Adjournment Debate.

Health Service Staff.

Deputy Pádraic McCormack

I am glad to have the opportunity to raise this matter. I will take every opportunity that comes to raise the scandal that senior HSE executives are about to be paid €1.4 million in bonuses. They will receive these bonuses in addition to their salaries and the amounts will range from €10,000 to €80,000. For example, the chief executive earns €380,000 and may get a bonus of up to €80,000, which would bring his pay to €1,700 every working day or €8,500 per week. I am disgusted with this decision which shows breathtaking arrogance at a time when there are such savage cutbacks on the front line of the health services.

How can I explain this decision to the woman who came into my office on Monday, crying over her physically challenged 24 year old son who was attending a training centre workshop and was getting €20 a week plus a meal? He came home crying because he no longer gets his €20 a week, which was equivalent to his wages. It would take him eight years to earn what the chief executive of the Health Service Executive earns in one week.

What about the cutbacks in home help? No wheelchairs, medical aids or appliances are available for people in desperate need. There are cutbacks in respite care for parents at their wits' end caring for their disadvantaged daughter or son at home. What about the disabled person who cannot get a grant for a stair lift or a downstairs bathroom because there is no money available for that? Doctors have warned that 20 people a week are in desperate pain and will suffer as orthopaedic operations are reduced to save money.

For the period up to the end of September there were more people on trolleys than for the whole of last year. In University College Hospital Galway for the month of April 2007 there were 183 people on trolleys and this year there were 444 people on trolleys for the same month. The HSE has cancelled the flu injections promised for medical card holders aged more than 50. I could mention several other matters, including cancer scandals and 250,000 bed days lost in hospitals, which is the equivalent of a 600-bed hospital like Beaumont being closed for one year. The list is endless. The Minister tells us there are no cutbacks on the front line, but all the cutbacks are on the front line.

The blame for the current health crisis must be laid clearly on the shoulders of the Government. It squandered taxpayers' money over the past five years on many pet projects, including €6 million on electronic voting and several millions on the "Bertie Bowl" and PPARS. Now the people on the front line of the health service are suffering. Where is the Minister for Health and Children? I call on her to step in and stop this rot. I do not apologise to anybody for raising this matter and I will take every opportunity to raise this breathtaking scandal of HSE executives awarding themselves €1.4 million in bonuses at a time when people on the front line of the health service are suffering.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Deputy Michael P. Kitt)

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am taking the adjournment on behalf of the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney.

The performance-related awards scheme was introduced following a decision by the Government on the implementation of recommendations of the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector. The primary function of the review body is to advise the Government from time to time on the general levels of remuneration appropriate to certain public sector posts, including higher management grades in the health service not covered by the public service benchmarking body process.

A number of senior management grades in the HSE are eligible to participate in the performance-related award scheme. Specifically, the grades included are those of national director, assistant national director and hospital network manager. The level of awards made to individuals is solely a matter for the board of the HSE which implements the principles set out by the review body. In this regard, awards should be related to the achievement of highly demanding and challenging targets. The scheme provides for the payment of awards after the year-end, when it has been demonstrated that the prior agreed objectives have been met.

In line with the recommendations of the review body there is consistency in the levels of awards available to employees within the following limits: maximum awards not to exceed 20% of salary of any individual and an overall cost limit for awards of 10% of payroll for the relevant groups where feasible. The payment of the performance-related awards for work carried out in 2007 beyond what is seen as the normal ongoing requirements of the job was considered and approved by the HSE's remuneration and organisation committee in July 2008, based on the recommendation of the chief executive officer, and the demonstration of exceptional performance by those included in the scheme.

I understand that the HSE has advised the Minister for Health and Children that the performance-related awards made by the board in respect of 2007 for HSE senior management totals €1.4 million. The chief executive officer of the Health Service Executive is eligible, under his contract of employment, for an annual bonus of up to 25% of his basic salary. In accordance with normal governance arrangements, the board of the HSE is responsible for the operation of the CEO's bonus. The Minister understands from the HSE that the award for the CEO is still under consideration by the board of the HSE.

While the performance-related award scheme in the HSE is the responsibility of the board of the HSE, the Department of Health and Children has established a performance-related awards committee to provide oversight of the operation of the PRA schemes in the health sector. This committee includes representatives on the wider public service and the private sector. In its examination of performance-related awards, the committee has regard to key principles of the PRA schemes outlined by the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector report; principles of best practice in the area of governance and accountability in the schemes; and quality assurance in the operation of the schemes. This committee is a monitoring body and has no function in the authorisation of payment.

