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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 16 May 2006

Vol. 619 No. 4

Adjournment Debate.

Health Service Projects.

Approximately six years ago, the old convent property in Louisburgh, County Mayo, was purchased by the Western Health Board for £265,000. In November 2000, I was advised that the services to be provided at the convent would include psychiatric services, occupational therapy and physiotherapy services. Other services were also to be provided in that building. In October 2001, I was advised that the development of a day-care centre would be included in the Western Health Board's service plan for 2002. Consideration was also to be given to the provision of a respite facility.

When the initial costing of the property was being submitted it was expected that this would serve elderly members of the community within a 12-mile radius, including Inishturk Island, Clare Island and the areas surrounding Louisburgh. Currently, one room is being used for the rural social scheme, another room is used for physiotherapy, while a third is used as a tea-room for the elderly on Fridays.

Last night the "Prime Time Investigates" programme on hospital services was transmitted, which showed that step-down beds are needed. The Health Service Executive owns this property in County Mayo, having bought it at a reasonable cost. It provides an opportunity which should be availed of. At the time, the nuns sold it practically for nothing, yet six years on nothing has happened. Former Ministers in the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Martin, Deputy Callely, and the former Deputy, Dr. Moffatt, all came to County Mayo to make announcements. Those announcements were made before the local and general elections but to date nothing has happened.

One floor of the building has been developed but the rest has been left. I want to see all three floors of this property being developed to include a day-care centre. The HSE should put funding in place to provide the necessary facilities. The most important issue facing the country concerns our elderly population who wish to remain at home. In this case, the HSE owns a property which will not cost much to develop. If these facilities are put in place, such people need not unnecessarily occupy hospital beds. I ask the Minister of State to advance the project by providing the necessary funding. These facilities are badly wanted in Louisburgh. The building is already there and the local community will play its part in this regard. The Minister of State should urge the Health Service Executive to put this facility in place.

A day-care centre is badly needed along with respite care and other facilities for the elderly. There are two islands concerned, Inishturk and Clare Island, as well as Louisburgh and its surrounding areas. The HSE has the building which cost very little. Will the Minister of State push this matter forward? He should meet a delegation from the Louisburgh area to discuss their needs, what they want done and how we can progress this matter. Will he put that request for a meeting to his Department, whether it is dealt with by the Minister or her Ministers of State? The request is a reasonable one and the delegation would not mind coming to Dublin for such a meeting. Alternatively, if the Minister of State was in the west the delegation would be delighted to welcome him to County Mayo where he will be treated with courtesy and respect. The people concerned want to see action.

The Minister of State should ensure that this matter is advanced within the Department. The necessary funding should be put in place to try to develop this worthy project. The HSE already has the property whose ground floor has been developed. I would now like to see the remaining two floors being developed to bring in the required step-down beds that are so badly needed in the county.

I was in Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar on Sunday to visit someone who was ill and I saw people on trolleys. It is a shame to see people on trolleys in the corridors. I compliment the nurses for working so hard under pressure in difficult conditions. We are told that people are taking up hospital beds who could be dealt with in day-care facilities or in step-down beds. The project to which I have referred deserves support because it would relieve pressure on our hospital services. I ask the Minister of State to push this matter in his Department.

I thank Deputy Ring for raising this matter. This Government has made services for older people a priority and is fully committed to the development of a comprehensive health service capable of responding quickly, fully and effectively to the health service needs of older people.

Additional funding for services for older people and palliative care amounting to €150 million has been allocated by the Government following the 2006 budget: an additional €110 million for 2006 and an additional €40 million for 2007. Approximately two thirds of this money is allocated to community support for older people. This is in line with the focus on keeping people in their own homes, in independence and dignity, with a well funded and viable alternative to residential care with proper health and social support systems in place in the form of, among other supports, home care packages. This serves to demonstrate the Government's ongoing commitment to improving services for our older population.

Significant capital funding for the health sector has been provided since the commencement of the NDP in 2000. A day care centre is recognised as an important service in the continuum of care necessary to support older people from an area to remain living at home, and their carers. It provides older people in the area with a facility where they can meet new friends and enjoy recreational activities, promoting social contact among older people with the intention of preventing loneliness. It also provides a break for carers and social and physical stimulation in a safe environment for the older members of the local community.

