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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 24 Jun 2010

Vol. 713 No. 3

Adjournment Debate

Schools Building Projects

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter this evening. I am pleased the Minister of State, Deputy Mary White, is present to answer in the debate and I trust she will have some good news for us. Kilcredan national school was built in the 1970s. It was an amalgamation of three small primary schools. The policy at the time was to amalgamate small primary schools. It is a fantastic school. Some ten years ago in 2000, it was agreed with the Department of Education and Science that there was a need for an extension because very little work had been done in the 30 years since the school was put together. A design team was appointed and a plan submitted. The plans were examined in 2005, some five years later and the matter has been ongoing for some time. In the meantime, the people in the area raised €220,000 to buy land and provide a car park for the extension. The people have not been found wanting and they are not coming with their hands out. They have been working very hard to raise funds for this project.

They seek permission to move to the next stage, that is, to allow for planning permission, tenders and construction. This is what they seek from the Minister and the Department. There will be 256 students in the school next September. I realise the Minister of State is from a rural area. This school was built in the centre of a parish. Three primary schools were amalgamated from two villages, Ballymacoda and Ladysbridge. There was no agreement on where the school should go so they put it in the centre but that solution worked. It is an outstanding rural school.

The demographics for the coming five years inform us there will be further increases in enrolment. At present, half the school is in prefabs. The plan is to build an all-purpose hall, a library, a staff room and 12 classrooms in total. It is not a great deal to ask for. This has been ongoing for ten years and the people in the area have worked remarkably hard. They have gone over and above the call of duty in this case in raising funds and in meeting the Department more than half way on the cost of this project. I hope the Minister of State can come up with something positive this evening or, if not, that she can go back to the Department and impress on the staff there the importance, urgency and the need to match the goodwill of the people in this case. I look forward to the Minister of State's response with interest.

I am responding to this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Tánaiste and 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 to outline the current position with regard to Kilcredan national school, Kilcredan, Ladysbridge, County Cork.

Modernising facilities in our existing building stock as well as the need to respond 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 our school buildings and to ensure that 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 just less than €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, a commitment under the revised programme for Government.

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 each project. In other words, a proposed building project moves through the system commensurate with the band rating assigned to it. There are four band ratings overall, of which band 1 is the highest and band 4 the lowest. Band 1 projects, for example, include the provision of buildings where none currently exist but there is a high demand for pupil places, while a band 4 project makes provision for desirable, but not necessarily urgent or essential facilities, such as a library or a new sports hall. The proposed building project for Kilcredan national school is currently at an early stage of architectural planning. The project for the national school has been assigned a band rating of 2.4 under the published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects.

All major projects on the Department's capital programme progress through the same structured process of architectural planning, which is divided into clearly defined stages. The stages of architectural planning are set out in the Department's design team procedures and are necessary to comply with Department of Finance guidelines, which require that capital projects be fully designed prior to going to tender. They also ensure proper cost management of capital projects and facilitate compliance with statutory and public procurement requirements.

There are five stages involved in the progression of major school projects through architectural planning. The project for Kilcredan national school is currently moving towards completion of stage 2a which involves the detailed design of the new accommodation to be provided and any refurbishment work to be undertaken. The brief for the project includes the construction of a four classroom extension increasing the school to a 12 classroom school.

Following discussions with the Department's technical staff in May of this year, the school's design team was requested to provide an addendum to its earlier stage 2a submission. This addendum was recently received in the Department. The submission with the addendum information is currently being reviewed and the Department will revert directly to the school when that review is complete.

The next step for this project, once stage 2a is approved, will be to seek planning permission, a fire certificate and a disability access certificate and prepare tender documents as part of stage 2b of architectural planning. Once these necessary statutory approvals have been secured, the project can be considered for progression to tender which forms stage 3 of the architectural planning process.

The progression of all large scale building projects, including this project, from initial design stage through to construction phase will 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 capital budget of the Department and taking into account the necessary statutory approvals which I have outlined that still need to be secured, it is not possible at this time to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of the project to tender and construction.

On behalf of the Tánaiste, I thank the Deputy again for giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the current position regarding the school building project for Kilcredan national school. As a rural Deputy, I appreciate the efforts the local community has made in regard to this project.

Migrant Issues

I am grateful to the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter and I wish the new Minister of State with responsibility for integration well since I have not had the opportunity to do so since she was appointed. I look forward to hearing her response to the important pamphlet, Hidden Message — Overt Agendas, prepared for the Migrant Rights Centre.

It is especially timely given the dramatic reversal in the country's economic fortunes. The spectrum of welcome that existed for migrants at the height of the boom becomes somewhat narrowed in a time of recession. This imposes higher demands on political leadership. The breadth of welcome for migrant workers at the height of the boom was somewhat surprising until one understood that certain sections of Irish society, not well known for their liberal disposition, were motivated by considerations of cheap labour. The availability of a pool of cheap labour — young, educated, disciplined, willing, non-trade union organised workers — left some employers with stars in their eyes.

Some of these same employers have exploited the indefensible arrangement whereby the current employment permits system binds the migrant worker to a particular employer. Currently, the system requires that a worker must stay a minimum of 12 months with an employer, pay another permit fee of €1,000 and wait several months, during which time they are not allowed to work, before an application to change employer can be processed. I submit that bonded labour in 2010 is a scandal. One of its many consequences is to undermine good employers as others take advantage of bonded workers. The spectacle of hundreds of migrant workers queuing for days for re-entry visas cannot be defended. What would be our response if Irish workers were treated in this fashion in London or Los Angeles?

This report traces the positive statements of several Ministers and then compares it to the practice, hence the title, Hidden Messages — Overt Agendas. The report shows that many of the fine sentiments written for Ministers are mitigated by actions taken at the direction of the same Ministers.

One of the success stories of our experience of significant inward migration for the first time in our history is the performance of our schools. Our teachers have done an excellent job, sometimes in almost impossible circumstances. Our problems as a society really only begin outside the school gate. If we persist in cutting the number of English language support teachers in primary schools, we are inviting additional difficulties.

We now have an employment crisis. People contacted me as recently as Saturday last claiming that they and their colleagues had been made redundant and replaced by migrant workers prepared to work for less than the going rate. The only solution to this problem is better invigilation of standards in the workplace which makes it regrettable that the Government has only partially delivered on its promises on labour inspectors, something for which I have consistently campaigned.

This is a comprehensive and seamless document, to which I cannot do justice in the time allowed in an Adjournment Debate. However, we must debate it because of the importance for our society of the issues raised. I conclude by endorsing the warning in the report that "Migration is not a phenomenon that can be switched on and off to suit the needs of the host economy." As a society, we must come to grips with the implications of that warning.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and giving me the opportunity to comment on it. As the Deputy indicates, this document was published by the Migrant Rights Centre. Since taking office as Minister of State with special responsibility for equality, integration and human rights, I have made it my business to meet as many people and organisations involved in the integration field in different parts of the country as I possibly can. From them I am learning of the challenges that face us as a country in integrating newcomers and the way we are responding to those challenges. Among the bodies I have met has been the Migrant Rights Centre and I greatly admire the work of the centre in helping migrants.

As is indicated in the matter tabled by the Deputy, the Migrant Rights Centre published this document but it should be acknowledged that it was written by Mr. Niall Crowley, a person who is a respected advocate for equality and for the marginalised over many years as chief executive of the Equality Authority and in the NGO sector.

In March this year, the Minister of State, Deputy John Curran, as Minister of State with responsibility for integration, issued the following statements in response to the Migrant Rights Centre pamphlet. In the context of this office, no reference is made to the grants given to national groups in various fields to support integration in sporting and cultural fields as well as grants made available to local authorities to support integration in their own areas.

The pamphlet quotes correctly the McCarthy report as recommending that the Office of the Minister for Integration should be abolished and that language support teachers in schools should be reduced from 2,200 to 500. The Government did not abolish this office and the reduction in language support teachers was to approximately 1,500 at a cost, incidentally, of about €100 million. The pamphlet does not record this fact.

In dealing with the live register the author claims that, in previous recessions, the numbers on the register were in some way hostile to women and older people and, as a consequence, apparently massaged to show a lower total. While it is not germane to the current pamphlet, it is difficult to see how paying pensions instead of unemployment benefits would have been of financial benefit to the governments of those years. In this recession the author claims that the Government is encouraging migrants to return home as a means of reducing the numbers on the live register.

In dealing with racism, the author states that in 2007, there were 224 racist crimes reported in Ireland, an increase of 29.5% on the previous year. The figures for 2006 were 173; for 2007, 214; for 2008, 172; and for 2009, 126. Use of incomplete figures can be misleading. There is no place for racism but a full picture, good or bad, should be given.

The author makes much of the fact that there were only 77 labour inspectors in August 2009 — the Government had set a target of 90 two years earlier. The reality of the effect of the recession on public sector recruitment might have been worthy of mention, alongside the fact that at the time the commitment was made there were 31 such inspectors. In a similar vein, Mr. Crowley refers to other bodies, in respect of which funding was reduced or eliminated.

Since my appointment, I have initiated a process of reviewing the workings of the Equality Authority, the Equality Tribunal and the Irish Human Rights Commission. It is an opportune time to do this and ascertain how their work and the equality framework can be linked with the formulation of social inclusion policy. The first step in the review process is producing scoping papers on important universal issues concerning equality and rights bodies. The conclusions on these issues will help to shape the parameters of my review.

The press statement issued by the MRC to accompany the pamphlet described it as "a political pamphlet". My office, as the responsible authority for the European Integration Fund, could not be associated with any publication criticising Ministers and their policies, still less with criticism which amounted to accusations of bad faith, nor could it support attacks on other politicians. For that reason, funding of more than €5,000 — half the cost of the report — was decommitted from the amount due to the centre for its overall project.

I have set up the ministerial council to hear the voices of migrants and make sure they are fully included and integrated in Ireland. I will set up four regional fora to hear their voices, as they are often on the margins and not heard. However, they will have my ear.

According to the Minister of State's response, she is cutting the budget by €5,000.

The Deputy should read my reply carefully.

The Minister of State outlined a list of defensive actions and cut the centre's budget by €5,000 because it had been naughty. She then said she would listen to it.

Schools Building Projects

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to discuss this important issue, namely, the need for the Minister for Education and Skills to provide a new community college in Kilbeggan, County Westmeath, or to facilitate the operation of a public private partnership for the project. While I fully welcome the recent opening of the autism unit at the Mercy Convent in Kilbeggan following protracted representations, I recognise the need for a new purpose built school, which was also highlighted by the school's principal and board of management when the Minister visited the school on the day of the official opening. The proposed new Kilbeggan community college is to be built on a 13.5 acre site across from the existing secondary school. The new school is urgently needed owing to overcrowding caused by increased demand for enrolment.

An application for the new school, including a special unit for pupils with autism, was lodged with Westmeath County Council last March. The project, despite its urgency, has been turned down by the Department owing to budgetary constraints. It was also contended that it had not yet been determined what the future needs of the school were. There is absolutely no doubt about such needs on the part of the school and the community in Kilbeggan. The submission to Westmeath County Council included not only an autism unit but a para-education room and a multi-sensory room. The envisaged school would comprise one and two storey elements. The school is also planning for five ball courts, a GAA pitch with three dugouts and a roofed viewing area, an exercise warm-up area and track and field facilities.

The school is suffering from severe overcrowding, as the Minister acknowledged when she visited less than one month ago. There is an increased need to provide a new education facility within the town and a 13.5 acre site is available. While the Department has stated it does not have the money for the project, despite the current underspend in the education budget, there is a viable alternative to complete the building of this much needed school which I would like the Minister of State to take on board.

I am particularly concerned that Sheridan Construction, Mullingar, County Westmeath, is in a position to fund the project and lease the school back to the Department of Education and Skills for 30 years, but it has been told it will have to pay a whopping €30,000 in planning fees. The company which is offering a viable proposal to provide a new school to Kilbeggan is faced with a scenario where its application will not be validated unless it pays these fees. This is outrageous and I would like the Minister of State to look into the matter. It was the company's understanding school projects would be exempt from planning fees. Part 12(157)(1) of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 should provide the necessary exemption. This refusal of an exemption is tantamount to bringing an end to the progression of this valuable educational initiative. Will the Minister consider waiving these excessive fees in the interests of facilitating the construction of this much needed school for the Kilbeggan area?

I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills.

I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the position on the plans of the Department of Education and Skills for post-primary provision in the Kilbeggan catchment area. The area is served by one post-primary school, Meánscoil an Chlochair. This is a co-educational, voluntary secondary Mercy Order facility and has a current enrolment of 381 pupils. The school shares its campus with a primary school.

The school authority has applied to the Department for large-scale capital funding to provide a new building on a greenfield site. Based on a review by the Department's forward planning section, some 550 pupil places will be needed in the area for the long term. In addition, the Commission on School Accommodation published an area development plan for the N4-M4 area and in its report recommended that Meánscoil an Chlochair be relocated to a greenfield site to enable the increase in enrolments from new housing developments in the area to be adequately catered for. Given the projected level of increased demand and the restricted nature of the school's existing site, the Department has decided to proceed with the greenfield site option.

What is intended is the relocation of the existing voluntary secondary school which is under CEIST trusteeship. CEIST is the trustee body for a number of religious orders, including the Mercy Order within whose remit Meánscoil an Chlochair comes. The Department has no plans to establish a further post-primary school in the area, as this is not warranted, or to effect a change of trusteeship or the management model for the existing school. The first issue that must be addressed to facilitate the relocation of the school is the identification and acquisition of a suitable cost effective site. In this regard, CEIST has indicated that it may have a site which can be made available for a new school development. This matter is under discussion with that body. If it decides to retain ownership of the site, the school building project will be delivered by way of the traditional public procurement method. If, on the other hand, the site is transferred to the Department's ownership, consideration can be given to delivering the project using the public private partnership model.

In May 2009 an alternative proposal was brought forward by a delegation from the school and local developers. This proposal involves the private development of an alternative site to provide a new post-primary school building which would then be made available to the Department on a lease-purchase arrangement. The Department is aware that the developers associated with the site lodged a planning application with Westmeath County Council in March for a school on this site. It was not consulted on the design of the building which normally requires the input of a senior educationist and the Department's professional and technical staff to ensure the curriculum can be fully delivered and that the spaces work from an educational and management perspective. It was also not notified of the planning application.

The public procurement and legal issues surrounding this proposal are complex and they preclude the Department from approving it at this time.

The Department still plans to progress a project for the school in accordance with its discussions with the school's owners, and taking account of their preference — which, as the Department understands it, is the development of their own greenfield site.

As to when the project can proceed, this is dependent in the first instance on finalisation of the site issue. Thereafter, the progression of an actual building project will be considered in the context of the school building and modernisation programme. However, due to the level of demand on the Department's capital budget, it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of the project at this time.

In the meantime, the Department has provided the school with funding to improve conditions and to provide extra accommodation. Under the summer works scheme for 2009, funding was made available to upgrade some of the electrics, while under the scheme for 2010, funding is being made available to carry out partial roof repairs. Also in 2009, an emergency works grant was provided for roof repairs to the gym. Between 2008 and 2009, significant funding was provided for four extra classrooms and an autistic unit.

On behalf of the Minister, I thank the Deputy again for raising this matter. I hope this clarifies the Department's plans to meet the long-term post primary needs of the Kilbeggan catchment area.

Hospital Accommodation

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on this issue. It is important to acknowledge the contribution made by Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital to community health facilities in the south east of Dublin, particularly in Dublin 2, where people from the local community were able to visit their relatives who were unwell. Any family members I have talked to have spoken very highly of the community care at Sir Patrick Dun's. They use words such as "caring", "pleasant" and "helpful". At a time when we are all giving out about the health services, it is important to acknowledge that much good work is being carried out. The staff in Sir Patrick Dun's are of the highest quality.

The building is an old one and it was inevitable that at some point it would no longer be feasible to keep people in that setting. A new structure was built in Vergemount, which is very welcome. A building has only a certain lifespan, and with people expecting — rightly — higher standards of safety, the old building just did not measure up any more. Thus, the decision was made to transfer the patients to Vergemount between now and November.

