I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, to the House. It is great to have the line Minister in the Chamber for Commencement matters. I thank him for being here.
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Road Projects
Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach. The N2 Ardee to Castleblayney road has become infamous for its high collision rate. Sections of the road have been classified as having twice the expected collision rate and the death toll, unfortunately, is alarming. There have been 17 fatal collisions in the last ten years and 24 within the past 18 years. This has left so many families and lives broken, so much grief and a lifetime of heartache. As traffic volumes continue to grow, collision frequency and severity is also likely to increase. The Minister of State can, therefore, understand why the local community finds it inexplicable that work has stopped on plans to make this road safer for everyone, not just the locals who use it but, indeed, all those who pass on this road on their way North or South as the case may be.
A recent European directive on road infrastructure safety management states that member states shall ensure that road sections with a ranking of high accident concentration, such as the N2, are targeted and given high-priority funding for remedial treatment. An upgrade of the N2 Castleblayney Road from Castleblayney to Ardee four-lane dual carriageway is needed. The length is approximately 32 km and it is proposed to have a cycle track and footpath there as well. As the Minister of State knows, dual carriageways are three times safer than single carriageways.
Apart from improving road safety, these measures would also enhance key North-South and regional connectivity, improve road safety, as I said earlier, and also provide certainty for journey times for cross-Border traffic. These particular improvement works are listed in the National Development Plan 2018-2027 and also 2021-2030 for progression through pre-appraisal and early planning.
The design process began on this road back in 2018 and the preferred route was published in February of 2021. Initial design maps have been published and land and property owner meetings have taken place with the local authority. There have been significant impacts on people's properties with up to seven people potentially losing their family homes. Many others had significant land taken and commercial buildings have also been taken. I have to say, however, that from feedback I have received from local authority representatives - the Minister of State met with Monaghan County Council and I thank him again for coming to that meeting - the co-operation from the local community has been second to none. I salute them for that.
Expenditure to date on this road has been somewhere in the region of approximately €5.5 million. The current phase has been going well; so far, so good. However, the €600,000 we received in 2023 was for works already completed. Therefore, a request was made through the Minister, Deputy Ryan's, Department for an additional €900,000 so that the planning process and design process could be completed. Unfortunately, that was not forthcoming this year and as a result, the consultants that were hired had to be stood down. So far, we are in limbo with regard to this particular road.
This comes at a time when roads deaths, rightly so, are in the headlines for all the wrong reasons with the numbers increasing. Surely, if we are serious about road safety, the fact that this road is not being progressed through planning is unforgivable. There is no other way of putting that. We are talking about a serious issue that, quite frankly, is a matter of life or death. If the Department is serious about cutting down on road deaths, this road has to be progressed as a matter of urgency. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.
I thank Senator Gallagher for raising this important matter in the House today. I acknowledge the very serious road safety concerns he raised and the fact that the fatality rate and collision rate has been seriously high and concerning on this road. Many lives have been lost. The Senator mentioned 24 deaths, which is shocking. Particularly as the population increases, as part of the national development plan, NDP, and national planning framework, having balanced regional development is important. Obviously, a core component of that will be to have improved infrastructure from a North-South perspective. Engineering and infrastructure is a key component of road safety.
To give context for what has happened this year, when funding arrangements have been put in place by the Department with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, under the Roads Act and in line with the national development plan, the planning, design, improvement and upgrading of individual national roads is progressed by TII in conjunction with local authorities. TII delivers the national roads programme in line with Project Ireland 2040, the national planning framework and the national development plan.
The Government has earmarked €5.1 billion for capital spending on new national roads projects from 2021 to 2030 as part of the NDP. This funding will enable improved regional accessibility across the country. The funding will provide for the development of numerous national road projects, including the completion of projects that are already at construction stage as well as the development of others. As the greater portion of this funding becomes available in the second half of the decade, this means there has been a constraint on some funding for projects.
A major priority in line with the Department's investment plan is to ensure quality and safety are part of the national road network. In the NDP for this season, an allocation of €2.9 billion is for the protection and renewal of existing roads over the ten-year period to 2030. Four projects on the N2 have been identified, as the Senator has said, in the NDP. These include the N2 from Clontibret to the Border, the N2 from Ardee to Castleblayney, the N2 Slane bypass and the N2 from Rath roundabout to Kilmoon Cross. I can provide the Senator with some further details on each of them. These projects are in line with the national planning framework, in particular the national strategic outcomes of enhanced regional accessibility and strengthening rural economies and communities.
The TII is working to progress these schemes to the planning, design and construction stages. Approximately €491 billion of Exchequer capital funds are being provided for national roads through the TII to local authorities in 2023. These allocations were announced by the Department of Transport in February of this year. Funding in 2023 for new projects on the N2 comprised €2.5 million for the N2 from Clontibret to the Border, which was contingent on a successful application for funding under the Connecting Europe Facility, CEF. It was awarded earlier this year. There was €600,000 for the N2 from Ardee to Castleblayney, €350,000 for the N2 Slane bypass and €750,000 for the N2 from Rath roundabout to Kilmoon Cross.
