I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Burke.
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Healthcare Infrastructure Provision
I welcome the Minister of State. A total of €35 million has been given to Portiuncula University Hospital for the provision of a 50-bed unit. The facility, which was opened on 11 September by the Taoiseach, will transform patient care. It is a crucial development. In 2019, I brought a clinical delegation from the hospital to Leinster House to meet with the now Taoiseach and then Minister for Health, Simon Harris, to fight for this. It should have happened ten years ago. A great deal of other investment in the hospital should have already happened and that must happen now.
This development is so welcome. It will ensure we have more capacity within the hospital. It is an acute level 3 hospital operating on a 24-7 basis. It is the maternity hospital for the region. It is a training hospital with multiple medical academies that is working in co-operation with the University of Limerick and the University of Galway. The two 25-bed wards, the Orchard and Garbally wards, have just opened. On his visit to Ballinasloe, the Taoiseach spoke about the investment in Portiuncula University Hospital. He spoke about how it is more than just a hospital but is also a community in the town and for the surrounding areas. He spoke about the extension of day services, oncology services and the funding delivered for the sterile support department and the new ambulatory gynaecology unit, which is due to open shortly.
He acknowledged the conversion of the outpatients department, which was done after the Covid pandemic. Before the pandemic, we had 13 single rooms in that hospital. As a result of the work by the clinical team there, the outpatients department was converted to the Dunlo suite and doubled the availability of single rooms. We have seen the expansion of minor operations and plastic surgery; the new nurse-led infusion unit; the opening of the Willow suite, which is the protected space for bereaved families in the maternity unit; and a brand-new advanced nurse practitioner take up her position in Portiuncula University Hospital.
Two years ago, I advocated strongly with the then Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, that we should have additional treatment bays in our emergency department, which has seen zero investment or work over the past decade to two decades. This is at design stage, and I am very grateful for the work that has been done in the Department of Health to progress it, but I know we see significant waiting lists and people on trolleys. This happens, of course, coming into every winter, but we have seen huge episodes also over the summer, when there are spikes.
Today, we will hear about our budget and allocations to each Department. Fine Gael in government will deliver one of the largest budgets in health, and I know the Minister of State will welcome that. I want to see an update here on the timeline for the construction stage and capital expenditure for the nine treatment bays in the emergency department. I want to know what is happening with the multi-bed ward blocks. We have moved and will be moving patients out of those ward blocks and into the 50-bed unit. What will we do now? How will we renovate those multi-bed blocks that are in the middle of the hospital and that could be used for so many other roles and positions?
Staffing is always one of the key issues that is brought up when it comes to our hospitals. We see that the challenges around recruitment are being lifted and that there is more availability. There is, however, more administrative sign-off and there are various approvals and different stages relating to the recruitment process. The latter make the recruitment process in a hospital healthcare network that is mammoth even longer. Our student nurses need clinical placements. We need to make sure we have the people in place in our hospitals to provide those clinical placements in order that we can bring in more students and student nurses, particularly into our specialties.
We know that maternity leave has been a big issue. When I speak here about capital expenditure, I am bringing in something around staffing. Maternity leave, when it happens, is causing huge challenges around replacements for maternity leave.
I thank Senator Dolan for raising this matter. I am very familiar with Portiuncula Hospital because a member of my family worked there for 12 months a number of years ago. Unfortunately, at the time they were working there, they worked 136 hours in one week-----
Incredible.
-----and were on call for 76 hours the following week. The whole junior doctor system has changed since then, thankfully. That is very much welcome. I thank the Senator for raising the issue of capital expenditure for Portiuncula University Hospital in the Seanad and I welcome the opportunity to update the House on this important facility in our health service.
The Government and the Minister for Health are committed to the ongoing development of regional hospitals such as Portiuncula University Hospital. This Government has allocated significant resources in order to meet the needs of patients using the hospital.
Staffing at the hospital has grown by 228 since January 2020 - from 843 to 1,092 in 2024. That represents an increase in staff of 27%. I pay tribute to Senator Dolan for the work she has done in getting a number of projects through. Since 2022, this increase includes 37 more nurses and midwives, 13 more medical and dental staff and ten more patient care staff, as well as three more health and social care professionals.
