Adjournment Debate.

Hospital Services.

Mr. Kirk

This matter concerns hospital configuration in the Health Service Executive eastern region. As we all know, there has been rapid and significant demographic change in the counties of Louth and Meath, and in south Monaghan, east Cavan and north Dublin. Much of this area is served by Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, the Louth County Hospital in Dundalk, Monaghan Hospital and Our Lady's Hospital in Navan.

For various reasons, all these hospitals have been in the news in recent years. The fact that this is the case graphically illustrates the need for the Department of Health and Children and HSE to stand back and consider the health care infrastructure in the area, and decide its adequacy going forward. The best test for the infrastructure is the pressure which will inevitably arise with regard to accident and emergency services and the number of patients who must leave the catchment area to have elective surgery elsewhere. While I do not have access to the relevant statistics, I daresay that the statistics would not be favourable in regard to the range of facilities and outlets available and the number of patients seeking access to them.

When we talk of a centre of excellence for health care, we inevitability think of a long lead-in period prior to any development. The starting point is a detailed feasibility study that will assess the facilities available before those who will make the decisions get down to the difficult task of quantifying the options. Inevitably, given the parochial nature of debate that tends to surround the provision of health care outlets and hospitals, this will lead in turn to a significant public debate. However, it is a process we must undertake.

The population is growing and while the county development plans help the region to cope, we may have to seek shorter review periods for the respective development plans to take account of the rapidity with which houses are being built. This housing development in turn leads to increased demand for additional public services such as schools, shops and the range of facilities needed by residents. However, we all agree that the quality of health care available to local communities is top of the agenda. While the existing hospitals have done an excellent job, we must consider the likely position in 15 or 20 years and decide what the region's needs will be at that time.

All the indicators point in the same direction. We need a centre of excellence in the eastern region. In the western part of the former North Eastern Health Board region, Cavan Hospital is clearly catering for the needs of its catchment area. I strongly advocate to the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children that the Department initiate a feasibility study in this regard as soon as possible.

Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Mr. Brennan)

I thank Deputy Kirk for raising this matter. I reply on behalf of my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney.

Under the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services.

The HSE is considering the development of hospital services at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda and Louth County Hospital, Dundalk. A major feasibility study was commissioned to investigate the viability of further developing services on the existing site in Drogheda. The HSE in the north east, proposes to progress significant developments including theatres, central sterile services department, pathology, physical medicine, pharmacy and radiology. The accident and emergency project is under way and is scheduled to be completed next year.

The Department understands that the development plan for the Louth County Hospital is being prepared by the technical services department of the HSE north-eastern region in consultation with staff, and this is now in final draft form. The outline development control plan describes a practical strategy for the comprehensive renewal of Louth County Hospital on the current site. The total redevelopment is to be accomplished through a maximum of five packages of new and refurbished construction, with most clinical and diagnostic services developed in the first two packages. As well as the proposed new construction, it is planned to undertake extensive refurbishment of the existing hospital.

Interim projects for the hospital include plans agreed and planning permission granted for two interim theatres to be constructed adjacent to the existing day services unit to provide adequate facilities for the joint department of surgery. It is necessary to undertake infrastructural work to the hospital kitchen facility to meet regulatory requirements. Approval of the design team selection has been received. Design will commence following the finalisation of the development and control plan. The HSE is developing the detailed tender and contract documentation specifications and hope to advance the upgrade of electrical works in late 2005 early 2006.

The development plans for Drogheda and Dundalk now require to be progressed by the National Hospitals Office in the context of its development plans for the region.

Sexual Offences.

Ms C. Murphy

I am glad to have the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment. Last week the UK branch of Amnesty International published a survey on attitudes to sexual crimes. According to the results of that survey, 34% of people in the United Kingdom regard the victim of rape as being either partially or totally to blame for the act, if she acted in a flirtatious manner.

While this statistic is shocking an equally worrying parallel exists in Irish society, namely, according to the SAVI survey conducted in 2002, 47% of men versus 34% of women agreed that most rapists commit rape through overwhelming sexual desire. That is highlighted by the 41% of men versus 21% of women who agree that men who sexually assaulted other men must be gay.

These revelations show that the public perceives rape and sexual assault as sexually motivated crime, not as a violent crime with a sexual element. The SAVI report also revealed that victims of sexual assault who sought professional assistance were deeply dissatisfied with the services they received. The exceptions were counsellors and therapists with whom there was a high level of satisfaction.

