Adjournment Debate.

Child Care Services.

Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

I thank the Minister of State for being present. I also thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this important matter. I was prompted to bring forward the issue by a constituent who is a low-paid worker with four children, including twins under four. My constituent was looking forward to availing of the free preschool year for her twin children beginning in September 2010. She is now bitterly disappointed to find that, because those two children will not reach the age of three until July, they will not qualify for the preschool year in September. She has been told that they would only be able to begin their preschool year in September 2011. By that time, they will be of an age to attend primary school. I have no doubt that this is not an isolated case. The same flaw in the regulations must affect thousands of children.

There is, and will be, widespread frustration with the manner in which the free preschool year in early childhood care and education has been established and implemented. The rules, as currently laid down, discriminate against children who should qualify for this scheme and this is causing deep disappointment to their parents who expected to be able to avail of the scheme. They have been refused places for this coming September because the rules of the scheme state that to qualify for places in September 2010, children must be born on or after 2 February 2006 or on or before 30 June 2007. One can imagine the disappointment of their parents, both low-paid workers struggling to raise their children. Their mother's plea to "please give me some incentive to go to work" speaks volumes.

Clearly, children should automatically qualify for the free preschool year once they become three years of age and arrangements should be made to allow them to enrol. Rolling enrolment is required. In 2010 it was provided for that children could commence in January. I urge that the same provision be made for 2011 and subsequent years. It may be that some children will not be able to avail of a full year, but they should be able to avail of part of a year.

This scheme cannot be compared to enrolment for the first year in primary school, which is the first of eight years of primary education. The scheme in question is supposed to be a free preschool year, and children and parents must be allowed to avail of it when children are of preschool age. In the case I have cited and many others like it, the children will not qualify for September 2010 and will only qualify for September 2011, by which time they will be starting primary school anyway.

I tabled questions to Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, who is present in the House, on this matter. I refer to Questions Nos. 271 and 272 of 20 October 2009. However, I found the replies totally unsatisfactory and, in fact, contradictory. How can it be claimed that the scheme is being operated "generously", as the Minister stated, when it excludes so many children who happen to be born in what I can only describe as gap months between the registration date and the commencement date? Surely flexibility could be introduced into the system to allow children to start when they reach the age of three. Even if they were not able to avail of the full year, they could avail of part of it, and this would still be of educational value to the children and of great assistance to their parents. Again I ask, would it not be possible for children to begin in January 2011, just as they began in January 2010?

Acting Chairman (Deputy Cyprian Brady)

The Deputy has one minute.

Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

I will not need it all as I am about to conclude by using the opportunity of the Adjournment debate this evening to urge the Minister of State, Deputy Andrews, to change these inflexible and unfair rules and ensure that all children are treated equally — not just the twins to whom I referred, but all children who were born in those specific gap months in 2007. The problem will recur annually unless it is satisfactorily addressed.

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science (Deputy Barry Andrews)

I have responsibility for the implementation of the free preschool year in early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme which commenced in January of this year.

The introduction of the ECCE scheme was announced in April 2009 as part of the supplementary budget. A total of €170 million has been allocated to the scheme in 2010. The scheme is open to application by all preschool services notified to the HSE or registered with the Irish Montessori Education Board, IMEB. Approximately 4,000 preschool services, or some 85%, which met the criteria for the scheme are participating. There is at present no statutory basis for the ECCE scheme. The terms and conditions governing the scheme have been drawn up by my office on an administrative basis and are provided for in the contractual arrangements which govern the scheme.

Preschool services are paid a capitation fee, generally at the rate of €2,450 per annum, in return for providing the free preschool year to qualifying children. Services are required to provide appropriate programme-based activities for children in the qualifying age range. The early learning programmes provided must adhere to the principles of Síolta, the national framework for early learning developed under the Department of Education and Science. In addition, preschool leaders delivering the programmes and activities must hold minimum qualifications in early learning. A higher capitation rate of €2,850 is available to preschool services with more highly qualified staff.