In 2020, Portiuncula had a budget of €83 million. In April 2024, the budget was €126 million. This means that the hospital's budget grown by €43 million. That is an increase of 51% in just four years.
Under the acute bed expansion plan, 16 new beds will be delivered at Portiuncula University Hospital over the course of the next four years. Ten of the new beds were opened in tandem with the opening of the 50-bed ward block to which the Senator referred in September. These ten beds will be enhanced by a further six new beds that will be provided between this year and 2028.
The HSE is developing extra capacity of nine treatment bays in the emergency department, and funding of €6.9 million has been allocated for this project to date.
The design team was appointed in early 2024 following a competitive tender process. They are developing a preliminary design and outline design scheme to meet the project brief. The target completion date for the project is 2027, as this is a complex project.
The nine additional treatment bays will be included in the current building footprint and will allow the hospital to re-establish an acute medicine assessment unit. This development will stream patients from the ED and allow the frailty team to operate more efficiently.
Just last month, the Taoiseach visited Portiuncula University Hospital to officially open the Orchard and Garbally wards. These new ward blocks comprise 25 single rooms with en suite facilities and will start accommodating patients in the coming weeks.
The new ward blocks facilitate the transfer of two existing outdated wards from the main hospital building. The design and layout of the new wards will deliver a patient-centred approach and improve patient experience, particularly for those requiring end-of-life care. Single room accommodation will also reduce patient exposure to possible infections while in hospital. By improving the patient’s journey, these new wards will reduce length of stay and reduce the number of inhouse patient transfers between wards. The old, multi-bedded ward blocks will now be reconfigured to provide additional capacity in addition to providing extra space for the acute medical assessment unit and oncology day ward.
The HSE is responsible for staffing and recruitment and the staffing of new capital developments is facilitated by the Estimates process that occurs annually. The HSE has confirmed that staff and funding has been approved, and recruitment is currently in progress.
In addition to these projects, there has been a range of recent developments at the hospital including the expansion of minor operations in plastic surgery in 2023; a new nurse-led infusion unit opened in March 2023; and the opening of the Willow Suite, to provide a protected space for bereaved families in the maternity unit. These projects, along with the future planned works, speak to the high level of investment this Government has put into Portiuncula University Hospital, and will continue to invest for the benefit of patients.
In conclusion, I thank the Senator for the work that she has done in highlighting the issues and bringing them to a successful conclusion.
I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate his personal connection as his wife, Dr. Mary McCaffrey, is an obstetrician. He is very much aware of the hospital and how it dates back to the 1940s. This has been an incredible investment which I want to acknowledge. I refer to the numbers that he has mentioned here whereby there has been a more than 50% increase in budget to €126 million. That is an incredible increase but it just shows that was so overdue. We now have over 1,000 people working in our hospital. We have excellent healthcare staff who work to the highest standards but, again, they work in facilities that date back to the 1940s. This new 50-bed block has been an absolute wonder and will transform patient care for nearly five counties and a catchment area of nearly 400,000 people.
Again, I wish to refer to the ED and I see that the timeline is 2027. There are people who are on trolleys; we have paediatrics who do not have enough space or capacity within our hospital; and in 2023 there were 30,000 admissions to our ED of which 6,000 admissions were for paediatrics. There is no space for triage when it comes to paediatrics in Portiuncula hospital. I say to the Minister of State that we need this faster, we need an acceleration and I need his support on this.
I fully agree with the Senator. We have a growing population in every area of the country and it is important that we respond accordingly.
Portiuncula University Hospital, serving the people of Galway, Roscommon and the west midlands, has a reputation for the delivery of high-quality, innovative and safe care to patients. This Government is committed to the ongoing development of Portiuncula University Hospital and the hospital is in the midst of a programme of investment designed to improve services for patients.
The new Orchard and Garbally ward blocks are a €35 million investment, comprising single suite rooms that will improve patient experience and infection control. These have replaced old wards which will now be replaced by expanding the emergency department at an additional investment of €6.9 million. The capital investment discussed today is part of a much wider programme of investment and service expansion in Portiuncula University Hospital.
