Adjournment Debate

Job Losses

Deputy Deirdre Clune

I am grateful for the opportunity to raise yesterday's disturbing and upsetting announcement of the loss of 785 jobs at Pfizer Ireland. Behind that figure are individuals and their families who are devastated by this announcement. It is a day the employees hoped would never come. A commitment must be given that something will be done to ensure replacement jobs are found in the relevant areas. I am pleased the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, is in the Chamber to respond to this matter.

Yesterday's announcement did not come out of the blue for Pfizer employees despite their hope that their jobs would not be affected. I am particularly concerned by the impact on the Cork area of the loss of approximately 300 jobs between the two facilities there. At the Loughbeg drug product plant, 225 jobs will be lost by the end of 2012, which is only 18 months away. The Loughbeg facility produces the drug LIPITOR which, as has been known for some time, will go off patent next year. I questioned the Minister's predecessor on many occasions about this and about recent changes at Pfizer particularly following its takeover of Wyeth in January 2009. In addition, it has been repeatedly pointed out, including by Pfizer Ireland itself, that it is expensive to do business in this country and that competitiveness continues to be an issue for companies here. The concerns raised by Mr. Paul Duffy, head of manufacturing at Pfizer and president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland, in the presence of the Taoiseach, regarding competitiveness and the cost of doing business here were raised yesterday in the House.

While wage costs have fallen in some sectors, energy costs in Ireland are among the highest in Europe. Local authority charges and waste and water charges also contribute to the high costs of doing business here for companies such as Pfizer. When company boards meet in New York to review their worldwide operations they find that Ireland is an expensive country in which to operate. We are competing against countries such as Singapore, India and other locations in which Pfizer has operations.

The other Cork plant mentioned yesterday is a biotechnology facility employing 75 people which opened in 2009 following investment of €195 million. The jobs affected involve high level research on behalf of Pfizer's global manufacturing operations. The facility was hailed as an important investment at the time and a signal of the company's commitment to Ireland. I believe Pfizer remains committed to Ireland as it continues to employ 5,000 people here.

I ask the Minister to address the future of pharmaceuticals on this island. The pharmaceutical sector is experiencing difficulties worldwide getting products to market and many products are due to come off patent. What will this mean for Ireland?

The IDA recently launched its Horizon 2020 strategy. Deputies have received only a Powerpoint presentation on the strategy and do not have much information on where precisely the anticipated 62,000 new jobs will be generated. The strategy refers to regional economic development, emerging growth markets, greenfield investments, research, development and innovation. The IDA estimates that Ireland will benefit from 640 investments. What will be the nature of these investments? Will they replace the jobs being lost in Cork?

Pfizer is confident it will be able to sell the plants it will vacate in Cork and Dún Laoghaire. I ask the Minister to give a commitment that the IDA will work with the company to ensure potential buyers are identified and alternative jobs are found for the areas in which jobs will be lost. Given the concerns about the future of the pharmaceutical industry on this island, I ask the Minister to provide some reassurance.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe)

I thank Deputy Clune for raising this pertinent matter of concern to all of us on the Adjournment. I reiterate my deep regret at the job losses announced on Tuesday in Pfizer Global Manufacturing.

Pfizer's plan to cut its worldwide workforce by 6,000 in 14 sites over the next four years is aimed at integrating the Pfizer and Wyeth manufacturing and supply organisations, which have significant over-capacity following the Pfizer takeover of Wyeth late last year. I have asked the State agencies to do everything possible to provide training and re-employment services to the 275 workers losing their jobs in Newbridge, County Kildare, and to work with Pfizer to save the other 510 jobs at risk due to the planned future sale or closure of plants in Cork and Dublin.

Although the company plans to cut its global headcount by 6,000, Pfizer remains a major multinational employer in Ireland, with more than 4,200 workers in seven locations involved in the manufacture of high-end life science products for world markets. The loss of 275 jobs in Newbridge is not immediate. Between the end of this year and 2011, 135 jobs will be lost, with the remainder to be lost in 2013. Likewise, any impact on jobs at the facilities in Loughbeg and Shanbally in Cork, and in Dún Laoghaire in County Dublin, would occur in 2012 to 2014.