Older people deserve first-class facilities and recent years have seen dramatic changes in both the concept and practice of providing services for older people. Enormous strides have been made and continue to be made in developing a comprehensive, community-based service that is integrated with other health services. The shift in the delivery of services from predominantly hospital-based care has been extremely successful and undoubtedly the quality of care for older people has been enhanced by this development. I assure the Deputy that the issues surrounding older people and their welfare are being given priority by this Government.

The Health Act 2004 provided for the Health Service Executive, which was established on 1 January 2005. Under the Act, the executive has responsibility to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services, including its capital programme. The progression of the proposed five-day day-care centre at the old convent property, Louisburgh, is therefore a matter for the HSE.

My Department has made inquiries of the Health Service Executive and has been informed that the old convent property in Louisburgh was purchased by the HSE in 2001 and refurbishment of the ground floor was completed in 2004. Currently, the Louisburgh social service group provides day care one day per week from the centre. The HSE provides funding to the group for this service.

The HSE has also informed my Department that the estimated cost of providing a five-day, day-care facility is approximately €328,000. I also understand that the HSE has plans for the further development phase of the existing health centre at the convent facilities in Louisburgh to provide integrated community services.

The prioritisation of all health capital developments is a matter for the HSE under the Health Act 2004. The capital plan, which includes the proposed refurbishment of facilities at Louisburgh, has been approved by the HSE board and was submitted to the Tánaiste for consideration. The Tánaiste will revert to the HSE in the near future concerning this plan.

Health Services.

For the past decade there has been a campaign by senior citizens in the Tralee area, supported politically by all parties, councillors and the community in general, to try to achieve the construction of a community hospital for the Tralee catchment area. Many of those involved in that campaign have unfortunately passed away but the campaign continues.

To give the example of a case I dealt with personally, an elderly man had a stroke and was treated in Tralee General Hospital in recent weeks. He was 82 and his wife was 79. Due to the shortage of beds, he needed to be transferred to a community hospital or a nursing home and so was transferred to St. Columbanus' Home in Killarney. His family contacted me and, eventually, he got a bed in a nursing home near Tralee where he passed away last week. During his illness, his wife had to get members of her family to help her travel daily to Killarney to be with her dying husband.

That is the stark reality. This is happening to hundreds of people in the Tralee catchment area, where people must go either to Listowel community hospital or St. Columbanus' Home in Killarney, or go to health board beds in private nursing homes.

On 21 March last, I raised in the House the delay in the construction of Tralee community hospital. The Minister of State who replied stated the capital plan for Tralee community hospital had been approved by the HSE and had recently been submitted to the Tánaiste for consideration. He stated this consideration was in conjunction with consideration of Dingle community hospital. I am glad the funding has been made available for Dingle community hospital in the past number of days. As yet, we do not have any word regarding Tralee community hospital but I hope the Minister will announce funding for it in the weeks ahead.

Part of Kerry cannot be considered in isolation. I have never seen morale as low as that in the health care system in Kerry. I will give an example that was raised in Kerry County Council and will no doubt be raised with the Minister. Last week an ambulance was not available to take an ill woman to Cork. Her family had to put her in a Hiace van and take her by road to Cork. Due to the intervention of a Minister, an ambulance collected her in Macroom. That is how bad the situation is in the provision of health services in Kerry.

I appeal to the Tánaiste to end the guessing game and to give a definitive answer regarding funding for Tralee community hospital. Over 160 people attended a public meeting in Tralee last Thursday in support of the senior citizens and the community hospital — unfortunately, I could not attend as I was delayed in Dublin. They were angry and it was a difficult meeting for the councillors of the Government parties present. They got a rough time, although it is not their fault. The fault lies with the Minister. It is up to her, with the Minister for Finance, to make funding available for the hospital.

How many more public meetings must be held? How many more pickets will we see? We have had pickets on the streets on a monthly basis. How many more times will I and other Deputies from the area have to raise the issue of funding? More importantly, how many more of our elderly people will die before funding is made available to build a community hospital to which they are entitled? They have given their lives in the service of the State yet find themselves without the dignity of being able to die in their own area.