All preschool services participating in the ECCE scheme were required to make a return to my office by 29 January 2010 giving details of the qualifying children enrolled and attending their services. While this will determine the level of funding payable to the services, advance interim payments were issued in January 2010 to all services in contract and where bank details had been provided. The returns are currently being processed by the child care directorate of my office, which administers the scheme.

I was delighted to announce yesterday that more than 51,000 children are participating in the scheme. This represents a very high take-up, particularly in the initial interim period in advance of the first full year of the scheme from September next. It should also be noted that some 2,500 children who would qualify for the ECCE scheme are availing of their free community child care subvention scheme, CCSS, which is also implemented by my office. The CCSS provides support funding to community child care services to enable them to charge reduced child care fees to disadvantaged and low-income parents. Parents qualifying for the highest rate of subvention will in many cases receive a higher funding level under the CCSS and for this reason have opted to avail of the preschool year under the CCSS. This means that the percentage of children availing of the free preschool year at this point is 85%.

The ECCE scheme is a universal scheme and is open to all children when they fall within the qualifying age range. To provide flexibility for parents and their children, the qualifying age range is three years and three months to four years and six months, measured in September each year. This means that all children aged more than three years and two months and all children aged less than four years and seven months will qualify. This allows for an age range of almost 17 months. Children who were aged three years and two months or slightly younger in September 2009 will qualify for the preschool year in September 2010. The upper age limit does not apply where children are developmentally delayed and would benefit from participating in the preschool year at a later age or where a particular issue arises with regard to school admissions policies.

While the great majority of children commence school between the age of four years six months and five years six months, it is accepted that some parents choose to send their children to primary school at an earlier age. The ECCE scheme allows for children to attend the preschool year and still commence primary school when they are just over four years and two months of age. However, the objective of the scheme is to make early learning in a formal setting available to all children in the key developmental year before they commence primary school, with appropriate age-related activities and programmes being provided to children within a particular age cohort. Targeting the preschool year at a particular age cohort is clearly fundamental to the scheme and it is necessary, therefore, to set minimum and maximum limits to the age range within which children will participate in the scheme each year. I am satisfied that the age range set for the scheme achieves a reasonable balance between supporting the provision of appropriate age-related programmes and activities and providing flexibility to parents and their children, and I have no plans to review the position.

Crime Levels.

Deputy Chris Andrews

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this matter.

The right to feel safe in one's own home is a basic entitlement. Article 40.5 of the Constitution states specifically: "The dwelling of every citizen is inviolable and shall not be forcibly entered save in accordance with law." In recent years, a number of high-profile incidents have increased the focus on this subject, most recently the tragic death in Waterford of Mr. Paddy Barry, who died after an aggravated attack by a burglar in his home in Waterford. There has been a perception, somewhat unfairly, that the law in this area comes down more on the side of the people who perpetrate these crimes rather than those on whom the crime is committed. The Government is currently preparing legislation which will clarify this matter and ensure that homeowners are more confident in their right to defend their dwellings.

I welcome this move and the stance the Minister has taken on the matter. However, there should be greater deterrents for the people who commit these crimes, particularly against the elderly and vulnerable. One such deterrent would be the introduction of mandatory sentences for burglary and aggravated burglary. l am aware that there are two opposing views in this regard. There are those who would say that mandatory sentencing will not solve the underlying problems that cause people to commit these crimes; however, it is my belief that the thought of going to prison for a set number of years will make many burglars think twice before they enter a property.

