Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 17 Dec 2008

Vol. 671 No. 1

Adjournment Debate.

Hospital Services.

Deputy Seán Sherlock

In raising this matter, I am seeking to highlight the fact that, in the view of the 100 plus GPs who refer people to it, Mallow General Hospital is a centre of excellence. It is also a secondary care facility that caters for the needs of a population base of well over 100,000. If the national service plan, as envisaged, is implemented, the accident and emergency department at Mallow General Hospital will be downgraded to a minor injuries unit. The GPs from whom I have received representations and the people who live in the area want to know what will be the future of the accident and emergency department. There is a concern that if it is downgraded to the status of a minor injuries unit, many GPs in the area will bypass Mallow General Hospital and refer people instead to Cork University Hospital, CUH. Given an expected population base of 4.53 million in 2009, it is vital hospitals such as Mallow General Hospital maintain some coherence in terms of accident and emergency services. Reducing or diminishing it to a minor injuries clinic will result in more people being put into the narrow funnel that is Cork University Hospital, which is not the way to go.

I have taken advice on the matter from general practitioners who refer stroke patients and people with heart complaints to this hospital. Many of these interventions can be dealt with by the accident and emergency department. Downgrading the hospital to a minor injuries unit will have an adverse effect on outcomes for patients.

Deputy Jan O’Sullivan

I concur with what Deputy Sherlock said. A Teamwork report completed in the mid-west more than a year ago has not yet been published. There are all sorts of rumours going around about accident and emergency services at hospitals in Nenagh, Ennis and Limerick being reduced. There is no evidence whatsoever that capacity in the Mid-west Regional Hospital in Limerick will be increased to cater for extra patients. People living in places like west Clare will be a considerable distance from the central hospital in Limerick should this downgrading go ahead. We are hearing rumours to the effect that this will happen in March 2009.

I have repeatedly called for the publication of the Teamwork Management Services report and have received conflicting answers, some of which indicate the report has not yet been submitted to the board of the HSE and others from the Minister and Professor Drumm who indicated in committee that they do not want to publish it because it may give rise to opposition. This is no way to democratically address the issue of how we run our hospital services in this country.

It is important to state on the record that secondary hospitals have an important role to play. They are much more cost effective in dealing with certain matters than are tertiary hospitals. We need to have a proper debate and evaluation of the role of secondary hospitals before they are downgraded in some type of secret operation, with no publication of a plan and only a vague generalised reference to reconfiguration as set out in the HSE plan launched yesterday.

While a copy of the Teamwork report is floating around in the mid-west it has not yet been published. In effect, patients, the public and public representatives are being denied an opportunity to participate in a debate on this issue and to ensure we maintain a level of service in secondary hospitals in the mid-west, south, north-east and in various other parts of the country that is appropriate to what a secondary hospital can do. An excellent service is being provided by these hospitals in a cost effective manner in comparison with larger hospitals.

It is appalling that this is happening in a type of secretive manner without any public discussion. I urge the Minister to genuinely address the issues of concern in these areas because people do not know what is happening. I have spoken about the issue to people in Clare, north Tipperary and Limerick. They are hearing rumours about what is proposed for their hospitals but there is no public announcement in this regard. It is almost as if this is being done behind closed doors with only particular people being brought on board and senior rather than regular staff at the hospitals being told about it.

Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív)

I am responding to the Deputies on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney.

The Government is committed to ensuring the delivery of best possible quality health services in an effective and efficient way. Patient safety is of paramount importance in ensuring people have confidence in the services and that the best possible patient outcomes are achieved. It is essential that patient safety and quality are prioritised and that services are organised and managed accordingly.

The six hospitals in the mid-western region providing acute services have a complement of 828 in-patient beds and 124 day beds. Between them, the hospitals have a total operating annual budget of €275 million, with a staffing complement of 3,248. The activity profile for the service consists of 47,000 in-patients, 34,000 day cases, 180,000 out-patient attendances and 110,000 accident and emergency presentations per annum. The maternity hospital deals with 5,500 births per annum. These figures underline the importance of the work done by the hospitals in the mid-west area and the contribution they make to the health services of the region.