That is how serious the issue is. I appeal to the Minister. I know a decision is due. Let that decision be positive and let it be forthcoming as soon as possible.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to answer on behalf of my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. It is the Department's policy to maintain older people in dignity and independence at home in accordance with their wishes and at the same time to provide high quality residential care for older people when living at home is no longer possible.

The Government's commitment to the development of a comprehensive range of services for older people has been clearly demonstrated by the significantly increased resources made available in recent years. From 1997 to 2005, inclusive, additional spending on services for older people was in excess of €302 million. In the budget package announced for 2006, additional revenue funding of €150 million in full year costs was allocated — €110 million in 2006 and a further €40 million in 2007 — for services for older people and palliative care.

The proposed development in Tralee is a 50-bed unit to be built on a green field site to be located off the Killerisk Road, Tralee. The facility will comprise two modules of 25 beds each plus ancillary facilities providing continuing care, respite care and convalescent care to dependent older people. The prioritisation of all health capital developments is a matter for the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. The capital plan, which includes the proposed development of Tralee community hospital, has been approved by the HSE board and was submitted to the Tánaiste for consideration. The Tánaiste will revert to the HSE in the near future in regard to the plan.

Schools Recognition.

Gaelscoil Chill Dara, established by a group of highly motivated and enthusiastic parents in the mid-1990s, has gone from strength to strength in the intervening period, not least since the school moved to take up occupation of the former Sundai school, which was purchased by the Department of Education and Science during the tenure of Deputy Woods as Minister. Sundai, a purpose built private school on the outskirts of Newbridge, had provided an educational service to Japanese citizens from across Europe, but with the decline in the Japanese economy demand for places had dramatically reduced by the early part of this decade.

The acquisition of the site by the Department of Education and Science was both prudent and far-seeing, and it was envisaged from the outset that the site could accommodate two educational facilities. The intention was to provide for the needs of the rapidly growing local Gaelscoil and to perhaps also provide special needs opportunities in the dormitory buildings onsite.

The growth of Gaelscoil Chill Dara has been sustained and the current policy of the board of management is to enrol two classes per year to meet the demand that exists in the catchment area. There are currently six Gaelscoileanna in County Kildare at Leixlip, Kilcock and Maynooth in the north county area, and in Naas, Newbridge and Athy in the more southerly part of the county. It is readily understandable, therefore, that parents who have made a very determined effort to have their children educated through the medium of Irish at primary level, would give consideration to continuing with that approach through the secondary system.

To that end a group of County Kildare parents met with representatives of County Kildare VEC in 2003 to discuss the question of second level provision and whether a Gaelcholáiste might be established under the aegis of the VEC. Regrettably, agreement was not reached with the VEC on that occasion and consequently the parents proceeded to establish a Gaelcholáiste under the patronage of An Foras Pátrúnachta.

In 2003 the Gaelcholáiste opened its doors in rented property in Newbridge, adjacent to the Gaelscoil, with a highly committed principal and a small corps of dedicated staff. Provisional recognition was given to the school in 2004, and the campaign for permanent recognition and permanent accommodation has continued since then. The Gaelcholáiste has 48 students on its roll and will enrol more than 20 students in September 2006, with an anticipated enrolment in 2007 of 24. Thereafter, its primary feeder school, the local Gaelscoil, Gaelscoil Chill Dara, will produce two sixth class groups per year, with the consequential increase in enrolment for the Gaelcholáiste. In addition, the Gaelcholáiste can reasonably expect to enrol students from the growing Gaelscoileanna in Naas, Blessington, Athy and even Portlaoise, all of which are within reasonable distance.

A target figure of 400 students, therefore, for the Gaelcholáiste does not seem overly ambitious. Given the excellence of the staff, and the commitment of the parents, which is without parallel, this is something that can be achieved if practical assistance is forthcoming from the Department of Education and Science, as I am sure it will be. The first requirement, therefore, is that the Department would give the Gaelcholáiste the permanent recognition it needs and deserves.

