I welcome to the Chamber the Minister of State, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan.
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Hospital Overcrowding
An tAire Stáit is welcome to the Chamber, and I thank him for coming to take this matter. I raise this matter once more. It is the number one priority for people living in Limerick and a huge concern for people across the mid-west, including in Limerick, Clare and Tipperary. It came up at more doors than housing in Limerick during the general election campaign. That is how sincerely people in Limerick feel about the issue. If the Minister of State lived in Limerick, he would feel this way too.
To recap, there are 450,000 people across Limerick, Clare and north Tipperary. The University Hospital Limerick, UHL, group is the hospital group which operates the region with one accident and emergency department. It is the only hospital group in the country that operates with just one accident and emergency department to serve its population. We have had chronic overcrowding for the past 15 years. We have had record high numbers of patients on trolleys. Just this morning, UHL is again the hospital with the most patients on trolleys in the country. The HSE's population profiles show that more than an average number of amount of people living in the mid-west would be classed as extremely disadvantaged, very disadvantaged or disadvantaged. I will say that again. We have higher than average levels of people in the normal population in the country classed as extremely disadvantaged, very disadvantaged or disadvantaged. We know that there is a correlation between poverty and complex health needs, and, therefore, a greater number of presentations to accident and emergency departments.
I acknowledge the progress that has been made, particularly during the term of the previous Government when staffing numbers were increased by approximately 100,000 healthcare workers across the UHL group. The first 96-bed block is due to open in September, and we are very much looking forward to that. The Minister has been to Limerick and has had a tour of the facility. The second 96-bed block that was commissioned is under way. A total of 16 rapid-build beds were put in place in December last year and a further 16 have been committed to. I understand they will go in this summer. The former Minister, Stephen Donnelly, announced last November a further 84 beds.
This all sounds like great news, and I know and understand that these measures will help to alleviate the problem. However, they are not helping in the here and now. We are already very worried about this winter. We have the highest level of patients on trolleys across the country. The majority of people presenting to accident and emergency departments are elderly people. If an elderly loved one in my family has a slip or a trip and has to go into the accident and emergency department, he or she will be facing a much longer wait, with less frequent access to care, than any other person in the country. That is simply not fair. The people of Limerick and the mid-west are very worried.
I received notice from the office of the Minister last Friday that the HIQA report into accident and emergency care across the mid-west region, commissioned by the previous Minister has been delayed. It was expected to be presented to the current Minister in May and published when she was ready to publish it. I appreciate that the Minister has a lot of important and pressing healthcare matters on her plate. However, my question is that regardless of the recommendations of the HIQA report - and I note that the programme for Government committed to putting more beds into UHL - what actions is the Minister preparing for this winter, as we face into another seasonal surge in illness and as we anxiously anticipate higher than ever trolley numbers?
I thank the Senator for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. I know how important University Hospital Limerick is to the people of the region. Clearly, it is a matter the Senator is passionate about and acutely aware of. She has presented her case well, especially her analysis of why there is a higher number of presentations at UHL, which is clearly the case.
I will do my best to lay out the situation nationally and specifically that of University Hospital Limerick. A key priority of the Minister is to provide a seven-day health service to the public. Progress has been made over recent bank holiday weekends to ensure patients receive the care they need in a timely and efficient manner throughout the week. Services again undertook significant work in the week preceding the June bank holiday weekend to maximise discharges and patient flow, which was the key factor in ensuring most sites had sufficient capacity to meet demands over the bank holiday weekend. This resulted in 55% fewer patients waiting on trolleys at 8 a.m. over the June bank holiday weekend compared with the St. Brigid’s Day bank holiday weekend this year. Out of the total 29 acute hospital sites with 24-7 emergency departments, seven sites maintained a level of zero patients waiting on trolleys at 8 a.m. throughout the weekend, Saturday to Monday, inclusive. A number of sites continue to consistently achieve good operational grip, avoiding congestion and maintaining patient flow, such as Connolly Hospital, MRH Tullamore and UH Waterford. However, on Tuesday, 3 June, UHL reported 49 patients on trolleys at 8 a.m., making it one of eight sites in red status. From January to May 2025, attendances at UHL's emergency department were up 8% compared with the same period in 2024, and it is ranked highest nationally for overall emergency department attendances and admissions. The Senator eloquently outlined why that may be the case. The impact this has on patients and their families is something this Government is deeply committed to addressing.
