Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 12 Mar 2009

Vol. 678 No. 1

Adjournment Debate.

Taxi Regulations.

Deputy Joe Costello

I am delighted to have the opportunity to raise this issue. The taxi regulator produced the review of the taxi and hackney market during the week and she did not recommend a moratorium on taxi numbers. I want to determine the progress that can be made on this matter. The review indicates the hackney and taxi market was responsible for approximately 100 million trips nationwide in 2008 and that the industry is worth approximately €1.5 billion. At present, 77% of cabs are taxis and 23% are hackneys. In 2005, 72% were taxis and 28% were hackneys. Therefore, there has been a significant increase in the proportion of taxis by comparison with hackneys.

The report concluded that the number of hours worked per week were above the standard number and amounted to 52, on average. However, some taxi drivers had a second job or were working part-time. Those with a second job were working an average of 75 hours per week, which raises certain issues pertaining to safety. Approximately 30% of drivers were discovered to have a second job or to be working part-time. This is a very substantial proportion. More than 16% had a second job and some 69 million working hours were clocked up in total. These statistics demonstrate it is a very substantial industry, worth €1.5 billion or €1.6 billion. At the end of 2008, 13,000 cab drivers were working in Dublin. Of all cab drivers in the country, 59% are operating in Dublin. This represents a significant increase.

The regulator indicates she understands circumstances have deteriorated and that taxi drivers are working significantly longer hours to make the same amount of money that they used to make. She recognised this is a serious issue and that certain drivers are working much longer than what would be regarded as normal. However, she does not recommend any step to deal with this, other than to try to improve the standards in the industry. There is no recommendation on a moratorium. I ask that we at least have a temporary one so we can take stock and have a better review and analysis of what has been happening in recent years. The Minister of State well knows that if one comes to Dublin any night of the week one will see the streets chock-a-block with taxis. It has transformed dramatically in recent years. In the past, we had far too few taxis but that was back in the 1990s. Now, it seems to be increasingly difficult for taxi drivers to make a decent living. They must work extravagant hours with all this means for safety in the workplace.

At present one can dispose of a taxi plate privately. It would be more appropriate for it to be sold back to the local authority from which it was obtained. In this way, we could know to a much better degree what plates are out there and the standards to which a taxi plate operates.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport (Deputy Noel Ahern)

As the Deputy stated and as the House is aware, last Monday the Commission for Taxi Regulation published an economic review into the small public service vehicles sector. This comprehensive review contains a wide range of detailed data regarding the demand for and the supply of taxi, hackney and limousine services. The review of the period until the end of last year demonstrates there has been a large increase in the demand for these services with, as Deputy Costello stated, approximately 100 million trips last year. This is an increase of more than 25% in a three year period. This reflects the great improvements in the service available in terms of waiting times and quality.

I agree with the Deputy that there was a time when, on a busy night, one could be waiting for a taxi for an hour or two and we might have been discussing such matters in another forum. There has been an increase in supply and, as the review acknowledges, taxi drivers are operating in a more competitive market than ever. As a result of the increased supply of vehicles, and as the review acknowledges, drivers are working longer hours than in 2005, with which many comparisons are made, and average earnings have dropped slightly despite an 8% increase on maximum fares in 2008.

However, I understand the number of applications for new licences has been decreasing on a monthly basis over the past nine months. This is probably one of the factors that has been taken into account. People seem to realise the market has reached saturation level and there are not the same number of people wishing to enter. The Commission for Taxi Regulation will consult widely with the sector and the public at large on the review.

It is important, as the Minister for Transport, Deputy Noel Dempsey, advised the representatives of the taxi sector when he met them on Tuesday, that all involved now give adequate time to reflect fully on all aspects of the review, its findings and recommendations and not pick or choose one or two headline recommendations from it, and convey their views to the commission. The commission will also be seeking the views of the Taxi Advisory Council before any final determinations are made by the commission.

The review states that a moratorium is not warranted on the basis that the current regulatory model is the most appropriate and has been successful in raising the quantity and quality of services. The review also concludes that the fact drivers' income has fallen in real terms or that they are working longer hours is insufficient to justify the introduction of a moratorium.

The Taxi Regulation Act 2003, which provides the legislative basis for the licensing and operation of small public service vehicles generally, does not provide a basis for the application of quantitative controls on the issue of licences for any such vehicles. We all recall that a High Court judgment of 2000 determined that limitation of taxi licences in the interests of existing licence holders could not be sustained. The Minister has indicated he will consider all aspects of the report, the Oireachtas Committee on Transport report, the views of the official representatives of the taxi industry, consumers and consumer interest groups. Anyone who has a view on the matter should make a submission to be considered as part of the next phase.

