I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank her sincerely for taking time out of her busy schedule to be here this afternoon. The topic I wish to discuss with the Minister of State is one she and I have discussed numerous times, which is the chronic lack of respite services for children with disabilities in County Monaghan. As the Minister of State knows, parents are at their wits' end. They are exhausted and at the end of their tethers looking after and caring for their loved ones, which they will do as long they are fit to do it. The lack of availability of respite services is hurting those people. The lack of services in County Monaghan has existed for many years, long before the Minister of State took up office. I would like to put on the record my sincere thanks to the Minister of State because every time I mentioned this subject to her, she had a listening ear and attempted on every occasion to try to find a solution. I know she has been working on one. For any child with a disability in County Monaghan, there is no respite service available. The only option is to go to County Cavan to try to find respite services there. If the service was available in County Cavan, that would be fine and we could live with that. Unfortunately, the respite service for children with disabilities in County Cavan is only available every other week. I understand from recent figures that approximately 33 children with disabilities have received respite services in County Cavan. They could do with many more hours but they are not available. Currently, 57 people are on a waiting list for respite hours which unfortunately are not available. It is estimated that many more are looking for that service but do not even come forward because they know the service is simply not available. It indicates that there is a serious problem that needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. We need to address the chronic shortage and, concurrently, find a solution and a service in County Monaghan for those children and families who so richly deserve it. I know the Minister of State met those families and she knows what they are going through daily. God knows they need a break. I would like to get an update on the work which I know the Minister of State has been doing behind the scenes. I know she met the HSE and the families because I also attended those meetings. Will the Minister of State provide an update on that situation? I hope she will have some positive news for those families to latch onto.
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Disability Services
I welcome to the Gallery Deputy O'Donoghue and Dan Mulherin. They are most welcome to Seanad Éireann today. I thank Mr. Mulherin for coming all the way from Australia. Equally, it is a long distance but not as long as Australia, from County Kerry, I welcome Deputy Michael Healy-Rae and his guests to the Gallery. I thank them for being here.
I thank Senator Gallagher for raising the important issue before the House today. Respite services are a priority of mine all over the country. To be quite honest, the lack of respite services when I came into this portfolio was one of the reasons I made it a priority. The Senator identified an issue in his county of Cavan. There is no doubt that the current arrangement cannot stay as is. The status quo cannot stay in place when two counties are sharing children's respite on alternative weekends. It is no longer acceptable that Annalee View Respite Centre provides children's respite every second week. That is why I tasked the HSE in 2023, particularly in the Senator's area of CHO 1, to draft current need of actions to do with respite in Counties Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan. To be fair to the disability manager in the Senator's area, Edel Quinn, she prioritised the case for needing a stand-alone children's respite house in County Monaghan.
The proposal has gone forward to the HSE with her recommendations and my additional recommendations. As I stand before the House here today I can say that we have allocated and sourced €15 million in this year's budget and I do not find it acceptable that children must share respite on alternative weekends in the Senator's area so this is now a priority. The priority of funding has been ring-fenced in order that Annalee House can become an adults-only service so that we can provide respite to the families, not every second week of adult children but every week. At the same time a new house for children in Monaghan will be procured. That will mean we will be able to provide respite to 85 families. The Senator has told me that 57 people are already waiting and there are 36 in receipt. We should just actually hit the baseline of the requirement. We will not exceed it but 85 places is when you have a fully functioning service that works 7-7. At the moment, Steadfast House provides 840 bed nights. The facility only operates 36 weeks of the year and it does not work 7-7 by any manner or means. To be very fair to Edel, she has funding available if the staff can be sourced. That can go at full tilt. We, in the interim, can provide additional resources there as well. On the capital and revenue piece to operationalise a service in the Senator's county, the funding is there. It is ring-fenced. The case has been made to the national office, which is supported by my office and the disability manager. Now it is a matter of putting plans into action and funding is not an issue.
I thank the Minister of State for her positive response. Respite has been a problem for many a long year and long before she came into office over three years ago. Again, I thank her for taking on board the issue that particularly arises in County Monaghan and, indeed, to a lesser extent in County Cavan. She has delivered the positive news that €15 million is ring-fenced.
The Minister of State mentioned Steadfast House, of which the Minister of State and I spoke about. The facility only operates 36 weeks in the year but it has capacity, subject to staff being available to do more. I welcome that news as well. The new facility for County Monaghan is very much welcome.
I have a final question and I am not putting the Minister of State's head on the block here. When does she estimate the much-needed new facility for County Monaghan will be up and running?
The Senator is welcome. To be quite honest with him, I can answer his question in two ways. If it is a section 38 or 39 organisation that can purchase the property, in conjunction with the HSE, then the project can be turned around really quickly. If it is HSE estates that I must depend on to deliver the project then I will wait. My ask is that we would partner with a section 38 or 39 organisation that already delivers services and knows the families in the area. Such a project can be operationalised very quickly. The revenue funding is there for it. If there were a property that was a four or five-bedroom house then that could be repurposed into providing respite care. Normally, when we consider respite care I look at the two front-door models for children, which are children who have mild to moderate needs and children who have more sensory needs. Edel, who is the disability manager and in whom I have full confidence, will certainly make the project her priority.