In preparation for winter 2025, a large and ongoing programme of work is under way focusing on increasing capacity and improving patient flow. Crucially, more than 100 new beds are due to be opened at UHL in the coming year, while 16 beds completed construction at the end of May 2025 and are anticipated to open in quarter 3. The first 96-bed ward block is expected to complete construction in quarter 3 of 2025 and expected to be opened as soon as possible once completed. It remains to be seen whether that will happen in time for the winter. This additional capacity will be vital as we head into the winter period. Furthermore, a 16-bed unit was completed in December 2024, already contributing to increased capacity at the hospital. Enabling works for the second 96-bed block at UHL are progressing. A planning application was submitted for the second ward block in March 2025.
To enhance patient flow and avoid unnecessary emergency department presentations, several key interventions are being implemented. The medical assessment units at Ennis and Nenagh hospitals have had extended evening service hours since October 2024, providing additional weekly capacity for 34 and 22 patients, respectively. The virtual ward at UHL can now accommodate 25 patients. Work is under way to operationalise an emergency department in the home, EDITH, service at UHL. Community rehabilitation units in Ennis and Nenagh are already operational. The HSE CEO has explicitly asked regional executive officers to continue implementing seven-day working and extended hours across all services relevant to improving patient flow. This includes ensuring senior decision-makers are rostered on-site over weekends and in the evenings, leveraging the benefits of the public-only consultant contract which provides for rostered work from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Friday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. Work continues to enhance discharge processes to support patients prior to 12 p.m. seven days a week. The urgent and emergency care operational plan 2024 provides a comprehensive framework covering hospital avoidance, emergency department operations, in-hospital care delivery and discharge management. That sets out some of the plans in place to try to increase capacity at UHL prior to the winter months.
I appreciate the Minister of State coming to the House to give me that information but, with the greatest respect to him and the Minister, I have heard all of this before. I know all of those figures and about all of those initiatives. Other than the extension of the medical assessment unit hours in Ennis and Nenagh, they are not specific to UHL. What is the Minister considering for this winter? I am not hearing about short-term interventions specifically for UHL, that the Minister is considering a temporary reopening of accident and emergency departments in Ennis or Nenagh, that she will assign additional staff to the UHL emergency department, or that she is planning on installing more temporary beds. We need a specific UHL emergency department winter plan and we need it now.
I completely understand Senator Ryan's frustration and concern. This has gone on for too long in UHL. We have heard the stories and examples of long waiting times on trolleys. It is not good enough. There needs to be urgent action. I also mentioned the 100 extra beds due to come online in the coming year. I hope that will alleviate some of the pressure. The Senator mentioned the medical assessment units in Ennis and Nenagh. They should alleviate some of the pressure. There are other innovations nationally, only where appropriate, with types of virtual triage. That sometimes prevents extra numbers presenting to accident and emergency departments. That can be looked at. I will express the Senator's frustrations directly to the Minister and ensure she is aware of the need for a UHL-specific action plan.
Health Services
I welcome the Minister of State. I am speaking on a promise I made to the people of north Kerry that, when I became a voice for them in the Seanad, I would do what I could to reinstate out-of-hours SouthDoc services in Listowel. SouthDoc is an out-of-hours GP service operating across Kerry and Cork, providing urgent medical care when a person's regular GP is unavailable. It is designed for situations that require prompt attention but are not life threatening. This issue affects the everyday lives, well-being and safety of the people of north Kerry. An out-of-hours SouthDoc service needs to be reinstated in Listowel as soon as possible. As it stands, there is no out-of-hours GP service in Listowel or anywhere else in north Kerry. Residents in this large rural region from Astee to Abbeydorney - I will give the Minister of State a geography lesson - Ballylongford to Ballyduff, Ballybunion to Ballyheige, Moyvane to Kilflynn, Tarbert to Lixnaw, Duagh to Causeway, Lyracrumpane to Finuge and into Listowel town - that is the area - require this emergency service to be reinstated. This large area has a growing population, as many do, an elderly population and a large sporting population, so the need outscores any claim against it.