Mallow General Hospital provides a valuable range of in-patient, out-patient and day case services. It is, and will continue to be, an important health care facility. In the past years, there has been a considerable level of investment in equipment and infrastructure at the hospital. A capital sum of €1.5 million was provided for the provision of CT scanning services at Mallow General Hospital on a five-day week basis. The support staff has been put in place and the CT scanner has been operational since September of this year. A refurbishment programme has also commenced at the hospital. Work on the upgrading of the emergency department has been completed and work on the extension of the regional laboratory system is about to commence. A sum of €260,000 was allocated in the current year for ward and other minor equipment, upgrading of toilets and compliance with hygiene and decontamination standards.

The HSE has commissioned a number of strategic reviews of the configuration of acute hospital services including in the mid-west and the south. In each case, the first priority is patient safety. The challenge in the years ahead will be to organise, manage and deliver high quality services that are focused in the first instance on the safety of patients. Horwath Consultants in association with Teamwork Management Services were commissioned by the HSE to work on the strategic reviews in the mid-west and southern regions. The reviews focus on identifying the best configuration of acute hospital services in the regions, including arrangements for accident and emergency, critical care, acute medicine and surgery, together with diagnostic services so that the highest quality of care can be delivered to the population of the regions concerned.

The HSE reviews will act as inputs to decisions on how best to reconfigure acute services in the regions concerned. The Government and the Executive are committed to ensuring that the approach to reorganisation of services is carried out in consultation with the key stakeholders and that each element is progressed incrementally.

Deputy Jan O’Sullivan

What about the public? Are they not key stakeholders?

An Ceann Comhairle

Please allow the Minister to continue without interruption.

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív

The Minister believes it is important to work with health professionals and other interested parties to secure an increasing set of improvements over time. This approach will, she is confident, produce the best outcome for patients. Patient safety will determine how services in the mid-west and the south are configured in the future.

A detailed planning process is currently underway in each network to ensure that secondary care services are assigned to each hospital in the network in an appropriate manner, which takes account of their ability to manage complex care safely and to the highest standard. The Government is committed to ensuring high quality acute services throughout the country.

Deputy Jan O’Sullivan

Gobbledygook.

Departmental Funding.

Deputy Thomas P. Broughan

Throughout the local development sector there is grave concern at the savage cutbacks that have been imposed on Pobal and its staff with resulting negative impacts on local development companies and partnerships.

The establishment of the ADM company under the partnership process was a significant step in delivering necessary centralised and efficient back-up to hundreds of local development projects across Ireland, with which the Minister and I are familiar. The evolution of ADM into Pobal under the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs was a milestone in creating an accountable and more effective local voluntary and social economy sector. The organisation has received a great deal more work in terms of invigilation and an increased accounting role as a result of the recent changes introduced in the management of such companies.

The Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs has, under budget 2009, imposed a savage 33% cut in the administration and support costs of social inclusion programmes which are managed by Pobal, with a clear indication that even more severe cuts of up to 50% will apply in 2010. As I understand it, the result will be the loss of almost 100 jobs in Pobal.

I am informed by Pobal staff representatives that 74 redundancies are now being sought from a workforce of 250. I am aware also of course that 90 Pobal workers have less than two year's service and that their work has developed as a result of recent changes introduced in the organisation. Clearly, these extraordinary cuts in a relatively small organisation seem totally disproportionate, even in the context of the overall severe budgetary cuts being imposed for 2009. The Department's justification is to enable the maintenance of frontline services but the key liaison support and development functions performed by Pobal with local agencies will clearly be damaged by these cutbacks. The result will be major cuts at local level in supports for effective and transparent delivery of funds to communities. Cuts will also affect specialist support staff in employment, community development, and educational disadvantage, including disadvantaged groups, Travellers, lone parents, prisoners and citizens recovering from addiction.

Similarly, cuts will affect the connection between Departments and beneficiaries at local level, in addition to their impact on evaluation and research capacities, the production of strategy guides and good proactive tool kits, and in necessary networking meetings of partnership staff, and other cross-learning events.