The data on the awards made in the HSE in respect of 2007 have just been received by the Department of Health and Children and will be examined by the oversight committee in due course. The HSE continues to drive a major transformation programme that will fundamentally change how health services are provided, while at the same time delivering and developing health and social care services to meet the increasing demands in terms of population growth and diversity of services required. This must be achieved against a backdrop of a changing and challenging economic climate which ultimately impinges on the capacity of the health system to meet the escalating demands. The HSE operates within an approved budget allocation and in line with the HSE national service plan.

The target level of delivery set for the year in respect of hospital inpatient and day cases was 1.184 million cases. All the indications to date are that this projected level of activity will be met and perhaps exceeded. The activity level therefore is expected to at least match performance during 2007.

The HSE is currently implementing proposals to ensure an overall balanced Vote outcome on expenditure while optimising patient services and continuing the reform agenda.

Some of the cost savings in operational overheads being pursued and reported on as part of the monthly monitoring of the service plan include reduction in travel and subsistence, consultancy and advertising costs, as well as the cancellation of all non-essential training.

The House may be assured that the board of the HSE is fully conscious of its obligations to manage expenditure prudently in challenging circumstances and within its allocated Vote.

Deputy Pádraic McCormack

It is no wonder the Minister did not come in to read that rubbish. Although it is not the Minister of State's fault, it is rubbish.

State Airports.

Deputy Simon Coveney

I want to share time with Deputy Deirdre Clune. Let us hope, for all our sakes, that we get a slightly better answer than the House got to the previous question. From that answer, one would swear the HSE was playing a blinder. Is it living on the same planet?

I am raising an issue that both Deputy Clune and I have brought up consistently, as indeed has the Acting Chairman, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, for many years. The neglect of Cork Airport by this Government is nothing short of a political scandal and a disgrace. However, this is much more than political because it is hampering the development of Cork Airport, Cork and southern Munster as a region. This is as a result of Cork Airport's inability to grow and plan aggressively and competitively against the airports it needs to compete with independently. It is farcical and dangerous that the board of Cork Airport has no chairman. There has been no conclusive decisions in terms of how the new terminal will be paid for and who will carry the debt. As a result, the board of the Cork Airport Authority, CAA, is not even meeting at the moment.

The Minister said he would appoint a new chairman of the CAA board as a priority, but we have still heard nothing. This is not an issue that will cost the Government any money. It is not a budgetary matter, but it requires political priority and new good people to give leadership in Cork Airport to ensure it can develop in the ambitious manner that the people of Cork want. I appeal to the Minister to make decisions and appointments and to let people in Cork know that the Government is going to stop treating it as a second class airport.

We are expected to compete with Dublin Airport, yet the manager in Cork Airport is an employee of the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA. Every decision, even significant ones taken on a day to day basis at Cork Airport, need to be approved in Dublin. The CAA has sent a business development plan to the DAA for approval. This means that Cork's business competitor needs to approve its business plan. Cork Airport operates with one arm tied behind its back and this is hampering development and investment in Cork. It needs to stop, so please give us some clear answers this evening.

Deputy Deirdre Clune

I hope the Minister of State's response will not be littered with references, which we constantly hear on this side, to the effect that this is a matter for the Dublin Airport Authority. It is not a matter for the Dublin Airport Authority but for the Minister for Transport, who is responsible for ensuring, as part of his remit that there is balanced regional development. This means ensuring that Cork Airport is put on a sound footing so that it can move forward as it wants to, on an independent basis — leaving aside the debt issue which has not been resolved. In 2004, the State Airports Act stated that the three airports, Shannon, Cork and Dublin, would be developed as three independent authorities. That still has not happened and there is the farcical situation where the CAA has been left without a chairman since the former incumbent resigned from the board in April this year. Any decision that has to be taken at Cork Airport, as Deputy Coveney has outlined, is referred to the DAA. The e-mails and notepaper of the CAA's chief executive is headed "Dublin Airport Authority". That situation is absolutely ridiculous since the two airports are in competition. Let Cork get on with it and make decisions for itself based on what is best for the airport and the region. The Minister should appoint a chairman and let a business plan be adopted so that Cork may move forward and do the job it is supposed to do.

Deputy Michael P. Kitt

I thank Deputies Coveney and Clune for raising this issue. The State Airports Act 2004 provides the framework for the establishment of Shannon and Cork as independent airports. As part of the airport restructuring process, the boards of Cork and Shannon Airports are required to prepare business plans for eventual separation. All three airport business plans have to be co-ordinated by the Dublin Airport Authority for eventual approval by the Minister for Transport and the Minister for Finance.