Right now, these people must travel to Tralee after hours to access urgent care. For many, that is a 40 km to 50 km journey one way. In a medical emergency at night with young children or for elderly and vulnerable patients, that is not safe, fair or sustainable. I mentioned Astee. If there is a game there today before 8 p.m. and there is a casualty and stitches are required for a young person, by the time they get to Tralee and back, the cut would probably have closed up itself. It is not fair.
Listowel is significant regional town. We are fortunate to have a new, modern primary care centre that provides an excellent range of wrap-around services - GPs, nurses, physiotherapists, mental health support and more - but we do not have an out-of-hours GP service. That is the missing piece in a system that should be built to serve people where they live, not force them to travel long distances in distress.
What message does that send to the people of north Kerry? That their health is less important? That their distance makes them second-class citizens? That is how many in our community feel. Parents tell me they are terrified when their children get sick in the middle of the night. Elderly residents are delaying getting help and local emergency departments are already under pressure because there is no nearby alternative for a basic out-of-hours service. This is not just a convenience issue, it is a public health issue that is only getting worse.
We are not asking for something extraordinary. We are asking of the same level of access to care that other towns of a similar size and population have. If the infrastructure is available and in Listowel, then an out-of-hours service must follow. In the Minister of State's own area of west Cork, he is well aware of the SouthDoc service in Clonakilty into Bantry and Skibbereen and even over to Macroom. We need this service, which his own area has.
I call urgently on the Minister for Health, the HSE and the management of SouthDoc to do the right thing and re-establish an out-of-hours SouthDoc space in Listowel, give the people of north Kerry what they deserve - safe, timely and local medical care no matter the hour. Healthcare access should not depend on your postcode. We need action now before this gap in service leads to even greater harm.
I thank Senator Kennelly for raising this Commencement matter, which I am again taking on behalf of the Minister for Health. He is absolutely right. We have the same service in Cork South-West. I understand that reconfigurations have happened over recent years and that these have caused concern. Consolidation and reconfiguration happen, and this causes concern. I hope to allay some of those concerns. If there are any questions I cannot answer, I will revert to the Minister.
I will outline how the service works. GPs are private practitioners. Most of them hold contracts with the HSE for the provision of health services on its behalf. GPs contracted under the general medical services, GMS, scheme are required to make suitable arrangements to enable contact to be made with them or with a locum or deputy for urgent care outside of normal practice hours. The GPs participate in GP out-of-hours co-operatives as a means of meeting this contractual requirement. As the Senator will be aware, the SouthDoc co-operative provides out-of-hours urgent GP care within Cork and Kerry. While they are private organisations, the HSE provides substantial funding to support out-of-hours co-operatives through service level agreements, so the HSE does have a role here. There are many factors involved in the delivery of the SouthDoc service including the availability of doctors, staff and infrastructure. Delivery of the service is supported by a bespoke patient management system and a call centre where all patient calls are acknowledged, documented and triaged. The co-operative provides a medical service to a population of approximately 736,000 in addition to visitors to the area. It dealt with over 200,000 patient contacts in 2024.
SouthDoc constantly reviews its service provision to ensure its continued viability. With specific regard to Listowel, a service consolidation plan was implemented in January 2024. Three doctor teams, those at Castleisland, Listowel and Tralee, were consolidated to provide a more sustainable out-of-hours service to the people of north Kerry. While routine appointments are scheduled in Tralee, the service plan includes the retention of the Listowel treatment centre for urgent appointments based on clinical need. A dedicated home visit division then provides care for patients unable to attend an out-of-hours treatment centre. In addition, the plan includes the direct employment of doctors to supplement the local GPs in the out-of-hours service and the addition of locum doctor supports at weekends and on public holidays.
SouthDoc has advised that these changes were essential to maintaining the SouthDoc service in the north Kerry area. It reports the implementation was necessary to alleviate service pressures that were undermining the sustainability of both the daytime and out-of-hours general practice service for patients. The HSE advises that the revised model of service is showing positive results, with both Listowel and Tralee reporting an increase in expressions of interest from GPs to join daytime practice in these areas. SouthDoc states it is committed to the long-term continuation of the provision of the out-of-hours service in the north Kerry region. All treatment centres in the area remain available to the out-of-hours service as necessary. The provision of this service will continue to be evaluated by SouthDoc and the HSE on an ongoing basis.