The local development social inclusion, LDSIP, programme supports local agencies such as partnerships to address complex problems of inequality, poverty and social inclusion. The Minister, Deputy Ó Cuív, and the Department of Finance value for money review of the LDSIP clearly identified the need for ongoing "sophisticated" evaluation and ongoing guidance and technical support for local groups. However, the Department has said it is employing the Centre for Effective Services, CES, to design a successor programme to the LDSIP. I understand that the CES received funding from Atlantic Philanthropies in addition to funding from the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

Why could the work not have been carried out by Pobal? There does not appear to have been any tendering process for the work that will now be carried out by the Centre for Effective Services. I am further informed that Pobal was not given a chance to tender for the project, which seems central to its statutory remit and for a task in which it has built up 16 years of valuable experience. The VFM to which I referred identified areas for improvement in Pobal but it did not question the fundamental capacity, integrity or efficiency of the organisation. How can its vital public support and invigilation role in local development be effectively delivered with the massive cut of 100 jobs?

Ireland is plunging into a severe recession, partly due to gross errors by the Government since 1997. Unemployment may rise to in excess of 10%. The impact may be most severe in disadvantaged and low income communities. It seems crazy therefore to impose this level of cutbacks in Pobal that will have a knock-on effect on important local employment and enterprise programmes across the country that are served by Pobal.

The Ceann Comhairle is aware that I have long experience as a community activist with local development projects. I am a long-time director of Coolock Development Council and of the Northside Partnership and a number of its related companies. As a community director, it is always reassuring to know that Pobal exists and that high standards of invigilation and audit are being maintained. The new light touch invigilation proposed by the Minister, including an end to quarterly reports that must be presented to and invigilated by Pobal, will result in weakening the system of accountability, which may have disastrous consequences. I am also a member of the Committee of Public Accounts, which is currently invigilating a major State agency where it appears lapses occurred.

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív

I fully concur with the Deputy on the need to keep an eye on money and to make sure it is spent where it should be spent. Pobal is a private company. It is not a statutory company or agency and it is important that one would understand that.

What is proposed is a 33% cut in funding for 2009, as referred to by Deputy Broughan, relating to administration and overhead funding. It is not commensurate with overall funding for programme delivery for 2009. The reduction in the administration funding available to Pobal reflects an emphasis on the prioritisation of front-line services over intermediary and ancillary supports.

As the Deputy is probably aware, Pobal administers a range of programmes and schemes on behalf of my Department, namely, the local development social inclusion programme, LDSIP, to which Deputy Broughan referred, and the dormant accounts fund, DAF, which will give rise to less activity next year because it has less money. It is inevitable that this would happen over time. We are considering the structure of the community services programme, CSP, in order to streamline it. Other programmes include the RAPID programme, the rural social scheme, RSS, and grant schemes to community and voluntary organisations. The overall provision in the Abridged Estimates for 2009 for these programmes is just under €175 million.

As previously indicated to the House, my primary concern is to make every effort to ensure that the front-line services provided by, or supported through, my Department — especially those focused on the needs of the most socially deprived communities — are protected. That is being achieved by requiring significant administrative savings in my Department and public bodies within its ambit, through the cessation of the use of intermediary bodies, such as community development support agencies and by reducing administrative overheads across bodies such as Pobal. In that way, the wide range of services my Department provides, including services under its social inclusion programmes, can be broadly maintained.

It is appreciated that Pobal has had a key role in the delivery of successful local development services and programmes for many years for several Departments. The Government has acknowledged the work and commitment of board members past and present, both individually and collectively in contributing to the many achievements of the company. It is those achievements and commitment that gives confidence that the board of Pobal will support the Department in prioritising the restricted resources that will be available in the coming years in the interests of the programme beneficiaries. Intensive discussions are ongoing with Pobal in regard to how the administrative costs and overheads can be reduced while maintaining service delivery at 2008 levels.

The situation amazes me but it is inevitable in politics. We are told there are too many overheads and too many administrators. We hear that every day from the Opposition. I have been trying to rationalise this sector for a long time, as it was all over the place with community partnerships, area partnerships, Leader companies and Leader partnerships. There was a significant amount of companies. I have streamlined all of that and I will keep streamlining it.