According to recent CSO statistics, there were 26,783 burglaries and related offences last year — an increase of 8.5% — while the annual increase in aggravated burglary offences, compared with 2008, was 11.7%. Statistics show that Dublin is the worst affected area, with 32.7% of all burglaries. In my own constituency of Dublin South-East there has been a spate of burglaries recently in which elderly people are targeted in their homes. The criminals prey on the trusting nature of these homeowners by posing as council officials or people on official business such as television licence inspectors. While the Garda has been excellent in combating such crimes, providing people with checklists for home security and warning them not to trust anyone they do not know, it is an uphill battle due to the fact that many of the perpetrators serve only a few months in prison before being let out on the streets again.

The Attorney General has asked the Law Reform Commission to consider the issue of mandatory sentencing, particularly for those who attack the vulnerable in our society. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has said he is open-minded on the subject of mandatory sentences and has not ruled them out, but he queried the need for them in view of the fact that a maximum sentence could apply. I had hoped to have the statistics of how many maximum sentences have been handed out; unfortunately, I am still awaiting that figure. Although I could stand corrected, the handing out of maximum sentences is not the norm for burglaries.

Finally, Age Action has pointed out that while older persons are less likely to be victims of crime compared to other age groups, they are three times more likely to fear for their well-being in their own area than younger people. It is simply not good enough to have our elderly people living in fear and I would strongly support the implementation of mandatory sentencing for those who perpetrate these crimes on the vulnerable in society.

Deputy Barry Andrews

The Government is aware that there has been widespread public debate and comment in recent months on the issue of mandatory sentencing, particularly in the context of burglaries and unlawful intrusions into the family home. Both my colleague, the Minister for Justice Equality and Law Reform, and the Garda Commissioner are concerned at the increase in property theft shown in the figures released by the Central Statistics Office for the fourth quarter of 2009.

Vulnerable people, particularly the elderly, are subject to unwelcome callers to their homes. All of us must be vigilant but it is also imperative that the State does all in its power to support and help those who need our protection. We are of course particularly concerned at criminals preying on the elderly in our community. The Garda Síochána is committed to providing a visible presence at local level throughout the country. The number of gardaí assigned as dedicated community gardaí has increased from 709 at the end of December 2008 to 1,058 just one year later; an increase of almost 50%.

A community policing ethos drives the work of the gardaí and a great deal of community based initiatives have been undertaken in recent years. For example, community alert, which was set up by Muintir na Tíre in association with the Garda Síochána in 1985, is now a national movement comprising more than 1,300 local groups dedicated to improving the quality of life of vulnerable people in rural Ireland, particularly the elderly. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform provides financial support to community alert.

Neighbourhood Watch, which operates mostly in urban areas, was established by the gardaí to enlist the voluntary help of the community. It promotes community participation and good citizenship to ensure that sections of our communities do not become marginalised. The programme fosters the best kind of community spirit, where neighbours look out for each other. Neighbourhood Watch is administered through the Garda community relations division.

The Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs provides grant support for community and voluntary organisations to address the isolation and security needs of older people. This scheme has enabled the installation of monitored alert systems since 1996. We estimate that as many as 90,000 older people are monitored on a 24 hour, seven day basis.

With regard to the commission of burglary offences, the Minister is very much aware that some people could feel that mandatory sentencing for burglary might have a deterrent effect on those contemplating committing this offence.

In the first instance It should be pointed out that the Government has taken seriously the public comments on this question and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has written to the Attorney General on the matter. I understand that the Attorney General has made a formal request to the Law Reform Commission, as provided for in the Law Reform Commission Act 1975, requesting an examination of the issue of mandatory sentencing generally. The Minister has also been informed that this examination will be undertaken by the Law Reform Commission during the current year.

Current penalties for burglary and for aggravated burglary, as set out in the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001, are severe by any standards. A person who is convicted on indictment of the offence of burglary is liable to a fine or to a term of imprisonment of up to 14 years. A conviction for aggravated burglary, where the perpetrator is carrying a weapon of offence such as any item with a blade or a sharp point and including a firearm, an imitation firearm or explosives, carries a sentence of life imprisonment. The House will be aware that there can be no higher penalty under Irish law. There are, therefore, already very severe penalties for this kind of offence.

