I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy to the House.
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Tourism Industry
I thank the Minister of State for coming. I wish to raise an issue about Glenveagh Castle, which, as the Minister of State knows, is a major tourist attraction in County Donegal. The castle has been closed on Mondays and Fridays since last year. This has led to visitor frustration, especially at peak times. It is damaging to the reputation of Donegal tourism. The existing staff are dedicated and must be praised for what they are doing. They are doubling up on their work to try to keep the castle working. There are approximately 200,000 visitors annually. It supports local businesses, such as cafés, bed and breakfast accommodation and tour operators. The closure means less spending in the local area, which leads to reduced revenues for shops, coffee shops and everything else.
I have been told that 14 positions have not been filled in Glenveagh Castle. Will the Minister of State confirm whether there is a plan to restore full weekly access to Glenveagh Castle? What is the current recruitment plan to restore staff levels to operational needs? What funding is going to be allocated for infrastructure to upgrade over the next three years? He knows Donegal well and has been to Glenveagh many times. It is a great natural asset. We are not getting the rub of the green here. We need him to come out fighting and stand with Glenveagh. Let us get it working right. We must keep promoting the area. It is lovely, as he knows. I hope he has a reply for me.
I thank the Senator. I know Glenveagh and have been there many times. It is a lovely place. It is one of Donegal's great treasures, as the Senator knows well. He has been a strong supporter on this issue.
I am here representing the Minister. The National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, within the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has primary responsibility for nature conservation, wildlife protection and the preservation of our national parks. I assure the Senator, on behalf of the Minister, that Glenveagh National Park remains open to visitors seven days a week all year around and as with all national parks managed by the NPWS, entry is free. In addition to amenities such as walks, trails, viewing points and toilets, the visitor and exhibition centre, castle gardens and shuttle bus remain available to the public almost every day. A charge is levied for the optional use of the shuttle bus and to tour Glenveagh Castle itself.
I appreciate that while the information desk in Glenveagh Castle also remains open seven days a week, tours of the castle are only operating on a five-days-per-week schedule, with tours currently not scheduled on Mondays and Fridays. This arrangement was introduced to ensure health and safety requirements are met and to ensure available staffing resources are maximised across the park, while reflecting patterns of visitor demand and minimising the impact to the public. It is not unusual to manage such sites on a five-day, rather than a seven-day, basis with reduced services on weekdays. This will be reviewed over time in line with the Department's workforce planning. In that regard, and the Senator asked specifically about the issue, staffing levels across the Department, including the NPWS, are kept under regular review, in line with emerging business needs and Government policy on public sector pay and staffing as advised by the Department.
While there were recent retirements addressed in terms of staffing levels, Glenveagh National Park currently has a strong staffing complement of over 50 permanent staff, including a dedicated park manager, a new role that was filled in 2024. Nevertheless, as part of its ongoing workforce planning, the Department keeps this matters under constant review in to ensure that all priority vacancies are filled in a timely manner and that resource allocations are balanced across the Department to meet key priorities, as necessary. The Department's latest round of formal workforce planning is under way. This process seeks to strategically assess gaps in service delivery that can be addressed on a priority basis in light of available resources.
I thank the Minister of State. As he said, the information desk is open. The castle needs to be open on Mondays and Fridays. From what I hear from tour operators, the five-day opening does not work into their plans. There are problems with having enough personnel and staff. I ask the Minister of State to go back to see how many we can get. From what I was told, we appear to be short gardeners and tourism industry staff throughout the house. Perhaps we could get a report that is more tied down in the near future. I thank the Minister of State.
I will, of course, bring the Senator's concerns to the responsible Minister and ensure he hears those concerns. I will also add my knowledge of Glenveagh and how wonderful it is. It is important from the perspective of tourism in Donegal that we seek to maximise accessibility to places such as Glenveagh. I recognise the Senator's concerns and will bring them to the attention of the relevant Minister. I will ensure he is fully aware of what is happening.
Electricity Grid
I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber this morning. This is my fifth Commencement matter for the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and he has not entered the Chamber at all yet. I just want to put that on the record.
We have just had Storm Amy and a lot of my constituents in Roscommon once again spent the weekend without power. That follows on from Storm Éowyn back in February when 768,000 customers across the country were without electricity supply because of that storm. On the August bank holiday weekend Storm Floris, on which we had a small little yellow weather warning, also left a large part of west Roscommon without power.