That is an outline of the consolidation efforts that were made. Similar efforts were made in Cork South-West, which did cause concern. From what we have seen so far, there has not been a drop-off in the level of service patients are getting. The critical point here, which the Senator alluded to, is trying to attract GPs to work in areas like north Kerry and Cork South-West. That is the key challenge. The more GPs we can get to take up positions in rural areas, the more comprehensive an out-of-hours service we can provide. I hope this consolidation will attract more GPs to the north Kerry area, which would allow the service to get back to the levels the Senator has talked about.
I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I have seen this before. Let us be honest. I will go back to what I said in my opening contribution; the population here has grown nearly twofold. We should be thankful that it has. During the Covid pandemic, many of the kids came home to live and work in the area and in their family homes. They have stayed in the area. Football team numbers are increasing. Everything is increasing. However, what has unfortunately been decreasing is emergency out-of-hours care services. The out-of-hours service contract covers from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. every evening. In Listowel, it was initially from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. but that has disappeared. It is okay to say that someone will come out if it is important but, at the top end of north Kerry, that is not 25 minutes later but five hours later. It is just not good enough. For many people, it is not accessible although, if you do not have transport, someone will come out.
In the context of health, it is a case of picking and choosing. It is not sustainable. It is not something that can continue until we get a full service in the primary care centre in Listowel, as I have mentioned. To take anything else out of this is just not good enough.
On the out-of-hours service, the two areas of Ballybunion and Ballyheigue are on the Wild Atlantic Way. The population grows threefold or fourfold during the summer months. When do accidents happen and when do kids fall? It is almost always out of hours. There is nothing fast available. If I travel to Listowel tomorrow morning, the accident and emergency department will probably be clogged up. I would be clogging that system up and clogging up the whole HSE format. I ask for a written statement from the HSE that it will review this situation and what I have stated here on the floor of the Seanad as soon as possible. We need this. It is an urgent medical call from the people of north Kerry to the HSE and to SouthDoc management, who have not been forthcoming. Many councillors from the Listowel area have asked for these boys to come to the table and they have refused. I ask the HSE to review this with SouthDoc and to come back to the people of north Kerry with a positive answer.
I will absolutely request such a review. The Senator is right. SouthDoc has its own management structures and board. The HSE has very little input into its day-to-day running but it does fund the service so it must expect an appropriate level of service. The Senator gave a good lesson on the geography of Kerry. I am familiar enough with north Kerry. It is very similar to west Cork in many ways in that it is huge geographically. You have got peninsulas and inlets, so it is geographically awkward and requires a bespoke approach to out-of-hours services. In some instances where patients find it difficult to go to the SouthDoc centre, the idea of GPs being driven out to visit homes can work. For example, where an older person would find it difficult to make the journey, that can work. I take the Senator's general point and will go back to the Department of Health and the Minister to ask for a review as soon as possible.
Renewable Energy Generation
While I have the Minister of State here, I will thank him for his recent help regarding the special area of conservation in Gorthaganny in Caher, west Roscommon, following the recent gorse fires. I thank him and his Department in that regard.
My question is on the national biomethane strategy. The Government published the national biomethane strategy in 2024. It sets out an ambitious scaling up from a few plants to 200 anaerobic digester facilities with an output of 5.7 TWh annually by 2030. The strategy is agriculture-led and farmer-centric and focused on using agricultural feedstocks like slurry and silage to create a new income stream for farmers. It outlines 25 key actions across five pillars: sustainability, demand for biomethane, bioeconomy and circular economy, economics, and enabling policy. Key supports include the upcoming renewable heat obligation to create market demand and capital grants for AD plant construction. The biogas and biomethane industry in Ireland offers significant advantages and opportunities including energy security, decarbonisation as we move away from fossil fuels, jobs and economic activity in rural areas, farm diversification in the production of silage and other feedstocks, water quality improvements, alternative organic fertilisers, and rural growth and development. Ireland's renewable heat obligation is a planned policy designed to significantly increase the use of renewable energy for heating across the country. The RHO is considered a crucial support mechanism for Ireland's broader climate targets including its ambitious biomethane strategy. It is expected to be implemented in late 2025 or early 2026. The Government has undertaken extensive consultation to finalise its design and ensure its smooth introduction.