There are few more important issues than the necessity for people to be safe in their own homes. This is a matter of considerable concern to the Government and to the gardaí. There is a determination on the part of Government to ensure that every possible aspect of this issue is examined. All of the resources available to us will be utilised in trying to improve the position of those who feel vulnerable or under threat in their homes.

Waste Licensing.

Deputy Liz McManus

Without wishing to be disrespectful to the Minister of State, Deputy Andrews, I regret that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has not taken the trouble to come into the House to address this matter.

On 25 January, the members of Wicklow County Council held a special meeting to discuss a motion calling on the Minister to instigate a public inquiry in the performance of the council in the granting of a waste licence relating to a borrow pit on lands belonging to the Byrne family of Ballybeg, near Rathnew, County Wicklow. The motion was overwhelming supported and the request has been forwarded to this Minister for Environment who has the statutory authority to instigate such a public enquiry.

I am asking him in the interest of the public good and of the county council itself that this be done without delay. While the events took place some time ago, no appropriate inquiry has ever been held despite the fact that the Byrne family were clearly not treated properly and were put at risk of losing a contract worth almost €0.5 million.

The Byrne family had a contractual arrangement with the Morris Sisk Consortium that was subject to the granting of a waste licence on the land. The council granted the licence. Subsequently, that licence was shredded and its existence denied. However, the Byrne family discovered that a copy of the licence had been lodged with the EPA. As a consequence, Councillor George Jones of Fine Gael made a strong case on their behalf and the licence was ultimately granted. Ever since the circumstances of the events have been the subject of controversy.

Councillor Jones sought an inquiry by writing to Deputy Martin Cullen, the then Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and then to Deputy Dick Roche, who took over that position. Inexplicably, Deputy Roche gave the task of investigation to the Local Government Audit Service, a body clearly not equipped in law to carry out the indepth inquiry into the events. Indeed, in his letter to Councillor Jones, he pointed out that the Local Government Financial Provisions Act 1997 does not allow for the public or members to make submissions to such a process.

To this day Councillor Jones has never been interviewed although his was a pivotal role in ensuring that the Byrne family were treated properly, albeit belatedly, by Wicklow County Council. He pursued every avenue open to him without satisfaction. The point has been made by him and other public representatives that not only should the performance of Wicklow County Council be investigated but so too should there be scrutiny of the role of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government under two different Ministers, Deputies Cullen and Roche.

Councillor Jones wrote to the co-manager with a series of questions to be answered. He wrote that the whole saga "has very serious implications in our service and treatment of our customers/public; the Council's relationship with private contractors and a lack of accountability to elected members." To dismiss the events as simply an administrative error is totally inadequate when set against the shredding of documents, the failure to hold onto background information and lack of accountability that characterises this issue to this day.

I urge the Minister of State to talk to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, since we will not be able to do so, and impress on him the importance of a proper public inquiry. The Minister is very quick to criticise councils he does not agree with. In this instance he is being asked by members of a council to investigate the record and he has a duty to follow up on that request.

Deputy Barry Andrews

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government received the text of a resolution adopted by Wicklow County Council that calls on him to hold a local public inquiry concerning the issuing of a waste permit for certain lands at Ballybeg, County Wicklow. The Minister wants to make clear how seriously he takes any matters relating to illegal dumping of waste and, in this context, he considers it important to place on the record of the House some of the actions which have been taken in this regard.

Considerable progress has been made by the relevant statutory agencies in dealing with illegal waste activity. In particular, since the establishment of the Office of Environmental Enforcement in 2003, enforcement has been better structured through the establishment of a national enforcement network. The OEE and the enforcement network have greatly raised awareness and brought about better practice and a more co-ordinated and consistent approach to environmental enforcement by the relevant authorities. Annual supporting funding from the Department's environment fund of over €7.5 million has led to some 120 additional local authority enforcement personnel and a greatly enhanced response on the ground.