I am aware of the concerns in this regard, having engaged directly with Monaghan County Council, its officials and the local authority members there on the funding allocation for this year, which did not allow for sufficient progress, as the Senator has stated. That is a matter of fact. There is ongoing engagement between the Department of Transport and the TII about the funding allocations for next year. As the Senator has said, this road has a concerning road safety record and that has to be a core consideration as part of our overall funding paradigm. As I said, no decision has been made by the Government yet on what the funding allocations will be for next year. However, this road is in the national planning framework and the national development plan. It has an important North-South dimension as well. That is something I am also acutely aware of from the Senator’s representations.
I thank the Minister of State for his response. I acknowledge that he came to Monaghan County Council on this particular issue. I know he does not have direct responsibility for everything that goes on within this Department, but I ask him to bring the message back to someone who does - the Minister, Deputy Ryan - that funding is required in order to progress this road. We are talking about approximately €1 million to keep this project alive and moving forward. This is the least we can do for all those landowners and homeowners who are losing their homes. They have co-operated with the council by acceding their properties so that a road can progress. We owe it to them not to keep them in limbo. We also owe it to all those who have already lost their lives on this road, and the Minister of State mentioned that in his contribution. This is literally a matter of life or death and I do not over-egg it when I say that. I sincerely hope that the Government and the Minister, Deputy Ryan, find the necessary €1 million to give to the TII for the design work on this road to be completed so the investment to date will not be lost.
I will reflect on the feedback the Senator has given and the strong representations he has made. He has also been clear about his concerns relating to the high collision rate on the road. The high collision rate will not improve with increases in the population and the increased use of the road. It has an important North-South dimension.
Engineering and infrastructure are of paramount importance in improving our road safety. That is why particularly in the midlands, the west and the north of the country there are a number of strategic projects which, if constructed, will improve road safety for many people who use those roads every day. The Senator has referenced the shocking loss of life over the last number of years in Monaghan and the wider region, which is of serious concern to me. That is why a wider discussion is ongoing within the Government about investment into roads.
During our ministerial road safety committee meeting last week, there was a discussion of the importance of engineering as a facet of improving road safety. That cannot be ignored. There are other areas that will have to be further progressed. This was a difficult year on the roads. I refer to enforcement and education as well, but engineering is a core component. If ongoing progress is not in place where there are high collision rates and poor road safety records, that will have to be of consideration when decisions are made. I will reflect on the feedback the Senator has given, and his concerns with regard to road safety.
I thank the Minister of State. That is very important. I welcome Elle Lennox and Lucy Reeves to the Seanad. They are here doing work experience with me this week.
Disabilities Assessments
I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, for coming to the Chamber. My question this morning relates to the establishment of the assessment hub in CHO 9 on the north side of Dublin.
As the Minister of State is all too aware, when it comes to children with additional needs in this country, the word that appears in almost every single conversation is “wait”. There are waiting lists to be assessed, then there are waiting lists to access services and then they must wait for the education system and the health system to be joined up so that kids will not be left with a shocking wait for basic things like assistive technology.
Two years ago, on the north side of Dublin in CHO 9, some 2,824 children had been waiting for 12 months or longer for an initial contact from a disability service in the HSE. While there are efforts on the ground, that does not take away from the fact that a torturous wait remains for families and particularly children to be assessed, to get a diagnosis and to get treatment or a service.
My question today relates to the assessment of needs. At the end of the second quarter of this year, some 1,906 children had been waiting for at least six months or more for an assessment of need on the north side of Dublin in CHO 9. The vast majority of those 1,900 children were waiting way longer than those six months. The response from the Government has been to establish these assessment hubs, which is very welcome, as well as to rely on the private sector to deliver the assessments. Today, I ask for the details of how many staff will be in these assessment hubs and how precisely they will operate.
To my mind, staff are at the heart of the discussion on the waiting times. As we all know, there is a chronic shortage of therapists, psychologists and clinicians to provide services. The recurring theme on the ground at the moment, particularly within the HSE, is that many of these therapists and clinicians are voting with their feet. They cannot go on with the reality of the enormous waiting lists and they are moving into the private sector. This is because they cannot cope with the impact that this is having on the children who are at the centre of all this.
While subcontracting to the private sector is unfortunately a necessary action, one of the questions I have relates to the extent to which this is the long-term response to managing the very dramatic increase in requests for assessment of needs that has taken place over the last number of years. There is a real capacity issue within the private sector already. Anybody who is trying to access a private assessment at the moment knows that it is impossible to get on a waiting list, particularly here in Dublin. Those who get an assessment are scheduled well into the end of 2024 or indeed into 2025. Of course, at the heart of all this are the children and families who are waiting. They are dealing with the lost weeks, months and indeed years in which they have had no access to a service.
I am very conscious when speaking of the assessment of need for a service that it is not a legal requirement that one can access the CDNTs and primary care. That is important to say. Yet, we all know the reality on the ground. The shortage of services means that unless a child has an assessment of need and a diagnosis, they will not have a passport to open up the door to the services and therapies they desperately need to access. It is therefore crucially important that we get the assessment of need piece right to ensure children are properly diagnosed accordingly. I look forward to the Minister of State’s response.
