Collins and Professor Anne Looney.
The Higher Education Authority recently sought expressions of interest from higher education institutions interested in building capacity in dentistry, pharmacy, medicine, nursing and veterinary from academic year 2024-2025 or 2025-2026. This process was designed to respond swiftly to national skills needs and expressions of interest were sought from institutions with capability to expand existing courses in these areas. Crucially, the HEA has indicated that it hopes to run a further expression of interest in respect of therapy disciplines next year.
We know that we need to increase capacity in the areas of therapy and psychology. It is not just good for the children and people who need the service but blowing up those pathways will also allow entry to people who did not see that this was a path they might want to take when they were sitting the leaving certificate. There are major opportunities. I ask the Minister of State to bring back to the Minister the point that we want to see therapies as part of opening up opportunities and pathways for people. We must deliver therapies. It is an urgent situation and we need absolute focus and clarity on delivering these positions in our communities for these families.
I concur with the Senator's comments. This is an issue we have raised with the Minister, Deputy Harris, and we compliment him and the Government for the investment in the third level education. However, I am slightly disappointed with the Minister of State's answer, to be quite honest. We have done expressions of interest in other areas, including dentistry and pharmacy, for the academic years of 2024-2025 or 2025-2026 yet we have not sought expressions of interest in respect of therapies. We are hoping to do so next year. Hope is not good enough, to be quite honest. This must happen soon. These places must be in place for the academic year 2023-2024. The situation is extremely serious and we want to give some sort of hope to parents and families that this can be addressed. It needs to be addressed in the academic year 2023-2024. Hope, I am afraid, is not good enough. It is not acceptable. This must be put in place.
I genuinely believe the Senators have hit on a crucial issue. The Minister, Deputy Harris, is committed and has made clear that planning for current and future public sector skills needs is a priority for his Department. Officials will continue to engage across Departments to progress the important area of workforce planning. I agree with the Senators' point about the HEA. We could all do with a little more information about the plan for expressions of interest in respect of therapies. It is worth pushing.
Horse Racing Industry
I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this important matter. I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, for making himself available to take this Commencement matter in the Chamber. I raise the challenges facing the equine sector in Ireland. It is an issue that disproportionately affects my area of Kildare. I will begin by quoting the foreword of a recent Horse Racing Ireland, HRI, report, which stated:
There are few places in the world with a breeding and racing tradition as rich as that in County Kildare. As well as success on the track and in the breeding sheds, the industry provides over 4,700 jobs in the county and over €420 million in annual expenditure. In addition to being the home of some of the most iconic studs and training establishments in Europe, the county features world-famous racecourses at the Curragh, Punchestown and Naas.
Those are the words of the HRI. It is not just a matter of me trying to make a case for my local area. Kildare, as the Minister of State knows, is synonymous with horse-breeding and has been for hundreds of years. This cannot be taken for granted as without question, the industry in Kildare is under threat. Unfortunately, Brexit has had major repercussions on the sector and many have negatively affected domestic breeders. I recently met Ms Cathy Grassick, chair of the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association, with whom the Minister of State has also met, who told me there has been a decrease of 27.5% in the number of mares being visited by UK stallions in the past two years. That is significant. Looking at the figures Ms Grassick presented to me, there is a considerable loss of income to the tune of almost €11 million. That is a colossal income deficit that the industry cannot afford. There are other ancillary industries that would also gain if we were to return to the previous level. They are also losing out.
According to the HRI, Kildare is the second largest contributor to the direct economic impact of breeding in Ireland, with total breeding revenue of 23% of the total, which comes out to approximately €102 million. This revenue is generated primarily through bloodstock sales in an amount of €79 million and nominations of €30 million. There are more than 820 breeders registered in Kildare and leading global bloodstock entities have a significant presence. There is also a significant number of smaller breeding operators which collectively also form an important part of Kildare's local economy. Kildare is home to more than 40 stallions, which is more than any other county in Ireland, including several world leaders, based on the success of their progeny.
We must support this industry. The IRE incentive scheme has worked well, and I thank the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, for his help and support in that regard. The HRI is now saying it does not have the funds to continue it, so we have to find them somewhere. There is one mechanism I know Fianna Fáil supports and that needs the support of the Government. We need to utilise the Brexit Adjustment Reserve fund. This fund aims to provide financial support to the member states, regions and sectors most affected by Brexit to deal with the adverse economic, social, territorial and, where appropriate, environmental consequences. I have raised this proposal with officials in the Department who I understand are looking at it in detail. Early indications from conversations with the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, seem to be positive.
Irish breeders are up against time with the UK having already put in place a VAT exemption on mares and with a number of high-profile stallions already announced for retirement in the UK. Mating counts are due to be decided in the coming weeks and the Irish equine sector and breeders are going to be serious losers, with an already serious reduction of UK mares travelling to Ireland, as I have outlined. This is due to Brexit, increased cost and health requirements. Without Government action and intervention, not only will this reduction of UK mares continue but this will now be added to by the ability of Irish breeders to send their mares to the UK with VAT charges. I want to know what is happening. I want to know if the Brexit Adjustment Reserve fund will be used for this purpose. It is important.