Deputy Broughan might disagree with me but my absolute obligation is to get the money on to the ground. We have to look after the money but that does not have to be done through the creation of endless reports that do not determine the value for money on the ground. I am determined to protect front-line services for people who need them and if that means cutting administrative overheads then so be it. I look every day at ways of cutting the administrative overheads right across all of the agencies under my Department. I am right to do that. I have been doing it for a long time.

Deputy Thomas P. Broughan

The Minister should not damage the services.

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív

Let us compare the relative overheads of the community services programme and the rural social scheme, one we inherited from another agency to which the Deputy referred as being before the Committee of Public Accounts. The rural social scheme was conceived by me and operated by my Department. One can ask the people on the ground which one is working better. If we ask Deputy Bannon which scheme works better, he will tell us.

Deputy Thomas P. Broughan

Do not drag Deputy Bannon into it.

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív

It is the one with the slim overheads, the get out and do it scheme. That is the one Deputy Bannon would say delivers on the ground. I will stick by that approach. I know one thing; I will have the support of the main Opposition party in what I am doing.

Schools Building Projects.

Deputy James Bannon

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment. It is an important issue in my area given the urgent need for the Minister for Education and Science to provide funding for a new school building for St. Mary's national school, Edgeworthstown, County Longford. I seek an update on the loss of essential teaching staff at the school despite rising roll numbers.

The reality for St. Mary's is that it needs a new 16-classroom school at the cost of €3.6 million, as compared to the shameful waste of €1.1 million from 2002 to date on temporary accommodation. Just in case basic maths is a problem for the Minister, the new school has already reached a cost of €4.7 million and that is without including fees of €120,000 paid to consultants or the €40,000 for ESB for the temporary prefabs and the rising cost associated with the delay in the commencement of works.

If the new school building were to be deferred for another few years, which is beyond contemplation, the cost of building it would have been totally thrown away on temporary accommodation, which would still be temporary and by then in urgent need of replacement or restoration. That is madness. As I have continually said, the Government is penny wise and pound foolish. It makes no economic sense to continue to throw away money on temporary accommodation that would be better utilised on permanent buildings, particularly as one third of the final cost has already been spent on temporary structures.

St. Mary's currently has 20 teachers and their pupils in prefabs. The school which is expecting to have 120 plus EAL pupils in September 2009, is losing three language support teachers. It currently has five language teachers for 99 EAL pupils, which again if you will forgive me for drawing attention to the basic maths, does not add up, and the children will suffer as a result. The general allocation for learning support will have to absorb the balance, encroaching on the already overburdened learning support teachers. The school is also to lose one class teacher. In September 2008, enrolment was five pupils above the appointment-retention figure of 367 and with the increase in class size it is now three short of the 375 appointment-retention figure. To retain the teacher, enrolment will have to increase by 25 pupils to achieve developing school status. St Mary's is a vibrant school which serves the community under the excellent care of the principal, Ms Helen O'Gorman. It provides a first class education for a rapidly increasing primary school-going population in Edgeworthstown and surrounding areas. It does so despite the limitations imposed by the Government, but the built environment is becoming more and more of an issue for teachers, pupils and parents. The population has grown by 68.4% in the five years from 2001-06 and enrolment has grown accordingly, but EAL has remained static. The school should be included in the Department of Education and Science's development area units.

I am asking the Minister to stop throwing good money after bad. Instead of ploughing more money on top of the third of the cost of the new building already spent into temporary accommodation which is totally unsuited for the purpose and facing rising costs, building must be permitted to go ahead at this school. I hope that in the Minister's reply, there will be a Christmas box for students, teachers and parents in the Edgeworthstown area. I should very much appreciate a favourable response to this important motion for this area of my constituency.

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the House the position with regard to the proposed building project for St. Mary's national school in Edgeworthstown, County Longford and the position in relation to the allocation of teaching resources for the new school year.

St. Mary's national school was formed as a result of an amalgamation of St. Mary's boys' and St. Elizabeth's girls' national schools in September 2001. The St. Mary's boys' national school building was deemed suitable to act as a host for the school and it is operating from these premises at present. However, in the intervening years, enrolments have increased by over 60% at the school and the Department of Education and Science has provided temporary accommodation to meet this growing need for pupil places, including three new prefabs for the current school year. It accepts, however, that a new building is needed to provide adequately for the school.