Social Welfare Services.

Deputy Ulick Burke

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter and for allowing me to discuss it with the Minister of State. I call on the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Mary Hanafin, to alleviate the serious difficulties within the Department which delay the provision of services to applicants who have lost their jobs in the Gort area. The mission statement of the Department of Social and Family Affairs states,"Our mission is to promote a caring society through ensuring access to income support and other services, enabling active participation, promoting social inclusion and supporting families".

The difficulty is that the Department has failed miserably to provide and deliver on its mission statement in Gort. As of 5 March, the average waiting time in Gort for the processing of various social welfare applications is ten and a half weeks. I was approached for support by a carer in desperation who applied to the Department in September 2008. Last week, I asked the Department when it was likely the person, who has cared for an elderly person since last September, will receive the carer's allowance. I was told the file is with the inspector.

Everybody realises that all people delivering services at the coalface are overwhelmed with volumes of applications. Many areas throughout the country received additional permanent or temporary staff to alleviate the backlog in these instances. In the case of Gort, this has not happened and is not likely to happen unless the Minister intervenes.

It is unfair that any person would have to wait since September 2008 until now to be told the file is still with the inspector. It is outrageous and it shows a lack of care that the Department or Minister will not intervene in this instance. As we speak, more than 1,200 people are on the live register in Gort. The conditions under which officials of the Department of Social and Family Affairs must work are poor. We have no back up services where this happens, particularly with regard to applications for means tested allowances such as carer's allowance and non-contributory old age pensions. These people receive the blunt end of the wedge. It is an uncaring society that allows this to happen and to continue.

We have an urgent need for follow-up support. The social welfare office in Gort is not accessible to the public. It is closed because the inspector cannot deal with the volume of applications and provide a service. The telephone there cannot even be answered. While this is so we will have an increasing backlog and difficulties for many people which is unfair to them. It is putting pressure on the supplementary welfare system, where other agencies must intervene and provide assistance to those people.

I know that the situation is similar across the country, but it is worse in Gort than anywhere else. If anybody has had to wait since September 2008 until now only to be told that the inspector has the file but has not dealt with it, then how can we say that we are caring for elderly people? If not for the goodwill of the carer who has worked in the intervening period without having received the carer's allowance, that person would have had to be hospitalised at a greater cost. There is a need for the Minister to provide additional backup services on a temporary or permanent basis to alleviate the problems and to provide access for the applicants to receive their entitlements.

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Seán Haughey)

I am taking this matter on the Adjournment on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs.

There has been a very significant increase in the number of people applying for a jobseeker's payment during the past year. From February 2008 to February 2009, the live register increased by about 165,000 people, or over 87%. Staff in social welfare local offices are working extremely hard and productivity increased by 74% between the last quarter of 2007 and the final quarter of 2008. The Department delivers a front line service through a network of 62 local offices and 62 branch offices, and the service in Gort is delivered from a branch office. Branch offices are operated by private individuals on a contract for service basis. Under the terms of their contract, branch managers are required to ensure that staffing levels are adequate to allow for the efficient performance of the work of the office.

The main services provided from Gort branch office include jobseeker's payment, one parent family payment and an information service. All decisions on branch office claims are made in the parent local office, which in the case of Gort is the Ennis local office. There was a staffing issue in Gort recently which impacted on the processing times for jobseeker allowance claims. The issue is now resolved and additional inspector resources have been assigned to the area to deal with any backlog in means claim processing.

Following a number of staffing reviews, the Department has assigned extra staff to local offices to deal with the increase in the live register. More than 240 extra posts have been allocated to local offices in recent months, including an additional four staff assigned to the Ennis local office. A range of process improvement initiatives is also being introduced. The current average processing times in the Gort office are 2.6 weeks for jobseeker's benefit claims and 10.6 weeks for jobseeker's allowance claims. This compares with the February national average of three weeks for jobseeker's benefit and six weeks for jobseeker's allowance claims. The additional resources assigned to the Ennis office and the inspectorate area dealing with Gort will reduce the processing times over the coming months.

It is fully appreciated that people need to get access to financial and other supports as quickly as possible. While every effort is made to ensure that applications are processed as quickly as possible, anyone under financial pressure awaiting a decision on his or her claim for a jobseeker's payment can apply for the supplementary welfare allowance, which is subject to a means test and other qualifying conditions.

Deputy Ulick Burke

The issue is not resolved.

School Accommodation.