I have a further comment and ask the Acting Chairperson to be flexible.
We are also working on providing day services in Monaghan. That is getting full priority within my Department at the moment. Ms Áine Kilroy is in my Department. She is working furiously to address the shortage of day services in the Senator's area so that we build capacity because the constituents know that there is a capacity issue coming down the tracks, and we are trying to get ahead of that.
I thank the Minister of State because she is always ready and willing to come into this House to answer Commencement matters, Private Members' motions and any other area that she is requested to do so. Her participation is always appreciated and it is appreciated today as well.
I thank the Acting Chairperson.
The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is very welcome to the House. She will take the next five Commencement matters so she will be here a while.
Cancer Services
The Minister of State is welcome to the House to discuss this important matter. At the end of 2022 there was an announcement awarding €900,000 to dental schools for head and neck cancer treatments. This would have been the first time funding was made available for pre-radiation and rehabilitation of head and neck cancers. These are the only cancers where patients had to pay for their own treatment. The Dublin Dental University Hospital stopped charging head and neck cancer patients in March 2023 on foot of funding that had been announced. The funding announced was earmarked for dental schools in Dublin and Cork. The Cork University Dental School and Hospital ceased offering this treatment so the Dublin Dental University Hospital put in a bid for €815,000 of the €900,000 that had been earmarked, which it estimated would be the cost to run the service. This was approved by the HSE group that controls dental service level agreements and by the national cancer control programme, NCCP. I understand, however, that the national oral health office decided without consultation with the Dublin Dental University Hospital, the HSE or the NCCP to review the budget and unilaterally reduced it to €315,000, a reduction of €500,000. In fairness, many groups have been trying to restore the funding but over the past couple of months they have been totally exasperated. This is just a recap.
The Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, announced at the end of 2022 an allocation of €900,000 of recurrent funding for the two dental schools for the treatment of patients with head and neck cancers. The Dublin Dental University Hospital sees more than 350 new patients every year and this is on the increase, in particular with new patients every year as a result of HPV in young people. Young people are the increasing numbers. Before the funding, head and neck cancers were the only cancers where the State's input ceased once the tumour was removed. There was no funding provision for rehabilitation. Patients paid for their own rehabilitation or went without it. The funding would have been a great start and hugely appreciated by the Dublin Dental University Hospital, working closely with the NCCP, to develop and expand the much-needed services. This really is a first step in developing a comprehensive service for this very deserving patient group. Ongoing resources are critical.
I must tell the Minister of State that I have a personal interest in this. When my daughter was 19 years of age, she was diagnosed with cancer of the tongue. She had radical surgery and over the past 24 years, she has been in and out of the dental hospital so often it is not funny. Today she is in the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital having encountered difficulties with her swallow over Christmas. She is currently being PEG fed through her stomach. Given what she has gone through over the past 24 years, I cannot believe the courage, strength and good humour of the woman. The medical team she has in the dental hospital are just an incredible group of people. The patients they deal with are in the most horrendous situations including trying reconstructive surgery after osteoradionecrosis in their jawbones. I really would like to hear some positive news with respect to the Dublin Dental University Hospital.
I thank the Senator for raising this serious issue. I wish his daughter the best of health. It cannot have been easy for her over the past 24 years. I had my own brush with cancer last year with skin cancer. It is not easy when one is going through it. I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister for Health. I thank the Senator for opportunity to address the issue of funding for head and neck cancer services.
This Government's commitment to implementation of the national cancer strategy is evidenced by significant investment in recent years. New development funding of €20 million was allocated to cancer services and €15 million was allocated for new cancer drugs in 2021 and 2022.
This increased total funding for cancer services in 2022 to €139 million. To date, this funding has supported the recruitment of 393 additional staff in cancer services across eight designated cancer centres and 18 systemic anti-cancer therapy hospitals.
There has also been significant additional investment in oral healthcare services in recent years, including the allocation in budget 2023 of €900,000, which Senator Craughwell spoke about, to support the provision by the dental hospitals of reconstructive care to patients following treatment for head and neck cancer. This funding is available in full to the HSE, which engages with the dental hospitals on the use of the funding to ensure the needs of patients for vital reconstructive work are met.