My concern is that we must ensure the transfer of patients is done with much consultation with their families, who are anxious about the move. Their first choice would have been for their relatives to stay in Sir Patrick Dun's; however, they realise it is a better option to move to Vergemount. It is important that the families are supported during the transfer process. For example, one 83-year-old lady is visited by her 87-year-old sister every day, but this may not be possible after the transfer. It makes things much more difficult. There should be some sort of mechanism under which visits are facilitated and the visiting families are supported.

What is the future of Sir Patrick Dun's hospital? People are concerned about what will happen. Ideally, it would become a health care facility of some sort, such as a counselling centre. It is a great asset and I would hate to lose it to the private sector. It is important that it is kept within the health service as a provider of health care in the community. On a related note, I welcome the commitment of the Minister for Health and Children not to sell St. Luke's Hospital in Rathgar, because that too is a wonderful facility. It is important that we keep such facilities in the health infrastructure for the community.

I ask the Minister to ensure there is consultation with the families on an ongoing basis and, if there is an option to keep a patient close to the Dublin 2 area, that this be facilitated.

I am responding to this Adjournment matter on behalf of the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney.

The overarching policy of the Government is to support older people in living with dignity and independence in their own homes and communities for as long as possible and to support access to quality long-term residential care where appropriate. It should be noted in the context of the issue raised by the Deputy that the HSE has operational responsibility for the delivery of health and social services, including details regarding transfer arrangements and consultation at facilities such as Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital.

Services for older people provided at the hospital in recent times include long-stay, respite and day care. There are currently 16 long-stay residents at Sir Patrick Dun's and eight beds that are used for respite or short-stay patients. In addition, between 13 and 17 clients attend day care on any given day.

The Deputy will appreciate that all developments regarding older people, including long-stay residential and day care services at individual centres such as Sir Patrick Dun's, must be addressed in the light of the current economic and budgetary pressures. The HSE has been asked to make a rigorous examination of how existing funding might be reconfigured or reallocated to ensure maximum service provision is achieved. This requires stringent ongoing review of the application of the resources currently available. The HSE recognises the challenges ahead in meeting the increased volume and complexity of needs for our ageing population, while also attempting to address the demand for integrated, co-ordinated and appropriate services within the overall health and personal social services system.

The executive considers that the long-stay unit in Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital will not meet the current HIQA standards. There are also health and safety issues at the hospital. In addition, the building is the subject of a preservation order, and it would be very costly to carry out the structural works to meet the standards now in force. The problems experienced in Sir Patrick Dun's are being addressed by the HSE in the context of the new 100-bed unit that has recently been built on the Clonskeagh campus. This modern facility is currently being fitted out for equipment. The overall capital cost of this development is in the region of €16 million. The vast majority of rooms at the new unit will be single en-suite. Other facilities include fully equipped occupational therapy and physiotherapy rooms with a large day area. In addition it will be surrounded by landscaped gardens with access for residents and their families.

The HSE intends to move both the residential and day care services from Sir Patrick Dun's to the new unit in Clonskeagh where it will be able to provide services that will meet the standards, as laid down by HIQA and health and safety. The relocation will provide a higher quality of service to the residents. The present position is that the executive has applied for registration of the new unit, as required under the new registration and inspection regime of all nursing homes which commenced last year. It is currently waiting for HIQA to inspect the unit.

The HSE is strongly committed to a meaningful consultation process between Sir Patrick Dun's and the residents and their families. The executive held an information meeting on Thursday, 17 June, with staff, residents and relatives. It informed the meeting that it proposed to accommodate all the residents together, on one floor, with the staff from Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital at Clonskeagh. At the meeting it was agreed that residents, together with family members, could volunteer to participate as part of working groups to identify general ongoing issues pertinent to all. It was also recommended that any individual issue be brought to the attention of the director of nursing and the hospital manager, so that these also could be specifically followed up. It is envisaged that these groups will be meeting on a regular basis to give information pertinent to the move. As yet, there is no date for the closure of the long-stay unit. However, the executive has indicated that this may take place in October 2010, subject to ongoing review. This will depend to a large extent on inspection and approval from HIQA for the new Clonskeagh unit. I wish to reassure the House that all the residents and their families, in consultation with the HSE, will be relocated to a better and safer facility which is purpose-built to cater for their future health and well-being.

The Dáil adjourned at 8.20 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 June 2010.
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