Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 6 Apr 2004

Vol. 583 No. 3

Adjournment Debate.

Job Losses.

Mr. Boyle

I am grateful for the opportunity to place my concerns on the record. I am saddened it is the third occasion I have had to come to the House for an Adjournment debate in recent months to talk about job losses in my constituency. I hope there will be a more animated response from the Government than I received previously.

Last Thursday, 1 April, Buckeye Ireland, an American company, manufacturing cellulose and operating from Ringaskiddy in County Cork announced it is to cease operations, with the loss of 83 jobs. This followed the announcement a number of weeks ago by the Ridge Tool Company in Mahon that it was to cease operations, with the loss of 66 jobs. This was preceded by an announcement by CG Services that it was to close, with the loss of 110 jobs. At the beginning of the year, the Jetmagic airline closed its operations out of Cork Airport. These closures represent a loss of almost 500 jobs since the beginning of the year. Many of my constituents were affected by the job loss announcements made in the nearby Schering Plough plant, Brinny, County Cork, and the closure announcement of Irish Distillers in North Mall, Cork city.

What disturbs me is the sense of complacency on the part of the Government in regard to all these announcements. Cork South-Central, which on the surface is a prosperous constituency, has in the course of a short few months experienced major job losses. What is even more worrying is that many of these jobs were manufacturing jobs. The decisions that appear to have accompanied the making of these choices do not seem to be the normal competitiveness reasons to which we sometimes hear business leaders and Government representatives refer. The reality is that these jobs will not be relocated in Mexico or China, but in Canada and Germany, where costs equal those in Ireland.

It is time the Government put in place special measures in respect of future employment in the Cork city region, particularly the Cork South-Central constituency, which I have the honour to represent in this House. It is not good enough to stand idly by and not even comment on or put in place measures that would give some crumb of comfort that the economy, even if it is in general good health, will somehow pick up the pieces of the job losses. These recent announcements, when added to the announcements in recent years, with which the Minister will be familiar in his constituency, lead to a sense of uncertainty, confusion and general unhappiness about the state of the local economy in Cork. I hope the response tonight will be better than the response I received on my two previous Adjournment debates this year.

We are beginning to see a serious trend emerging. Trends can be responded to by either trying to put in place measures to stop such a trend or surrendering to them. The Government's response to date has been to surrender to the trend, which is no comfort to those who have lost their jobs in recent months. It is certainly no comfort to those of us who have a responsibility to make sure confidence exists in the local economy. I will look for some solace in what the Minister of State has to say in regard to the recent developments.

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Mr. M. Ahern)

The intended closure in August of the Buckeye plant, which manufacturers airlaid non-woven material at Ringaskiddy. is a disappointing blow for those who will lose their jobs. The Tánaiste is conscious of the adverse effects of such a closure on the surrounding area, especially coming so soon after the recent job loss announcements at Schering Plough, CG Services and Ridge Tool Company. It is just over a month ago since the closure of Ridge Tool Company was debated on the Adjournment of the House.

The Tánaiste understands from the company that the reason for the closure of Buckeye is excess capacity in the airlaid industry worldwide, which has led to depressed sales prices and high unit costs, resulting in losses at the Ringaskiddy plant. Finding alternative employment for the workers affected is a priority for FÁS and the State development agencies. FÁS will meet the company next week and make available its full range of support services, including skills analysis, jobs placement, guidance and counselling interviews and identification of training needs and courses. IDA Ireland has met the company to discuss the pending closure and agreed to assist it in marketing the facility once it becomes available with a view to sourcing a replacement investor for the area.

While there has been disappointing news in regard to job losses in Cork recently, there have also been a number of positive developments. There are currently 134 IDA Ireland-assisted companies in County Cork, employing approximately 18,000 people, which is an increase of over 20% in IDA Ireland supported employment since 1999. In 2003, IDA Ireland announced 11 new projects from overseas companies for the Cork area, with the potential to create up to 800 new jobs. Highlighting the continuing confidence in the region, four of these new projects were expansions of existing operations, some of which included significant research and development investment. In addition, seven new start-ups were announced during the year, which include activities ranging from manufacturing and international services to high value research and development based activities.