Last autumn, with assistance from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine administered a capital grants support programme for biomethane plants. This was a 20% capital grant with a total budget of €40 million from RePowerEU funding. Some 18 projects were given letters of offer with a deadline for the completion of works of 31 December 2025. Only two or three of those projects have commenced as there is no market for biomethane because the Government is yet to publish and announce details of the renewable heat obligation, which is required to drive the market for biomethane produced and give investment certainty to the funders. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State could make a statement on the Government's commitment to the biomethane strategy and confirm the timeline and steps for the introduction of the renewable heat obligation.
I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O'Brien. I am delighted to see this issue being raised in the Seanad because I see it as a key way for agriculture in particular to play its part in renewable energy provision. I always point to the example of the Timoleague anaerobic digester in my neck of the woods. It almost acts as a co-operative, where the local piggery brings manure as an input into the anaerobic digester, the local distillery supplies waste grain as an input and other waste products also go in as inputs, and gas is produced to provide energy for homes. Digestate, which is a valid form of agricultural fertiliser, is produced as well. It is the perfect example of the circular economy and something I would love to see rolled out, so I accept the urgency of this.
The Government has committed to delivering up to 5.7 TWh of indigenously produced biomethane by 2030. Delivery of this target and the use of biomethane within our energy system will have multiple cross-sectoral benefits for Ireland’s economy, energy security and emissions profile. A first step to realising this ambition was the publication of the national biomethane strategy. In partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the strategy was published in May 2024. The strategy sets out a pathway to achieving Ireland’s biomethane production target, addresses the challenges that need to be overcome and outlines the necessary supports and policy enablers needed to drive growth across the sector.
Implementation of the national biomethane strategy is an ongoing process of collaboration across key Departments and agencies and the biomethane implementation group has been established to oversee implementation of the strategy and delivery of the 25 key strategic actions to ensure the necessary infrastructure and supports are in place to support development of an indigenous biomethane industry of scale. Chaired by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, with close support from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the group reports directly to the heat and built environment task force on ongoing progress. The group continues to engage with action owners and key stakeholders to monitor implementation and finalisation of a full progress report, which will provide an update on key deliverables, including publication of the biomethane charter. The development of the biomethane information hub and communications strategy is under way. It is expected that this progress report will be published on gov.ie shortly.
The Government has also agreed to the introduction of a renewable heat obligation, RHO, to ensure the increased use of renewable fuel types across the full heating sector, with the primary aim of supporting the achievement of Ireland's heating and cooling targets at EU level. The development of the RHO is a key priority for the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment and the necessary analysis and impact assessment that has informed the design of the RHO and the RHO high-level scheme has now been finalised. The Department is drafting the RHO heads of Bill for submission to the Government shortly and, once approved by the Government, will begin drafting of the RHO primary legislation to underpin the introduction.
The Senator is right that the RHO legislation is needed and needs to be progressed quickly. It would be a shame if we missed that opportunity in terms of the December deadline for anaerobic digesters to avail of EU funding. The direction of travel is going in the right direction, though. There was no biomethane or anaerobic digestion strategy 12 or 18 months ago but there is now. I agree with the Senator that it is a key way of driving economies in rural areas, reducing emissions and making digesters sustainable.
I appreciate that this is not the Minister of State's brief. The opportunity for energy independence cannot be something we let go. I have some feedback. A leading industry body has warned that biomethane production in Ireland must be incentivised and supported ahead of cheaper imported biomethane. The current Government target for indigenous production of biomethane is 5.7 TWh each year but the Irish Bioenergy Association has highlighted that there is a need to urgently address the fundamental issue of fraudulent activity in the non-EU bio-liquid supply chain. This is something we need to be aware of.
The Minister of State obviously will not know this, but since I came to the Chamber, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Heydon, has announced a €10 million fund for projects under the bioeconomy demonstration initiative as part of the just transition. I hope that solutions will materialise as the day goes on.
Fair play to the Senator. He got to announce that instead of me. That is some going. The news is welcome. Farmers want to play their part in reducing emissions. The bulk of the input into an anaerobic digester is coming from farming and we are getting renewable gas and electricity to power thousands of homes, so I have always felt that those emissions reductions should be attributed to the agricultural sector. That is not the case at the moment but it is something I would love to see. We need to ramp it up. We have far too few anaerobic digesters. When one compares our biomethane production to that of Germany and France, which have hundreds and sometimes thousands of anaerobic digesters, we can see it is a key energy source. Sometimes in Ireland, we are on red alert in terms of energy and electricity and this is because of lack of production of energy. Anaerobic digestion could play a key role in that regard. We are also importing gas, so this could reduce our reliance on international gas.
