I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Martin Mansergh, to the House.
Adjournment Debate
Flood Relief
Will Deputy Connaughton be joining us on this issue?
I am told he will join us. I had nothing to do with these matters being taken together. That was decided by the Ceann Comhairle's office. There is a connection between both issues in that the flooding in Galway is along the Dunkellin River and in Templemore it is primarily on the Dunkellin Road out of Templemore. The Minister of State will be familiar with the scheme and all the consequences of and damage caused by the flooding. The situation in Templemore has become intolerable over the past number of years and the people of the town and surrounding areas are anxious to know what is happening.
I will not go into the usual details in terms of the effects of the flooding on house insurance and so on. It is important this project, which has been investigated by the Office of Public Works and has undergone public consultation and amendment is commenced. I am seeking an assurance from the Minister of State that this scheme will go ahead and that funding in this regard will be made available. I would also like if he could outline when he anticipates the scheme will commence, to give a categoric assurance that the necessary funding for it to commence and be completed is available and to provide me with a timeframe involved in this regard.
My apologies, a Cheann Comhairle.
The Deputy is slowing down.
I know the Dunkellin River well.
Perhaps the Minister of State will outline the up to date position in respect of the Dunkellin River. The Minister of State gave a commitment a few months ago that the report would be published in June. However, this has not happened. As I am out of breath, I will leave it at that.
It is not too often Deputy Connaughton is stuck for words.
I hope the Minister of State's reply will not be as brief.
I thank Deputies Coonan and Connaughton for raising this matter and for the exceptional brevity of their contributions. I will not be brief in return but will try to give full replies to each issue.
I welcome the opportunity to discuss this evening the matters tabled by Deputies Coonan and Connaughton in regard to the flooding problems at Templemore, County Tipperary, and along the Dunkellin River, County Galway.
The town of Templemore lies on the River Mall and has a long history of flooding, with a number of flood events having been reported over the past 150 years. The most significant floods during the past 50 years occurred in December 1968 and, more recently, in November 2000 when approximately 40 properties were inundated. Following requests to address the flooding problem in Templemore, the Office of Public Works, OPW, undertook a pre-feasibilitv study, which was completed in 2003. The report concluded that a flood relief scheme was technically possible and economically viable. Following discussions at the steering group with Templemore Town Council and North Tipperary County Council, it was agreed to undertake a full feasibility study and environmental impact statement. The feasibility study led to the outline design of a proposed scheme being completed, which would provide the standard level flood protection against a flood event with a 1% annual probability of occurring, commonly known as the 100-year event.
The proposed scheme works include the construction of new walls and embankments, remedial works to existing walls, construction of a bypass culvert and some channel-widening downstream of the town. The proposals were placed on formal public exhibition, which I launched in January and February of 2009. Since that time, OPW has been dealing with issues raised through observations received during the exhibition process while also undertaking complex site investigations. A ground survey is complete and tendering for the main site investigation contract is to commence shortly. These investigations are expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter of the year.
Subject to resolution of all remaining post-exhibition matters and the successful completion of the site investigations, the scheme will be forwarded by year end to the Minister for Finance for confirmation, as required under the arterial drainage Acts, allowing construction of the scheme to commence early in 2011. I assure the Deputies that have I seen engineering works plans for the next two or three years, on which Templemore is listed. As long as I remain in this office, I will ensure this work is carried out.
If that is the case, I have no wish to see the Minister of State out of office. People in the town are concerned that this is affecting planning at town centre level. The planning authorities, in particular An Bord Pleanála, are asking what impact development in the centre of the town of Templemore will have on the flood plain. We cannot allow development in the town centre to be stalled or delayed. It is important the street scape and buildings are protected. One particular development appears to have been held up because of this, which is worrying. I welcome what the Minister of State said this evening.
It is firmly on track but as with all ambitious scheme it had to go through a full process of exhibition, observation, planning and so on. All of this is proceeding smoothly and the scheme should be commenced early next year.
I can assure the Minister of State that whomever from this side replaces him in office will ensure the work continues.
These schemes rely on close co-operation between the local community and, in particular, the local authorities and Office of Public Works. Progress is often delayed, as happened in Clonmel, when disagreement arises. I have no sense that those sort of problems will arise in Templemore.