Among the requirements to be satisfied in advance of separation is the need to ensure the financial sustainability of all three State airports. It has always been the Government's position that the resolution of the debt issue at Cork Airport would have to ensure that the debt burden Cork would undertake would be a manageable one for it and would form a reasonable basis for Cork Airport's autonomy, without in any way putting at risk its commercial future. However, it is also the Government's position that the sharing of the Cork debt, much of which by the way was incurred in financing the new terminal and other infrastructural works at Cork Airport, to be borne by both the Cork and Dublin Airport Authorities will have to take account not only of what is commercially and financially feasible for Cork Airport, but also for the Dublin Airport Authority.

In order to break the logjam between the DAA and the CAA on the equity of the debt, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Noel Dempsey, appointed Mr. Peter Cassells to mediate between the two parties with a view to reaching an agreement acceptable to both. Mr. Cassells's conclusions and recommendations were the outcome of that dialogue with both parties. The recommendation is that the CAA takes responsibility for debt of €113 million in return for the transfer of net assets of €220 million on separation. The board of the CAA has accepted this recommendation. This is a positive step which will enable the finalisation of realistic business plans, taking account of the Cassells recommendations in the case of Cork. The Minister has already received the Cork and Shannon business plans and he expects shortly to receive a finalised commentary on those plans by the DAA when it submits its own plan under the Act. He would expect the DAA's commentary to address recent trends in the aviation market, the challenges facing the State airports and the financial and operational aspects of restructuring.

As the Deputy is aware, Mr. Joe Gantly stepped down from his role as chairman of Cork Airport with effect from 1 August last and it is hoped to fill that vacancy in the near future.

EU Directives.

Deputy Paul Connaughton

I want to share a minute of my time with Deputy Damien English, with the agreement of the House.

I mean no disrespect to my constituency colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Kitt, but I am very disappointed that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is not here. Based on what I have heard previously in this House and what I expect to hear tonight, my view is that we are signing the death warrant for one of the most traditional practices Ireland has ever known, the cutting of turf on 32 raised bogs across the country, which will affect thousands of turf cutters.

I received an answer to a Dáil question recently from the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and what he is up to is nothing short of astounding. I will paraphrase it as quickly as I can. He said he was conscious of the recent increases in energy costs, but the reason for the derogation was to allow domestic cutters a reasonable time to find alternative sources of fuel. Peat was an honourable and noble source as well as a valuable habitat, which we were required to protect, but he said the derogation would expire at the end of this year. Where does the Minister think we will get an alternative supply? Where does the Minister of State think it is?

Deputy Pádraic McCormack

Connemara.

Deputy Paul Connaughton

The volume of every other form of fuel has increased tenfold but the Government is committed to kicking thousands off the bogs this year; turf cutters who have worked them for generations. They cut turf for their own fuel supply and they will not be there this time next year. The Minister of State is in the middle of this. I am a turf cutter and I hope he will do everything humanly possible to secure another derogation for at least a few years.

Deputy Damien English

I thank Deputy Connaughton for sharing time. Will the Minister of State furnish us with the scientific evidence relating to the bogs selected under this scheme? This has not been provided yet, despite our attempts to obtain it on numerous occasions. That would help the turf cutters make a case for an extension of the scheme. They were led to believe there could be an extension to the ten-year rule but the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government will not comment on that.

What are the rules? Information is seriously lacking. The Department thinks that sending out a lump of paper in the post a few years ago was sufficient to inform people about the rules and the legalities of cutting turf. Turf cutters are afraid because they are not sure what they can do. Will the Minister of State clarify whether they need permission to cut turf? This issue was discussed by the Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government because of worries that the Minister intends to ram this change through and force people off the bogs. Some of these people have spent their lives working on bogs and they have the scars to show for it. They want a role in their local bogs but no management plans are in place and no discussion has taken place on how they can be involved in, for example, tourism projects. Will it be possible for them to cut turf without using machines?

Let us show consideration for families, generations of whom have worked on the bogs, and not introduce a blanket ban at the end of the derogation. This is the reality for some people and this work is part of their lives and culture. It is not as straightforward as shoving them off the bogs and the Minister telling the House this affects only 10% of all bogs in the State. That is not an answer. This ban is very serious for those working the 10% of bogs affected. They are not being well looked after and it is assumed they can stop and that will be it. That is not good enough.