I commend the Senator on raising the matter.
Childcare Services
I welcome the Minister of State. I spoke to the Minister for Education and Youth yesterday outside the Seanad and she indicated that she hoped to be here for this Commencement matter but, clearly, she is unable to attend. I am sorry about that but I thank and welcome the Minister of State for agreeing to step in. I acknowledge that it is not his Department but I will set out the case as I understand it to be.
I was contacted by the independent councillor Michael Fleming from Stepaside in Dublin who asked me to meet the parents of Mountainside Montessori in Stepaside, County Dublin. I also met the management of the Montessori. Mountainside Montessori at Holy Trinity National School is an inclusive preschool provider. It is fully committed to offering equal access to all children and families and is inclusive of gender, civil status, religion, age, race, disability, family and membership of the Traveller community. It offers an open-door policy at all times throughout the school year and encourages close collaboration and partnership with the parents and guardians of the children. Mountainside operates the ECCE scheme, which offers up to two years for preschool education three hours per day to children under the age of two years and eight months. It opens from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday to Friday. Most of the children there follow on to Holy Trinity National School, which is on the same site, and the Montessori follows that school's calendar.
The community section of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is fully aware of the issues. They have been raised with the county childcare committee, which has engaged with Mountainside looking at various options, but nothing has been delivered. Effectively, having received notice from Holy Trinity National School in 2024 that its space would now be utilised and would no longer be available to the preschool, the preschool has not been successful in securing an alternative. Families affected by the cessation of Mountainside Montessori are very anxious about where their children will go in September. This is a reasonable, accessible and inclusive Montessori service in Stepaside, an area that is growing significantly. Working parents are now thinking about possibly having to pull out of work. They do not know where their children will be going on 1 September, which is a disappointment.
It has been brought to my attention that there are a number of prefabs vacant at Stepaside Educate Together Secondary School, which is very close to Holy Trinity and would be perfect for Montessori use under an agreed licence and subject to any terms and conditions required by Tusla. It is approved by Tusla and is compliant with all the regulations, so that is not an issue.
Clearly, this is about resources. I am talking about an interim measure for the next year. We, or the Government and TDs in that constituency, will have a problem on their hands on 1 September. I have seen correspondence from the Department of Education and Youth, which I had hoped to put to the Minister today, but she is not here.
This is from the principal. The correspondence states:
I wish to advise that the Department of Education has instructed us that any existing rental agreement should not be renewed, and no other rental agreement should be entered into for the interim accommodation on the Stepaside ETSS school site [That is the Educate Together site]. The Department is currently reviewing accommodation requirements for the Stepaside ETSS to establish which units will be retained [these are the prefabricated units] and what will need to be removed to facilitate the construction of phase 2 of the school-building project.
In essence, those involved - all of the children and all of the parents - are anxious and need an interim facility. All that is being sought is the use of empty prefabs on a school site for less than 12 months, from September this year to next June. I hope the Department will commit to that. It needs to do something. We will of course hear pronouncements and condemnations by TDs across all parties and none in the next few weeks, but we now have time on our side to do something.
I thank Senator Boyhan for raising this issue. The way he describes Mountainside Montessori school sounds incredible. It sounds inclusive and open and is exactly the type of model we should have for our Montessori schools. There is clearly an urgency because September is looming and there needs to be a solution in place. I am not sure if my answer will provide much satisfaction in terms of the use of the prefabs, but I will bring it back to the Minister to try to find some solution.