Deputy Charles Flanagan

A Cheann Comhairle, I am pleased that you are presiding over this debate, because I may have to call on you for clarification before I am finished. I have been raising this issue for many years. I came across a parliamentary question only this morning that I tabled on 21 February 2001, when the then Minister for Education and Science stated that it was his intention to make a decision on how to address the future primary and post-primary requirements at Portlaoise "as early as possible". There has been much water under many bridges since then.

In June 2008, I secured a special Adjournment debate on the matter. I informed the Minister that the school accommodation issue in Portlaoise had become a fiasco. I told him that Scoil Bhríd in Knockmay was beginning to resemble a prefab shanty town. The parents of almost 100 children had informed me that they had no school place for their children the following September. I asked the Minister to visit Portlaoise with his officials and see the crisis for themselves. That did not happen. The Minister stated that approval in principle had been given for three large-scale primary building projects in Portlaoise, which will improve conditions for the schools concerned and provide much needed extra school places.

I am not sure if the Minister of State was watching "Prime Time" earlier this week. If he was, he would have been embarrassed to see himself parroting the exact same statement that his senior Minister had given me some months prior to that. I am tired of this set piece, word-processed answer from officials, who hand them on to Ministers who then come in here to parrot out the same drivel about Portlaoise. It does not address the problem and it does not realise the extent of the difficulties.

There are three school projects to be undertaken as a matter of urgency. The Minister told me that progress on these proposed works is being considered on an ongoing basis. A parliamentary question in my name on 4 March 2009 revealed that the Minister has no idea how many prefabs are on site in Laois schools. In fact, he misled the House. Rath national school is listed as having one prefab, but it has three. The Heath national school is listed as having three prefabs, but it has five. Scoil Bhríd in Knockmay, Portlaoise was listed as having seven prefabs, but it has 24, nine of which are rented. If parliamentary questions are going to be treated in such a cavalier manner by the Department of Education and Science, then this House is in need of reform. Ministers can come in here and not give a damn about the nature of their replies to lawfully elected Deputies.

The reply last week stated that the average cost of renting the 58 prefabs in Laois of which the Department is aware works out at €13,835 per prefab per year, which totals €802,000. However, this is wrong because the cost of renting prefabs in Rath national school is €15,600 per prefab per year. I got a response from the Minister stating "now that the accommodation requirements of the town at post-primary level are well on their way to being addressed, it is proposed to deal with the primary school requirements". I have no doubt I will get the same line tonight. This line was contained in official replies on 12 February and 4 June 2008.

In the school at Knockmay, 75% of the 600 pupils are in prefabs. The nine rented prefabs are costing €125,000 per annum, or €10,000 per month. Rath national school has doubled in size since 2000, and one child in three is being taught in a prefab. In order to address the issue, the parish priest of Portlaoise put forward an imaginative and innovative proposal that was shot down by the Department. The parish agreed to take out a bank loan to finance the new schools and allow the Government repay the loan over a period of 15 years, but that was turned down by the Department.

Deputies in this House cannot even get accurate replies from the Minister for Education and Science on the numbers and cost of prefabs and the number of children being taught in prefabs. This is a town that has experienced rapid growth in the years of the Celtic tiger, yet no school provision has been made for these children. It was a fiasco a year ago, but it is now a very grave problem. I hope that the Minister of State will address this issue and not give me the same response that he and his predecessors have been giving me in this House since February 2001. Nobody in the Department is in control.

I wish to discuss with the Ceann Comhairle how the record is to be set straight and how the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, can give information to the House which is highly inaccurate, wholly unsatisfactory and at variance with the facts.

Deputy Seán Haughey

The Deputy has dismissed my response before I have given it. However, I am entitled to give a reply.

Deputy Charles Flanagan

Of course.

Deputy Seán Haughey

Like Deputy Flanagan, I have been a Member of the House for a long time and I am unsure if the Adjournment debate is the best forum for advancing such issues.

Deputy Charles Flanagan

I asked the Minister to come down and he did not.

Deputy Seán Haughey

In any event, I will take the Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the House the current position for County Laois.

The allocation of funding for school buildings in 2009 is in excess of €650 million. This represents a significant investment in the schools building and modernisation programme. This is an unprecedented level of capital investment which reflects the commitment of the Government to continue its programme of sustained investment in primary and post-primary schools.