A project to provide this new building is currently at stage 2 of the Department's architectural planning process, which is the initial sketch scheme stage. A revised stage 2 submission in this regard has been received from the school authority and this is currently being examined by the Department's professional and technical staff. While the Department is not in a position to say when the project will be allowed to proceed further after the stage 2 submission has been approved due to the level of demand on its capital budget, the Minister for Education and Science is committed to delivering the project as soon as the necessary funding is available. With regard to teaching resources, when the country was able to afford it, the Government reduced the basis on which primary teachers are allocated to schools from being based on an average number of pupils per teacher from 35 down to the current level of 27.

The change to a new average of 28 pupils per teacher has to be viewed in that context. Significant additional support went into schools, particularly in the area of special education. The Government also reduced class sizes for the most disadvantaged in our DEIS schools to an average of one teacher for every 20 pupils in junior classes and an average of one for every 24 pupils in senior classes and these will not be changing in 2009. When all the teachers in the system are added up, there is one for every 16 pupils in our primary schools.

It will be necessary in the more testing economic climate ahead for us to continue to target and prioritise our resources to maximum effect for everyone. While teacher numbers are important, numerous influential reports have highlighted the fact that teacher quality is the single most important factor, far above anything else, in improving educational outcomes for children. Ensuring high quality teaching and learning is a challenge and dealing with factors that inhibit this represents a challenge for the Government, the Department, school management and indeed the teacher unions.

The Department will be advising individual schools in the normal way in relation to staffing allocations. The preparatory work for this has commenced with the processing of enrolment data that has been received from schools. The staffing allocation processes, including notification to schools, will commence early in the new year. The allocation process includes appellate mechanisms under which schools can appeal against the allocation due to them under the staffing schedules. In addition to the mainstream classroom teachers the Department also allocates teaching resources to schools for special needs and language support. The final allocation to a school is also a function of the operation of the redeployment panels which provide for the retention of a teacher in an existing school if a new post is not available within the agreed terms of the scheme.

The Minister for Education and Science has no difficulty in setting out for this House or for the public generally the overall changes on aggregate teacher numbers to schools for the 2009-10 school year. The Minister will do this when the allocation processes have been completed. Furthermore, the staffing schedule will be published and it is a transparent and clear way of ensuring that schools are treated consistently and fairly and know where they stand.

At this time the priority for the Department within the resources available to it is to carry out those processes in a timely manner. Diverting resources in order to create staffing profiles for the school requested by the Deputy, information which at this time would only be speculative, could not be justified and would in fact impede the process.

The Minister for Education and Science is confident that as the global economy improves, it will be possible to build again on the significant achievements of recent years and do so in a manner consistent with overall prudent management of the economy. As the full extent of the global crisis seeps into public consciousness, the Minister believes there will be general acceptance that taking difficult decisions now in order to secure future economic prosperity and secure employment is the first imperative of Government.

Again, I thank the Deputy for raising the issue.

Coláistí Samhraidh.

Deputy Dinny McGinley

Ar dtús ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Cheann Comhairle as an deis an cheist thábhachtach seo a thógáil. Is ceist thábhachtach í seo, ní hamháin don Ghaeilge, ach do oideachas na tíre agus don Ghaeltacht. Táim cinnte go n-aontóidh an tAire liom go bhfuil stair fhada glórmhar ag na coláistí Gaeilge sa tír, a théann siar breis agus céad bliain ó bunaíodh an chéad choláiste Gaeilge i mBéal Átha an Ghaorthaidh, i gContae Chorcaigh, Coláiste na Mumhan.

Bliain nó dhó ina dhaidh sin bunaíodh an dara choláiste Gaeilge i mo cheanntar féin, i nGort ‘a Choirce, Coláiste Uladh. Coláistí iad seo a raibh freastal ag mór laochra agus pearsain mhór i staire réabhlóide na tíre seo orthu. Mar shampla, i gColáiste Uladh bhí daoine móra cosúil le Ruairí Mac Easmainn, an Piarsach féin agus ar ndóigh daoine ó Thuaisceart Éireann a bhain leis an aicme eile, an aicme dílseoirí.