High value added projects in 2003 included the €35 million investment in research and development by GlaxoSmithKline, MA Com's investment in IC Design and Development, while ACS, TR Sensors, Schlumberger, Trend Micro and Transas will engage in high value software development, IT support and operations management activities. Recordati, with an investment of €28 million and Altana, with an investment of €70 million, will continue to expand the region's competencies in pharmaceuticals. New developments at Pepsi Cola and Minelab will include high value shared service and manufacturing activities.

Enterprise Ireland client companies in Cork undertook to invest €55.9 million last year to develop their businesses and are being supported with Enterprise Ireland assistance packages of €10.5 million. Some 25% of Enterprise Ireland's investment in the county took the form of research and development and assisting companies to develop new products and technologies to increase their competitiveness. In 2003, there were seven new high potential start-ups. A particularly welcome feature was that the more traditional food, consumer products and timber sectors performed well, investing approximately €30 million with the assistance of Enterprise Ireland support packages of approximately €6.3 million.

The major decentralisation package announced in the budget includes more than 1,000 jobs to be relocated to County Cork. This move demonstrates the Government's commitment to balanced regional development and will provide a further boost to enterprise development in Cork. If the Deputy examines the CSO website he will see that the number of people signing on in the Cork region has decreased over the past two years. I assure him that the State development agencies, under the aegis of the Tánaiste's Department, will continue to actively promote both Cork city and county for investment and job creation.

Schools Building Projects.

Ms O’Sullivan

I welcome the opportunity to raise on the Adjournment the issue of the building programme for Aghina national school, Macroom, County Cork. This project was scheduled to go ahead under the schools building programme 2003. It was one of 12 large scale primary school projects authorised to proceed to construction in 2003 and is the only one of the 12 that did not go ahead under last year's building programme. I wrote to the Minister and tabled questions about the school and was told that the building project did not go ahead because no cost savings could be achieved, a condition under which it was included in the building programme for 2003. No progress has been on the issue since then.

I made the case to the Minister that there were savings made on the original proposal. The original Department estimate on 24 September 2001 was for €729,281.68. Nine tenders were submitted and the recommended tender was for €610,052.98, a saving of €119,228.70 or 16.34%. The school is in a quandary as to what to do. As far as it is concerned, it fulfilled the criteria but it was not given the go ahead.

It was told by the Department that it could proceed on the basis of the small school initiative but the problem for the school is the scheme has an upper limit of €250,000, much less than the school needs. For several years this small school has been told that the only solution to its problems is a new two classroom school. The health and safety authorities have stated that a new school is required and the Southern Health Board has recommended that a new school should be built as soon as possible for health and safety reasons and that remedial work would be insufficient to attain the necessary health and safety standards. I am pursuing this because the people of this small part of County Cork have been hard done by and it is up to the Minister and the Department of Education and Science to find a solution.

Last year, the position on the list for the schools building programme led the school to believe that it had a solution. It had gone through architectural planning, planning permission and the tender process. Now it is back to square one and the school authorities and parents do not know what to do. The school cannot build what it needs with the amount of money sanctioned under the scheme for the 2004 building programme. The board does not have the finances for a new school building so I ask the Minister of State, who is from the same county as the people involved, to raise this matter with the Minister for Education and Science.

I do not intend to give up on this matter because an injustice has been done and the people of this community are entitled to a new school, as was promised. They fulfilled the criteria and saved the Department money. This is a small amount of money in terms of overall Department expenditure and it should be released so the people in this small community get the new school they require for the health and safety of their children and because they were on the list for the 2003 building programme. I ask the Minister of State and the Minister for Education and Science to sanction the building of a new school in Aghina, Macroom, County Cork, in the immediate future.

Mr. M. Ahern

I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to outline on behalf of the Department of Education and Science the proposals for the provision of a new school building for Aghina national school, Macroom, County Cork.

The Department of Education and Science received an application from the board of management of the school requesting additional accommodation. Following an examination of the case architectural planning of the project commenced. The Aghina national school building project was listed in section 4 of the 2003 school building programme which was published on the Department's website at www.education.ie. The intention was that this project would be authorised to proceed to construction during 2003 subject to significant cost savings and a review of the enrolment levels later in the year.

Pupil enrolments were reviewed because enrolment levels had declined from 44 in 1996 to 28 by September 2002 and 25 by September 2003. The school has a principal teacher, an assistant teacher and a shared remedial-resource teacher.