The IDA is confident that a buyer will be found for at least some of these facilities and the agency will work closely with Pfizer to achieve this end. In the recent past, the IDA and Pfizer have been successful with the sale of Pfizer's animal health plant in Sligo and its Loughbeg API plant, preserving jobs at both locations.

Pfizer is planning further capital investments and new positions in its biotechnology operations in Ireland. The Government will do all it can to support the company's growth plans. Although the 275 job losses in Newbridge are devastating for the workers in question, their families and communities, it should be acknowledged that the company is retaining a workforce of 770 in the plant.

I assure the Deputy that my priority is to ensure that the business environment is supportive of Irish enterprise and export growth and that we continue to attract high value foreign investment. By selling on international markets, we will create jobs and prosperity at home.

State supported indigenous companies currently employ 133,000 people. Enterprise Ireland's objective is to create a further 40,000 new jobs over the next five years. State supported foreign companies currently employ 124,000 people. The IDA's objective is to create a further 62,000 new jobs over the next five years. The IDA and Enterprise Ireland targets for job creation could lead to an additional 70,000 jobs elsewhere in the economy.

Our thoughts are with the workers affected by yesterday's announcement. I am acutely aware of the distress the job losses are causing to employees and their families. I assure everyone that the State agencies will give every support they can to Pfizer employees.

Drug Treatment Programme

Deputy Leo Varadkar

The issue I raise is a proposal by the Health Service Executive to establish a methadone clinic in Coolmine industrial estate in Blanchardstown, Dublin 15. No one is opposed to the provision of a methadone clinic or the idea that users of methadone should be facilitated in their own communities. Methadone treatment services are currently provided by Connolly Hospital, which is close to the Coolmine industrial estate. This arrangement will cease in the near future and the clinic will move to the industrial estate where it will be housed next door to a workshop staffed by people with an intellectual disability and operated under the auspices of the Daughters of Charity. Needless to say, the parents of those employed in the workshop are concerned about the impact this new arrangement will have on their adult children given that they have intellectual disabilities.

It appears the HSE is seeking to pit the vulnerable against the vulnerable in choosing the location in question for a methadone clinic. The executive did not engage in any consultation with public representatives, which is unusual, or other parties involved in the industrial estate, including the Daughters of Charity and Tofa, which operates the workshop in question. Planning permission to dispense methadone from the facility has not been granted, although it is required, and the HSE has not yet given any indication that it will be sought.

Potential alternative locations for a methadone facility are available in the vicinity of the Blanchardstown centre and Connolly Hospital. The centre should not be located next door to a workshop for people with intellectual disabilities. I ask the Minister to convey the united wish of the community and all parties who have been represented at the public meetings on this issue that there be a proper consultation with their potential neighbours, and that alternative locations be considered within the Dublin 15 area.

Deputy Batt O’Keeffe

I am replying to this Adjournment debate on behalf of the Minister for Health and Children.

The management and delivery of health and personal social services, including methadone services, are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, as it provides me with an opportunity to outline the actions being taken by the HSE to expand the availability and access to drug treatment services within the Blanchardstown area.

Under the interim national drugs strategy for 2009 to 2016, the HSE is implementing part of "Action 34" by providing methadone clinics in targeted areas where waiting lists have emerged. Until now, services in the Blanchardstown area have been fragmented and delivered from several different sites. The new facility in the Coolmine industrial estate will provide a "one-stop shop" for the provision of addiction services to clients in the area. In late 2008, the HSE was advised that the premises was becoming available. As the premises is adjacent to two community drug projects and had planning permission for community services use, it was considered an ideal location for a treatment centre. Community services provide a range of support services, including dispensing.