Many parts of County Galway suffered severe damage and hardship during the extreme weather event of November 2009, including areas along the Dunkellin River and Aggard Stream where 20 houses flooded. Many roads also became impassable and large areas of land were inundated. Less severe flood events occurred in the area in 1995 and 2005. Arising from these events, the OPW prepared proposals for works to relieve flooding caused by the Aggard Stream which flows into the Dunkellin River, together with minor works to the Dunkellin River. These proposals did not proceed as it was not possible to secure the agreement of property owners in the area.
Following the November 2009 flooding, the Office of Public Works commissioned Tobin Consulting Engineers to carry out a study to identify practical flood mitigation measures having regard to the unprecedented flooding at that time. The report of the study has now been completed and identifies a preferred mitigation scheme. The extent of the works identified under the preferred scheme can be summarised as follows. First, in respect of the Dunkellin River the proposals comprise channel widening and cleaning with localised deepening as identified along sections of the river from the sea outfall at Kilcolgan to east of Craughwell Village, excluding the Rahasane Turlough; replacement of the Killeely Beg Bridge; removal of the old N6 bridge at Craughwell and its replacement with a pedestrian foot bridge; installation of additional flood relief capacity at Dunkellin and Rinn Bridges; deepening of channel bed from downstream of the railway bridge to the N6 bridge at Craughwell and underpinning abutments at the railway bridge and N6 bridge; maintenance of the existing bypass channel and connection to the main channel at Craughwell. The works that are proposed as regards the Aggard stream are channel maintenance and improvement works along the stream, the Monksfield river and the Cregaclare river; and the replacement of 14 field accommodation culverts with larger capacity culverts.
This report was considered by the joint flood relief working group of the OPW and Galway County Council at its meeting on Monday, 28 June 2010. The group has endorsed the findings and recommendations of the report, including the proposed works I have outlined. The joint working group submitted its conclusions and recommendations today. I hope to be in a position to respond to them shortly. The report will be posted on the OPW website, www.opw.ie, early next week. The joint working group envisages that if its recommendations are accepted, the planning process for the Dunkellin river scheme will be initiated without delay. This will include, inter alia, carrying out an appropriate assessment in accordance with Article 6(3) of the habitats directive and an environmental impact assessment as required. Subject to the satisfactory and timely completion of the planning process, the working group foresees that the main scheme may commence in the summer of 2011 with completion in 2012.
In view of the nature of the works on the Aggard stream element of the scheme, and having regard to the fact that proposals for mitigation works for the Cregaclare scheme were put on public exhibition by the Office of Public Works in 2002, the joint working group considers that it might be feasible to commence these works in advance of the main scheme, if there are no significant local objections to proceeding in this way. The joint working group proposes that the works will be carried out by the Office of Public Works on behalf of Galway County Council under the council's powers. I assure residents of the Templemore and Dunkellin areas of my commitment and that of the Government to providing the necessary resources to implement the necessary flood relief proposals as soon as is practicable.
I assume the money will be available.
Yes. I am pleased to say the sorts of resources that have been deployed this year will be continued in the 2011 and 2012 outline budgets for flood relief and maintenance.
Do all the plans have to be put on public display?
They will be available on the website. I said in my response that some works may commence in advance of the scheme——
I heard that.
——if there are no significant local objections. This report will be available on the website early next week. It takes a little time to put complicated maps on the Internet.
I thank the Minister of State.
Services for People with Disabilities
I would like to share my time with Deputy Burke.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
Outside the gates of Leinster House yesterday, the parents and families of children with intellectual disabilities protested about cutbacks in the services provided to such people. At the same time, certain Government Deputies had a crisis of conscience in this Chamber with regard to stag hunting. We have not heard a dickie bird from them about the decision to give €22,000 million to a septic bank. The most vulnerable people in society, many of whom cannot speak for themselves, will have to carry on their shoulders the debt resulting from that decision. The crisis I am raising has resulted from the decision of the HSE to take €15 million more than was agreed from the intellectual disability budget. People with intellectual disabilities, along with their families and carers, are terrified that services which are vital to people with disabilities will be withdrawn.