The common denominator is the corridors we have in forestry and the need for the electricity supply (amendment) Bill 2025 to be prioritised and enacted as quickly as possible. I have a press release from 29 July 2025 with a headline stating that the Minister has secured Government approval for legislation to bolster the storm resilience of our electricity grid. I know we are only back, but it is now 8 October and a large number of people across the western part of this country are looking at the next storm in the coming weeks and wondering how long they are again going to be without power.
I spent Friday morning visiting people in Ballinlough outside Roscommon who were without power. I engaged with Deputy Fitzmaurice throughout the weekend about the large number of people without power all across Roscommon. Deputy Kerrane has social media posts with pictures showing these corridors. We all know where the problem is. The ESB needs support for it. We need to enact this Bill. We must compensate forestry owners. We must deliver on this.
The 29 July press release referred to the winter 2025 grid resilience plan. One of the calls in that regard is for "a formal storm review to identify recommendations to prepare for future storms". It is too late for that. We cannot wait for another review on this. This is a problem people are experiencing on the ground today and it must be prioritised. An emergency must be declared in Roscommon or the western part of the country to deal with this. Everybody knows the problem.
I have a letter from a lady I met on Monday. She was going around to her neighbours trying to get them to sign it before sending it in. I will not give her name.
Once again, over the weekend, power lines were brought down where they run through forestry in our local area. This is now the second time [since August] this has happened on this section of the line. The same stretch was damaged during Storm Floris in August when forestry trees fell on the line. Then, during the storm in January, a feeder line from this main line was also brought down in the forestry due to falling trees.
In total, the local area has been without electricity for over three and a half weeks ... [so far this year].
While we all understand that storms are outside anyone's control, what is within the control of ESB Networks is the management and removal of trees that are too close to power lines. It is clear that these trees continue to pose a serious and ongoing threat. Unless this is addressed, the next storm will undoubtedly cause the same problem again.
I have also been in contact with Coillte regarding this matter, and they have confirmed that ESB Networks is responsible for managing vegetation around power lines.
I do not believe that is the case. A multi-agency approach is required. We need to enact this plan and we need to be strong on this. I welcome the Minister of State's statement on the matter.
I thank Senator Scahill for raising this matter. I apologise that the Minister is not here. I appreciate the Senator's comments on the importance of Ministers addressing these issues when Senators raise them. I am aware Senator Scahill has been very active in raising this matter.
The Minister has asked me to make the following statement. At the beginning of this year Storm Éowyn caused unprecedented electricity outages and exposed critical vulnerabilities in our grid system arising from unmanaged vegetation and the proximity of forestry to infrastructure. Following the storm and consultation with utility operators, the Minister has directed officials at the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment to explore legislative provisions to safeguard electricity infrastructure when passing through forestry. Heads of the Bill were approved by the Government for priority drafting on the 29 July.
The electricity (supply)(amendment) Bill will update the Electricity (Supply) Act 1927 to provide for enhanced vegetation management powers for ESB Networks. It will provide a statutory basis for the establishment and maintenance of forestry corridors - areas within a given distance of the electricity network within which forestry vegetation and related activities can be restricted by law. The Bill will protect the rights of affected landowners by establishing a framework for compensation. It will also attach maintenance responsibilities to landowners for the upkeep of forestry corridors, with backstop powers for ESB Networks to intervene where required. The Bill will uphold our environmental obligations under European law, confirming the applicability of the habitats and birds directives. It will also outline screening thresholds for environmental impact assessments, in keeping with the requirements of the Planning and Development Acts.
The Department is working with legal counsel from the Office of the Attorney General and officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to progress drafting, ensuring consistency with the forestry licensing regime established under the Forestry Act 2014. In drafting this legislation, the Department will engage with all relevant stakeholders to ensure the Bill protects the rights of landowners and is in keeping with Ireland's afforestation and environmental goals. Consultation on specific aspects of legislation, including the dimensions of corridors and principles for engaging with landowners and compensation, will include multiple Departments and bodies and the wider forestry and landowner representative bodies through a series of workshops. Members should note that these works are not expected to result in direct costs to the Exchequer, as costs associated with improvements to grid resilience are typically covered by network tariffs set as part of periodic price reviews which are under the oversight of the Commission for Regulation of Utilities.