This matter allows me an opportunity to provide an update to the House on the current position with regard to the school building project for Stepaside Educate Together Secondary School. The school building project for Stepaside Educate Together Secondary School will deliver a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school and accommodation, including six classrooms for children with special educational needs. The project is being delivered in two phases. Phase 1 of the project, delivered under the Department’s design and build programme, was completed in April 2024. The phase 1 project delivered accommodation for approximately 680 pupils and accommodation, including four classrooms for children with special educational needs and a PE hall. The phase 2 project is being delivered under the Department's employer-led design programme, which uses a professional external project manager to co-ordinate and drive the design team to achieve the best possible timeframe for the project through the stages of architectural planning to tender and construction. Phase 2 will deliver the balance of the accommodation for approximately 320 pupils and accommodation, including two classrooms for children with special educational needs plus external classes. The phase 2 project for Stepaside Educate Together Secondary School is currently at tender stage with tenders returned on 2 May 2025. Tenders are currently being evaluated by the project manager and design team and a tender assessment report will be prepared for the Department's consideration. Projects are subject to relevant due diligence at each stage of the process, within the context of overall programme and budgetary parameters.
Stepaside Educate Together Secondary School is currently accommodated in its new phase 1 school building as well as in interim accommodation located on the permanent school site in Leopardstown. A review of the accommodation on site was undertaken by the design team to determine how the school’s accommodation needs will be managed up to and during construction of the phase 2 project. The modular units installed on site between 2020 and 2022 were to accommodate the school pending delivery of its new permanent school building. Now that the accommodation review is complete, some of the rental accommodation has been scheduled for removal in the coming weeks, with the remainder of the rental accommodation retained on site for use by the school pending delivery of the phase 2 project. The contract for the rental of the modular accommodation is between the Department and the contractor and there are no plans to enter into any third-party arrangements with regard to that contract.
The programme for Government commits to expanding the provision of after-school and childcare in school buildings and campuses, in tandem with the school building programme, to provide better access for parents and communities. The Department supports and encourages the use of school buildings for community and recreational purposes where this is feasible, including the provision of early learning and childcare services. The procedures are available for each school to refer to for guidance. Given the complexities of delivering the phase 2 school building project with a live school on site, it is unlikely that a move by Mountainside Montessori to the Stepaside Educate Together Secondary School site could be facilitated, and Mountainside Montessori should consider all options available to it.
That is absolutely not the answer the Senator was looking for. I get the complexities that exist where there is a live school on site and the use of those modular buildings there at the moment. On the other hand, the suggestion makes sense for many reasons, as these modular rooms are on site and phase 2 of the Educate Together school is going ahead. I will go back to the Minister to see if there is any innovative way in which the Montessori school can be accommodated. It is probably not good enough to go back to say it has to discuss options. We have to collaborate on this to ensure those parents who are sending children to the Montessori school have a solution before September.
As the Minister of State was reading, I was going through his reply line by line, and with the last line I wondered if we were talking about the same place at all. The last line states that "Mountainside Montessori should consider all other options available to it". It is not very encouraging for a Government policy that is encouraging them. However, what this does, and this is what I always say about these things, is that it puts it on the record, so there is no talking out of both sides of people's mouths in the constituency about what is actually happening. I will circulate this to the media today and to all politicians and councillors in that constituency and let them advocate for the people. I do not even live in this constituency, but it is important. One of the great benefits of a Commencement matter is that you now have it on the record.
This is not an encouraging day from the Government to the community of Stepaside and this Montessori school, but I welcome and thank the Minister of State for at least agreeing to take this back. We have county childcare committees, of course, but, come hell or high water, these people want a place for their children. There are parents listening in this morning who will be contacting their employers to say they may be taking career breaks because they cannot put their two- and three-year-olds into support. That is a pity because there has been a positive partnership between the existing primary school on site and this. I want to make it clear here, on the record, that we do not want to stop phase 2. It will be interesting to see when phase 2 is actually starting. Is this another one of these phases that will be sitting there for another 12 months? However, I appreciate that the Minister of State will take this back to the Department. I will continue to talk to the public representatives this afternoon, and I will certainly be asking them, because there is time on their side, to politically mobilise and get commitments.
I again thank the Senator. I know he does not live in the constituency, but to be fair, he always represents his councillors and representatives in that area. He is doing so again today. My priority and concern are with the parents and the children who are all set up to avail of the Montessori school service in September. They must be anxious not knowing where they are going to be homed in future. In that spirit, I will certainly go back to talk to the Department and the Minister to see if there can at least be some co-operative effort between the Department, the school and all other stakeholders to try to find a solution. Whether that is the modular builds on site at the moment or some alternative, I will do that.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 10.18 a.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 10.30 a.m.
Sitting suspended at 10.18 a.m. and resumed at 10.30 a.m.