Funding has been allocated for the design and upgrade to relocate the hospital sterile supplies department, which covers both Portiuncula University Hospital and Roscommon University Hospital. In the area of cancer control, the oncology service is commencing extended day services and is providing an additional treatment base, along with a third visiting consultant oncologist.
I am delighted to note that the national women and infants programme has agreed to fund a new ambulatory gynaecology unit in Portiuncula University Hospital. This service will create theatre capacity for patients requiring general anaesthetic, allowing the hospital to increase activity across specialties.
I again thank the Senator for the work she has done. The issue of hospitals is complex. We need the funding and it is being provided to Portiuncula University Hospital. As the Senator identified, there is a growing population and increasing demands, and we must, therefore, respond accordingly.
I thank the Minister of State for giving up his time to come to the Seanad. We hope he has achieved what he set out to achieve during the budget negotiations. All will be revealed this afternoon.
Wastewater Treatment
The Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is most welcome to Seanad Éireann on what is a very busy day for her and all other Ministers. We appreciate her time.
Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I appreciate that this is a busy day in the Department of Finance. I particularly appreciate the Minister of State coming to the House to take this matter.
The Minister of State will recall that in June and July of this year, we dealt with the issue of a boil water notice in Ferns, County Wexford, which impacted more than 1,700 people. I want to put on the record my thanks to her for raising a number of the issues with Uisce Éireann, even though the responsibility does not fall to her Department, to ensure that the people of Ferns have access to adequate drinking water. That issue pointed to our creaking water infrastructure. The issue I raise today relates to the importance of the wastewater treatment system in the country and the concern for Ferns and its neighbouring community of Camolin. Those areas cannot expand because of the lack of wastewater capacity. Wexford County Council has indicated that the development of a wastewater treatment plant at Ferns is a priority. The intention is to be able to pump some of the wastewater from Camolin to Ferns to allow those communities to grow. Uisce Éireann told us approximately a year ago that it would be at least five years before the issue is addressed. One of the problems is that we in the north Wexford community have been hearing for more than 20 years about how the issues in Ferns and Camolin will be addressed. The late Independent councillor, Mr. Declan MacPartlin, championed the issue in the 2000s. He was told it would be a part of a village bundle.
The challenge for us in the Gorey local electoral area is that in the inter-census period of 2016 to 2022, there was a 14% increase in population. That was one of the highest rates of increase of any local electoral area in the country and has obviously put enormous pressure on Gorey town, which has capacity. It has stymied development in many of the nearby villages simply because they do not have the necessary water capacity. In Uisce Éireann's own list of wastewater treatment plants, those indicated in red around the Gorey area have no further available capacity. Those areas include Ballycanew, Camolin, Coolgreany, Ballymoney, Boolavogue, Killinierin and Monamolin. All of those are villages within the community. At the same time, we have restrictions on the numbers of rural dwellings that are allowed to be constructed. If we are not going to allow people to build in country areas, we must encourage them to live in their nearby villages. However, if we do not have the necessary wastewater capacity, that cannot happen. It is forcing people into our towns and other major urban areas. Ferns and Camolin have been crying out for this to be addressed for more than 20 years but it is not being prioritised by Uisce Éireann.
This Government's top priority, as the Deputy is aware, is addressing housing and we have made significant progress. I hope in the budget today, as part of the surplus, that we will see significant investment in Uisce Éireann to address the deficits in our water infrastructure but, in particular, I hope we see investment in those villages to allow them to expand and to build houses that we all need, particularly in our rural communities. The wastewater treatment plant issue needs to be addressed. In the same way that the Minister of State has been very helpful in the past on a number of issues, I hope we can apply pressure to Uisce Éireann again to address the problem of the wastewater treatment plant serving Ferns and Camolin.