Ainm amháin a thagann chun mo chuimhne ná Róis Ní Ógáin, Rose Young, sean-aintín leis an Tiarna Brookeborough, a tháinig go rialta chuig Gort ‘a Choirce agus a d'foghlaim a cuid Gaeilge agus a chuir an Duanaire Gaeilge ar fail. Taispeánann sé sin an fiúntas, an feabhas agus an mhaitheas a rinne na coláistí Gaeilge ó bunaíodh iad breis is céad bliain ó shin. Tá áthas orm go dtí an lá inniu go bhfuil na coláistí sin ag gníomhú go héifeachtach ar fud na tíre.

'Sé an tAire féin a dúirt go raibh freastal de 6,020 dalta ar na coláistí Gaeilge i seachtan amháin i mbliana. Dúirt an tAire sa ráiteas sin gur fiú €50 milliún do cheantair Ghaeltachta na tíre seo tionscal na gcoláistí Gaeilge. Ní hamháin go mbíonn na daltaí ag freastal ar na coláistí, ach bíonn a gcuid tuismitheoirí agus a gcuid gaolta agus daoine eile ag tabhairt cuairteanna orthu i rith an tsamhraidh. Ar ndóigh, dúinne a bhfuil cónaí orainn sa Ghaeltacht, bíonn na coláistí Gaeilge agus teacht na ndaltaí cosúil le teacht na bhfáinleog sa samhradh, faoi mar a bhí ag an Phiarsach sa scéal sin Eoghainín na nÉan. Táim cinnte go bhfuil eolas ag an Aire ar an scéal sin.

Bhí trí fhoinse d'ioncaim ag na coláistí Gaeilge i gcónaí, an táille a dhíol na tuismitheoirí féin as na daltaí a chur chun na Gaeltachta, an táille a dhíol Roinn an Aire a chuaigh go dtí na mna tí agus an deontas caipitíochta a thug an Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaíochta le haghaidh gach dalta. Cuireadh ionadh an tsaoil orm nuair a tarraingíodh siar go huile agus go hiomlán san cháinaisnéis an deontas caipitíochta sin. Tá mé cinnte go n-aontaíonn sibh gur buille mór sin dos na coláistí Gaeilge a chuireann ar chumas daoine óga, ní hamháin dul agus an Ghaeilge a fhoghlaim ach eolas a chur ar chultúr agus thraidisiún na tuaithe agus na Gaeltachta agus an cheantair sin den tír. An méid atá á tarraingt siar le ciorrú an deontais seo ná €1.25 milliún, amach as €9.5 milliún, an caiteachas ar fad don Roinn. Suim an-bheag í don Roinn, ach is suim an-mhór í dos na coláistí Gaeilge.

Beidh roinnt de na coláistí Gaeilge ábalta é seo a sheasamh ar feadh bliana nó dhó. Sin iad na coláistí atá sean-bhunaithe a bhfuil airgead cruinnithe acu agus nead déanta acu mar go raibh siad ag cruinniú fá choinne na coise tinne. Ach ba mhaith liomsa go gcuimhneodh muid ar na coláistí atá ag na comharchumainn, na coláistí atá ag eagraíochtaí cosúil le Gael Linn, a threoraíonn an t-airgead agus an brabús a dhéanann sé bliain in aghaidh bliana isteach sna comhluadair agus na ceantair ina bhfuil siad lonnaithe.

B'fhiú smaoineamh freisin ar choláistí nach bhfuil ach i ndiaidh tosnú. I mo cheantar féin tá coláiste úr i mBun an Inbhir, a bhí ann don chéad uair athrú anuraidh. Is beag achmhainní atá ag an gcoláiste sin go fóill. Tá siad ag tógáil chomh maith agus is féidir leo agus ag iarraidh níos mó daltaí a fháil. Cuirfidh an tarraingt siar den deontas seo isteach go mór ar na haicmí sin.

Iarraim ar an Aire, cé go bhfuil a fhios agam nach eisean atá i gceannas na Roinne Oideachais agus Eolaíochta — ach tá sé i gceannas ar An Roinn Gnóthaí Pobail, Tuaithe agus Gaeltachta agus tuigeann sé an cás agus cé chomh trom agus a bheidh an buille seo ar an chuid is mó de na coláistí — dul chuig a chomhghleacaithe agus an Rialtas agus iarradh orthu athmhacnamh a dhéanamh ar tharraingt siar an deontais seo agus é a thabhairt do na coláistí i mbliana. Níl i gceist ach €1.25 milliún, suim bheag i gcomhthéacs caiteachas na tíre seo, ach suim mhór chomh fada agus a bhaineann sí leis na coláistí.

Tá an tAire in ann agus san áit cheart le bronntanas breá Nollag a thabhairt dos na 633 teaghlach, de réir a fhocail féin, a dheineann freastal ar na daltaí seo i rith an tsamhraidh sna ceantair Ghaeltachta. Go raibh maith agat.

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghlacadh leis an dTeachta as ucht na ceiste seo a ardú anseo anocht. Táim anseo thar cionn an Aire Oideachais agus Eolaíochta mar go mbaineann an scéal leis an Roinn sin.

Go deimhin, bhí spéis agam sa mhéid a bhí le rá ag an dTeachta maidir le bunú na gcoláistí Gaeilge. Mar a tharlaíonn sé, sa bhliain 1903, bhí cruinniú i gCorcaigh, agus ag an gcruinniú sin, mhol mo sheanathair, Seán Ó Cuív, go mbunófaí coláiste Gaeilge. Ag éirí as sin, bunaíodh coláiste Gaeilge Béal Átha an Ghaorthaidh. Aisteach go leor, bhí an seanathair eile ag an gcomóradh a rinneadh in 1966 ar bhunú an choláiste agus bhí mise, mar Aire na Gaeltachta, ag an gcomóradh a rinneadh ar bhunadh an choláiste sin 100 bliain i ndiaidh a bhunaithe. Mar sin, tá ceangal fada ag mo mhuintir leis na coláistí Gaeilge. Go deimhin, d'fhreastal mé féin ar an gcoláiste i mBéal Átha an Ghaorthaidh ar feadh trí bliana, agus uair amháin sa Spidéal. Mar is eol don Teachta, caithfidh go ndeachaigh an Spidéal go mór i gcion orm, mar phós mé bean as an Spidéal ina dhiaidh sin.

Aithníonn an tAire Oideachais agus Eolaíochta ról tábhachtach na gcoláisti samhraidh Gaeltachta agus molann sé obair na gcoláistí as ucht Iíofacht a chothú i measc na mac léinn a dhéanann freastal orthu. Is ábhar dóchais é go leanann líon suntasach mac léinn orthu ag freastal ar na coláistf seo sa Ghaeltacht. Aithním chomh maith go mbíonn tionchar nach beag ag na coláistí ar eacnamaíocht na gceantar Gaeltachta in a bhfuil siad lonnaithe.

Ni raibh aon dul as, afach, ach roghanna deacra a dhéanamh thar gach réimse de chaiteachas poiblí i mbuiséad 2009. Rinneadh na cinntí seo chun srian a chur le caiteachas poiblí agus marthanacht a áirithiú sa fad-téarma. Ina leith seo, níorbh fhéidir an t-oideachas a sparáil ina iomláine cé gur cosnaíodh é níos mó ná formór na reimsí eile den chaiteachas poiblí.

Níor mhór roinnt bearta a chur i gcrích in earnáil an oideachais chun cabhrú le costais na hearnála poiblí a shrianadh agus soláthar a dhéanamh ag an am chéanna d'athruithe deimeagrafacha agus eile. In ainneoin an mhéadaithe de €302 milliún sa bhuiséad oideachais do 2009, éacht nach beag agus an eacnamaíocht mar atá sí, ni raibh aon dul as ach roinnt cinntí crua, deacra a dhéanamh.

Léiríodh na cinntí seo i mease na bhfógairtí lá an bhuiséid, agus ina measc bhí cealú an deontais a bhí á íoc ag an Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaíochta do na colaistí samhraidh Gaeilge. B'é ráta an chúnamh deontais seo, a cuireadh ar fail i 2008, ná tuairim is €53 in aghaidh gach mhic léinn a bhí rollaithe ar chúrsa trí seachtaine, méid ab ionann is cuid bheag go leor den chostas foriomlán a ghabhann le freastal ar an gcúrsa. Cuireadh an chabhair a soláthraíodh in aghaidh an mhic léinn ar fail ar bhonn an lín fhoriomláin a bhí rollaithe ins na cursaí samhraidh, is cuma faoi acmhainní na dtuismitheoirí.

Leanfar le tacaíocht an Stáit do mhic léinn a fhreastalaíonn ar na coláistí samhraidh Gaeltachta i bhfoirm na bhfóirdheontas a íoctar le teaghlaigh a chuireann cóiríocht ar fáil do na mic léinn. Ina theannta sin, leanfar leis an maoiniú a dhéantar ar fhreastal ábhar oidí ar na coláistí samhraidh sa Ghaeltacht agus leis na socruithe maidir le saoire phearsanta bhreise a cheadú do mhúinteoirí bunscoile a mhúineann ins na coláistí samhraidh.

Tuigeann an tAire Oideachais agus Eolaíochta an tábhacht chultúrtha agus socheolaíoch a bhaineann leis na limistéir Gaeltachta d'fhoghlaimeoirí na teanga agus leanfaidh an Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaiochta le tacaíochtaí Stáit a thabhairt de réir mar is féidir sin leis na hacmhainní mar atá siad ins na toscaí deacra eacnamaíochta atá ann faoi láthair.

Cuireann an Roinn raon bearta ar fáil chun tacú le múineadh agus foghlaim na Gaeilge agus le foghlaim trí Ghaeilge. Orthu seo tá: tacaíochtaí breisithe múinteoireachta agus maoinithe do Ghaelscoileanna; forbairt ghairmiúil do mhúinteoirí ag an leibhéal bunscoile agus iarbhunscoile tríd an gclár tacaíochta don churaclam bunscoile agus tríd an tseirbhís tacaíochta dara leibhéal, faoina gcuirtear 34 oiliúnóir lánaimseartha ar fáil; cláir mhodúlacha do mhúinteoirí tríd an nGréasán lárionad oideachais; agus soláthar téacsanna, ábhar agus acmhainní i nGaeilge trí fhorbairt Shéideán Sí agus obair na Comhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta.

Tá mórán athruithe tarlaithe sa bhliain a chuaigh thart agus is í an chéad aidhm atá ag an Rialtas ná an t-airgeadas poiblí a chosaint. Is é seo an t-aon bhealach inar féidir linn gnóthachain a choimeád agus cur ar ár gcumas féin feabhsúchain a dhéanamh amach anseo. Táimd ag déileáil, áfach, le staid eacnamaíochta a bhfuil deacracht gan fasach ag baint leis. Tá sé de dhualgas ar an Rialtas aghaidh a thabhairt ar seo agus cinntí fíor-dheacra a dhéanamh ar mhaithe leis an náisiún. Agus sin á dheanamh againn, tá iarracht déanta againn foscadh éigin a thabhairt don earnáil oideachais, ach i bhfianaise scála an chaiteachais phoiblí ar an oideachas, ní féidir cinntí crua a sheachaint.

Cabhróidh bearta an bhuiséid lena chinntiú go mbíonn Éire suite go maith chun tairbhe a bhaint as nuair a thiocfaidh feabhas ar an eacnamaíocht domhanda agus nuair a bheidh ar ár gcumas tógáil arís ar éachta móra na mblianta deireanacha agus déanamh amhlaidh i slí a bheidh i gcomhréir le bainistíocht chríonna eacnamaíochta na hÉireann ina iomláine.

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil arís eile leis an dTeachta as ucht deis a thabhairt dom an fhreagra seo a thabhairt ar son mo chomhgleacaí, an tAire Batt O'Keeffe, agus an scéal a mhíniú ar a shon maidir leis na coláistí samhraidh Gaeilge agus a Roinn.

The Dáil adjourned at 10 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 18 December 2008.