The HSE replicated its successful delivery of drug treatment centres, such as the Wellmount in Finglas, by engaging with the Blanchardstown local drugs task force as the consultative channel. All key stakeholders such as statutory, community and political representatives are members of the task force. There was unanimous support and approval from the task force for the provision of addiction services at these premises. The new premises will provide a full range of treatment and rehabilitation options. The interventions available will provide assessment, advice and counselling services. It will also include stabilisation, treatment, detoxification and access to rehabilitation and integration services. The services will be delivered through a care planning process by a multi-disciplinary team. It will be staffed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. The service will begin on a half-day basis initially and will progress to a full day.

This is a key action in the 2010 HSE national service plan. It is part of a comprehensive harm reduction programme that the HSE is implementing across the country. There are an estimated 14,500 opiate users in Ireland. According to the latest figures available at the end of December 2009, there were 9,047 clients receiving methadone maintenance treatment services. Of these, 5,382 had their methadone dispensed by pharmacists in the community rather than in specialist addiction clinics. The number of GPs providing methadone maintenance treatment at the end of December 2009 was 277, while the number of pharmacies involved was 480. The HSE is planning to expand these services in 2010.

Energy Resources

Deputy Frank Feighan

I raised tonight's matter on the Adjournment on 1 April. Speaking on the debate, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government stated that he expected to see the report and the recommendations of the group set up to look at the cessation of turf cutting on 32 raised bogs in the coming days. He stated that he would then conclude his considerations on the matter as quickly as possible, with a view to making his proposals available to the Government without delay.

I took those words at face value, and I was very surprised to find out within hours in the national newspapers that there was to be a complete ban on turf cutting. This is not the spirit in which we want to resolve a vexed issue in rural Ireland. We must work with all the stakeholders to get a reasonable outcome.

The country is in a state of emergency, and turf cutting is an economic issue, a national issue and a European issue. The Minister should now extend the turf cutting derogations in view of the difficult times in which we live. The proposals mainly affect rural families who have the opportunity to provide their own fuel. They could essentially be denied the right to cut turf to heat up their homes. Why should people have to pay a carbon tax and then be denied the right to carry on a centuries old tradition? The areas of conservation were determined many years ago.

For almost two years, the turf cutters and many politicians have asked the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government to produce the maps that determine these areas. Department officials refused, or else did not have these maps. The Minister claimed that the maps have been made available to the Oireachtas environment committee, but this came as a surprise because the Department did not have the maps for 18 months. The maps currently being used were not used in 1997 when these areas were drawn up. Some counties cross one another in the maps, so I believe these maps are flawed. The turf cutters want to enter into dialogue with the Department and they want to be sure that everything is open and transparent.

This issue has been ongoing for many years. There are people who want to carry on the tradition of cutting turf. Turf is what heats their homes. It is their oil well. Up to 98% of the country's bogs are harvested by Bord na Móna, but there seems to be no restrictions on this company, whereas ordinary people cutting turf to heat their homes find that the jackboot of the Government is coming down very firmly on them.

I have been at many meetings and I have seen the anger on the ground. We are talking about people who understand the environment and our land. They have come up with scientific information that flies in the face of the so-called information we get from the Department.

We want all the stakeholders — the Department officials, the turf cutters' association and the contractors — to sit come up with a solution. It can be done. I have called for dialogue on numerous occasions. These people are aggrieved that their views have not been taken on board. A committee was set up that did not include any members of the turf cutters' association. It was an interdepartmental group. The turf cutters feel they are being excluded.

I want the right to cut turf to continue. There is a great opportunity to have a dialogue with the turf cutters association. I would be glad to facilitate such a discussion, as would most Members across the House. The Minister is making a mistake if he thinks that people from the Department can go out and stop people from cutting their turf. There is anger that can be contained by working with the people. We want to care for the environment and we will do so, but we want to ensure that we can cut turf. This is the time to sit down for talks to get a proper resolution once and for all.