A total of 44% of people were dissatisfied with the Garda which did not adequately explain why certain procedures were conducted and the complainants felt there was a perception that they were to blame for the assaults. Those who sought the help of medical professionals felt they needed more assistance. Many said they did not know where to go and were not given advice on where to go. The SAVI report contained several significant recommendations on which I hope to hear progress has been made.

Both studies showed the under estimation of the extent of the crimes committed. The Amnesty UK report revealed that only 5.6% of rapes were reported. The work of the Rape Crisis Centres has changed significantly in recent years in that a new group of people is presenting to them. Many of these people are victims of rapes that occurred in war situations who have received refuge here. This creates a significant additional difficulty for resources, for example, for those who translate for counsellors, who themselves need to be counselled.

The necessary resources are not being put into public information campaigns, for example, that are very necessary as these reports show. The SAVI report made six or seven significant recommendations. I hope the opportunity provided by the budget will be taken to provide resources to carry out some of those important recommendations which otherwise cannot be put into place.

If the level of shootings or stabbings was as under-reported as rape and there was a similarly low rate of conviction I imagine there would be a loud outcry. We need to arrive at the point where people see sexual assault in the same light as other types of assault. There is a need for a campaign to inform the public and change its attitudes. There is also a need for resources to provide material to the Rape Crisis Centre which it can pass on to the health care professionals and the Garda so that those who experience such assaults are properly facilitated in every way.

Mr. Brennan

On behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of society's response to the very serious crime of rape.

The Minister is aware of the survey in question which concluded that there remains a section of the population in the United Kingdom who believe behavioural traits can contribute to a woman being in some way responsible for being raped. There is no doubt that, traditionally at any rate, there have been many terrible misrepresentations of the crime of rape which have added greatly to the suffering of the victims of sexual violence. Society has moved on considerably in the past ten or 20 years and many of the casually offensive assumptions about rape have been thrown out but it would be unrealistic to say that there is no more work to be done before we can consign these views to the past forever.

When the Government established the national steering committee on violence against women, the NSC, in 1997 to provide a co-ordinated response to the problem of violence against women, rape and other sexual assaults were key priorities and the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland was a member of the committee from the outset.

The Department, in conjunction with the NSC, has conducted a series of successful awareness-raising campaigns dealing with violence including rape and other sexual violence in recent years. Among these was a poster campaign warning of the dangers of drug rape that occur in pubs, clubs and third level colleges and universities. Grants have also been given to awareness-raising projects run by Rape Crisis Centres in Cork, Kilkenny and Wexford. This year the Department made grants to the Galway Rape Crisis Centre, the Kerry Sexual Abuse Centre, and the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre for awareness-raising campaigns during the UN 16 days of action on violence against women. All of these groups have made a significant contribution to tackling society's attitudes to rape and encouraging victims to come forward.

The NSC is developing a strategic plan for its work over the next five to ten years. The Minister's view is that, while much has been achieved on the awareness-raising front, a new strategic approach is needed in this area. The new strategic plan will include the development of a long-term and wide-ranging strategy for raising public awareness of violence against women in all its manifestations.

The strategic plan should be completed early next year and will be widely circulated at that time. Rather than rush into a new campaign at this stage, therefore, the Minister believes it would make for a more effective delivery of key messages to approach this issue as part of an overarching and fully integrated strategy.

While awareness-raising is an important part of tackling this problem, work is also ongoing on other fronts to combat rape. Key recent developments include work recently completed by a subgroup of the NSC, chaired by the Department of Health and Children, to identify means of improving forensic and medical services to victims of rape and sexual assault. In recognition of the key role the Rape Crisis Network, Ireland, continues to play in dealing with the crime of rape, grant funding to the organisation for a legal co-ordinator to support its work has been given. The co-ordinator is working closely with the Garda and other relevant agencies with a view to improving the response to victims, including the provision of training.

Some victims choose not to report sexual assault to the Garda. To understand what can be done about under-reporting and why only a relatively small percentage of reported cases result in a court hearing, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has approved joint funding for comprehensive research into attrition rates in rape cases. The research is being carried out by the law department at the National University of Ireland, Galway and the Rape Crisis Network, Ireland. It is being conducted over three years and is expected to be completed in 2007-08. Following completion of this research, action will, as appropriate, be taken by the Department to resolve any issues that may arise. All these initiatives will help to create a better situation for all victims of sexual violence.

I thank Deputy Catherine Murphy for raising this important issue.

Crime Levels.