I thank the Senator for the opportunity to discuss this in the House. As Minister of State with responsibility for disability, and as I have said in this House a number of times, I am committed to delivering real and tangible solutions to enhance the capacity of our children’s disability services, and to provide better supports to children and young people with additional needs, as well as to their families. One of the solutions put forward was to develop an AON assessment hub. As the Senator is aware, during a Labour motion last May I committed to having six planned regional assessment teams in place by 1 August to tackle AON waiting lists. If not, I said I would consider covering costs incurred by parents - no pressure. Following discussions with the HSE at both national and local CHO levels, I confirm to the House today that the hubs were in place at the start of August undertaking AON caseloads. These hubs and their effectiveness will be examined in the context of feedback received from clinical staff, the implementation of the progressing disability services, PDS, roadmap and the development of the regional health authorities in early 2024. In terms of CHO 9, the HSE advises that overall 2,829 children were awaiting an AON as of June 2023. It is important to note that a more recent figure is not available due to ongoing industrial action. An AON administrative hub has been established in the Swords area of CHO 9 to maximise efficiency and deliver a CHO-wide approach to AONs. The current configuration of the CHO consists of an AON hub manager, four whole-time equivalent assessment officers of which one post is vacant, three whole-time liaison officers and four whole-time equivalent administrative support staff. All are in place bar the one. The following specialists are allocated to the CHO 9 hub. There is one whole-time equivalent clinical psychologist, one 0.8 whole-time equivalent clinical OT and a specialist speech and language therapist. That is currently vacant due to maternity leave.
In terms of work being done around all of the assessment hubs, each CHO has developed an approach to establish a hub based on the unique circumstances that apply in the CHO. It also reflects the capacity they have within their existing resources. I assure the Senator that while the challenges across children’s disability services are considerable, we will continue to work with colleagues in the HSE and in my own Department to pursue all reasonable avenues to reduce the AON backlogs. It is important to acknowledge that, when I made that statement in the Dáil, hubs were not in place. It is important to acknowledge that the HSE has worked at speed, both Bernard Gloster and Bernard O'Regan, to put these in place. There are names, locations and staff attached to them.
The next part is that at the moment the configuration is being made up from within the teams themselves. That is not private. Those are publicly funded and staffed teams. I have not seen the tender documents that have come in to add additional capacity. I have started from within our own resources, and what we can do with them. I spoke about private services in the Dáil last May, and I still talk about the tender document that went out and has come back in, and which is being assessed to add additional capacity. I committed to 60 hubs. In fact I have delivered on eight. The ninth one, in CHO 2, has its own configuration of how it has always worked, and it has the lowest AON numbers in the country. What it is doing is working, so why change? They are content, so I am not going to force that by any means. We will take the learnings from either side.
I will say one final thing. In health you do not need a diagnosis to access services, but in education and social protection you do. There is our problem and that is our challenge.
I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive response, and for her last comment. She hit the nail on the head with regard to the challenges many of us, as public representatives, daily come across. I talked about the lack of joined-up thinking between education and our health system. I am grateful for the detail provided by the Minister of State. One of my outstanding questions concerns the extent to which this represents new staff, or the reallocation of existing staff within CHO 9. We talk about overall shortages, and I welcome the establishment of the assessment hub and the efforts she is putting in to ensure we cut back on the disgraceful backlog in the assessment of need. I know there is a recruitment drive by the HSE, but we need to understand how successful that is. We are not necessarily seeing that on the ground at the moment. I know it will take time, but it is important to understand whether this is an additional service within CHO 9, or a reallocation of existing personnel into the assessment hub.
On reallocation of staff, I can tell the Senator that the part of the HSE teams which will always be reposted are the liaison officers. The reason is that the HSE holds the right to ensure the assessments are carried out within a legal framework. They will always be part of the HSE staff, so they will always be redeployed.
The current configuration is new and transferred across so we will be backfilling into the teams. However, experience is really important in our hubs. Why is experience important? The first reason is that it took us so long to sort out the paperwork. We do not need to start from there again, and it is all a paper-based exercise. It is ensuring that they go back to the right team when they are assessed so they will not have lost time, but be on the same length and further up to get their intervention. To me those teams are made up of experienced people within the CDNTs. It is also made up of primary care. Part of it will include some people from mental health for the simple reason that, before children are sent back to the CDNT, the next layer on the CHO assessment hub will assess if they are better fitted to mental health or CAMHS. They might perhaps fit better into primary care. The child will access the door that will open and deliver his or her services. For me, these teams represent a positive step. For the first time I can say we have delivered something on time, but it will be a combination of experience.
I say well done to the Minister of State, and thank her for all of her work in this area. I welcome Minister of State, Deputy Jennifer Carroll McNeill. I congratulate her on her recent lobbying and hard work on our behalf to try to secure a new EU agency for white collar crime. We are proud of her out there in Brussels. I call Minister, apologies, Senator Conway.
Some day, you never know. The Taoiseach can appoint from the Seanad if he so wishes.
Indeed, he has already.
Disability Services
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll McNeill, to the House. It is great when somebody from the relevant Department is in a position to take a Commencement matter. This concerns the Department of Finance. Many colleagues will understand the sometime frustration and difficulties in acquiring primary medical certificates. A primary medical certificate eases the cost of acquiring transport for people with disabilities and their loved ones. Coming from rural Ireland I know the difficulties when it comes to transport. As somebody who does not drive I rely on family and friends, and a public transport network, to get me from A to B. People with complex disabilities are in many cases not entitled to, or do not secure, a primary medical certificate when common sense and logic would suggest they should. The thousands of people who have primary medical certificates have them for good medical reasons. In most cases they are put to good use, where either they or their loved ones are able to acquire cars to give them independence. However, thousands more are falling between the cracks. Those are the people I am concerned about. I am also concerned that the primary medical certificate system is cumbersome, complex, difficult and challenging. People who have acquired disabilities find it frustrating. It is certainly not facilitating equal access to transport, which would then facilitate the potential to obtain meaningful employment.