I thank the Senator for raising the issue again. It is not by any means the first or second time he has raised it in this House and he is representing his constituents most ably to try to advance this, which is of course entirely what they are entitled to. The Senator is already aware that the Water Services Acts 2007-2020 set out the arrangements in place for the delivery of water and wastewater services by Uisce Éireann and he is also aware that the Minister does not have function in relation to the operational matters of Uisce Éireann. However, it is better to get to the point and be efficient.
The Department has made inquiries on this occasion with Uisce Éireann on the Senator's behalf in advance of my response to him, which is very welcome, and the Department has been informed that Ferns is included on Uisce Éireann's priority action list which, judging by his face, I suspect the Senator has heard before. Uisce Éireann is committed to undertaking feasibility study reports for all of their priority action list areas. The stage one strategic assessment for the Ferns wastewater treatment plant commenced in 2023, as the Senator is no doubt aware, to determine its specific challenges and to find suitable solutions including cost estimation, which may include upgrades to the plant.
Of course, it is important to note that all plans are contingent on obtaining relevant statutory consents. The stage two preliminary business case assessment is ongoing and includes Uisce Éireann undertaking detailed analysis, developing a shortlist of solutions and finding the preferred option from the shortlist of projects. This stage also includes estimating the total cost of the project before progressing to stages three and four - final business cases and commissioning of works. As the next capital investment period 2025-2029 is subject to the investment plan submission statutory process with the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities, it is not possible to give concrete commitments on capital expenditure beyond 2024 for projects not currently at construction stage.
The most important point that the Senator has raised, if I may say, is the population increase in his area and that must be supported by infrastructure development. He highlighted that today is of course budget day and there is a significant surplus in the budget which, in my view, must be invested into infrastructure development. Here is a perfect example of completely necessary infrastructure development. I hope in the budget today we will see very significant capital allocated to entities like Uisce Éireann. Of course, what we all know as public representatives is while we might assign capital expenditure to different projects, that does not mean they happen efficiently, professionally, on time, within budget and in a strategic and co-ordinated way. It is becoming even more important that we have a centralised, dedicated Department of infrastructure to manage the delivery of these different projects because they can be too ad hoc.
The Senator has also highlighted the importance of housing and the interconnects between housing delivery, local authorities and Uisce Éireann is something of frustration to many Members of these Houses who want to see that they are done in a strategic and co-ordinated way. Between capital investment and a better strategic focus on delivery, I hope we can deliver for the Senator's constituents and everybody else's.
I thank the Minister of State for outlining the process. I have learned from responses that when I hear from a State agency something is a priority, that tends to mean some time in the next five years. If I am told it is an urgent priority, it might be within two years and an imminent priority is sometime within 12 months. I appreciate and understand the processes as the Minister of State has outlined, but if we are to achieve our objective of delivering houses for people within communities near where they want to live, we have to ensure the water and wastewater infrastructure is in place.
I hope we will see a significant announcement of investment in Uisce Éireann as part of the budget today but it is important it spends that money efficiently and effectively and we see a resolution for communities like those I mentioned. I passionately believe people should be able to live in the villages and communities where they have grown up and where they work, but if we do not supply the water and wastewater infrastructure that will not be possible.
I could not agree with the Senator more and I am told the Department has secured record overall funding of €1.81 billion for the delivery of water services in 2024.
As the Senator said, it has to actually happen, be delivered and done efficiently. I am also told Uisce Éireann has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives, though this note does not state when that was established and I do not recall. The team can be contacted via email or a dedicated number which I will provide to the Senator, although I suspect he already knows it. It is interesting that I have dealt with this issue with the Senator on at least two occasions, yet it has not been resolved.
Housing Provision
I, too, welcome the Minister of State to the House on what is a very busy day for her and everybody in Leinster House. I also thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this Commencement matter. McCauley Court is a lovely development of ten units - ten houses and family homes - on the grounds of St. Vincent's Hospital in Athy. It is an issue I have followed for a number of years, probably since I was first elected as a councillor to Kildare County Council. At the moment, there are ten units in this development, four of which are occupied but six are unoccupied. This older persons' sheltered accommodation has been unoccupied for at least ten years in a housing crisis. As the Minister of State just asked - why? In March, stage 4 funding was mentioned by the Government, which was welcomed by all. I welcome any investment in housing in Kildare South, given the crisis there. I was told this was the be-all and end-all, that an approved housing body had been identified which agreed to do the work, take over the development and running of the ten units and that both Kildare County Council and the HSE were on board. I have followed up since then. Insulation has not been put in and heating has not been upgraded. In fact, residents of the estate do not know when the development will happen.