In October 2005, the OEE published a major study, "The Nature and Extent of Unauthorised Waste Activity in Ireland", which concluded that large-scale illegal dumping is no longer occurring but local authorities now have to cope with problems such as fly-tipping and backyard burning. Two ministerial policy directions issued in May 2005 and July 2008 provided guidance where illegal deposition is discovered. The policy direction issued in 2005 sets the standard in terms of the expected response from the regulatory authorities, which are obliged to ensure that the necessary remedial measures will be taken to ensure that sites are restored and that waste illegally deposited is appropriately disposed of or recovered. The 2008 direction deals with the use of sanctions to ensure effective actions against those involved in unauthorised waste activities.

On the criminal side, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigations has been involved in the context of the illegal dumping of waste in County Wicklow and criminal proceedings have occurred. These proceedings have resulted in a fine of €150,000 in one case and a six-month prison sentence in another.

Regarding the Ballybeg case, the Minister has arranged for all departmental records recently released under the Access to Information on the Environment Regulations 2007 to be furnished to the cathaoirleach of Wicklow County Council with the strong recommendation that they be circulated to all members of the council without delay. He will also be arranging for them to be forwarded to all Oireachtas Members for County Wicklow. The Minister assures the House that the request from Wicklow County Council for an inquiry will be examined carefully. Such examination will, inter alia, take into account the study carried out by the Local Government Audit Service in 2005. I am sure the Deputy would agree that it is important that we approach the issue in a way that is systematic, fair and proportionate.

Flood Relief.

Deputy Emmet Stagg

It is unsatisfactory that the Minister, to whom this Adjournment matter is personally addressed, has prepared a script without knowing what I have to say. It is not acceptable and I hope the Dáil reform committee will deal with such situations so that when questions are put to Ministers, they or their juniors would be present. This is no reflection on the Minister of State with responsibility for children, Deputy Barry Andrews, who has the chore of reading scripts he has never before seen concerning matters about which he does not know.

Deputy Barry Andrews

The Deputy should contact the other Whips.

Deputy Emmet Stagg

We are dealing with it and have agreed a proposal to force Ministers and Ministers of State into the House when it is their job to be present, but we have other matters with which to deal before we can finalise it.

The Waterways estate in Sallins, County Kildare, was built in 2006 and occupied shortly after late 2007. Planning was done in two phases and matters in the planning files indicate confusion as to the nature and extent of the drainage required. While the developer complied with some parts of the requirements, he is also the subject of enforcement notices from the local authority and others.

The Waterways flooding has notable aspects, one being that it was entirely avoidable. The flood was not caused by a large river breaking its banks or by virtue of the estate being built on a flood plain. It was caused by an inadequate and partly blocked culvert. The flooding of houses up to a depth of 4 ft. lasted from the morning of Sunday, 21 November until the evening of Tuesday, 1 December. A blocked culvert under the road was identified as the cause. However, despite the fact that the problem was identified at an early stage, it became almost impossible to get the necessary work sanctioned to clear the culvert. The local authority claimed it was the business of the management company, which claimed that it could not deal with the matter because the culvert was outside the estate. Eventually at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, 1 December, the local authority gave permission to have the road opened and the culvert cleared. In a few hours, the flood water had subsided and it was gone within 12 hours.

The residents — owners and tenants — were left with a massive task in trying to rescue what remained of their properties. Work is now under way to install adequate drainage systems that will ensure no recurrence of such a disaster. I am raising this matter because it is important to the residents that, when the remedial work is complete, their insurance companies are assured that no such flooding will recur. I am satisfied that this is the case, as the works currently under way will be effective in preventing future flooding.