This needs to be reviewed. A motion was passed recently at Clare County Council.
On that occasion, a number of councillors experienced the same frustration that I would say every public representatives feels when somebody comes to him or her, and the representative knows in his or her heart and soul that the person deserves and should get a primary medical certificate but because of the convoluted, archaic and dated procedures and processes, falls between the cracks and does not succeed in acquiring the certificate. The system needs to be streamlined and opened up a little. Common sense needs to prevail. When it is the right, fair and proper thing to do, as a society, we should be doing it.
We want to see more people with disabilities in meaningful employment because when people are in meaningful employment, they are contributing to the system, paying taxes and feel more a part of society. This is what we want to strive for. The recent census showed a significant increase in the number of people in this country who have a declared disability or declare a disability. With that needs to come State structures to support those people to have a level playing pitch and to feel equal and included. I appeal to the Minister of State and the Minister for Finance to review and update the system for acquiring a primary certificate.
I thank the Senator for raising this issue and for his consistent advocacy on this matter and other matters around genuine inclusion for people with declared disabilities. As he highlighted, far too many people are not in a position to work because we have not put the correct structures in place. The Senator has been a consistent advocate for making sure there is better and proper inclusion.
The disabled drivers and disabled passengers tax concessions scheme provides relief from VAT and vehicle registration tax up to certain limits, an exemption from motor tax and a grant in respect of fuel for an adapted car for transport of a person with specific severe and permanent physical disabilities. In order to qualify for the scheme, the applicant must hold a primary medical certificate issued by the relevant senior area medical officer or a board medical certificate issued by the disabled driver medical board of appeal. To qualify for a primary medical certificate, an applicant must be permanently and severely disabled and satisfy at least one of the six medical criteria set out in the Finance Act 2020. However, we must improve on that. The national disability inclusion strategy transport working group, NDIS TWG, comprising members from a range of Departments, agencies and disabled persons' organisations, was tasked with reviewing all Government-funded transport and mobility supports for those with a disability, including the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme. Officials from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth led the work of the group.
As part of its engagement in this process, the Department of Finance established an information-gathering criteria subgroup at the start of 2022. Its membership comprised former members of the disabled drivers medical board of appeal and principal medical officers in the HSE. Its purpose was to capture their experiences, expertise and perspectives regarding the practical operational and administrative challenges of the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme as well as to explore what alternative vehicular arrangements were available for those with mobility issues based on an international review of what is possible. The work of the criteria subgroup led to the production of five papers and a technical annex submitted to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in July 2022. The main conclusion of the criteria subgroup was that the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme needs to be replaced with a fit-for-purpose, needs-based vehicular adaptation scheme in line with best international practice. This is what the Senator is calling for here today.
The NDIS TWG final report was published on 24 February 2023. It welcomed the proposal put forward by the Department of Finance and the criteria subgroup that the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme should be replaced with a needs-based, grant-aided vehicular adaptation scheme and indicated that the proposal was a clear deliverable on which work could begin in the relatively near future. The NDIS TWG final report also noted in its conclusion that the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme is outdated and needs to be addressed as a matter of priority. However, the final report did not set out next steps. Subsequently, it was decided that the implementation of the NDIS TWG report needed to be considered. As a result, under the aegis of the Department of Taoiseach, which shows the importance of the issue, officials from relevant Departments and agencies are meeting to discuss the best way forward. Department of Finance officials are proactively engaging with the work of this group of this senior officials as an important step in considering ways to replace the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme in the context of broader Government consideration of integrated transport and mobility supports for those with a disability. Two meetings have been held - the first in July and the second more recently at the beginning of November. There are proposals with the Department of Taoiseach and Department officials are currently considering material supplied after these meetings.
This is very much a live issue. The Senator's Commencement matter could not be more timely and important. His perspectives on how this should work are welcome here this morning. I will certainly bring them to Department of Finance officials on his behalf.
That is a very positive reply. It is great to know that work has already been done in this regard and that meetings have taken place. I would be very confident that we will see a new system that is more in line with modern Ireland and the complex needs of people with disabilities along with their ambitions to live normal and equal lives and contribute to society. This is the second time in the 12 years since I was elected to the Seanad that I received a script from a Minister that I could read. The last Minister to do it was the Minister of State and the next one was the Minister of State. No other Minister has ever thought enough to produce a script that I was in a position to read so I acknowledge the Minister of State's commitment to equality in a practical and sensible way.
It is the least we can do to walk the walk. I will never forget the Senator's contribution to the Oireachtas event held by Ceann Comhairle on gender, inclusion and a range of different matters. He correctly pointed out that as the only Member of the Oireachtas with a declared disability, nothing had been provided to him in a way that was respectful of his needs. I always bring a copy for him in that format regardless of whether he is here because it is important to be consistent and practical. I thank the Senator for acknowledging it.
The way we adapt this scheme has to be flexible and thoughtful. We cannot include everything and we do not necessarily want to include everything but we need to recognise that disabilities are different and that many people have invisible disabilities. It is important to see a collective understanding of that on the part of the Government. I see that the Minister for Social Protection has reflected on that in respect of epilepsy, the impact of a seizure ruling somebody out of driving potentially for a year and what that means in terms of the availability of public transport supports.