I have visited a number of these houses. I spoke to the four gentlemen who live in those houses over a number of years. The conditions the four of them are living in are unacceptable. In the winter months, they spend between €400 and €500 on the ESB every two months. They are four pensioners. They spend this money because they cannot heat their homes. They have to turn on their storage heaters two hours before they go to bed to heat the room they sleep in. That, combined with the fact that they already pay €60 a week rent - €45 in two other cases - is unacceptable.
McCauley Court is a prime example of what we can do for our older generation. There are ten houses, four occupied and six unoccupied. It is in a great location on the grounds of St. Vincent's Hospital in Athy. It is in the heart of the town, where people can meet friends and socialise. This is the ideal model of what older persons' living should be but, for at least five years, six premises have been vacant in the middle of a housing crisis. I hope the Minister of State will bring some good news to the four residents and the many people who have contacted me and every public representative in Kildare South who want to perhaps downsize and become a resident of one of the six vacant units. I am struggling to get answers. I am told by Kildare County Council that the blockage is with the HSE; I have not had any good news yet from the HSE. I hope today in her response the Minister of State will give good news to the four residents and the people of Kildare South that there is hope for this housing crisis, for those on a long list in Kildare County Council and for those who want and, most importantly, need sheltered housing.
I thank Senator Wall for raising the issue of the proposed necessary refurbishment of the social housing scheme at McCauley Court, adjacent to the grounds of St. Vincent’s Hospital in Athy, County Kildare. As the Senator is aware, the age-friendly social housing development was initially funded under the Department of housing’s capital assistance scheme approximately 30 years ago. The development provided ten high-quality new homes at that time, with eight one-bed bungalows and two two-bed bungalows to cater for elderly residents. In addition to the ten homes, there is a communal facility with an activity room and laundry facilities.
I understand that the approved housing body originally involved in this development, Athy Voluntary Housing Association, ceased operation, which unfortunately resulted in some of the homes becoming vacant and all of the homes requiring significant capital investment to make them fit for purpose for intended tenants.
As the Senator will be aware, there is no shortage of capital at the moment. The difficulty relates to delivery and making things happen. Thanks to the work of Kildare County Council, however, I understand that another AHB, Tinteán Carlow Voluntary Housing Association, is to take over the operation of the housing scheme under a lease arrangement with Kildare County Council. In the context of this new management arrangement, which I assume it is working quickly to deliver, the council requested that the Department of housing provide additional funding to upgrade the properties, which it has done.
Given that the site where the houses are located is, as the Senator mentioned, part-owned by both the HSE and Kildare County Council, the takeover and completion of the refurbishment works by Tinteán can only occur once the HSE transfers its portion of the site to Kildare County Council. I understand that this process is now in train and that it also involves some land owned by Kildare County Council being transferred to the HSE. I hope it will be done efficiently and in an extraordinarily timely way in recognition of the necessity for the development of housing and how inexplicable it would be for it to be done slowly. Legal aspects can take time to be finalised, but that is not an excuse for leaving things go for a long time.
On the upgrade to the properties that the Department of housing is funding with Kildare County Council, the following are the intended main works: energy upgrade works to include the replacement of windows and the heating system and dry-lining external walls; mechanical and electrical works to include rewiring the homes and installing mechanical ventilation; the replacement of internal fittings and finishes to include the replacement of kitchens, bathrooms, floor coverings and internal doors and redecoration; and the replacement of external fittings to include the replacement of fascia, soffits and downpipes and carrying out necessary repairs to the roof.
The Department of housing is providing capital funding of more than €900,000 for these works. The funding approval is welcome but, as the Senator knows, it is all about delivery. I understand that once the site transfers have been concluded, which I hope will be soon, Tinteán will be in a position to procure a design team and thereafter proceed to tender for the works.
Here is yet another example of the need for a more streamlined, efficient delivery of service.
I appreciate the Minister of State's detailed response. She is correct that it is about delivery. I am aware that the Government has provided €900,000 for the upgrade of these homes and the provision of six new family homes and welcome that. However, when I visit these pensioners in their homes and see the mould coming out of the wall, I cannot accept that the HSE is delaying this or that the Government is allowing that to happen. My request for the Minister of State today is that she contact the HSE on behalf of all of us, in particular the people of Kildare South, and ask it to move to get the documents signed. I believe that is the only obstacle in our way. Legal documents can take time, as the Minister of State mentioned, but these houses are 30 years old, many people want to get into them and I understand that all that is required is a signature on a document for Tinteán to take over the running of these homes. I beg the Minister of State on behalf of many people, including the four current tenants and the six new ones, to make that contact. I appreciate her time today.
I will certainly ask the relevant Department to do that, but it is by no means the first time I have come across such a case. For example, proposed housing for veterans of the Defence Forces in Limerick and Cork is subject to similar transfer and process delays, which I find intolerable. These things are incredibly urgent and important and while this process has been going on for 30 years, it is not acceptable. As public representatives, we see the mould on the walls and the gaps in delivery and it is frustrating to have a society and economy with so much funding available and to see inexplicable delays. When things are in train and moving, that is fine, but to see things sitting on desks and not being resolved with the same urgency that we feel when we see mould on the walls is intolerable to me as a public representative. I understand the Senator's frustration.
I thank the Minister of State. We in Seanad Éireann all wish those residents the best and hope the issue will be resolved in a timely manner.
Schools Building Projects
I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, for taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Education. There is a certain irony to the fact that we are discussing the fate of the school building project for Gaelscoil Coláiste Mhuire on budget day, given that €4.9 billion has been spent on school building projects in the State since 2020 and yet this school has waited 22 years for a new school building. It has watched the Celtic tiger come and go, the physical condition of the building deteriorate for all that time and in spite of that, the school community has thrived. That has been in spite of those physical school surroundings, however. In 2008, a site was identified for this school. That is 16 years ago. It took another eight years for the Department to approve a school building. We have had turf wars between the Department of public expenditure and reform and the Department of Education during that time about the construction of this school but it was only in 2023 that the sod was finally turned.
On that day, where there were many smiles, sunshine and finally a hope that a breakthrough was going to be made, the understanding was that we would have a new school building on Dominick Street for Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire on 8 June 2025. Just eight months before that date, there are only five people working on the site, the building has hardly come out of the ground and we do not have any realistic prospect of seeing that school built before the end of 2026.
I get that the Department and successive Ministers for Education have prioritised certain projects and given political backing to certain schools. This school has not felt the benefit of that. Every step along the way, the school community, the parents, the board of management and the principal have had to fight tooth and nail. It is completely unacceptable that eight months before the project should be completed, we are at a stalemate. Yes, we hear that a school building project manager has been appointed and there is some indication of meetings taking place, but we have no date for when completion is expected. I ask the Department today to provide some sort of assurance to the school community that they are going to get their school building as soon as possible and not be forced into a fresh round of having to fight tooth and nail. It is simply unacceptable in this day and age, particularly with the amount of money that is being spent. This is not just about money; it is also about prioritisation within the Department for the delivery of this school.
I look forward to hearing the Minister of State's clarification on the completion date and precisely what is happening with the school building project at this point in time.
If it were the case that political backing for a school was beneficial and actually delivered things, I would have delivered the Dún Laoghaire Educate Together National School four years ago. Instead, I am in the same negotiations on behalf of the parents and children of Dún Laoghaire Educate Together National School. We are trying to work through planning permission difficulties, changes and tender processes. If it were the case that a school were to benefit from political backing, by way of example, Dún Laoghaire Educate Together National School in my constituency would have been finished by now. I do not accept that point.