The reply does not give me any detail in relation to Dublin Dental University Hospital, so I will have to follow it up afterwards. I was not aware Senator Craughwell would raise the matter when I read the question and the transcript of the reply, and it does not deal with it but the reply states that funding is available in full to the HSE. Patients undergoing head and neck cancer treatment need a range of dental supports, as Senator Craughwell knows. They may require routine dental care before treatment to ensure they are ready for treatment. During cancer treatment, they may experience a range of dental or oral symptoms which are commonly experienced following radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Patients who have a medical card, who are aged 16 and over, are entitled to access a range of treatments free of charge under the dental treatment services scheme, DTSS. Head and neck cancer patients are eligible for a wider range of dental treatments under the DTSS, including periodontal care, additional fillings, and dentures. Each dental hospital has an access pathway in place, which allows them to provide care to medical card holders through the DTSS. Care can also be accessed via dentists in the community who operate the DTSS, but we know there are challenges there. Within the framework of the legislation, every effort is made by the HSE to support applicants in applying for a medical card, in particular to take full account of difficult circumstances in the case of applicants whose income may be in excess of the income guidelines. In such circumstances, the HSE may exercise discretion and, for example, grant a medical card. Discretionary medical cards are issued to patients with significant medical expenses. Emergency medical cards are issued to patients who are terminally ill and medical cards are issued to persons who are terminally ill and have been certified by their treating consultant as having a prognosis of 24 months.
There is a lot of detail there but it does not answer the specific questions Senator Craughwell asked me. Some €900,000 was allocated. I have been told that funding is available in full to the HSE but I will follow up in regard to the Dublin Dental University Hospital. Senator Craughwell said it sought in excess of €800,000 and I think he said €315,000 has been allocated. He might confirm that.
I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive answer, albeit that she did not have the full detail until she came here today. It is correct that the service was allocated €315,000. In light of the fact that Cork University Dental School and Hospital has withdrawn from that service, the only centre in the country now is the Dublin Dental University Hospital. It is looking for €815,000.
I listened to the Minister of State speak about her own experience. I am conscious of the beautiful young people going into the dental hospital having been diagnosed and the radical surgery they go through. We have some marvellous maxillofacial and dental surgeons in this country who do a tremendous job of reconstruction and restore these people to the beautiful people they were before the radical surgery. I urge the Minister of State to do anything she can to give Dr. Michael O'Sullivan down in the dental hospital reassurance that the additional €500,000 will be made available.
It is shocking to think that there is an increase of up to 350 patients per year and that a significant number of these are a direct result of HPV. I hope that if we send any message out today, apart from the need for funding, that it will be that people should take up the HPV vaccine and try and protect themselves as much as possible. I thank the Minister of State. I would appreciate it if she could come back to me fairly soon on it.
I again thank Senator Craughwell. I assure the House that the Government is committed to the implementation of the national cancer strategy, as evidenced by significant investment in recent years. Cancer survival rates continue to improve, with around 215,000 patients living after an invasive cancer diagnosis, which is equivalent to one in 23 people in Ireland.
We really welcome that. There is also the fact that we have the highest life expectancy in the EU, as deemed by the World Health Organization. It does not happen by accident. We know good work is going on in respect of cancer across the centres of excellence.
I wish to flag one issue. There was an initial €900,000 allocated but we do not know how much of that was spent across other Departments. I cannot assume that all of it is available to one particular facility. When I go back, I will ask for an update on that and see whether we can provide some clarity, especially for Dr. Michael O’Sullivan and his team, who do phenomenal work, as they all do across the dental hospitals. They are an important facet, especially for someone who has to undergo treatment. It is amazing how the teeth are affected first and foremost. I am glad the Senator raised this matter.
I am sure the House would agree with me in sending our very best wishes to Senator Craughwell’s daughter. Please give her the good wishes of the House. Clearly, she is a very courageous and inspiring young lady.
Hear, hear.
General Practitioner Services
I echo the Acting Chair’s comments wishing Senator Craughwell’s daughter the very best.
This is an important Commencement matter. I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting it. I put it on the agenda for last week but time did not allow for it.
I thank the Minister of State for joining us in the House for this debate. I acknowledge the lack of rural GPs is not specifically in her remit but it affects many older persons who I am sure are often in contact with her good offices also. The lack of GPs in rural areas in particular is increasingly becoming an issue as older GPs retire and there simply are not enough new GPs coming through our universities and being recruited into the country, despite the fact that we have had quite a significant increase in both of those tranches in recent years.
The result means that places like Lismore in the Minister of State’s and my county of Waterford are without a permanent GP since the previous one retired in September of last year. While there has been various locums in place over the intervening period, the lack of continuity of care is leading to serious issues for residents in the area. Thankfully, there is a new GP practice in Tallow to add to the existing one there, which has eased the burden. As the Minister of State knows, it is only about a ten-minute drive from Lismore and it is on a good Local Link service. However, we need to have a fully functioning and permanent GP practice operating in Lismore.