If people are expected to give up their right to cut turf, with others possibly benefiting through swapping arrangements and so on, the current compensation must be examined. It is totally and utterly ridiculous, as it does not reflect the current cost of energy.

Deputy Michael P. Kitt

I thank the Deputies for raising the issue. I am taking the debate on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government who asked me to confirm that he is fully aware of the concerns of Deputies and of traditional turf cutters who have relied on turf for domestic fuel. He also recognises the concern about the costs of alternative fuel. It is important to be clear about the position regarding the bogs in question. I must declare an interest, as I have a bog plot.

This issue concerns a small fraction of the bogs of Ireland and it must be reiterated that turf cutting will continue on the vast majority of bogs. Of the approximately 1,600 raised bogs, only 139 are designated for protection, with 32 of them subject to the ten-year derogation that lapses this year. Ireland's raised bogs are priority habitat under the EU habitats directive. The State has 60% of western Europe's remaining heritage of uncut raised bog. However, less than 1% of the original area of active raised bogs, that is, peatland on which the indigenous flora are still growing and forming peat, remains.

Ireland is required to protect priority habitats of European importance under the Habitats Directive, which was transposed into Irish law by the European Communities (Natural Habitats) Regulations 1997 and the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000. Successive Governments have designated bog habitats for protection, nominating candidate special areas of conservation in 1999 and in 2002 and natural heritage areas in 2004. When arrangements were announced for cessation of turf cutting in SACs in 1999, a ten-year grace period was granted to domestic turf cutters. This was intended to allow them to find alternative sources of fuel. This period is coming to an end on the 32 raised bogs in question. A similar ten-year derogation applies to bogs designated after 1999. For example, when NHAs were designated in 2004, under an agreement with the farming organisations, another ten-year derogation was put in place, allowing cutting in NHAs until 2014. It is important to put this limited cessation of turf cutting into perspective and to acknowledge that turf cutting will continue in large areas of undesignated bog.

With regard to meeting our obligations to protect this habitat, a recent review of the state of our bogs revealed severe and continuing damage. In the ten years since commercial cutting was ended in designated areas, 35% of the remaining area of this priority EU habitat was lost through domestic cutting and we are losing between 2% and 4% of our remaining active raised bog per annum. The overall scientific assessment of the state of this habitat is "unfavourable, bad", which is the worst of three categories. EU member states with such unfavourable status in a habitat are legally obliged to take measures to ensure improvement. The Government's responsibility is to ensure Ireland fulfils its legal obligations and it would not be appropriate to extend the ten-year periods for the ending of cutting in the limited areas involved.

Deputies will be aware that the cessation of domestic cutting is encouraged by the purchase by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government of the traditional turf-cutting rights through a voluntary scheme in designated areas.

Schools Building Projects.

Deputy Alan Shatter

I am disappointed the Minister for Education and Science is not present for the debate. My concern relates to Holy Trinity national school in Leopardstown, which has 108 pupils. A further 70 have been enrolled for September 2009, which is the equivalent of two junior infant classes. The school has no permanent buildings and it operates out of five prefabs. It has no play or PE facilities and it has no facilities for a resource teacher. The cost of the prefabs to date, together with the basic works required to facilitate the operation of the school, is more than €1 million. The prefabs are rented at a cost of €20,000 per classroom per year. With each year that passes, €100,000 is spent on the rental of such buildings.

In 2006 the school board was promised a permanent school. The architectural plans were submitted in final form in May 2008. When I sought to ascertain by way of parliamentary question on 24 September 2008 whether the Minister would sanction the project moving forward, he replied, "In light of current competing demands on the capital budget of the Department, it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of this project at this time."

The population serviced by the school has increased by 35% in four years and it is expected to reach 41,000 by 2016. There is an urgent need for the Minister to sanction the provision of permanent buildings for this school and there is no particular reason such sanction and construction cannot be fast-tracked. Schools confronted by similar population growth in north Dublin were fast-tracked, granted planning permission and construction was sanctioned. Will the Minister recognise the needs of this community and sanction the construction of these badly need buildings without further delay?

Only ten days ago, the Minister announced plans for 25 new schools building projects and he indicated he would not sanction further projects in the primary sector until next spring. This primary school needs to be constructed. There is no reason the families and children living in Leopardstown should be subject to the discrimination they are clearly suffering. No permanent classroom has been sanctioned in the primary sector in south Dublin for more than 15 years. I ask the Minister to give this project the priority to which it is entitled in order that the school board can move forward from the architectural planning stage to make a formal planning application to Dún Laoighaire-Rathdown County Council and then to proceed to tender.