With regard to the cost of the project, the lowest tender was increased for the provision of a new building so that instead of a cost saving on the project, the price increased.

Officials from the Department of Education and Science met the chairperson and representatives of the board of management of the school on 16 December 2003 to discuss the enrolment position and issues relating to the proposed school building project. Department officials subsequently visited the school on 19 December 2003 to review the condition of the existing accommodation. An official again visited the school on 22 March 2004. A grant of €250,000 was offered to the school management to address the accommodation issue. The Department is currently considering a response received from the school management regarding the building project and the proposed grant and will respond to the board shortly.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter in this House and I will bring it to the attention of the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Noel Dempsey.

EU Enlargement Celebrations.

Mr. Costello

I wish to raise the Government's proposals to celebrate the accession of the ten new member states of the European Union on 1 May 2004 and to find out why the public concert planned for O'Connell Street was cancelled.

It is incredible that the BBC and RTE should plan a concert in O'Connell Street for months and only apply for a licence to Dublin City Council in recent days and that they should request traffic restrictions that would require the closure of O'Connell Street for nine days. In such circumstances it would be difficult to organise a concert while minimising disruption to traffic and to traders. If something has been planned for months such considerations should be addressed at the preliminary stage but this was not the case.

On 1 May we will welcome ten new member states into the European Union. This has been planned for years — it has been the subject of a constitutional referendum and much soul searching here. The new entrants will increase the number of states in the European Union from 15 to 25, a huge event. The Government should organise a major celebration to welcome the accession states. Why should the largest celebration be organised by two broadcasting concerns? I am concerned that the Government has not been more pro-active. Will we simply have the letter from the Taoiseach asking if we are interested in attending a lunch in Dublin Castle on the occasion? A lunch? To celebrate this occasion? That does not sound up to the mark.

Already 10,000 people had bought tickets to this concert. This was not just done overnight, it was organised for months. It is extremely poor planning and the Government should take the initiative.

Why does the Government not come on board anyway? O'Connell Street is not the area for such a celebration, particularly with the Luas works that are disrupting the area. Smithfield was planned as an open air venue for large gatherings and concerts and the Phoenix Park is an obvious choice. The centre for a concert of this nature, however, is Croke Park. We saw the success of the opening and closing concerts for the Special Olympics. We saw the quality of Irish and international musicians. Surely, we could have a fabulous combination of Irish musicians such as Bono, Westlife, the Corrs and Christy Moore putting on display the quality of Irish music, performance and entertainment in that fabulous centre before the 25 countries and with musicians contributing from the accession countries. I have no doubt Croke Park would be filled for such an event and it would have been a wonderful occasion and an opportunity to present the quality of Irish performance. It is not too late to do so yet and it should be considered.

The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism has indicated that a number of events will take place such as "Vectorial Elevations", the world's largest unique on-line art work, to which I am looking forward, as well as a fireworks extravaganza and the national "Day of Welcomes" involving ten Irish towns and cities. However, what about the country's capital city? Surely, this is where the major celebration should take place in the form of an open air concert. May Day is the working person's holiday which, during Ireland's Presidency of the EU, offers an opportunity to celebrate the accession with an event in Croke Park. Let us have a new look at it and let the Government be pro-active about it this time.

Mr. M. Ahern

On 25 February last, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism gave details to the House in response to questions about the cultural programme being staged in the context of Ireland's Presidency of the EU. This extensive programme, which will see more than 250 Irish artists and hundreds of European artists presenting work across the expanded EU, including here in Ireland, is one of the central features of the Irish Presidency.

As he advised the House previously, it is planned that each of the ten new member states will be officially welcomed into the EU by an Irish city or town in a special "Day of Welcomes" on Saturday 1 May. The participating towns and cities are Bray, Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Killarney, Galway, Sligo, Letterkenny, Drogheda and Kilkenny.

Mr. Costello

What about Dublin?

Mr. M. Ahern

This day will be part of the national celebrations that will involve each of the ten towns and cities hosting distinct and engaging European fairs. From 22 April running through until 3 May, there will be a presentation of "Vectorial Elevation" — the world's unique largest on-line artwork. Twenty-four searchlights will be located on and over the buildings in O'Connell Street. Every six seconds, from dawn to dusk, a new design will be rendered on the sky for all to see while a large screen will display the signature and comments of the author. A fireworks extravaganza in Dublin from a leading European pyrotechnics company will commence celebrations in the capital on Friday, 30 April.

Dublin will also see Merrion Square transformed into a colourful bazaar with marquees, stands and stages making up the European fair on Saturday, 1 May. It is anticipated that of the order of 100,000 visitors will pass through the fair to enjoy the experience of unique and interesting produce from the new EU member states and participate in the cultural activity.

The Minister informed the House earlier today in response to questions that RTE, in partnership with the BBC, had been working on the broadcasting project entitled "A Beautiful Night" for many months. This event was designed to be one concert with two stages, with public performances outside City Hall in Belfast and on O'Connell Street in Dublin. It was RTE's intention that the concert should be broadcast live from Belfast and Dublin and made available through the EBU network to broadcasters and their audiences throughout the enlarged European Union.

The two broadcasters who were responsible for the organisation of this concert made a joint application to Dublin City Council for a licence to hold the concert in O'Connell Street. However, recently it became apparent to the broadcasters that there would be serious difficulties surrounding the traffic restrictions that would have to be imposed to allow the stage to be built in O'Connell Street in time to allow full safety and sound checks, rehearsals and so on to take place.

Dublin City Council was not in a position to facilitate the broadcasters in this context, given that partial road restrictions would have been required for up to nine days in advance of the event. The Minister understands that the broadcasters were also advised of other restrictions that would have been imposed. These disruptions could have serious impact on travel and trade over the bank holiday weekend. Accordingly, the two broadcasters decided that, taking account of all the circumstances applying, it is not feasible to proceed with the event in Dublin. The Minister appreciates the reasons the broadcasters could not proceed with the planned concert.

Organ Transplants.

Ms Enright

I welcome the Minister for Health and Children. It gives me no pleasure to raise this matter but I do so on behalf of Billy Burke and his family. Billy is the same age as I am — he is 29 — and he has cystic fibrosis. He went to college and got a job but soon had to stop working because of his illness. He is now confined to his home in Killorglin and is on oxygen 24 hours per day. He was a regular outgoing man who now has a very poor quality of life. He is in a great deal of pain but is fighting hard to hang on. He urgently needs a lung transplant, about which the Minister is aware.

Every day that passes rapidly lessens his chances of survival and it is literally a life and death situation for Billy. I have been aware of his position for some time but his family, and his sister in particular, to whom I have spoken, were extremely reluctant to go public on this issue in case it damaged Billy's chances. They have been trying to resolve this matter behind closed doors for the past ten months. However, time is now running out and they felt they had no option but this approach which they have finally chosen.

My information is that until last week there was no lung transplant facility in Ireland. One was promised in the 1997 and 2002 programmes for Government and one has now opened and I think hopes to carry out two or three transplants a year. In the meantime, an arrangement was brokered by the Department of Health and Children between the ERHA and Freeman Hospital, Newcastle in which all lung transplants for Irish people are carried out, in return for which the hospital has exclusive access to all lungs donated in Ireland.

It is welcome that we now have a lung transplant facility and I hope it can soon proceed to carry out the greatest number of operations possible. Unfortunately however, that facility has come on stream too late for Billy and approximately six other people, including another young man who sadly passed away. Billy has been waiting for a transplant for the past three and a half years. Newcastle turned him down in February 2003 because of a particular infection in his lungs which is not uncommon in people with cystic fibrosis. In June 2003, however, another English hospital in Manchester agreed to carry out the transplant if it could get a suitable lung from the Irish pool.

This is not about queue-skipping or a clinical decision because Newcastle made a different clinical decision to that made in Dublin and Manchester. I understand there will be a review of this agreement in two weeks' time and I wonder how long it will last. Either way, it will be too late for Billy. This agreement has worked for some but not others. The Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland asks that Irish organs be made available to Irish patients, irrespective of where the transplant takes place.

We are not talking about numbers or waiting lists and I am sure the Minister is always conscious that we are talking about real people. This is about a real person. I am asking the Minister to tell me and Billy's family what can be done to save his life. Billy told me yesterday that he could not believe he could be left to die because lungs can be sent to one hospital but not to another. I do not see the logic in this. I do not know if I can have done justice to how Billy and his family feel — the sense of frustration, anger and helplessness despite knocking on every possible door. Billy must value every day and hour because he does not know how long he has left. What can the Minister for Health and Children and his Department do?