Mr. Deenihan

I wish to share one minute of my time with Deputy Ferris.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Mr. Deenihan

A serious anti-social behaviour problem exists in Tralee town, County Kerry. In 2004, 800 arrests were made in Tralee for public order offences and the trend has continued in 2005. In 2001, I carried out a crime survey in Tralee and up to 88% of parents who responded expressed concern that their sons or daughters might be assaulted when out at night in Tralee town centre. These parents' fears have not been allayed. Recently, a local member of the Garda Representative Association highlighted the need for additional gardaí in Tralee following public order incidents over the Hallowe'en bank holiday weekend when teenage thugs targeted elderly people and children in Kerins Park and other residential areas. The member of the association claimed that Tralee needed at least 12 extra gardaí and that otherwise a member of the force may be killed or seriously injured on duty because of inadequate back-up.

In 1996 the population of Tralee town was 19,056. Garda numbers in 1997 amounted to 76, representing all ranks. In 2002, the population was 20,375 while Garda numbers increased to 86. The current population of the town is approximately 27,000 people, an increase of 32.5% since 1996. However, Garda numbers remain at 86, an increase of only 14% since 1996. In this period, the population has increased by more than 8,000 people, including non-nationals and asylum seekers.

Gardaí have more duties and responsibilities, and have to be meticulous when writing up reports in order that they will stand up in court. We are dealing with a more violent society than ten years ago. The CCTV system is not working to its full capacity, posing additional problems for the Garda when securing convictions in court because of the lack of supporting evidence.

Today, representatives of the Tralee Taxi Drivers Association travelled to the Dáil to outline their concerns at what is happening in the town. There have been several attacks on taxi drivers ranging from minor to life-threatening abuses. They outlined one incident where a knife was held to a taxi driver's throat and he was subsequently robbed. The thug involved was later allegedly involved in a rape case in the town and, to my knowledge, is still on the streets. They outlined to the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Fahey, that street violence at the weekend is rapidly increasing. Juvenile thugs walking the streets are highly dangerous and intimidating, and generally parents and guardians are unavailable when needed and cannot be contacted.

The representatives of the association presented 22 questions to the Minister of State for a response, and I hope the replies will soon be forthcoming. I call on the Minister of State to immediately increase Garda numbers in Tralee to deal with the escalating problem of anti-social behaviour and other crimes. CCTV systems must be made fully operational, as it is a technical matter.

The responsibility of crime control must be shared across society in a proactive way. We depend exclusively on the Garda to protect us. A local consultative policing committee must be established in Tralee by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform as a pilot project. It can include nominees of the Health Service Executive, Tralee Urban District Council, Kerry education service, community and sporting organisations, the Garda chief superintendent and the three community gardaí. This would ensure responsibility for crime control is effectively shared across the community in a proactive way. The three local Members accompanied the representatives of the Tralee Taxi Drivers Association who met the Minister of State. This gives a clear message that this is problem affects every sector of the community in Tralee.

Mr. Ferris

I thank Deputy Deenihan for allowing me one minute of his time.

I substantiate all that Deputy Deenihan has said on this issue. At the coalface of this enormous problem are the taxi drivers who provide a service late on a Friday and Saturday night, bringing young people back to their homes. They put up with terrible abuse, as well as violence. When we met the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, we were informed of the crime levels reported in Tralee. However, we did not hear of the crimes that go unreported, which is a substantial number, because I deal with it on a daily basis in my constituency clinic.

Behind this is the factor of fear. Victims fear that if they report crimes, they will be further victimised. I want the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to give this problem his immediate attention. I cannot stress strongly enough the fear and abuse taxi drivers in Tralee endure on a nightly basis. Residents in housing estates also have to endure a minority of young people behaving like thugs and gangsters, terrorising communities.

Mr. Brennan

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

Strong provisions are in place to combat anti-social and unlawful behaviour. The primary basis for the law regarding public order offences is the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994, which modernised the law in this regard. Because of the Minister's concerns about the abuse of alcohol and its contribution to public order offending and broader social problems, he brought forward tough new provisions to deal with alcohol abuse and its effect on public order in the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003. One provision in the Act is to broaden the application of the temporary closure order penalty, originally introduced to combat under age drinking, to cover also convictions for a series of offences, such as a licensee supplying intoxicating liquor to drunken persons and permitting disorderly conduct on the licensed premises.