Disabilities are complex, different and very individual and they affect people differently at different stages of their lives irrespective of the status of the disability overall. What we would love to see coming out of this scheme is a scheme that has the flexibility and the intelligence to reflect this variety and the fact that these are changing needs over time while making sure we are getting the right supports to people who need them when they need them.
I acknowledge that, as the Senator is right to highlight, the existing scheme is completely out of date. I thank him for raising the matter and I assure him that this work will continue apace in the Department of Finance.
I congratulate the Senator and the Minister of State, particularly the Senator, for their consistent advocacy and for their modelling of what can be exemplary public service.
School Enrolments
I thank the office of the Cathaoirleach for choosing this Commencement matter. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, to the Chamber. I had hoped that the senior Minister might be here but I appreciate that the Deputy is a Minister of State in the Department of Education and I thank her for her attendance here this morning.
The 2022 census showed that the population of Galway county and city was some 277,737 people and that the population of Galway city was 84,414. As those are the 2022 figures, they have increased over the past year so we are already one year out of date. We know from principals across Galway city and county that Clarin College and Presentation College in Athenry are at full capacity. The new school in Claregalway is at capacity and the new Educate Together school is awaiting a permanent site in the Oranmore area. Calasanctius College is at capacity while St. Joseph's Patrician College, known as the Bish, is in the planning system. St. Paul's Secondary School in Oughterard, Salerno Secondary School, Taylor's Hill school and Coláiste Muire Máthair all have waiting lists for this academic year as per a number of weeks ago and the prognosis is that demand will increase again.
In the words of one school principal, there will be a chronic shortage of school places next September in Galway. Action and solutions are needed immediately. It is clear there is insufficient capacity within the second level education system in Galway city and its environs.
I raised this a couple of years ago in this House. The response from the Minister of State was that things were fine and there was sufficient capacity. It is clear now that this is not the case and will not be next September. That is worrying because I have dealt over the summer with an increasing number of parents who had children on waiting lists and spoke of the trauma and stress of that for the children and, maybe more so, for the parents. They told stories of children talking of what schools they would go to and certain individuals had no school to go to yet and did not know. It can take months and can be an issue up to the end of August or September. I know of a couple of children, one new to the area and one long-time resident, who did not get a place in Galway this September. They are not receiving an education. They are being homeschooled because there is no place for them in Galway. There is a need for additional capacity, including a new secondary school in the west of the city, such as in Maigh Cuilinn, and a new Gaelcholáiste and new secondary school on the east of the city. Galway’s population will continue to grow, particularly the city, its environs, Maigh Cuilinn, Bearna, Oranmore, Claregalway and all the areas out to Athenry.
This September there were unprecedented challenges in securing places and all schools had waiting lists. The process is not working and there are stressed parents and children. What plans does the Department have to ensure adequate school places are provided next September? What plans does it have to provide additional places in Galway in the short term as the population continues to grow? It is an intolerable situation for parents who are scrambling around and told they are 150th, 90th, 50th or even first on the waiting list and still cannot get in to a chosen school. It is of chronic concern across the city and county. I am concerned about what will happen next September based on the prognosis from school principals.
I thank the Senator for his question on providing adequate school places in the county and city of Galway next September. As Minister of State for special education, obtaining appropriate placement for children with special needs is slightly separate to the question but I am aware of the need for that and how forward planning is critical. That is also critical when we talk about mainstream schools.
The Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a geographical information system to anticipate school demand. It gets information from a range of sources, including child benefit data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity, for this purpose. Having considered the projected requirements in a school planning area, the Department looks at existing capacity within that area. I note what the Senator says around some schools and there being, in his view, a lack of capacity. The Department is mindful of that.
Around Galway county and city and its environs, there are some elements of Project Ireland 2040 population and housing targets that help to inform the Department's projections of school place requirements. There are major new residential developments in many school planning areas and they have the potential to alter the demand in that area. As part of the demographic exercises, the Department engages with local authorities to obtain up-to-date information on significant new residential developments in each area. This is critical to ensuring school infrastructure planning is keeping pace with demographic changes. There is a constantly evolving picture with planned new residential development.
We are also looking at the continued growth in enrolments in Galway City. The Senator mentioned Galway Educate Together Secondary School, which was established in 2019 to serve the Galway city and Oranmore school planning areas. My Department is also progressing a number of other building projects in Galway city under the national development plan. Aside from the planned project for Galway Educate Together, the most significant projects in terms of planned additional capacity is a new 1,000-pupil school building for St. Joseph’s Patrician College, mentioned by the Senator, which will also provide two classrooms for pupils with special educational needs. That project is currently at stage 2b. Coláiste Muire Máthair also has a project at stage 1 for a proposed 1,000-pupil school, plus four classrooms for pupils with special education needs, which I welcome.
Despite all of that, the Department is aware of pressures at post-primary level in the Galway city school planning area. A critical next step is to acquire clarity on the number of additional first year places required for 2024 in order for an appropriate solution to be put in place. In that context, schools in a number of areas of enrolment pressure, including Galway city, have been requested to share data on applications for admissions. The Department is liaising closely with schools to ensure that data is provided as soon as possible. Once it is received, the requirement for places can be established. The understanding of the school place needs will give clarity as to the specific actions required in Galway and its environs.