Deputy Batt O’Keeffe

It should be clearly understood that there is no issue regarding turf cutting on the majority of Irish bogs. A small number of raised bogs, which comprise approximately 4% of bogland within the State where turf cutting is feasible, have been designated for conservation purposes. For 32 of these sites, the ten-year derogation allowing a continuation of turf cutting for domestic purposes has now elapsed. No further cutting can take place on these sites without the express consent of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

The Minister is fully aware of the difficulties this may present to those who have, up to this year, been cutting turf on these 32 raised bog sites. For this reason he established an interdepartmental working group on the cessation of turf cutting in designated raised bogs to explore these very issues. The working group was established last year. It included representatives of the Departments of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Finance, Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, the Office of Public Works, the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Chief State Solicitor.

The terms of reference of the group, which are available on the website of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, required it to consider the arrangements that would be necessary, including financial arrangements, to achieve the introduction of further restrictions to domestic turf cutting in raised bog special areas of conservation and natural heritage areas. It invited submissions from all interested parties and met numerous associations representing both turf cutting interests and conservationists. Each representative group had an opportunity to put their case to the group and seek whatever clarifications they required.

The Minister is now considering the findings and recommendations which the group has made in its report regarding the required restrictions on further turf cutting in this limited number of sites. Following consultation with his colleagues and a Government decision, any new arrangements will be initiated without delay, and will include direct notification of owners and users of the bogs affected.

There are 130 special areas of conservation and natural heritage areas designated for the protection of raised bog, which is a rare and priority habitat under the habitats directive. Ireland is obliged by law to protect these bogs.

While only a relatively small number of bogs and turf cutters are potentially affected by the necessary cessation of turf cutting, the Government is conscious of the needs of the people who rely on their turf for domestic heating.

Schools Building Projects

Deputy Trevor Sargent

Ar dtús báire, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le hoifig an Chinn Comhairle agus leis an gCathaoirleach as cead a thabhairt dom an cheist thábhachtach áitiúil seo a ardú. I welcome the former Minister for Education and Science and congratulate him on his new posting. St. Joseph's secondary school in Rush, as the Minister will know from his previous portfolio, was built to have a capacity of 450. It now depends on three additional prefabs to a large extent. The width of the corridors is very narrow given that it will have 591 students next September. It has had a growth rate of 35.6% over the past five years. Frank Murray from the Department of Education and Skills certainly knows all about this. The whole-school evaluation that was completed in recent months makes it clear that not only is it the only second level school in Rush, County Dublin, but also that the school student numbers have grown significantly in recent years and the school now caters for more than 500 students from the environs of Rush and beyond. There is a large cohort of students with English as an additional language attending the school. The school is designated in the local area plan to grow to 1,000 students. Things are moving on quickly and it comes back to when we can get the technical assessment and a commitment to build the new school.

The Department's evaluation states that the school is at maximum capacity at present, has limited room for expansion and three prefabricated buildings have been hired to accommodate classrooms. In addition, the canteen also serves as a PE hall and there are no playing pitches in the immediate environs of the school, which makes facilitation of PE a challenge — that is one word for it. One third of all students commented negatively on the facilities in the school. It is amazing that the school has such good morale and such an excellent whole-school evaluation on the basis of that reality.

I would like that the correspondence I have had over several years might tonight at least come to some conclusion as to where we are going. When I wrote to the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe's, predecessor in the Department of Education and Science, the Minister, Deputy Hanafin, seeking her assistance in having the technical assessment into St. Joseph's secondary school carried out, I mentioned that she would be aware that the site of the school is inadequate for any expansion to take place. That has been acknowledged by the Department of Education and Skills in the document Area Development Plan for North Dublin by the Commission on School Accommodation. The school has gained temporary additional classroom space by installing Portakabin buildings adjacent to the existing school building. Although these have been in place for a long time now, this is a temporary measure to address the local needs and accommodate students from Rush and also Lusk which does not yet have a secondary school and is depending on Rush to a large extent. Many students from Donabate — even though it has a new school — depend on St. Joseph's.