In parallel with this legislation, in the wake of Storm Éowyn the Government directed ESB Networks to prepare a winter 2025 resilience plan. This plan was published in April and implementation continues. Post-storm patrols of the transmission and 38 kV network have been completed, with the vast majority of priority hazards made safe. The survey of the medium-voltage network is complete, with high-priority resilience issues identified. Analysis of customers most affected by treefall has identified priority areas for remediation. Timber harvesters were procured and began to cut timber during the summer. Replenishment of ESB Networks' emergency stocks of spare parts and materials to double its previous capacity is now 80% complete. Medium-term staffing and contractor resources are to be increased through the provision of targeted training programmes via the education and training boards. To address capacity shortages, the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment and the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment have progressed permits for skilled workers from outside the EU to advance urgent forestry work.
ESB Networks is leading a working group to establish formal arrangements with European distribution system operators for mutual aid during extreme weather. An agreement is drafted with ratification targeted for October. External consultants have been appointed to carry out a review of international storm experiences. Meanwhile, ESB Networks is currently concluding a formal review of its response to Storm Éowyn.
I thank the Minister of State very much for the response. A total of 768,000 customers were without electricity in February. We face another winter with the same uncertainty. Probably the only certainty is the chance that we will have power outages.
I could bring anybody in the Chamber to forestry in west Roscommon right now and show them which trees are going to come down and take out which power lines and knock out which group of people in the coming weeks. My constituents and the people of the west deserve to get support on this. They deserve a network that is resilient and our efforts to rectify this problem, which everybody spoke about in February and March but, as of this moment in time, we are still facing another winter with the same problem.
In the last line of the Minister's press statement it states, "The legislation and the regulations it will enable will strike an appropriate balance – between infrastructure resilience, the viability of the forestry sector, environmental impact and control of costs." We are looking for that to happen in a timely manner. We want action now.
I very much appreciate the Senator's sentiments he expressed regarding the importance of timing. I will take every opportunity to convey that and the other comments made by him today to the Minister. I have no doubt he will also continue to engage directly with the Minister on this very important issue. I appreciate that it is vitally important to his constituents that they have this type of information and an update on timing.
The Government is committed to learning the lessons of Storm Éowyn. As I said, the legislation and the accompanying resilience plan are being progressed as a matter of priority, in keeping with the programme for Government commitments to prioritise investment in our electricity grid. I will, of course, pass the Senator's comments directly to the Minister.
I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, for coming to the House today.
Disability Services
Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I want to highlight an urgent and important matter concerning disability services in my county of Cork, specifically the long-awaited completion and opening of the new building for the Pathways adult disability day services programme, which is hosted by Horizons, formerly known as Cope, in Montenotte in Cork city. This facility was promised as a modern, purpose-built space to support adults with intellectual disabilities. These are individuals who deserve access to safe, structured and supportive environments in order to live full, meaningful lives in their communities. Horizons previously provided two adult disability day services at the Bonnington training centre and the NASC training centre. Pathways was established as a new programme for adults who would not be suitable for either of the existing two programmes, given that these are adults with quite complex needs.
The families in Cork who were to be part of this programme were told an improved service would be delivered through this new service, yet today, despite massive anticipation, the building remains unopened. There is no confirmed timeline for when it will be fully completed or properly staffed, or when service users will actually be able to access the service. The seven approved service users do not currently have access to any service, despite being promised in June that this service through Pathways would be available in mid to late-September. To the best of my knowledge, the building is yet to be completed and is currently not staffed.
As we can imagine, this uncertainty is causing serious distress to families, who have been left in limbo. Parents and carers, many of whom are ageing themselves, are also carers for older family members or other children in the household. They are exhausted. I spoke to a parent last night who simply does not know what to do. Her adult son wants to go to a service but he cannot. He is missing his service. He finished his special school, the equivalent of secondary education, in June of this year. He wants to go back to school but he cannot. His mother does not know what to do. She is at the end of her tether. This is placing undue stress on her but, of course, it is also placing undue stress on her son as a service user.
These families have carried enormous responsibility. They were led to believe the facility would offer care and structure for their loved ones but also, as I said, peace of mind because they would be able to access the service. Instead, they have been left with inconsistent communication and a lack of transparency as to what is causing the delay. It is simply not good enough. The communication has been incredibly poor, at best. There have been a lot of phone calls, as opposed to emails and the reasons being put in writing, which, again, is something I would have an issue with.