I thank the Minister of State for her response and welcome the fact the Department is seeking clarity on the number of additional first year places required for 2024. The Minister of State mentioned the school planning areas. The concern I have is that my area of Maigh Cuilinn is included in a school planning area with Indreabhán and An Spidéal, even though the vast majority of students do not attend schools in An Spidéal and Indreabhán, but in Galway city. There are four schools in Maigh Cuilinn. While Scoil Bhaile Nua is a scoil lán-Ghaeilge, so perhaps the majority of its students go on to Irish-speaking secondary schools, the majority of pupils from the other schools go to Galway city. Are they being included? If the Department is not including the other three primary schools in Maigh Cuilinn - Scoil Cholmáin Tuairíní, Scoil Náisiúnta Tulach Uí Chadhain and Scoil Mhuire - in the figures, then the figures are totally inaccurate, which will have knock-on effects in Maigh Cuilinn and across the region for accessibility. This is a serious issue and it is time for the Minister and Department to take it seriously, act and ensure schools get clarity on the provision for next September.
It is important that every child has a right to education under our Constitution and should have access to an appropriate education. It is something the Department works on daily, particularly where there are pinch points and a growing population.
I note the Senator’s suggestion, which is a good one, around the 314 school planning areas. It is worth the Department reviewing those, whether annually or more than that. I can get that information to him. He mentioned Maigh Cuilinn and other areas. Localities can change, particularly where there is new residential development activity, and that needs to be taken into account.
The Department is seized of this issue and has asked for the enrolment data for first years so it can understand the school places required for September 2024. We want to make sure every child that needs a school place obtains it. The Senator talked of the stress that can be on parents, which I completely understand. They do not want to find out at the last minute that their child has secured a school place; they want to be given as much notice as possible so they can organise the commute and consider whether they need to drive the child or he or she can make his or her own way to school. That is extremely important. I know the Department is aware of this and I will certainly bring the Senator’s comments back to it.
Before we take the next Commencement matter - this is of particular relevance to the Minister of State - I welcome the students from Our Lady's School in Ballinteer to the Gallery today. I thank them for coming into the Seanad to see us all. They are here as guests of the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond. Their other Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, is here so they are getting a double whammy today.
School Accommodation
I add my voice of welcome to the students from Our Lady's School in Ballinteer. It is always wonderful to see young people coming in and having the opportunity to see how we operate in these Houses.
I have raised this matter in the House a number of times. It seems to be quite close to the previous topic. We need to have a much more co-ordinated approach to allocating secondary school places. It is very welcome to see towns such as Newbridge, Kildare town and others around south Kildare continuing to grow and prosper. People are moving into homes and a record number of houses are being constructed in those towns. This is obviously a very welcome boost to our local economy. However, I have been raising the red flag within the Oireachtas for the past seven years. The rate of growth is far outpacing our infrastructure advancements. Towns whose resources are already maxed out are continuing to grow. The infrastructural deficits are becoming more burdensome for residents who have issues with traffic congestion, school places, accessing GPs and road infrastructure. We really need to see these issues addressed along with a focus on building sustainable communities which have access to adequate resources in south Kildare.
I am standing here absolutely frustrated having to raise the perennial issue of second-level school places in and around Newbridge. Many children aged 11 and 12 are already completely stressed and worried about where they will go to school next year. Their parents are anxious and are trying to manage their children's expectations. I spoke to a number of parents over the past week who had applied to four schools in the area, one of them being a fee-paying school. They have not got a place in any of the four and are way down the list without any expectation of receiving a place. I acknowledge that following conversations with the Minister, Deputy Foley, there has been some response in terms of the school place application. It always happens at around this time of year. I have had the opportunity to communicate the hurt, the fear and the stress that is being experienced by students and parents on the ground. It is not just this year or last year, but has been going on for several previous years.
A number of capital projects will help with the longer term squeeze, such as the new Curragh post-primary school at Magee Barracks and the ongoing works at Cross and Passion College, Kilcullen. The Patrician Secondary School in Newbridge is awaiting the results of the tender process.
However, parents are highly frustrated at the moment, not just with the fact that their children have no places but also with the haphazard and somewhat chaotic process they must follow. We all know the impact duplicate applications can have on the process and how they result in long waiting lists that cause unnecessary stress because they are not necessarily reflective of the true demand. I have spoken to the Minister about trying to implement a better and more streamlined single application process in Newbridge. Parents want a streamlined CAO-style process for second-level applications, something that is happening at primary school level. I am pleased the Department has assigned a member of staff to oversee this year's process. I understand the schools and their patrons have agreed to share data on a secure basis with the Department to ascertain the level of duplication. I understand this is to become operational this week. I hope this facility will aid the process and reduce the anxiety on the ground.
Will the Minister of State outline the Department of Education 's plans to ensure every child Newbridge and surrounding areas will have a school place next year? When does she envisage parents and students knowing of this allocation for the next academic year starting in September 2024?
The Senator will have heard me respond to Senator Kyne, not about Newbridge but about Galway. As she mentioned, ensuring we have adequate school capacity throughout the country is a perennial issue and Kildare is no exception to that. As I mentioned to Senator Kyne regarding the 315 school planning areas, child benefit data, school enrolment data and residential development activity, which Senator O'Loughlin mentioned, will all inform what capacity is required and where it is required. The projections are informed by multiple factors, including primary school enrolments in the area and primary-to-post-primary transfer patterns. The Department can then assess where additional provision is made as necessary where the existing capacity is insufficient for future needs.