I mentioned to the Minister's predecessor that a meeting had taken place between the principal, the community department of Fingal County Council director of services Senan Turnbull and the former councillor, my Green Party colleague, Joe Corr. The council is broadly supportive of the relocation of the school and has already suggested a preferred location. However, Mr. Turnbull is limited in what he can do to facilitate negotiations for a land swap owing to the absence of a technical assessment report from the Department of Education and Skills.

I got a reply indicating that my concerns had been noted and that my correspondence had been sent to the developing area section of the Department for attention. I waited and waited. I then had to write to the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, when he was appointed to the Department of Education and Science. I congratulated him on his appointment as I congratulate him again on his appointment as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation. Again, I was asking for that technical assessment for St. Joseph's secondary school back in 2008. I reiterated many of the same points I had indicated to the Minister, Deputy Hanafin. I got a reply stating that inquiries were being made about the matter and that a further letter would issue as soon as possible. I wrote again when I did not hear back. I received a reply that the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, would be in further contact with me.

I wish to put on the record that while we are waiting, the school is bursting at the seams. It is not fair on the principal, staff and students to be left even though a site has been earmarked beside St. Maur's GAA complex. There is the Kenure local area plan. Fingal County Council is good at co-operating with the Department on shared community facilities for community gain and is willing to play ball again if the Department will do likewise.

Deputy Batt O’Keeffe

I am responding to this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Mary Coughlan. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the Dáil the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and also to outline the current position in relation to St Joseph's secondary school, Rush, County Dublin.

Modernising facilities in our existing building stock, as well as responding to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth, is a significant challenge. The Government has shown a consistent determination to improve the condition of school buildings and ensure the appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum. The allocation of funding for school buildings in 2010 is a little under €579 million. This represents a significant investment in the schools building and modernisation programme. This level of funding, at a time of great pressure on public finances, is a sign of the Government's commitment to investing in school infrastructure and it will permit the continuation of the Department's programme of sustained investment in primary and post primary schools.

All applications for capital funding are assessed in the planning and building unit of the Department. The assessment process determines the extent and type of need presenting based on the demographics of an area, proposed housing developments, condition of buildings, site capacity etc. leading to an appropriate accommodation solution. As part of this process, a project is assigned a band rating under published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects. These criteria were devised following consultation with the education partners. Projects are selected for inclusion in the school building and modernisation programme on the basis of priority of need. This is reflected in the band rating assigned to a project. In other words, a proposed building project moves through the system commensurate with the band rating assigned to it.

A whole-school evaluation of management, leadership and learning was undertaken between 22 and 24 February this year in St Joseph's secondary school, Rush. Following this, the WSE report was issued to the board of management of the school on 29 April and the Department is currently awaiting the school's response to the report. The WSE report will not be finalised until the school's response is received. Therefore I am not in a position to make any further comment on the report or its contents.

A project for an extension and refurbishment for St Joseph's secondary school is currently at an early stage of architectural planning. The project has been assigned a priority band rating of 2.4 under the published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects. The brief for the project at St Joseph's is for the provision of an extension of additional mainstream classrooms and facilities and a PE hall of 608 metres squared. The brief also provides for an extensive refurbishment of the existing school buildings. St Joseph's was also granted funding of over €250,000 under the summer works scheme in 2007 for the provision of tarmac and fire alarms. The school was also approved for the rental of three mainstream classrooms in 2007.

The Department has no record of an application from the school for a new school building on a greenfield site. If the school wishes to propose such a development the Department will give it due consideration on receipt of any such proposal. The progression of all large scale building projects, including this project, from initial design stage through to construction is dependent on the prioritisation of competing demands on the funding available under the Department's capital budget. In the absence of any other proposal or application from the school, the project to provide an extension and refurbishment for St Joseph's secondary school will continue to be considered in the context of the Department's multi-annual school building and modernisation programme for 2011 and subsequent years. However, in light of current competing demands on the Department's capital budget, it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of the project at this time.

Again, I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to outline to the Dáil the current position regarding the school building project for St Joseph's secondary school, Rush, County Dublin.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.45 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 20 May 2010.

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Wednesday, 19 May 2010