I wish to refer to a letter I have received from the Ballinasloe Advocates group, which highlights the massive cuts that are proposed to vital services in the east Galway and south Roscommon area. The group in question comprises parents who are trying to manage as best they can, sometimes in intolerable situations, as they care for people who pose various challenges and require care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The letter states "we strove and begged during the "Celtic Tiger" years and received what could be described as minuscule improvements". They were given the scraps from the table, year in year out, and now they are facing severe cuts in the services they need. The HSE has left the Brothers of Charity in Roscommon and Ballinasloe with no option other than to introduce significant restrictions. This significant impact of this measure on valuable day, respite and residential services will cause untold hardship for parents of people with intellectual disabilities. It is likely that some services will have to close completely from January 2011. These cuts will lead to the amalgamation of a number of homes, with consequent effects on residents. I have already written to the Minister of State, Deputy Moloney, to express my health and safety concerns about one of these facility in County Roscommon.
The unexpected moratorium cut that was proposed and introduced by the HSE has caused us enormous problems. The Brothers of Charity are unable to fill vacancies that arise, even in front line positions, despite the Government's contention that the moratorium would not affect vital services. This matter has been brought to the attention of local HSE staff and the Minister of State, Deputy Moloney. It is galling for service providers to be told by the HSE and the Government to cut their non-existent administration budget, at a time when the Department of Health and Children has increased its budget for office supplies by 67%, its budget for consultancy services by 600% and its entertainment budget from €100,000 to €200,000. These appalling facts demonstrate the lack of priority of this Government, which is turning its back on the most vulnerable people in our community.
I thank Deputy Naughten for sharing his time with me. I also wish to highlight the plight of many elderly parents and siblings in the Ballinasloe and south Roscommon area who care for young adults and children with learning disabilities. The Brothers of Charity have indicated that a cutback of €2.75 million will have to be imposed this year. Such a restriction would make it impossible to deliver the services to which people are accustomed. Over the years, these parents have begged and cajoled various Ministers to provide funding for the services needed by such people. As Deputy Naughten said, care is required in many cases 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. What are elderly parents supposed to do if these services are closed? Will the Government take responsibility for making provision for the most vulnerable people in our society, who need help now? Many elderly parents are worried about what will happen to their children when they have moved on. The Acting Chairman, Deputy Michael Kitt, is familiar with the issues in the Ballinasloe area. The same cutbacks have been suffered by each of this country's 60 voluntary organisations that assists children with learning disabilities. How can any Minister or Government stand over such cuts? I hope the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, will clearly outline in his reply that emergency funding is to be provided to allow these parents to get some relief.
I am responding on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children. I thank Deputies Naughten and Burke for raising this matter. I appreciate that the Acting Chairman, Deputy Michael Kitt, is also interested in it. I am pleased to have an opportunity to outline the position with regard to respite services for people with disabilities. I wish to reaffirm the Government's commitment to the national disability strategy. We will continue to pursue the long-term goals and objectives of the strategy in the coming years, in partnership with all the stakeholders. Our commitment in the areas of disability and mental health is consistent. Approximately €1.6 billion is spent by the health services on disability programmes, including residential, day care, respite, assessment and rehabilitation services, each year. Despite the current economic climate, the HSE's national service plan for 2010 makes provision for additional funding of €19.5 million to meet the anticipated growth in demand for disability services in 2010. The Government appreciates the valuable contribution the voluntary sector makes to the provision of services, including respite care, to people with intellectual disabilities. Respite services are being reviewed by the HSE on an ongoing basis, and the majority of Local Health Offices have reported that services are being maintained. Over 4,500 people with intellectual disability avail of respite services nationwide and only a small number of service providers have taken the decision to cut these services. In all areas, HSE disability managers are working closely with agencies to maintain respite service provision at 2009 levels as far as possible, thereby ensuring that those with the most urgent need for respite services are prioritised.
People are losing services.