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. As I mentioned to the previous Senator, a critical next step is to acquire clarity on the actual number of first year places required for 2024 in order for any necessary solution to be put in place. The same applies for Newbridge where schools have been requested to share data on applications for admissions. The Department is liaising closely with schools in the area to ensure this data is provided as soon as possible, and once it is received, the actual requirement for places can be established. The Department is having discussions with the relevant school patrons and authorities regarding potential solutions, but until the data is to hand, it cannot decipher where the actual school places are needed.
That close engagement with schools and patrons is ongoing. It is not just about September 2024 but also about planning into the future to try to alleviate the constant worry for parents as to whether they have a school place for their child.
The Department's projections for post-primary school place requirements in Newbridge and the south Kildare area are showing continued growth in the short term. The Senator mentioned a number of building projects under the national development plan. The project that will provide the most significant additional capacity is a new 1,000-pupil school building for Curragh Community College which will also provide four classrooms for pupils with special educational needs, which I very much welcome. This provision of a new replacement school and relocation to the former Magee Barracks site in Kildare town will provide significant additional capacity in the area.
There are also additional projects approved at the schools in Newbridge and south Kildare, including a major project for Patrician Secondary School, Newbridge to expand the school to cater for 1,000 pupils. That project is currently at stage 2b, architectural planning detailed design. In addition, there is also a major project approved for Cross and Passion College, Kilcullen, which is to expand the school to cater for 1,000 pupils, and this project is also currently at stage 2b.
I appreciate what the Senator said about duplicate applications, which can be troublesome when trying to decipher how many places are actually required. I also note her suggestion about a streamlined CAO-type process. I can bring that suggestion back to the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Department. There is certainly merit in considering something like that for the future.
I thank the Minister of State for the response I appreciate the consideration she has given to it. It is important to note we are not just talking about the main towns of Newbridge and Kildare but also smaller areas in the vicinity such as Athgarvan, Lackagh, Milltown, Suncroft and Nurney, which have no secondary schools and are completely reliant on school places in Newbridge and Kildare town. I appreciate that there are ongoing discussions with school boards of management.
However, I honestly do not understand why that is taking so long because ultimately we know the number of children who are in sixth class in each school within the vicinity of the secondary schools. Therefore, we should have access to that data, and planning should be starting 12 months before it currently is. Forward planning is hugely important but it starts too late.
I was speaking to a principal last week who said that around 1 December, when the first round of offers have been given and accepted or refused, there should be a high level of knowledge of where we stand. I ask the Minister of State to tell the Department that it should give a strong message before Christmas on the timeline of when parents will know they will have a guaranteed place for their children for next September, albeit it may not be their first choice but absolutely that they have a place.
I can understand why the Senator is advocating for Kildare, Newbridge and, as she said, not just those places but other smaller villages and towns in the vicinity. We want to make sure that as a State we provide an appropriate education for every child. Sometimes, there is not a streamlined approach between a primary school and a post-primary school, where a child may have received a really good education in a primary school and then is at a loss as to where to go for post-primary. We want to make sure that does not happen.
There is a huge body of work in the Department at present on forward planning for September 2024. These particular schools in the Senator’s constituency area have been asked for data, particularly in respect of first-year enrolments, so that the Department can ascertain where exactly places are needed. There will always be slightly moving parts to this because of new families coming in, people changing their minds, duplication of enrolment applications and so on, but some of that has to be factored into the general forward planning. The geographical information system, as I said, provides much information, such as child benefit data, school enrolment data and particularly around residential development activity, which of course needs to be taken into account also.
Before we take our concluding Commencement matter - this is also of relevance to the Minister of State – we welcome the second group from Our Lady’s school in Ballinteer, who are guests of the Minister of State, Deputy Neale Richmond. They also get the great opportunity of being here to see one of their other TDs, the Minister of State, Deputy Josepha Madigan, in action.
Renewable Energy Generation
This matter does not relate to the Minister of State’s Department but I hope she will have answers for me. I thank her for being here.
This is to do with community energy. Two community energy projects are in jeopardy now, in Galway and Mayo. It is fantastic that we have community energy for the first time but it does not work if there are State bodies, such as ESB Networks, holding projects up and actually could in fact be the cause of these projects not being able to go ahead.
The two community-owned solar projects in question are the Barnaderg solar project in County Galway and the Claremorris solar project in County Mayo, for 4 MW and 5 MW. They were successful in the first renewable energy support scheme, RESS, auction two years ago and it was the first ever community category for renewable energy projects in Ireland. It was heralded as a huge success at the time and we pushed very hard to have it. It was celebrated by the whole Government. The renewable energy community sees it as an important step in transforming communities.