I am asking that the funds for the construction of the school be made available and that it be fast-tracked for a particular reason, that the school will not be able to cope with pupil demand without either the construction of a permanent school building or additional prefabs being obtained. However, there is no space for further prefabs. If they are acquired, they will impinge on the site designated for the construction of the permanent school building, adding to the difficulties of the project going ahead. An alternative site for prefabs would need to be found while the construction took place.

The State is wasting money on rental when it could be invested in the construction of the badly needed permanent school building. It would benefit the children, the parents and the teachers and provide the children with the types of play area, physical education facility and resource teaching classroom that they need and that other schools have.

Deputy Michael P. Kitt

I thank Deputy Shatter for raising this matter. I am answering on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science. This is an opportunity for me to outline to the Dáil the Department's capital programme of works for 2008 and the current position with regard to Holy Trinity national school, Glencairn, Leopardstown, Dublin 18.

All applications for capital funding are assessed in the modernisation and policy unit of the Department. The assessment process determines the extent and type of need presenting based on the demographics of an area, proposed housing developments, condition of buildings, site capacity, etc., leading to an appropriate accommodation solution. As part of this process, a project is assigned a band rating under published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects. These criteria were devised following consultation with the education partners.

Projects are selected for inclusion in the school building and modernisation programme on the basis of priority of need. This is reflected in the band rating assigned to a project. A proposed building project moves through the system commensurate with the band rating assigned to it. The project for Holy Trinity national school has been assigned a priority rating in band one.

As the Deputy will probably be aware, almost €600 million in public funding is being provided for school buildings this year. This will enable the completion of work on 67 large-scale primary schools projects, which will deliver 7,000 additional permanent school places in new schools and 2,300 additional permanent school places in existing schools. Construction work on 150 devolved projects under the permanent accommodation scheme will provide 8,000 additional places in existing primary schools. In the post-primary sector, construction work will be completed on 19 large-scale projects, which will provide 2,400 permanent school places in four new schools and additional accommodation and refurbishment works in 15 schools that will benefit more than 7,000 pupils. Sites will be purchased to facilitate the smooth delivery of the school building programme, particularly in rapidly developing areas, and new projects will be progressed through architectural planning and design stages.

On 29 September, the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, announced a further tranche of projects to progress through the school building programme, including five primary and two post-primary projects to prepare to go to site before the end of 2008, 12 primary and three post-primary projects to proceed to tender with a view to going on site in the first half of 2009, and three primary schools to progress up to and including application for planning permission and preparation of tender documents with a view to the earliest possible date to site. In 2008, construction is also due to start on the first bundle of PPP schools, while further ones will be offered to the market next year with a view to building work commencing in later years.

This is a significant programme of work by any standards and, while there will continue to be a focus during the year on providing extra places in developing areas, the Department will also be delivering improvements in the quality of existing primary and post-primary school accommodation throughout the country. The emphasis, however, will be on new schools and extensions to provide additionality in rapidly developing areas.

Holy Trinity national school, Glencairn, Leopardstown, Dublin 18 is a co-educational primary school. The enrolment as at 30 September 2007 was 75 pupils.

Deputy Alan Shatter

Today it has 108 pupils.

Deputy Michael P. Kitt

I will check on that for the Deputy. The school has a current staff of one principal, two mainstream assistants, one developing post, one permanent resource teacher, one permanent learning support teacher and one temporary language support teacher.

In January 2005, the school authority submitted an application to the Department for large-scale capital funding for an extension project. An assessment of the projected enrolment trends, demographic trends and the housing developments in the area has been carried out and has determined the long-term projected staffing for a 24-classroom school. The building project is in the early stages of architectural planning and a revised stage two is currently being examined. The building project is being considered in the context of the school building and modernisation programme.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Over the lifetime of the national development plan, the Government will provide funding of €4.5 billion for school buildings. This will be the largest investment programme in schools in the history of the State and will enable the Department to ensure that school places are available where they are needed. The investment will allow the Department to continue the school building programme, which commenced during the lifetime of the last NDP when well over €2.6 billion was invested in school development, delivering over 7,800 projects.

Deputy Alan Shatter

That tells us nothing about the timeframe for Holy Trinity national school.

Deputy Michael P. Kitt

The Deputy made a strong case and I will pass it on to the Minister, who was not available to attend the House this evening.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.05 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 8 October 2008.

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Tuesday, 7 Oct 2008