Those involved in this valuable educational exercise know that, as sure as night follows day, this school will grow and develop. It is vital it receives the proactive support of the Department so that it can be seen that the school moves forward with the Department of Education and Science rather than despite it, as some cynics might suggest.

The school's second requirement is for a permanent home. It is in this context that the Irish language campus has come forward. With the Gaelscoil firmly established on the Sundai site and with the dormitory buildings on the same site lying idle for the past few years, the view was that a campus could be developed involving the primary and second level schools and provide a broadly based Irish language and cultural resource for the greater part of County Kildare. The campus concept has strong support in the county and represents an opportunity that both the Minister and the Department should be loath to lose.

Recently the Department has decided to accommodate the South Kildare Educate Together school in the Sundai dormitories which are to be modified to meet the school's needs. This decision was met with amazement by those involved with the Gaelcholáiste and by understandable delight on the part of those involved with Educate Together. I acknowledge the enormity of the contribution being made by Educate Together to primary provision in this part of County Kildare, and I readily accept that the Department of Education and Science must make accommodation available to this growing school, which has full departmental recognition.

I respectfully suggest to the Minister, who has done so much for schools in County Kildare, that her Department must address a number of serious issues in respect of these schools, and the issues are as follows. Is the Sundai school the appropriate permanent location for the South Kildare Educate Together school? Will the Department of Education and Science acquire additional greenfield accommodation for the Gaelcholáiste adjacent to the Gaelscoil to allow the campus concept to be developed if Educate Together is to remain on site? Pending permanent recognition for the Gaelcholáiste, would it be reasonable to accommodate Educate Together at Sundai on a temporary basis prior to moving it to a purpose-built school on one of the sites identified for educational purposes in the Newbridge development plan? It is incumbent on the Department to engage with the interested parties to ensure the best possible educational facilities for all our children, whichever school they attend, and so that the real possibility of developing an Irish language education campus is not lost to Kildare.

I thank Deputy Ó Fearghaíl for raising this matter and for giving me the opportunity to outline the position regarding the Sundai school campus in Newbridge, County Kildare.

A school previously used to educate Japanese nationals is owned by the Department of Education and Science. The school, with its associated facilities, was acquired with a view to housing a nearby special school and a Gaelscoil. While the Gaelscoil transferred satisfactorily to the campus, the accommodation proved to be unsuitable for the special school. Accordingly, a stand-alone portion of the accommodation was not utilised and remains so as of now.

In 2003, Gaelcholáiste Chill Dara commenced operation in Newbridge without recognition from the Department of Education and Science. It had an enrolment of eight pupils at that time. An application for State recognition as a voluntary secondary school under the patronage of An Foras Patrúnachta subsequently ensued and temporary recognition was granted for three years with effect from 1 September 2004.

Central to the decision to grant temporary recognition was the apparent demand for all-Irish post-primary education in the area. In this regard, the Department of Education and Science was satisfied that the school had the potential to develop into a school of circa 200 pupils over a period. Its enrolment as of 30 September 2005 was 47 pupils.

At the time temporary recognition was granted, the patron body was notified, in writing, of the terms and conditions underpinning recognition. In this regard, the patron has sole responsibility for the critically important matter of accommodation. It was made clear that the accommodation sourced by the patron would be required to meet the needs of the school as it developed and that schools in temporary recognition mode do not qualify for capital funding. In the event of permanent recognition being granted, interim accommodation would remain the patron's responsibility until the Department was in a position to provide permanent accommodation.

In subsequent correspondence the patron was also informed that the vacant buildings on the Sundai site had been earmarked for other educational purposes, specifically for a school which has secured permanent recognition and is, therefore, qualified to attract capital funding. This remains the position and the Department of Education and Science is completely satisfied that there can be no misunderstanding on the patron's behalf in this matter.

On 13 January 2006, the Minister for Education and Science announced details of 62 large-scale building projects which have been approved to start architectural planning. Included in these projects is the refurbishment of the unused part of the Sundai campus to facilitate Newbridge Educate Together national school. This school received permanent recognition in 2004, thereby qualifying it for capital funding.