There are seven milestones. They have both reached their first six milestones and their seventh is due to be reached by 31 December this year. There has been no communication from ESB Networks as to whether they will be able to do this, but it seems it is in significant jeopardy at the moment. They have gone through the planning permission and the grid connection agreements. They funded the grid connection agreements themselves and I will come back to that. For the two projects, that comes close to €1 million, and the projects have been in development for five to seven years. The final milestone under the RESS contract must be reached by the end of this year. For this contract, to sell their electricity to the grid in Ireland, it is required that they achieve commercial operation by 31 December. What that actually means is ESB Networks building out the grid in order to achieve that. They have no control over it whatsoever. When we look at the difference between a community operation and a commercial one, we see that commercial operations can build projects and leave them sitting idle. However, these projects accumulated significant debt in order to get to this point, so they are reliant on this contract from the State in order to make it a successful project. They are paying back the debt at the moment - or certainly will be once they reach that point - and they just do not have that kind of financial flexibility.
I ask the Minister of State to respond with an explanation of what the delay is. I also ask the Government to intervene and reconsider that final deadline of 31 December, which was included in RESS auction 1, because of the huge constraint for these community groups. In addition, community groups all over the country are looking at what is happening with regard to RESS 1 and they are making decisions on whether to go into solar energy or not. Therefore, this is about these two projects but also so much more at this stage. We are asking communities to step up to the mark and be part of the transition. In Galway, Mayo and other parts of the country, they are doing that, and semi-State bodies are interfering with their ability to achieve it.
First, it is important to note that the management of new connections to the electricity grid, including community-led energy projects, is a matter at distribution level for ESB Networks - which I note the Senator knows - and at transmission level for EirGrid under rules determined by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU.
My understanding is that ESB Networks and EirGrid are both independent of the Minister in the exercise of their functions. The CRU, ESB Networks and EirGrid have respective contact email addresses for Deputies and Senators, of which they are aware, should they wish to raise matters of concern such as those raised.
There is currently no intention to make any changes to the terms and conditions for RESS 1. However, if community energy projects were to drop out of the RESS auctions, they will be given the security that they can enter the small-scale renewable electricity support scheme, SRESS, which will be in place from next year and provide a more sustainable long-term support for their projects.
The Minister asked me to explain the background to the new scheme. A community projects preference category has not been included in RESS 3. Rather, support for communities for the development of renewable projects will now transition to the SRESS, which will support renewables self-consumers above 50 kW and up to 1 MW, community and SME export projects between 1 MW and 6 MW, and export-only projects below 1 MW.
The SRESS will differ from RESS in that there will not be a competitive auction for participants to take part in. Through the continued engagement of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications with renewable energy communities, RECs, there is evidence of significant challenges that REC projects may face with the competitive, auction-based nature of RESS, along with grid and other barriers to project delivery. SRESS has been designed with these community projects in mind. It will offer such projects a simpler, non-competitive route to market.
The export tariff phase of SRESS, to support small-scale and community renewable projects, is due to be launched in the coming months. Potential applicants will know what export tariff they are eligible for before planning on their project begins. This will give them much more certainty compared with the competitive RESS scheme.
This scheme will align more closely to the experience and capacity of the community energy sector and support a more sustainable delivery pathway to the renewable energy community target of 500 MW by 2030.
A revision of the levelised cost of energy estimates required for small-scale and community-based generation is being undertaken by economic consultants for the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications to inform the tariff-setting process for the SRESS.
This is important in light of recent inflationary pressures and the interest rate rises facing renewable energy projects.
A set of technical and financial supports for community projects are currently available to communities in a community enabling framework under the RESS. Similar supports will be available to community projects under the SRESS.
As already outlined, we need these projects to go ahead as soon as possible in light of the debt and financial issues associated with their not proceeding in a timely manner. One of the issues I have is that there is an enabling grant of up to €180,000 per project through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI. No community project of which I am aware is in receipt of that enabling grant. Therefore, we have situation where they were effectively promised something under a two-year timeline, and, through no fault of their own, ESB Networks is not fulfilling its end of the bargain. However, it is the community energy projects that are facing financial difficulty. When we talk about future schemes, the Minister of State mentioned that people and these community projects will know in advance. There was knowledge in advance of how the project would work, and they invested on the basis of the terms and conditions of RESS 1. We cannot talk about future schemes for these projects because those involved have already invested heavily. The projects that were successful under RESS 2 are now actively being chased for money by ESB Networks to pay their grid connections. They will go into debt immediately once they start paying that, as they are doing.
With respect, I would like a response on these two projects and on those that were successful under RESS 2 in order that I might see what the workaround is for those projects rather than speaking about future projects. Conversations are happening right now among community energy providers in the context of whether they going to sign up and pay over money to ESB Networks. If they do not know that the project is finally going to get the connection, why would they hand over the money? This is an urgent issue. We cannot wait any longer. The deadline is 31 December. I ask the Minister of State to go back to the Minister and ask for something satisfactory regarding to these projects.
I note what the Senator said about the enabling grant. I will certainly bring that back to the Minister and the Department. I also note what she said about RESS 1 and RESS 2. The information I have on the small-scale renewable electricity support scheme is that it will help those community projects in the future. It will be launched in the coming months and will provide a strong level of support to and certainty for community energy projects, notwithstanding what the Senator said about the fact that they have signed up for RESS 1 and RESS 2.
The Senator mentioned that the deadline is 31 December next. I will certainly bring her comments back to the Department. Obviously, we do not want a situation where we have community projects in any way delayed, scuppered or not being able to function properly because of a commercial project. I will certainly bring that back to the Department and the Minister.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 11.44 a.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 12.01 p.m.
Sitting suspended at 11.44 a.m. and resumed at 12.01 p.m..