This is about dignity, inclusion and the basic right to access a service for some of the most vulnerable in our society. It is about delivering on a commitment that was made. They were told this service would be put in place. I am seeking as clear an update as the Minister of State can provide as to when the building for Pathways in Montenotte will be completed, when it will be fully staffed and when these service users will be able to access the service. The families and service users deserve answers and security. We need accountability on this matter.
I thank Senator Lynch for raising this important issue and offering me the opportunity to respond. Day services are Health Service Executive-funded programmes for people with intellectual disabilities, autism or complex physical disabilities. That includes a range of centre-based and community-based activities. Access to services is based on an individual’s needs rather than on their diagnosis. The focus is on supporting people to participate in mainstream activities and in the life of their community, in line with their wishes.
Pathways adult disability day service is part of Horizons adult day services in Montenotte, Cork. The HSE advises me that refurbishment works being carried out are expected to finish this month. In the interim, another area within Horizons, Montenotte, has been identified for the Pathways programme. The HSE further advises that the school leavers referred to this programme commenced their transition in the week commencing 29 September 2025. All parents have been contacted by Horizons, and weekly schedules have been sent out outlining the days their children will attend the service during the transition period.
The HSE has confirmed that the recruitment of staff for the Pathways programme is ongoing, with some of the staff currently in place. Staff are working with the young adults as part of the transition plan. Once recruitment is finalised for the staffing of the Pathways programme, the young adult service will increase to 30 hours per week. Families will be kept updated by Horizons on a weekly basis.
As the Senator knows, Government investment has enabled the development of much-needed locations, such as Pathways in Montenotte. Within the sector, the New Directions policy has guided a major programme of change to reconfigure adult services, based on the core values of person-centredness, community inclusion, active citizenship and high-quality service provision.
There are over 20,000 individuals with a disability in receipt of day services, together with a further 2,049 in rehabilitative training services. These services are provided at 1,091 locations around the country by 97 service provider agencies. As the Senator knows, we had the budget yesterday. A sum of €3.8 billion has been allocated for specialist disability services in the budget, representing a 20% increase year on year. This includes funding for a new cohort of 1,400 school leavers and also 50 day service places for non-school leavers, for example, people who acquire a disability later in life.
I acknowledge and agree with the Senator’s comments on the importance of dignity and inclusion. It is people in her constituency like the mother she was talking to last night who are the exact families and individuals we want to be able to accommodate when they leave school. That is why we have allocated 1,400 new day service places for school leavers for next year. With regard to the Montenotte facility, my advice from the HSE is that the refurbishment work will be completed this month. I will keep in contact with the Senator because I know it is something she has raised with me previously. We will keep in contact regarding progress and the delivery of the service.
I thank the Minister of State for her response, which I appreciate. I welcome the funding under the Department in yesterday's budget and the extra hours for adult school leavers. I note what she has said on this issue. However, today is 8 October. I am a little sceptical that all the refurbishments will be done by mid-October. I am also concerned that, as per the Minister of State's reply, even if the building were to be finished tomorrow, it is still only partially staffed. How far along the line is the recruitment? Have jobs been offered and are awaiting acceptance, or is it at the advertising stage for these positions?
I take the Minister of State's point that the transition started on 29 September. Indeed, in the individual case I referred to, the person was reached out to, although, as I said, not in writing, which does not sit well with me. However, her son's issue is largely related to epilepsy and he often suffers epilepsy attacks. He has been in hospital for the past ten days, which prevented him from accessing his one day on site. These adult service users need routine and consistency. Even if he had been able to make his day, it would be very difficult for him to adjust to going into a different building than the one that the service will be provided in. The hours the service users will be getting during the transition period will not be the same. That lack of consistency and routine is unsatisfactory.
I genuinely appreciate the Minister of State's answer. I know things are ongoing and, obviously, they take time.
I hear the concerns the Senator is raising. I will continue my engagement with the HSE to make sure the service gets up and running. I have been told by the HSE that some of the staff are in place and that recruitment is ongoing. I absolutely accept and understand the consistency and surety that are needed for individuals who want to use this day service, and they must get that. We need this building up and running. The recruitment drive is ongoing.
I look forward to keeping in contact with the Senator and the HSE to make sure this is opened fully and staffed fully as quickly as possible. This is exactly where we want to go with our national disability strategy, ensuring we have residential, respite and day services in place with staffing. Let us keep in contact on this to ensure it is progressed as soon as possible.
I thank the Minister of State for coming in this morning.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 11.01 a.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 11.32 a.m.
Sitting suspended at 11.01 a.m. and resumed at 11.32 a.m.