Plans for the delivery of this project are well under way in the Department. Consistent with the protocols for schools with temporary recognition, Newbridge Educate Together national school sourced its own temporary accommodation until it received permanent recognition and it will continue to do so until its new building has been delivered. With regard to schools of differing ethos sharing a site, I take this opportunity to point out that such arrangements will form an unequivocal feature of the educational landscape into the future to the extent that it will not be unusual to find a more significant range of school types on one site. It is intended, however, that while individual schools will be arranged so that certain facilities can be shared to avoid duplication, schools will otherwise be structured to enable them to operate independently of one another to protect their individual ethos.

I thank the Deputy for providing this opportunity to me to outline unequivocally the plans of the Department of Education and Science for the Sundai school campus. This is important to remove any uncertainty which the patron, board of management, teachers, parents and pupils of the Newbridge Educate Together school might feel over this issue. The Department's plans to develop the school on the Sundai campus are well on track. The issue of permanent accommodation for Gaelcholáiste Chill Dara will be considered by officials in the Department of Education and Science when it has permanent recognition.

Local Authority Housing.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for allowing me to speak on this important issue which has been raised continually by my constituents. I thank also the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Noel Ahern, for being present to take this matter.

The Minister of State will agree that our constituents have heard much about the tenant purchase scheme and have also been promised by the local authority and the Government that this issue would be dealt with quickly. They have had promises also in regard to the continuing problem of anti-social behaviour. My constituents would like answers to the many questions they have raised. They would like clarity on these issues and, above all else, they would like some degree of certainty about their future.

The original tenant purchase scheme for flats was introduced in 1988 but was withdrawn in 1992 by the then Department of the Environment. This move, which was supported by Dublin City Council, led to a great deal of dissatisfaction among local authority tenants. Many who planned to buy their dwelling found they could not do so.

When I was Lord Mayor, some of my constituents contacted me and asked if it was possible to mount a court challenge. Subsequently, they contacted a Cork solicitor, David Guilfoyle, and legal action was threatened. This may have led to the change in attitude of the Government and the local authorities. What we know is that the housing position has changed considerably since 1992. According to Mr. Brendan Kenny of Dublin City Council, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has recently indicated that a national scheme for the sale of flats would be introduced from January 2007. While addressing Dublin City Council, Mr. Kenny urged councillors to support the proposal and called on them to lobby in the coming months to influence the make-up of the scheme. He emphasised, however, that ultimately this was a matter for the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

I wish to alert the Minister of State to a number of concerns which have been raised by my constituents. If these flats are sold at market prices, many living in Dublin City Council flat complexes will not be able to afford them. It should be clear to most at this stage that the housing market has spiralled out of control. A small cottage in Ringsend can be sold for €450,000, an outlandish price, and way beyond the means of many local people. A three-bedroom flat will soon cost in the region of €500,000. How can my constituents afford that amount of money?

It has been suggested that the price of the properties should be based on the value set in 1988. The Minister of State met the residents' committee of O'Rahilly House on 22 February 2006. When they put forward the proposal that they should purchase at the 1988 prices, the Minister of State dismissed that idea. I ask him to reconsider the issue because, clearly, my constituents cannot afford those prices.

A good suggestion has been made — though I do not know if it would be possible — that some assistance has to be given to tenants if they are to afford these flats. The funds raised from the sale of the scheme should be ring-fenced for local housing and amenities. Before any such scheme is initiated, a detailed audit of all the necessary remedial works should be carried out. We need to look at the financial implications. What happens if certain tenant purchasers cannot keep up with payments or pay the new service charges? These and other concerns have been raised by tenants and local councillors who are aware of the problems on the ground.

There are other concerns surrounding flat complexes. Many of them were built in an era when they did not have the value they have nowadays. The scarcity of space in the city has resulted in inflated prices being paid for properties not far from flat complexes. One can instance, for example, the incredible price paid recently for the Berkeley Court Hotel site. Only high-rise, high-density dwellings will be sufficient to recoup that investment. Similarly, many private investors could buy the local authority complexes thinking that a killing can be made on the available space. One builds between the blocks and one builds up. This could result in some fine developments with good facilities for our tenants. It could very well be a win-win situation, but naturally local authority tenants want to know what is involved. That is why I am calling on the Minister for State to consult first the local authorities and in this instance Dublin City Council. It is essential that the council fully consults its tenants to establish what is in their best interests.