The HSE has informed the Department of Health and Children that it will continue to work in partnership with all service provider agencies in an effort to maintain core service delivery and respond to emergencies, as outlined in the service plan. The HSE acknowledges the challenges service providers are experiencing and the particular challenges facing all health services in 2010. In this context, it is vital that all service providers including the voluntary sector, work creatively and co-operatively to ensure that the maximum level of services are maintained for service users within the funding resources available.
They would want to be magicians.
The HSE will work with the voluntary service providers to deal with issues that arise from funding allocations, to ensure the needs of service users are prioritised and addressed.
Disability service providers were asked to submit their plans for the maintenance of service levels within available resources taking the following into consideration: items of expenditure which do not immediately and directly impact on frontline services; opportunities for rationalisation; the manner in which services are delivered; opportunities to reduce costs by sharing services and-or activities with other agencies; and the cost of back office administration, all other unnecessary costs, and rationalisation of general management structures. The HSE will continue to work with the voluntary service providers to streamline costs and identify areas where efficiencies can be achieved without impacting on frontline services.
There has been a continued expansion in the availability of respite support services. These services have grown significantly in recent years with 307 new places and 61 enhanced places provided since 2005. More than 4,500 people avail of respite services funded by the HSE. This service has supported people to continue living with their families and in their communities.
The Government is very much aware of the importance of respite service provision for the families of both children and adults with disabilities, and will seek to ensure that frontline services are protected as far as possible.
Closure of Laurel Unit in Cherry Orchard Hospital
I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment.
The Laurel unit in Cherry Orchard Hospital is under threat of closure, which means the 19 patients currently being looked after there are to be moved to other units within the campus. It is important to note that the same process was engaged in last year when it was proposed that the Beech unit would be closed. Eventually, it was agreed to keep that unit open. The danger now is that we will have this crisis on a recurring basis and unit after unit will be targeted, which is very unfair.
The 19 people who are in this unit are high dependency and have various conditions, including Alzheimer's. Some are blind and some have had strokes. These people are in no state to be moved, nor should they. They are dependent on knowing a familiar environment and familiar things around them. They depend on knowing the nurses and carers who look after them on a regular basis. For people with limited mobility and capacity to find their way around, they will be completely disorientated if they are moved to a new unit.
Some of the patients have been in this unit for up to ten years. They have learned to cope with their surroundings and familiar items of furniture. This gives them some independence. They are able to manage to get around a little on their own but in a new and unfamiliar environment they will be confused and upset.
This is what their families are telling me on a constant basis. Their families have come to rely on the fact that the patients are familiar with their surroundings and are happy that the people being cared for are in a comfortable environment where they can move around with some confidence. In many cases, the only voices these people have are through their families. Many of them are not able to speak up for themselves. The family members are extremely concerned at the consequences of the moving of the patients from one unit to another. It is not like moving a mobile patient or someone who is recovering from surgery and will be going home in a short time. These are people for whom the Laurel unit has, effectively, become their home over a number of years.
This is short-term saving with long-term costs, particularly if the patients, when they are moved, are unhappy and confused and find themselves in what they perceive to be a foreign environment. The patients' needs should be put before a very small financial saving. It is time for the Government to address the real issues of our health system by putting the welfare of these patients before a small saving for the health service. Deputy Naughten outlined a number of areas where savings could be made more effectively.
I am urging the Minister to review the decision to close the unit and, in the interest of patient comfort and security, to ensure that adequate staff and carer service is provided. The request is a modest one, in the scheme of things. I understand that only two nurses and two carers are needed to maintain the unit in operation. This is a small investment to ensure the comfort and peace of mind of a number of vulnerable people who, for the most part, have come to be dependent on the familiarity of their surroundings. It will cause real hardship to the patients and their families if the patients are asked to go to a new and different and, to them, foreign environment.
The Minister should look at this from the patients' point of view and not be influenced by the very small financial saving which will have long-term negative consequences for the patients.
I thank Deputy Upton for raising this issue. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Health and Children and it provides me with an opportunity to reaffirm the Government's commitment to services for older people.
Government policy with regard to older people is to support people to live in dignity and independence in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. Where this is not feasible, the health service supports access to quality long-term residential care where this is appropriate and we continue to develop and improve health services in all regions of the country and to ensure quality and patient safety.