The main purpose of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 2003 is to provide the Garda with additional powers to deal with late night street violence and anti-social conduct attributable to excessive drinking. It does this by providing for the closure of premises such as pubs, off-licences, late night clubs and food premises where there is disorder or noise on or close to the premises, as well as the making of exclusion orders on individuals convicted of a range of public order offences, in addition to any penalty they might receive under the Public Order Act 1994.

The Government decided in October 2004 to approve the recruitment of 2,000 additional gardaí to increase the strength of the force to 14,000. As a result there will be a combined organisational strength, of attested gardaí and recruits in training, of 14,000 in 2006. The additional resources will be targeted at the areas of greatest need, as is envisaged in the programme for Government. The programme identifies in particular areas with a significant drugs problem and a large number of public order offences, while it will be possible to address other priorities as well, such as the need to significantly increase the number of gardaí allocated to traffic law enforcement duties. The Minister has promised these additional gardaí will not be put on administrative duties but will be put directly into frontline, operational, high-visibility policing.

The Garda Síochána is now better resourced than at any time in its history. The Garda funding which the Minister secured in the 2006 Estimates is at a historical high of over €1.29 billion, compared with just €600 million in 1997. The provision for Garda overtime in 2006 will be €83.5 million, an increase of €23 million on the allocation for 2005. This will greatly aid the planned deployment of a visible policing service in a flexible, effective and targeted response to criminal activity and crime prevention.

The Minister was pleased to note a reduction in assault causing harm in 2004 compared with 2003. This trend has continued in 2005 with a 10.5% reduction in assaults causing harm, a 7.8% reduction in intoxicating liquor offences and a 4.4% reduction in public order offences in the third quarter compared to the same period last year.

The Minister believes the courts can give valuable support and protection to our communities in tackling anti-social behaviour. In this regard, he is finalising proposals to provide for anti-social behaviour orders and intends to introduce these proposals as Committee Stage amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill 2004. The proposal will allow the Garda to apply to the courts by way of civil procedure for an anti-social behaviour order which will prohibit the person who is the subject of the order from behaving in an anti-social manner. The orders will be civil orders and the question of an offence will arise only if the person in question wilfully defies the order and continues to engage in the anti-social behaviour which is the subject of the order. The Minister believes anti-social behaviour orders used in the most glaring cases will be of real value in curbing this type of behaviour.

I draw the Deputy's attention to section 29 of the Bill which provides for a fixed penalty procedure for lesser public order offences. The procedure will apply to certain offences under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994, namely, intoxication in a public place and disorderly conduct in a public place. The Minister attaches great importance to the development of a real partnership between the Garda Síochána and local authorities on matters affecting policing.

The Minister is preparing guidelines, with the assistance of his colleagues, the Ministers for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, on the composition of the joint policing committees. His view is that the best way to move this process forward is to establish a small number of joint policing committees on a pilot basis and he is consulting on the matter. Setting up a small number of pilot committees will provide an opportunity to identify any teething problems which may arise.

I have mentioned legislation the Minister has already introduced to combat the abuse of alcohol and the public order problems to which it gives rise. In addition, the Minister has recently published the general scheme of an intoxicating liquor Bill which will carry forward this work. The main purpose of the proposed legislation is to streamline and modernise our liquor licensing laws.

With regard to Tralee, the Minister has been made aware of the incidences of anti-social behaviour in the town. The document circulated to Deputies contains specific information on the position regarding Tralee.

Special Educational Needs.

Mr. Gregory

I address my comments to the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, who is not present. I was appalled by a reply she issued to my Question No. 433 on 29 November, which asked for details of the number of schools in Dublin 1, 3 and 7 that have suffered a reduction in resource teachers this school year. The Minister refused to answer the question stating that the specific information was "not readily available". This is simply not credible as it would take the relevant officials a matter of minutes to establish the position. I trust it is not the case that the Minister did not want to know the answer to my question.

The Minister then listed the so-called benefits of the new allocation system for learning support resource teachers. This mechanism fails to recognise the glaring failing in the system, namely, the fact that the allocation is now based on school size rather than the level of need in specific schools. This means that small inner city schools and small disadvantaged schools generally, which have a disproportionately high level of need, lose out. The very schools in which learning support plays a critical role in the educational development of so many children in need are losing out. In these schools resources are essential to give the children any real chance to counteract the social problems, drugs issues and educational deprivation in their living environment.

Additional investment in learning support rather than the removal of resources is what these schools desperately need. This is the reason 14 inner city schools have raised serious concerns on this issue with the Minister's officials. The Minister should meet the principals of the schools in question. I have no doubt she would then accept the real damage the current allocation system is causing and will continue to cause.