The Senator is quite right to identify the scale of funding that is there and has already been deployed, but it is always about delivery. That is a common theme in the Seanad this morning. The major building project for Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire in Dominick Street is, as Senator Sherlock is aware, included in the Department of Education's construction programme being delivered under the national development plan. The project brief for this large-scale capital project, involving the construction of a 16-classroom primary school on a brownfield site, consists of a four-storey 13-classroom block with ancillary rooms facing Dominick Street; a five-storey block with administration services, library and resource rooms on the corner of Dominick Place and Dominick Street; an elevated first-floor bridge block containing three classrooms facing Dominick Place; and a general purpose hall with a basement for service rooms to the rear of the site on Granby Row. The brief was initially for an eight-classroom school. The site was purchased from Dublin City Council. The Department of Education says that the project is a priority for it and that significant resources have been made to advance the project. One key thing I am sure the Senator is aware of is that the site is in an area of archaeological interest and abuts a protected structure, which is owned and occupied by Youth Work Ireland.
Works commenced on the site on 30 June 2023 with an estimated completion timeframe of 24 months. Issues have arisen on site, mainly due to the constrained nature of the city centre location and the historic nature of the area. The Department of Education has responded to and continues to engage with the design team and contractor to discuss the matter and resolve issues to reduce any risk to the programme. Given the complexity of the build, and it is a complex build, the Department of Education sanctioned the appointment of a project manager on the project who has commenced identification of the key issues currently affecting the project's success, and is developing various proposals and strategies to remedy the issues, identify and realign the full project teams roles and agree the project delivery timelines and goals.
The Department has worked extensively with the design team and contractor to minimise project delays, ensure clean lines of communication and identify methods of improving the project. An example of this is the development of a building information model system that will encourage collaborative working between all disciplines involved in the project. That system is now in place. The Department believes it will be hugely beneficial to the project as all parties share the same information simultaneously. Progress has been made on the site. An update on the final programme of the project is expected from the project manager shortly.
I will also tell Senator Sherlock, as I have time, that the Department continues to be in contact with the school authorities, with the latest meeting on 30 September 2024 for a full brief on the current situation.
A further meeting is scheduled for 21 October 2024 between the Department of Education, the school and the appointed project managers to outline the programme for the remainder of the project. It is much further ahead, therefore, than Dún Laoghaire Educate Together. There is substantial engagement with the Department and the school but, of course, what the Senator wants, on behalf of the people she represents, is the delivery of the school.
I thank the Minister of State. From what I have heard, we still have no date for completion. We hear that meetings are taking place and I am in contact with the school community, which is being informed of meetings, but we are not clear on what key changes are going to ensure the project is progressed. I have full respect for the Minister of State's campaign for Dún Laoghaire Educate Together, but Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire is dealing with the trauma of what happened to that school and its community last November. We have monthly meetings between public representatives and the school community and there are a lot of soothing words about what supports have been and will be put in place for the school community, but the most crucial aspect of all of that is the new school building and the Department of Education has dropped the ball.
It was only when the school community kicked up in September that this series of processes was put in place. It should not be like that. It should not fall to the school management to have to raise its hand and ask what is happening here. My appeal today should be about not just Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire but any other school project in the country that has been delayed. The Department of Education has a job to do, namely, to get the school buildings built, and it should not be the responsibility of the principal and the board of management to kick up a fuss. It is simply unacceptable in this day and age that we are having these conversations.
I completely agree with the Senator but it is a complex build in an area of architectural interest, which makes things more difficult. It sounds like an excellent design and I hope that, when the building has been completed, it will help move the school forward. The Senator is correct; the physical building is as important, in many ways, in moving forward as are the different traumatic supports that are there for the school. I hope to see delivery. A common theme among all the issues I have dealt with in the Seanad this morning relates to delivery, communication and efficiency. To be fair to the Department, a slightly different approach seems to be being taken on this school from that which I have seen for others, and it is a welcome development to see that level of integration on the management of the project. I hope it will continue to do that and that the school will be delivered at the earliest opportunity.
I thank the Minister of State for attending and for yet again providing her prepared contributions in an accessible format. That is much appreciated. I wish her Department the best of luck with the budget this afternoon. I hope it will achieve its asks.