The Health Service Executive has operational responsibility for the delivery of health and social services, including those at facilities such as Cherry Orchard Hospital. The Deputy will appreciate that all developments have to be addressed in the light of the current economic situation. The executive has been asked to make a rigorous examination of how existing funding might be used to ensure that the maximum number of people benefit from the best service possible. This requires on-going review.
Cherry Orchard Hospital provides services for older people, younger people with chronic illness or disability, and for people suffering with of AIDS-HIV infection, as well as Drug Detox beds, broken down as follows: long stay care of the elderly (170 beds); respite care of the elderly (22 beds); young chronic sick long stay (29 beds); young chronic sick respite (6 beds); AIDS/HIV Unit (17 beds) and; acute drug detox unit (17 Beds).
The hospital therefore currently has 261 beds, and capacity for day care for eight elderly people. In order to manage the hospital more efficiently within existing resources and to ensure that the same number of patients have access to the service they need in Cherry Orchard it was decided to consolidate one long stay unit on the campus. Residents in the 23 bedded Laurel unit are being moved on a phased basis, to other vacancies within Cherry Orchard.
The HSE has assured the Department of Health and Children that this will have no effect on existing respite and other services, which will remain unchanged. It will allow the hospital to continue to provide its usual high standard of quality care to residents, and the process will be closely overseen by nurse management to ensure the minimum discomfort to residents.
The HSE has advised that where patients are required to move within the campus the families concerned can be met on an individual basis by local management and nursing management. Advocates for the patient/family can with the appropriate permission also attend these meetings. The meetings with each family concerned allows for a patient focused approach to this situation and will be handled in a manner sensitive to the needs of the patient and their families. In addition the confidentiality and dignity of the residents can be maintained at all times. Patients and their families will be given time to consider the options available to them.
The HSE also held a meeting to which all local public representatives were invited on 29 June 2010. At the meeting local councillors outlined the concerns expressed by families of residents who had approached them. This included staffing issues at the hospital.
Employment control frameworks have been used for a number of years in the health sector to give effect to Government policies on the number employed in the health sector. The 2009 framework gave effect to the Government decision on the moratorium on recruitment, promotion, or payment of an allowance for the performance of duties at a higher grade. The Health Sector Employment Control Framework 2010-2012 has been agreed between the Departments of Health and Children and Finance and has issued to the HSE. The framework provides for a target reduction in health numbers of 1,520 wholetime equivalents.
Once this target is being met, the HSE is able to recruit staff in grades that are exempted from the moratorium. This includes certain frontline grades to address needs in the community, including areas such as care of the elderly, mental health, people with disabilities and child protection. In addition to these exempted grades, the 2010 framework allows the HSE, subject to meeting the target reduction of 1,520, to fill critical posts by way of exceptions to the moratorium. Such exceptions may be made where the HSE has satisfied itself that there are compelling reasons for doing so in order to maintain essential frontline services. This arrangement supersedes the requirement to obtain the approval of the Departments of Health and Children and of Finance for the filling of any vacancy arising in a post in a non-exempted grade. It is, therefore, a matter for the HSE to determine the relative priority to be accorded to the filling of such vacancies without reference to either Department, provided it delivers the required overall reduction in numbers and the associated payroll savings, and meets the policy requirements in regard to service development posts and exempted grades outlined above.
It is the view of the Department of Health and Children that exceptions should be kept to the absolute minimum in order to achieve the target growth in exempted grades and support the transformation agenda. It is a matter for the HSE to deliver services, both nationally and locally, within its budget and overall health policy priorities. Understandably, the executive regrets any inconvenience or concern caused to patients and their families in this particular instance, and will obviously try to minimise this as far as possible.
School Transport
I thank the Ceann Comhairle for affording me the opportunity to raise this important matter, namely, the need for the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Mary Coughlan, to explain why a child, who heretofore has travelled the six miles to her school on a school bus which passes her gate, as did both her older siblings, has been told to move to a new school over 15 miles away. Her father attended the same school 35 years ago using this same bus service, which has passed their gate for 40 years.