In delving into this issue in recent times and from receiving calls from people, it has become apparent that the freezing of that list has become more and more of a problem, particularly for people who need that continuity of care. To give the Minister of State a flavour of the calls we have been receiving in the Dungarvan and Waterford city offices, one lady who spoke to my staff last week was upset and explained that she had ongoing female health issues that required continuity of care. She had actually stopped going to the GP to have her symptoms treated because she had to continually explain her problems from scratch to several new male GP locums over the past number of months. She applied to the HSE to have the ability to move to that new GP practice and was refused. What, if any, criteria are being used to determine whether a patient can move from a frozen list? In a recent reply I received from the HSE, the rationale cited on freezing the GMS list is to ensure there is a viable panel to attract a candidate when the post is re-advertised. I understand that is due to happen again this month. There have been two previous attempts but, unfortunately, we do not have a permanent GP in place. While there absolutely is merit in ensuring that there is a viable list in place, there has to be some common sense applied in the case where continuity of care is needed.
I have another constituent who actually lives closer to Tallow than Lismore.
If the Acting Chair might indulge me at the start, I wish to say the following. I know Senators will all join me as today, we think of former Taoiseach John Bruton's wife Finola, his family, colleagues, friends and those in the Fine Gael Party. Like anyone who was Taoiseach in our Parliament over the past 100 years, it is important to send that message out to his family today.
I thank the Minister of State, and we all very much agree. At 2.30 p.m. today, the House is paying tribute to the former Taoiseach, as is the Dáil. The Minister of State's kind comments are much appreciated, and I know the Bruton family will appreciate them as well.
I thank Senator Cummins for raising this issue. It is something I am very familiar with myself. We come from the same constituency.
As the Senator is aware, GPs are self-employed practitioners, and accordingly, they may establish practices at a place of their own choosing. The HSE fulfils its obligation under the Health Act 1970 in providing GP services to patients who hold a medical card or GP visit card through the GMS service. Most GPs, over 2,500 of them, hold a GMS contract to provide this service. The HSE becomes actively involved in the recruitment of a replacement GP when a GMS vacancy arises. While the campaign is ongoing, a locum doctor or other interim arrangement is put in place to provide care to the patients on the GMS panel concerned.
As a result of HSE recruitment, the number of GMS GP vacancies has fallen from 34 in April 2023 to 23 last November, and it has remained at 23 since, less than 1% of the total number of GMS panels. Five of the vacancies filled were long-term vacancies that were vacant for over 12 months. With regard to the vacancy in Lismore, the HSE has advised that a full-time GP service continues to be provided, maintaining the integrity of the vacant GMS panel of 861 patients. When previously advertised, a successful candidate chose not to take up the vacant position. The Lismore vacancy will be readvertised this month with the aim of securing a permanent GP as soon as possible. I take on board the points the Senator has made, especially with regard to the two cases he referenced. One was about a person who has specific needs, and how she would like to deal with a female doctor - I can understand that - and the other was about somebody who was living closer to the Tallow area. Unfortunately, the job was advertised. It was accepted, and then for reasons unknown the person did not take up the position, which anybody is entitled to do, so it is being readvertised.
With regard to the HSE and working with them on other similar cases, it works very hard to get a GP into a practice where there is a GMS list. While that is ongoing, the GMS list is frozen, which is standard practice. If the list is not frozen and patients move to other doctors who might have availability or room on their list, what happens then is that if a GP is looking and the list is being depleted, they might not apply for the job. That is normal procedure, where a GMS panel is frozen prior to the post becoming vacant and for up to three months after the vacant post has been filled. When the vacant post is filled, after three months the panel opens again and then people have the opportunity, if they wish and another doctor has availability, to move.
While the HSE may move a GMS patient from a frozen panel, each request is examined individually and patients are only moved under extenuating circumstances. One can apply to be removed from the list. This helps to ensure that the vacant panel does not diminish, remains viable and is still attractive to entice a new GP to apply for the position permanently. It is important to note that for the two cases the Senator mentioned, they can apply to be moved from a frozen list, and each case is looked at on a case-by-case basis.
I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I am going to hone in on those two cases. There are other cases that I have but I specifically picked those ones because in my view, there are extenuating circumstances in both that have been assessed by the HSE.
In both instances, there was an application to move and, in both cases, the application was refused. The wrong decision was made but there seems to be no ability to appeal such decisions. I asked for clarity as to what criteria are being used. If geography and the ability to access continuity of care from a female GP for female health issues are not two of those criteria, I do not know what is an acceptable criterion. I ask that common sense be applied in these cases. We have submitted the details of both to the HSE for reconsideration and I hope that is done.
I will follow up on those two cases. I agree there must be a common-sense approach and that people must have options. When a list is frozen, which happens for a myriad of reasons, people may not be in a position to move. Health issues are challenging enough without causing further distress to people.
The number of doctors entering GP training has increased by 80% between 2015 and 2023. The availability of 350 training places for new entrants is planned for this year, representing a 22% increase on last year's intake of 286. That is really important. The HSE has made great progress in filling GMS GP vacancies since last year's high of 34, with the number now down to 23. The HSE will continue to work on the issue and I will keep a close eye on it. I have been consulted by several constituents regarding the vacancy in Lismore, which, unfortunately, was not filled after previously being advertised. I understand how difficult the situation is for certain patients.
Northern Ireland
I thank the Minister of State for being here. I very much welcome the re-establishment of Stormont at the weekend. I congratulate the First Minister, the deputy First Minister, the other new Ministers and the MLAs as they take up their positions. They certainly have a long to-do list. However, it is our to-do list I will talk about today.
Careful examination of the language as well as the impact of the UK Government's command paper, Safeguarding the Union, is required. Newton's third law says that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In this instance, that is not what I would recommend because it would further entrench and reinforce binary mindsets. I understand the paper was meant to reassure unionists of the integrity of Northern Ireland and their place in the union. However, some of the language in it is both unfortunate and unnecessary. I fear that if the narrative laid out in the command paper is allowed to stick, it could do damage to North-South trade and our shared economy. This is a time for us to stand for the totality of relationships across these islands, the benefits envisaged by the Good Friday Agreement and the opportunities that now await the North if they are grasped.
The Government should take a proactive role in engaging with Stormont and Westminster to protect and promote the benefits of North-South and east-west co-operation, especially North-South trade. The figures speak for themselves. North-South trade, even though it has thrived over the past couple of years because of Brexit and new trade lines, is not a competitor to the UK internal market. The Irish market accounts for 28.6% of all Northern Ireland exports, which is approximately 60% of the importance of the Great Britain market. The UK internal market is by far the most important market for Northern Ireland.
However, when the Irish value within the EU 27 market for Northern Ireland is included, it is a similar size to the UK market and is a very important market for the North. It is really important that we understand the importance of convergence for Northern Ireland and the ability to support trade lines across the island. If the Stormont break is used to excess, it will diminish its potential to access the EU market. It will diminish its unique competitive advantage and would be an act of economic self-harm.
I believe the Irish Government should support and encourage that competitive advantage because we recognise that preserving it is the only competition that matters on this island. Let us replace any idea that we have markets that are competing with each other on the island with collaboration.
I thank Senator Currie for raising this important matter and for her sustained engagement on issues of North-South co-operation. I am taking this question on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, who is away on Government business at the moment.
Like others I welcome the restoration of the power-sharing institutions in Northern Ireland. Saturday was a great day, a hopeful and positive day. It was down to work immediately as we saw on Monday morning. The Government looks forward to working closely with the new Executive, including on the many areas where North-South co-operation makes a positive difference to the lives of the people on this island.
Underpinning the restoration of the institutions are a comprehensive set of trade arrangements agreed between the EU and the UK. These arrangements reaffirm Northern Ireland's place in the UK internal market while also securing Northern Ireland's access to the EU Single Market for goods. Ultimately these arrangements have the practical effect of protecting North-South trade while supporting business and jobs across the island. They provide a unique opportunity for Northern business. The smooth functioning to date of the arrangements is a positive reflection of the commitment of business stakeholders to adapting their operations and making the new trade arrangements work.
The protection and promotion of North-South trade on the island of Ireland is a core priority for the Government. North-South trade is a core element of the all-island economy, which is one of the key achievements of the peace process. In 2022, total cross-Border trade in goods and services was worth an estimated €11.6 billion, an almost threefold increase since 1998. The benefits of North-South trade permeate all sectors of the business community. Research conducted by InterTradeIreland shows that North-South trade is particularly important for small businesses, enabling them to take their first steps into cross-Border markets before moving on to explore markets further afield. This illustrates how an all-island economy can serve as an incubator for innovation, taking homegrown SMEs and helping them develop into world-class exporters.
All-island supply chains are particularly strong in the agrifood sector with the meat and dairy industries especially involved in cross-Border processing and supply chains. For example, milk products with an export value of €6.5 billion move between the North and the South several times during processing. The meat industry is similarly integrated. In the drinks industry, Irish whiskey is a protected geographical indication worth over €1 billion to the all-island economy. This level of integration and co-operation explains why protecting the frictionless flow of trade on this island was so important during the negotiations of recent years. It is of real value to people and communities on both sides of the Border. The Government is committed to protecting and bolstering these trade links and to building on the economic dividends of the peace process to the benefit of all parts of our shared island.
The Minister of State is absolutely right in saying we need to protect our trade links. The reality is that the extent of those trade links and the all-island economy has been vastly overstated. The potential of our shared economy is what is important and should be promoted. For instance, we talk about the importance of the all-island economy when it comes to tourism. That is under threat at present because of the introduction by the UK of the electronic travel authorisation.
I worry about moves to remove any references to the all-island economy, and that when the UK Government describes the all-island economy as a divisive and misguided political notion, it will impact what we can do to preserve our all-island tourism. Other issues have been raised, including in energy and infrastructure, that will benefit both economies and our shared economy. We definitely need to be able to protect and also promote the potential that is there.
I thank the Senator for her response. I have taken note of her remarks on this important issue. She is right about the potential. It is absolutely massive. She has spoken about tourism, energy and infrastructure. The Government is fully committed to supporting economic growth across the island of Ireland. We will continue to promote the benefits of this island for trade, tourism and investment. This is the consistent expectation of business and community stakeholders. We particularly look forward to the resumption of activity of the North South Ministerial Council, enabling the Government to engage with the executive in Northern Ireland to protect and further promote North-South trade.
The island of Ireland enjoys a highly integrated cross-Border economy, with supply and value chains criss-crossing the Border and encompassing a range of sectors. The Government understands the value of North-South trade and the benefits of frictionless trade on the island of Ireland. This is reinforced by the fact that many investors view the island as a natural ecosystem. As I have said already, I think everybody was struck by the hopefulness and the positivity that emanated last Saturday. The Senator spoke about potential. The potential is absolutely huge. Now is the time for everyone to get down to work and to drive it on.
I thank the Minister of State and thank Senator Currie for all the great work she does in this area. It is very much appreciated. Senator Ahearn is next.
School Accommodation
The Minister of State is welcome to the Chamber. I thank her for taking this Commencement matter. She will appreciate that it is quite a local issue, but one very close to her in Clonmel. The CBS High School in Clonmel is a wonderful school that provides education to secondary school boys in Clonmel. There are more than 700 students in the school, which is led by the principal, Karen Stenson, along with her staff. It has a brilliant reputation and is a fantastic school. The school has 700 students but does not have the capacity to manage them all, which is why, even before 2020, the school put in an application to the additional accommodation scheme. It was approved in February 2020. It is a huge project that involves almost €5 million in investment. It will deliver two special education teaching rooms, two science labs, a prep room, a design and communication graphics room, a home economics room, a textiles room, a mutlimedia room and two SEN classrooms, which is really important. It is a massive project.
The reason I have tabled the Commencement matter is because we have not seen any major movement on the project in the last four years. That is very frustrating for the school, the students, the staff and the parents. As a principal who has been doing very good work in the school over the last number of years, Karen has a responsibility to develop the school into a modern day facility that can meet the requirements of the 700 pupils there. An announcement was made in February 2020 that the new extension would be built in the school. At the moment, four years on, the project is still only at stage 2A, which is the cost plan stage of the project. The principal has been waiting on a decision on that since last June. From our perspective, as a Government we have invested very heavily in education, which has been really positive, but we need to deliver on that investment to actually see people working on the ground and the project being delivered. From the perspective of teachers and principals, when an announcement is made like this, students, parents and staff are excited to see a new modern section of the school being built. They all ask the principal when it is happening and why it is being delayed.
She does not have any answers because the engagement with the Department can be quite difficult. You need to get lucky to get someone as a contact to deal with it in the Department. We need to speed up the process for this school. It is well over capacity at present and kids in the school need those facilities, especially in its special education section, which is very important to the Minister of State. They need those services and amenities as quickly as possible.
I thank the Senator for raising what is a very important issue for CBS High School, Clonmel. I am familiar with the school. My son taught there for a while so I know the school and its bordering counties.
I thank the Senator on behalf of the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, for giving me the opportunity to update the House on the current position regarding the additional school accommodation, ASA, scheme project for a new building project for CBS High School, Clonmel, County Tipperary. As the Senator said, the project referred to is a building project to deliver enhanced accommodation at CBS High School, Clonmel. I am pleased to advise that the Department of Education has approved a project to build two special educational tuition, SET, rooms, or general classrooms, two science labs, one preparation room, one design and communication graphics room, one home economics room, one textiles room, one multimedia room, and a two-classroom special educational needs base and ancillary accommodation. In June 2022, superseding approval was given to include one technology room, one preparation area and one project store, in addition to the original brief agreed. In addition, the school was also granted additional funding to amalgamate a summer works project included in the ASA project, which included an upgrade in ventilation works in August 2023.
Responsibility for delivering the project has been devolved to the school authority, which has appointed a design team to design the accommodation being provided and to bring the project through the tender and construction phases. I will outline the project's progress from stage to stage in accordance with the project brief and the Department's design guidelines. The project for CBS High School, Clonmel, County Tipperary, is currently at stage 2a of the process. Stage 2 involves detailed design and statutory approval followed by stage 3, which involves procurement of a contractor and progression to stage 4, construction and completion. Stage 2b includes obtaining all statutory approvals, preparing a set of fully detailed tender documents, and preparing an accurate pre-tender cost plan. At this early juncture in the project, it is not feasible to give an indicative timeline for delivery, which I know the Senator hoped for today. The Department will continue to engage directly with the school in providing assistance and advice to ensure delivery of this important project.
It is of the utmost importance that the final outcome for the project at CBS High School, Clonmel, will be the correct one for both the school authority and the pupils. Equally, neither the Department of Education nor the school is in any doubt about the criticality of the need for this accommodation for the wider school community. It is a very big project, as the Senator and I have outlined. I know how important it is for its 700 pupils and their principal. The early stages of getting things rolling, and I also see this in the Department of Health, can be so frustrating. When the first shovel is turned, however, it moves on very quickly. There is an overall pipeline of some 1,300 projects across the school system. The current status of all projects is listed on a county-by-county basis at www.gov.ie, which is updated on a regular basis to reflect project progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.