I refer to the interview given by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley, on "Prime Time" on RTE on Monday, 4 January. I do not do this in a hostile sense. During his interview, the Minister stated that it was not called Waterways for nothing, in that it was built on a flood plain. Whatever the Minister might believe concerning the estate's name, he was wrong to state that it is built on a flood plain. I am not suggesting that he did this in a malicious way, but it is most important for the residents and their ability to get insurance against future flooding, if any, that his statement about a flood plain be corrected.

My colleague, Deputy Bernard Durkan, and I have already raised this issue by means of parliamentary questions without a satisfactory response. Indeed, our questions were ignored. When the OPW, the Government's expert on flooding, was questioned on this point, it stated that the area was subject to flooding — we knew this, seeing as how it was flooded — but certainly did not state that it was a flood plain.

I ask the Minister of State to correct the record specifically to ensure that the earlier statement is not used by insurance companies to increase premiums or refuse insurance. I am hopeful that he will take this opportunity to do so. Sallins in County Kildare is a highly desirable location in which to live, work and raise a family. The Waterways estate is a very desirable location within Sallins and its residents deserve our best efforts to restore the area's reputation. The Minister might not even know we are here, but I hope that the Minister of State will ask him about this matter directly. I am not suggesting that the Minister commented maliciously. It was an off-the-top-of-the-head remark, but one that is causing serious difficulties for residents and needs to be corrected.

Deputy Barry Andrews

Recent experience has highlighted the need to develop a deeper understanding of flood risk, how we manage and reduce that risk and how we deal with the effects of significant flood events. A sound planning approach is central in avoiding and reducing flood risk by integrating the consideration of flooding potential into the planning process, first, through the spatial planning process at regional, city and county and local levels, and also in the assessment of development proposals by planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála.

The recent flooding events sharply illustrate the questionable nature of some development decisions in the past and underline the necessity for action to avoid such developments in locations in which future flooding is predictable. In this regard, the guidelines for planning authorities on the planning system and flood risk management, which were jointly published by the Minister, Deputy John Gormley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Martin Mansergh, last November, introduce a more consistent, rigorous and systematic approach to flood risk identification, assessment and management within the planning system. These guidelines provide, inter alia, that development in areas at risk of flooding, particularly flood plains, should be avoided unless there are wider sustainability grounds that justify appropriate development and where the risk can be reduced or managed to an acceptable level.

The guidelines require the planning system at national, regional and local levels to avoid development in areas at risk of flooding, particularly in flood plains, unless there are proven wider sustainability grounds that justify appropriate development and where the flood risk can be reduced or managed to an acceptable level without increasing flood risk elsewhere; adopt a sequential approach to flood risk management when assessing the location for new development based on avoidance, reduction and mitigation of flood risk; and incorporate flood risk assessment into the process of making decisions on planning applications and planning appeals. It is likely that some lands will have been zoned for development in existing or previous plans without the benefit of a detailed flood risk assessment in accordance with these guidelines and in the absence of detailed flood risk mapping, which is now being carried out by the OPW. Where a review of a development or local area plan shows that there may be a flood risk on certain zoned lands, such zonings must be reconsidered.

The guidelines define a flood plain as any low-lying area of land next to a river or stream that is susceptible to partial or complete inundation by water during a flood event. While strict application of this definition to the land on which the Waterways estate in Sallins was built may be a matter of interpretation, the fact remains that a development that otherwise complied with proper planning and sustainable development was inundated by water following unprecedented recent rainfall. The Minister understands that, in conjunction with Irish Rail, Waterways Ireland and the OPW, Kildare County Council has identified the scope of remedial works necessary to minimise the likelihood of recurrence of flooding in this area. These works are ongoing and should be completed in the coming weeks.

It is important that planning authorities and all other key stakeholders apply the principles and practices for flood risk identification, assessment and management within the planning system in line with the guidelines. In the context of the Minister's statutory role in the planning process, he will continue to assess development and local area plans to monitor implementation of these principles at local level to ensure that future development takes account of these policies.

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Thursday, 4 Feb 2010