The child concerned is expected to up-root from her current school, St. John's Church of Ireland national school, travel 4.9 miles by car to Keenagh, County Longford, and then a further 12 miles to Tashinny national school, by school bus. This is bureaucracy and red tape gone mad. In case the import of the farcical letter this child's parents received from the school transport section of the Department has failed to resonate with the Minister of State, the child concerned is being asked to travel more than 15 miles each way to a new school she did not ask to attend. Her parents made no request for a transfer. Why should they do so? St. John's has become a family institution with which they are extremely satisfied.
This is farcical when one considers that the child is extremely happy in her current situation, in a school she likes, with her friends around her, taking a journey to school of six miles as opposed to 15, in a bus that picks her up at her gate in the morning and drops her back in the evening. On top of this her mother will have to drive her to the bus, which will impact adversely on the mother's time and inconvenience her without anyone having asked her if this would be possible. It is not possible as the mother works from home and needs to be available from 8.30 a.m. To add to the farce, the child's younger brother is due to start school in September at St. John's in Longford. No letter has been issued in regard to him or his situation. This is akin to taking a hammer to crack a nut — the only problem being that nobody knows what kind of nut it is.
Apart from wanting the Minister of State's commitment to reverse this extraordinary decision, I want to know why it was made in the first place. As with all current, arbitrary heartless Government decisions one looks for the cost-cutting potential saving of the action. In this case it is hard to find one. A journey of 15 miles is more fuel intensive than one of six miles — no saving there. The cost in terms of human displacement and upset is certainly present but that is of little regard to the Government. One looks then to the next possible scenario, namely, school amalgamation. In this case that would be impossible from a logistics point of view but given the letter under discussion one can see that anything is possible in the education sector.
There is another area I do not want to get into but must mention because of the recent targeting by Government of minority schools in terms of funding and staffing levels. Does the fact that these are Church of Ireland schools have any bearing on the matter? I sincerely hope it does not and pay the Minister, Deputy Coughlan, the compliment of assuming this is not the case.
This family lives in the parish of Longford, not the Ardagh group of parishes, and St. John's is their parish school. Although it is difficult to have to ask a child to take a bus six miles to school, travelling distances is a fact of rural life. By any standards, however, asking this child and also perhaps her very young brother to travel 15 miles is excessive. The child in question is about to enter fifth class and it is not in her best interest to ask her parents to move her to a new school. It might be extremely detrimental to her current and future educational development as she is dyslexic, has only just found her feet in her current school and gained in confidence due to the supports she is being given.
I am sure that, true to form, the Minister will have an explanation for me but whether it will remove the element of farce remains to be seen. I fear, based on previous experience that it may greatly enhance it. I ask the Minister to allow common sense to prevail. It is very important that this child be facilitated in her home parish, as all her siblings were and that the same facility be afforded her brother who is due to start school in September. I do not know what kind of mix-up or mess in the Department's school transport section has allowed such a situation to occur.
I am replying to this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for lifelong learning, Deputy Seán Haughey. I thank Deputy Bannon for raising this matter.
Before I address the issue of the transport for this particular child, I will give Members an outline of the extent of the school transport service. School transport is a very significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on the Department's behalf and covering over 82 million kilometres annually. In the region of 125,000 children, including more than 8,000 children with special needs, are transported in over 3,800 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. This includes over 9,000 schoolchildren who travel on scheduled bus and rail services, including those of licensed private operators.
Under the terms of the primary school transport scheme pupils are eligible for free transport if they reside 3.2 km or more from, and are attending, their nearest national school as determined by the Department. Where a school is closed and amalgamated with another, children for whom the closed school would have been their nearest had it remained open, are eligible for free transport to the school of amalgamation. Pupils may avail of transport to a school other than the amalgamated school on a concessionary basis. Such an arrangement would be subject to a number of conditions as follows: the payment of an annual charge which is currently €200; spare seats being available on the service; the agreement of the school of amalgamation being obtained; and no additional State costs being incurred by way of re-routing the service.
In regard to the case outlined by the Deputy, Bus Éireann has been requested to submit a report on the matter. On receipt of this report the Department will be in a position to investigate the matter more fully and issue a reply directly to the Deputy. I again thank the Deputy for raising this matter.
The Dáil adjourned at 10.40 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 1 July 2010.