I will let the Minister, Deputy Foley, know that the Senator raised this matter in the House. She was not available to take it herself. I know how important this project is to the Senator, and all the pupils and families who use the high school in Clonmel. It is a school that has a great reputation. We see a school with 700 pupils waiting for this new build, many of whom will have left by the time it is in place. I understand the frustration in that regard.
I thank the Minister of State. She took my line exactly. It is always good to have a connection to a school and her son taught there. The principal is from Ferrybank in Waterford so there is another connection that way. I will say, and the Minister touched on this herself, from the point the approval was made in February 2020 to the point when construction happens, we will have students in Clonmel who will have gone through CBS High School without ever seeing any construction from when it was announced.
In my view, that is not an ideal situation. It is not fair to the kids, it is not fair to parents, and it is certainly not fair to the staff who are delivering a service of such high quality in facilities that are good, but that we have promised will be improved.
I recognise that extra funding of €144,000 was given in June 2023, essentially for ventilation upgrade works. That is good and it was increased to €5 million. However, the longer the wait to build this, the more it will cost. The fear in the school is that they will have to go back to the Department to say that there are increased costs because of the delay in construction.
I thank the Minister of State for taking a take a keen interest in this and for taking it back to the Minister, Deputy Foley. Yet, we cannot have a situation where kids in Clonmel will go through a full five or six years in school without ever seeing any construction on this when a promise was made in 2020.
I thank the Senator. The design team for the school has submitted a stage 2a report to the Department and this is currently under review by the Department’s professional and technical officers. Once this review is completed, its outcome will be shared with the school authority. The Department will continue to provide practical support and assistance to the school authority’s design team throughout the process.
Therefore, the next stage is for that review by the Department’s professional and technical officers. As soon as that is completed, it will go back to the school. Again, I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I assure him that the Department of Education is committed to moving this project forward as quickly as possible. I know how important this project is for the people of Clonmel. The Department of Education will continue to liaise with the school to progress this crucial project for CBS High School Clonmel. As I said, I will also mention to the Minister that Senator Ahearn raised it here today.
I thank Senator Ahearn for raising this very important issue for the young people in Clonmel and I thank the Minister of State for her reply.
Wildlife Protection
Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I am using today's Commencement matter to raise the important issue of wildlife crime. The Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss was crystal clear in stating that the State has failed to adequately enforce existing laws and policies to protect biodiversity. Wildlife crimes, such as disturbing bats, illegal hare hunting, badger baiting or the destruction of habitats that provide clean water, clean air and healthy soils, all contribute to the loss of biodiversity. Weak enforcement in this country is sending the clear message that wildlife crime is tolerated and is not taken seriously. Unfortunately, despite some high-profile cases of illegal wildfires and poisonings, there has been a failure to crack down on wildlife crime in any meaningful way.
I will provide some statistics to highlight that failure. The records from when the Wildlife Act came in show that between 1977 and 1987, there were 752 cases, which was an average of 75 prosecutions per year. However, only 118 wildlife crime cases have closed successfully since 2020, which is an average of 39.3 per year. This is a drop of 48% in prosecutions per year. This is not because the crimes are not happening, unfortunately. I know that this subject is not in the Minister of State’s portfolio, but she will more than likely cite year-on-year increase of 39% from 2022 to 2023, which is up to 43 prosecutions. While that is a step in the right direction, we are starting from a very low level. This is therefore an example of shifting baseline syndrome.
I also know that in the 1980s, a target was set for the number of prosecutions per year. That was a target of 200 and it was not reached, given the average of 75. The recently launched national biodiversity action plan does not contain a specific target for prosecutions. Instead, it just has the vague ambition to seek to increase compliance with wildlife legislation in co-operation with agencies through enhanced detection, enforcement and awareness raising.
My first question for the Minister of State is whether she or any of the agencies agree that there should be a specific target? Should we be setting a target and, if so, what should that target be? The citizens’ assembly has called on the State to take prompt, decisive, and urgent action to address biodiversity loss and restoration.
We need a zero-tolerance approach to wildlife crime. There was some optimism, I have to say, at the start of this Government's term, with a focus on wildlife crime making it into the programme for Government. However, that dissipated when we saw the U-turn on a dedicated wildlife crime unit. We know that one of the main barriers to increasing prosecutions is that the responsibilities of the NPWS are so wide ranging and require skill sets that are extremely specialised. Bringing prosecutions is clearly a complicated task so the only real way to bridge this gap, as the experts have said, is to establish the promised wildlife crime unit, a go-to hub to support regional staff with the procedures for detection, investigation, putting a prosecution file together and bringing it to the Chief State Solicitor's Office.