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin)

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue this evening.

I am aware of this critical medical case and have every sympathy with Billy Burke and fully share the concern that he obtain a lung transplant as soon as possible. I understand that the case which the Deputy raised has been the subject of extensive contact between the Department, members of the person's family and the patient's consultant at the Mater Hospital.

In addition, I have been in touch with the United Kingdom Secretary of State for Health and have been advised that the person concerned has been placed on the waiting list at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester and is awaiting a suitable donor. I have also been in contact with his physician in the Mater Hospital on this matter. The patient was previously listed for transplantation at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle. It is clear that everything possible is being done by all concerned to ensure that Mr. Burke can receive a transplant.

Decisions relating to the management of a patient's care are appropriate to the relevant clinical personnel involved, both here in Ireland and in the United Kingdom. Patient selection for transplantation is a matter of clinical judgment irrespective of whether the procedure is to be performed in the United Kingdom or in this country at the new lung transplant unit at the Mater Hospital.

It is important to outline the background to the service agreement with the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle. The agreement was put in place in 1999 to improve the level of access for Irish patients requiring transplants, which at that time was considered extremely poor. Few patients were receiving transplants despite undergoing numerous trips to various UK centres for assessment with the associated stress and inconvenience to the patients and their families that this involved.

Under the arrangement with Newcastle, the Republic of Ireland became part of a designated zone in the UK for lung donation purposes, thus increasing the potential number of organs available to that zone. This has been a significant factor in increasing the number of transplants for Irish patients in recent years. There have been 42 since 1999 with 12 performed in the last year alone. Prior to the agreement with Newcastle, an average of three transplants per annum were being performed on Irish patients. It is evident, therefore, that the service agreement with Newcastle has resulted in a major improvement in the level of the service available to Irish patients. The objective in establishing an Irish-based programme is to increase further the access of all Irish patients to lung transplantation while, at the same time, ensuring that the clinical outcomes for these patients are at least as good as those obtained in established centres elsewhere.

The service agreement with Newcastle provides for the retrieval of donor lungs by a team from the Freeman Hospital. The donated organs are managed through a central pool along with the donated organs from the United Kingdom centres within the zone or region. Irish patients awaiting a transplant are placed on a common waiting list for the zone along with patients from the United Kingdom. Transplants are carried out on patients, including Irish patients, on the common waiting list using available matched organs from the pool regardless of their place of origin.

The decision to carry out a transplant operation is taken having regard to a number of factors, including the availability and matching of the organ donated and the clinical urgency of those waiting. Newcastle does not have exclusive rights to lungs donated in Ireland but has a first call based on suitability. Lungs not required by Newcastle may be offered to other centres in the United Kingdom, including Manchester. There is no obstacle, therefore, to the use of lungs donated in this country by other transplant units in the United Kingdom.

The lung transplant unit at the Mater Hospital was recently opened by the Taoiseach. International experience indicates that the rate of lung donation in Ireland is likely to increase once the national programme is up and running. In particular, the proximity and interaction of the retrieval and transplant teams has been shown to maximise the retrieval rate. As the Irish programme develops, it will be necessary for the existing arrangements for donor lungs retrieved in this country to be re-examined, and this will be an issue for discussion at the next service agreement review meeting between the Eastern Regional Health Authority and the Freeman Hospital, which has been scheduled for 16 April.

Everything possible is being done by all involved to facilitate the provision of a lung transplant as soon as possible for Mr. Billy Burke. Officials of my Department, my adviser and I have had discussions with a number of people on this matter. I share the frustration of the family and I understand their anxiety to have this matter brought to a successful conclusion and a transplant operation carried out.

The agreement we entered into with Newcastle has been beneficial to a broad number of people and it has been better than the previous situation. Patient selection must continue to be a matter of clinical judgment, whether in Newcastle, Manchester or the Mater Hospital. We will continue our efforts to secure a transplant for Mr. Burke. I appreciate the Deputy's articulating the issues as clearly as she has done.

The Dáil adjourned at 10.40 p.m. until10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 7 April 2004.