The entire focus must be on the best interests of our tenants and not on what is in the best interests of the speculators. For example, consultation on design could help deal with some of the anti-social problems now evident in our flat complexes. The promised legislation in the programme for Government states it will deal with this problem. To find a solution to the problems of anti-social behaviour, one needs to talk to the tenants and the councillors who deal with it first hand.

Many of our tenants have been model tenants, paying for years, and I ask the Minister of State to treat them with dignity and fairness.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I will outline to the House the plans we have to amend and update existing housing legislation as part of a programme to reform the social housing sector.

My Department is drafting the heads of a housing miscellaneous provisions Bill to give effect to the policy initiatives set out in Housing Policy Framework — Building Sustainable Communities, which was published before Christmas. This policy document builds on recent progress in providing social and affordable housing by setting out the fundamentals of the Government's vision for housing policy over the coming years. The document will be followed up by a policy statement that will provide more detail on the principles of policy and set out an agenda for implementation. The Bill is being prepared in tandem with this policy statement.

The Bill seeks to support the creation of a flexible and graduated system of housing supports for those in need of housing, to improve customer choice to meet changing requirements over a person's lifetime, to streamline, and in key areas strengthen, the powers of housing authorities while at the same time making clearer their responsibilities as social landlords and regulators of social housing generally. To these ends, the Bill will provide the legislative basis for the new rental accommodation scheme, a revised tenant purchase scheme, including the sale of local authority flats to their tenants, and strengthen the powers for local authorities to combat anti-social behaviour.

Referring specifically to the provisions relating to tenant purchase, the Bill will allow local authority flats to be sold to their tenants under certain conditions. Previous efforts to sell local authority flats were thwarted by the difficulties associated with the management of flat complexes, insurance, the cost of maintenance and the transfer of legal title. Taking full account of proposals put forward by local authorities, we are devising arrangements that will address these issues and for which new legislation is needed.

The Bill will also strengthen the powers of housing authorities relating to anti-social behaviour. There will be an improved process for dealing with individual cases. There will be an improved process for dealing with individual cases of anti-social behaviour, stronger powers to exclude and evict persons engaged in it and a wider definition of what constitutes such behaviour. The responsibilities of housing authorities will dovetail with the new powers relating to anti-social behaviour being conferred on the Garda and the courts by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

Deputies will agree that this will be major legislation, and it is essential that we get it right. This means going through a necessary preparatory process, including consultation with housing authorities and other key stakeholders, detailed drafting and discussions with Government colleagues. The work in preparing the Bill is well advanced but any attempt to rush it could result in corners being cut, with consequent problems arising down the line. We are avoiding this by taking the time to formulate workable legislation that will make a major contribution to meeting the Government's plans for reforming the social housing sector.

I heard what Deputy Gormley said. It is the intention to bring in some of the amendments by next January. We hope to have the heads of the Bill through Cabinet possibly by the summer. Drafting them and introducing them to the House could take six or nine months but presumably that would not stop us announcing the scheme, though it might stop us finalising a sale. We hope later in the year to announce the broad details of what we are talking about.

I met the people of whom Deputy Gormley spoke and I hope I did not dismiss them, though I might have dismissed their idea.

Yes, the idea.

It would be wrong to give encouragement that the flat prices involved will be at 1988 or 1998 prices. We have a tenant purchase scheme which is under consideration in the wider manner, but we are talking of taxpayer money and though we would like to give things away, we cannot do so. The fundamentals of the scheme would involve prices very near open market value. It is a case of how one handles this and what schemes one starts with. A lot of money has been spent by the city council and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in recent years in refurbishing many of these flats so questions would arise. Should one sell the refurbished flats first or the ones which have not been refurbished? There are many issues to be worked out. We hope to have the heads of the Bill to the Cabinet by the summer and then to work on the legislation, which might take six or eight months. We expect to announce the broad framework during the year.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.10 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 17 May 2006.
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