Does the Minister of State agree that a target would be helpful to set the agenda and drive the ambition in the context of a zero-tolerance approach to wildlife crime? Will the Government reconsider its position on establishing a wildlife crime unit which all of the experts have said is essential for tackling such crime?
I thank Senator Boylan for raising this really important issue. I am responding on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Noonan. It is not an area in which I have huge expertise but I come from a rural area and am well equipped to know what wildlife crime means. It is a widespread issue that poses a serious threat to our biodiversity and the sustainable development of countless communities. While there is no universally agreed definition of what constitutes wildlife crime, it can be described as any action that contravenes current legislation governing the protection of wildlife but it probably goes beyond that as well.
Ireland's fourth National Biodiversity Action Plan 2023-2030, the first national biodiversity action plan to be published on a statutory basis, was launched by the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan on 25 January and takes an all-of-government and all-of-society approach to protecting nature. The plan includes targets to ensure that the legislative framework for biodiversity conservation is robust, clear and enforceable.
Senator Boylan asked me a direct question which I am happy to answer. Targets are always important and they help to really drive on a service. From a personal perspective, I do like to see targets being set and being met. Senator Boylan also asked if the Government will reconsider its position on the wildlife crime unit. I will have to go back to the Minister of State on that and ask him to engage with her directly on her specific questions.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service is strengthening action on wildlife crime within the NPWS itself and through strategic collaboration with other enforcement and regulatory authorities such as An Garda Síochána. The work of NPWS staff across the organisation has seen a 39% increase in prosecution cases taken in 2023 compared to 2022 figures. Wildlife crime prosecutions taken by the NPWS include illegal hunting of protected wildlife, such as disturbance to badger setts, damage to protected habitats and unlawful destruction of vegetation in hedgerows, to name but a few. The NPWS capability to take more enforcement action, detect and prevent wildlife crime is being greatly enhanced through the recruitment of additional NPWS staff to support this work. This means that there will be more boots on the grounds patrolling, investigating, enforcing and educating. Education is really important here. The NPWS is also recruiting ecologists to add scientific expertise and ballast across the service to enhance its wildlife crime efforts. Strengthening relationships with other enforcement and regulatory authorities such as the Customs is also pivotal. NPWS is building on a joint protocol with An Garda Síochána whose members have powers and functions to enforce wildlife legislation similar to NPWS authorised officers. NPWS is deepening collaboration, has clearer lines of communication and is providing mutual support on wildlife crime issues. Additionally, NPWS is reviewing the Wildlife Act to improve its enforceability and a public consultation on this will be announced shortly. The key word here is enforceability. It is really important that the extra boots on the ground will enable us to enforce the Wildlife Act.
I thank the Minister of State for her response. I am glad she agrees that a target is always useful to keep the focus. I welcome the official response, particularly with regard to the public consultation.
Apart from being passionate about wildlife crime, I raise this question because I support an Oxfam-led initiative to help grassroots groups made up of communities, young people and ordinary citizens to hold elected officials like us to account. In this instance, the wildlife rehabilitation hospital was very helpful in providing some of the background information. If the Minister of State is going to revert to the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, about the wildlife crime unit, it would like other questions to be answered around discrepancy on a regional basis in prosecutions, additional resources that will be put in place and how awareness-raising will take place.
Boots on the ground are important but so is a professional staff with skills for bringing prosecutions. The people on the ground are doing fantastic work but we also need that skill set to deliver on prosecutions. I thank the Minister of State for the response. I look forward to the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, responding in writing to those questions.
I will bring back those questions to the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan. His office is directly opposite mine on the corridor. I have no doubt he will also engage with this Oxfam-led initiative.
Adherence to environmental rules is a safeguard for preserving biodiversity health and sustainable progress over time. It is difficult to process the drivers for the loss of biodiversity through deliberate disregard of the law by some. There is no doubt action is needed to thwart this. The NPWS, in collaboration with other authorities and public support, remains committed to taking action to protect our nature and biodiversity. It is clear the majority of people want to protect nature. We see Tidy Towns groups the length and breadth of the country working hard in their communities. There is an onus on all of us to enable them and to deter and prosecute those who do not support or protect nature. Education and increasing awareness, together with citizen reporting, are essential elements in safeguarding nature and helping to prevent wildlife crime. If a suspected wildlife crime or possible breach of wildlife legalisation has taken place, reports can be made to the local NPWS office or An Garda Síochána. Contact details are available who anyone who wants to do this. We are at a turning point in the way we view and think about the natural world and our place within it. There are an awful lot of good people who want to see the natural world retained and looked after. I will bring the Senator's concerns back to the Minister of State.
It is an extremely important issue. We wish Oxfam the best with its incredibly important work. I thank the Minister of State for taking five Commencement Matters. Her time is valuable.
I am multitasking.
I know she is busy. We appreciate it because it is important that Ministers and Ministers of State come in and are accountable to the House. She is always very obliging in that regard.