I thank the Senator for raising this critical issue not only for our county of Kildare but for the rural economy, of which the horse racing and breeding industry is such an integral part. It is a key contributor to the rural economy across Ireland. We know that is the case from the 2017 Deloitte report on the Economic Impact of Irish Breeding and Racing, commissioned by the HRI. That report estimated the value of the Irish racing and breeding industry to the Irish economy in 2016 at more than €1.8 billion. The industry employs 29,000 people around the country, directly and indirectly. That gives a sense of the scale and strength of the industry.
That is why the Government is so supportive of a sector that is a such key contributor and is very proud to support the horse and greyhound racing fund. I am delighted to have the opportunity to reaffirm to the House, which voted on a motion on that fund last week, my commitment to that fund which is a key economic driver and my support for an industry in which we are world leaders.
Ireland is the largest producer of thoroughbred foals in Europe and the third largest in the world only behind the USA and Australia. There are thoroughbred breeders based in every county and 92% of these breeders own five mares or fewer. Ultimately, that diverse nature and the number of small breeders is the strength of our industry. The value of thoroughbreds sold at public auction in 2019 was €279 million. Britain accounted for some €230 million of this. Some 60% of Irish thoroughbreds born annually are exported and 80% of those are to Britain. That means that Brexit had a very significant impact.
The EU-UK Brexit trade agreement reached in December 2020, which included the Northern Ireland protocol, was welcome. However, the facility to move horses freely without veterinary certification between Ireland and Britain under an agreement known as the tripartite agreement, no longer applies. It is recognised that this has added cost and an administrative burden to such movements. I am acutely aware that smaller breeders, who did not have the economies of scale or the staff resources to handle this administrative burden and cost, were particularly impacted by that.
The European Commission is temporarily allowing transport between Ireland and France under certain rules, until conditions are agreed between Ireland, France and the Commission under which registered horses may travel between the two member states without health certification in accordance with relevant EU regulations. It is expected that these negotiations, which are ongoing, will be concluded by the end of the year.
The Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association has submitted a proposal for a significant funding allocation from the Brexit adjustment reserve to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The proposal is centred on three key supports. First is the development of new and existing markets. As Minister of State with responsibility for new market development, I am keen to see help being given to support that; second, reducing costs and enhancing ease of trade between Great Britain and Ireland; and third, supporting thoroughbred breeders on-farm efficiencies to reduce costs. The ITBA has indicated that the premise of the application is to support Irish thoroughbred breeders as a direct result of the impacts arising from Brexit.
There are significant state aid considerations. State aid requirements are fully applicable to all Brexit adjustment reserve applications. The submission made by the ITBA is currently being considered in this context by my Department. We must make sure we navigate those state aid requirements, which are complex and rigorous. I know many people in the industry and have met so many breeders and this has been raised with me by the ITBA and others. The fact is they have a very strong case about the impact of Brexit. We need to make sure we can navigate those state aid requirements to try to get support to the industry that is very much a bedrock of economic activity in rural Ireland.
I acknowledge there is a very strong case here. The former chief executive, Shane O'Dwyer, and the chairperson, Cathy Grassick did a really excellent job with the proposal, which I have read thoroughly. It is centred on the three key supports of reducing costs, enhancing ease of trade and developing new and existing markets. The question I asked was specifically around the support of the IRE scheme because it has proved to be really excellent. I did not get a sense from the Minister of State's response that it would be specifically considered. It is really important that we get some positive signs from the Minister of State on that because, as I said, time is of the essence. Plans will be made in the next few weeks. While the proposal in general is being considered we need some more specifics.
The Brexit adjustment reserve is where the ITBA has directed its ask and that is where the potential lies. You have to have that demonstrable impact from Brexit and there is no doubt in my mind that this industry has been impacted by that. The Senator spoke about successful schemes and so on. I pointed to the horse and greyhound racing fund earlier as a good indication of the Government's support. The equine support measures coming in under the targeted agriculture modernisation schemes, TAMS, is also something I have advocated very strongly for. It will come in during the new year and will have a huge impact, including in farm safety which is my own area of responsibility. It will make a really significant difference for breeders to be able to invest in their holdings and in safety requirements. We also have the continued support of the National Stud in Kildare and look forward to working with it in its ambitious plans. Brexit threw up issues around VAT which we managed to address around race horses. We have more work to do to support breeders around VAT too. There are a number of different measures by which the Government and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are supporting the industry across a host of those areas and we will continue to work very closely with all the organisations including ITBA and HRI and the rest of the industry to make sure we support it to continue to provide the jobs and the economic activity so crucial to rural Ireland.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 10.36 a.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 11.30 a.m.
Sitting suspended at 10.36 p.m. and resumed at 11.30 a.m.