Last night I attended a meeting of parents and teachers in the INTO headquarters in Parnell Square. The main hall and surrounding hallways were packed with nearly 400 parents, teachers, principals, child psychologists and so on. Those attending were understandably angry at the inept approach to learning support allocation in so far as it affects small disadvantaged schools with a high level of need. Teachers and parents expressed outrage that at a time of considerable affluence critical resources are being withdrawn from these schools. These resources had begun to make a significant difference to the degree to which the schools in question could help deprived children.

I call on the Minister to address this issue now. The level of need in each of the 14 schools must be known to her Department. If that is not the case, it is time she ensured the relevant information was made available to her. She must also defer any threat to remove resource teachers or reduce resource hours in any small disadvantaged school. Investment in alleviating educational disadvantage must involve increasing resources in inner city disadvantaged schools or it becomes meaningless. How can the Minister even countenance reducing resources in schools serving Sheriff Street, O'Devaney Gardens, Summerhill, Ballybough and Greek Street, to mention just a few areas? Investment in schools in these areas will pay dividends in future.

If the Minister is serious about addressing disadvantage, she will meet the people on the front line of disadvantage, the principals of the inner city schools, and listen to what they have to say. Not only will she not meet them, she will not come into the House to respond to the matter I raise. She is running away from her responsibilities on this issue. She was in the coffee dock 20 minutes ago in full knowledge that I intended to raise this matter on the Adjournment, yet decided to allow another Minister to answer on her behalf. That is a disgrace and shows disrespect to the parliamentary procedures of the House.

Mr. Brennan

The Deputy will be aware that the general allocation of learning support-resource teachers is intended to cater for children with learning support and high incidence special educational needs. The system was constructed so that learning support-resource teachers' allocations would be based on pupil numbers, taking into account the differing needs of the most disadvantaged schools and evidence that boys have greater difficulties than girls in this regard.

The new system has a number of benefits associated with it. It puts resources in place on a more systematic basis thereby giving schools more certainty about their resource levels, facilitates early intervention as the resource is in place when the child enrols, reduces the need for individual applications and supporting psychological assessments and allows flexibility to school management in the deployment of resources, leading to a more effective and efficient delivery of services.

In introducing the general allocation system transitional arrangements were also introduced whereby transitional hours were allocated to schools to cater for children for whom individual teaching resources had previously been allocated but which it would not have been possible for the school to continue to provide from its general allocation. In the circumstances no child would lose his or her resource teaching support. It is intended that a review of the general allocation model will be undertaken within three years of operation.

More than 5,000 teachers in our primary schools now work directly with children with special needs, including those requiring learning support. This figure compares with a figure of fewer than 1,500 in 1998. Moreover, one in five primary school teachers now works specifically with children with special needs. I am also pleased that over the next two years 500 extra teachers will be allocated in primary schools to reduce class size and tackle disadvantage.

With regard to the inner city schools referred to by the Deputy, officials from the Department of Education and Science have discussed the concerns of these schools with the Irish National Teachers Organisation and requested that the schools in question send any information they believe supports a case for additional special needs supports to the Department. The Department awaits full details so the concerns of the schools can be considered.

It should be noted that, taking account of their allocation this year, including the general allocation model, a number of these schools enjoy exceptionally favourable pupil-teacher ratios with an average of 10:1.

The Department of Education and Science has introduced a new action plan for educational inclusion, delivering equality of opportunity in schools, DEIS. A key element of DEIS is the putting in place of a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage in primary and second level schools for the purposes of qualifying for resources, both human and financial, according to the degree of disadvantaged experienced. This standardised system will replace all existing arrangements for targeting schools for participation in initiatives to address disadvantage.

As a result of the identification process, approximately 600 primary schools, comprising 300 urban and 300 rural, and 150 second level schools will be included in a new school support programme, SSP. The SSP will bring together and build upon a number of existing interventions for schools and school clusters or communities with a concentrated level of educational disadvantage. Existing schemes and programmes will be integrated into the SSP on a phased basis over the implementation period.

The Department anticipates being in a position to notify participating schools in regard to the outcome of the ongoing identification process by the end of the year. The Government, particularly the Minister for Education and Science, is deeply committed to improving services for children with special needs. In addition to the massive increase in resource teachers in recent years, the introduction of this new general allocation scheme will ensure a faster and more flexible response for children with special needs.

The Dáil adjourned at 5.20 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 6 December 2005.

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Thursday, 1 Dec 2005