At primary level in County Laois, work is progressing on-site to provide a new eight classroom school in Emo. Another project in Borris-in-Ossary to provide a new eight-classroom school has gone to tender. For Portlaoise, enrolments in the six primary schools in the area have increased from 1,474 in 1999 and 2000 to 2,044 this year, a 38% increase in a relatively short period of time. The Department has identified the town as a rapidly developing area, which attracts the highest priority in the allocation of capital funding. In addressing the impending needs of Portlaoise, the Department met with the principals of the primary schools concerned on a number of occasions and proposed the construction of an eight-classroom school, located on a site owned by County Laois VEC, Vocational Education Committee, to cater for the increased enrolments. The schools refused to move into this state-of-the-art facility and subsequently the building was occupied by Gaelscoil Portlaoise which had been renting temporary accommodation.

Deputy Charles Flanagan

That is a complete cop out.

Deputy Seán Haughey

In the interim, sufficient temporary accommodation was provided, at the request of the schools, on the convent site to meet the needs of Portlaoise for the 2008 to 2009 and the 2009 to 2010 school years.

Deputy Charles Flanagan

More shanty.

Deputy Seán Haughey

It is proposed to build two further schools on a greenfield site to facilitate the amalgamation of Scoil Naisiunta an Chroi Naofa, St. Paul's Primary School and Scoil Naisiunta Mhuire. The new facilities will be configured as a junior and senior school and will cater for some 1,600 pupils. The parish proposes acquiring the site for these new permanent schools. However, this site is currently not accessible or serviced. The Department has serious concerns regarding the landlocked site and has sought clarification from the patron on a number of issues, by letter dated 13 February. The Department is awaiting a reply.

As the Deputy will appreciate, the Department would have to be satisfied, especially in the current climate, that it would not be exposed to frontloading services such as roads, water, drainage, electricity, etc., at great cost to the State for a private development, to facilitate construction of the school.

Deputy Charles Flanagan

That is a complete red herring.

Deputy Seán Haughey

For 2009, the Department is satisfied that the temporary accommodation provided last year is sufficient to meet the needs this year. However, the Department is working closely with the patron and monitoring the situation. Further temporary accommodation will be made available should it prove to be necessary.

Deputy Charles Flanagan

More shanty.

Deputy Seán Haughey

Furthermore, on 12 February this year, the Minister announced 25 projects which were to enter into architectural design. This announcement included a major capital project for the extension of Scoil Bride, Knockmay, to create a 32-classroom school catering for 800 pupils.

Apart from provision at primary level, significant investment has been made in provision at post-primary level. The Department has recently delivered Portlaoise college, a new VEC school catering for 700 pupils. It is situated on a 20 acre site and has 50 classrooms including science laboratories, four computer rooms, a home economics room and a music and drama room. A new community school for Mountrath is currently in construction. This new school will provide places for 650 pupils and it is envisaged that it will be ready for occupation by September 2009. Two other post-primary school building projects are due to go on site this year and are being delivered by way of public private partnerships. Both of these schools will cater for 850 pupils each.

The Deputy will understand that it is not possible to progress all projects at the same time. However, I assure him that the Minister is committed to continuing to invest in school accommodation in County Laois. I am confident that the measures outlined will assist in alleviating the immediate demand for pupil places in the area and I thank the Deputy for allowing me the opportunity to outline the Department's position on school provision in the Laois area.

Deputy Charlie O’Connor

I sincerely thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this important issue. I am pleased the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy Seán Haughey, is in the Chamber and I note the point he made concerning the frailties of the Adjournment debate processes. However, I raise this issue today with great desperation. I have come to the House on other occasions to raise serious issues concerning schools building programmes. Only two weeks ago, the Ceann Comhairle allowed me to raise an issue with regard to the building programme of the Holy Rosary national school in Ballycragh. This is a completely different situation. This concerns a job, granted to the community, but which has not been satisfactorily completed. I realise the Minister of State has come to the House with a prepared response, which is fair enough. However, I express to him my complete frustration as far as this issue is concerned.

Ard Mhuire national school in Belgard, Tallaght, was opened in 1977 by the then Minister for Education, Mr. John Wilson. It has provided an excellent educational service to the local community in my parish over the years. Currently, it has an enrolment of 298 pupils under a very progressive principal, Mr. Pat Keogh, and an excellent board. We have been able to deliver real progress for the school in recent times.

Time has moved on since the school opened and the school building has aged. Some €1 million was spent on a new roof, which was a tremendous project. The current project, which is the subject of my matter today, cost €3.2 million. That represents excellent progress for my local school and I welcome it. However, the project has not worked. It was to redesign the school, providing it with a modern upgrade and catering for a new intake. The main construction company was Midland Construction.

I raised this issue with the Department several times last Autumn. In October last year, the Department, at the level of assistant secretary, acknowledged there were difficulties between the school and the contractor. At that stage, the Department pointed out that while the school board was refusing to pay moneys to the contractor on foot of certificates issues by the consulting architects, because it believed that there was a breach of contract, it impressed upon the school board the need to honour the contract. I believe the school has acted in good faith. It came to an agreement through negotiation in November following a meeting with the senior architect and other parties. An agreed list was to be implemented, including the insulation in the ceilings, shelving in the library, a sink unit in the remedial room in block C, the repair of noticeboards, concrete steps to the boiler house, double-flush unit toilets, the lowering of the hatch to the entrance, blinds and several other issues on a very extensive snag list.

I understand the board held an emergency meeting this week and is very unhappy, angered and frustrated with the current situation. The board is now informing the local Deputies for the area, on behalf of whom I represent the matter today, that it wishes the work to be completed to the satisfaction of the school community. It demands this work is done now by a new contractor. There is no question that we should be supportive of the board of Ard Mhuire School to ensure that all essential works are now completed, taking into account health and safety considerations. I call on the Minister to ensure this takes place. The Minister will probably inform me that departmental officials are working with the school authorities. While I do not deny this is the case, completion of this project could be a good news story in a parish in my constituency. However, the board of the school has been messed about and does not know where to turn. I appeal to the Minister of State to bring this matter to the attention of his senior colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. The Minister should assign to a senior official the task of finding out the reason the response to the school, which has acted properly, has not been satisfactory.

I am depending on the Minister of State to take an interest in this important issue. State money has been expended on this matter. The Scoil Ard Mhuire community was pleased with the many announcements made on its building project but now requires effective action.

Deputy Seán Haughey

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science. Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I thank Deputy O'Connor for raising this matter as it gives me an opportunity of outlining to the House the Department's position regarding the building project for Scoil Ard Mhuire, Belgard, Tallaght.

As part of the multi-annual school building programme, the Government has invested heavily in the modernisation of school facilities throughout the country in recent years. More than €2.6 billion was provided for school building infrastructure between 2000 and 2006 under the last national development plan and a further €4.5 billion is being invested under the current National Development Plan 2007-2013, of which €653 million is being provided this year alone.

In the period from 2002 to date, in the region of 650 large-scale building projects at primary and post-primary schools were given approval to proceed to tender and construction. Close to 500 of these projects have reached practical completion. In addition to the large-scale projects thousands of smaller projects were funded in this period under programmes such as the small schools scheme, permanent accommodation scheme and summer works scheme.

In view of the large amount of activity under the school building and modernisation programme, it was prudent to improve efficiency and ensure value for money. In this regard a number of innovations have been introduced in recent years, such as fixed price contracts, delivery of small-scale projects on a devolved basis, the development of generic repeat design buildings and the use of design and build contracts to deliver very large schools building projects. With regard to major projects the Department's role is concentrated in setting the initial design parameters. Initial designs are evaluated at meetings rather than through correspondence to speed up the design phase.

The Deputy will be aware that there has been a substantial increase in the demand for additional accommodation in existing schools and for the provision of complete new school buildings in developing areas in recent years. This results from a rapidly increasing school population and the appointment of 6,000 extra teachers in the primary sector alone since 2002. At the same time, the Department has been significantly improving and modernising the condition of existing school buildings to ensure the highest standard of permanent accommodation for all schools. It was in this context that funding for the upgrading of the Scoil Ard Mhuire school building was approved.

As the Deputy will be aware, in recent years the Department has introduced a number of devolved grant schemes. A key principle behind the devolution of these schemes is that responsibility for the management of the project is devolved to the school authority. The school authority can then make use of its local knowledge and presence on the ground to manage the project more effectively and ensure better value for money for the taxpayer.

The Department funds the work on receipt of the necessary certification from the school's architect that the work has been completed to a satisfactory standard. However, the contract for the works in such cases is between the school authorities and the builder. In the case of Scoil Ard Mhuire, the Department became aware of some difficulties with the project when it was nearing completion. Since then, officials from the Department have met the school management and have been in ongoing contact with the parties with the express aim of having the project completed satisfactorily and at best value to the taxpayer. Department officials will continue to work with the school authority with a view to ensuring a satisfactory outcome to the current situation and the completion of the project.

I thank the Deputy again for giving me the opportunity of outlining the current position to the House and assure him of the Minister's commitment to seeing the satisfactory conclusion of this project in a way that provides value for money for the taxpayer. I note the contents of the Deputy's contribution and will ensure the issues he has articulated will be brought to the attention of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe.