Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 17 May 2011

Vol. 732 No. 3

Adjournment Debate

Modern Language Teaching

Deputy Ciarán Lynch

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment. In 2002 the EU set a target of becoming the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world. In 2012 the Commission will review the progress made by member countries in this regard. When examined, Ireland may well be one of the member states scrutinised for non-implementation of the objectives set out by the Commission. Moreover, Ireland is not taking part in a current survey on language skills which will feed into a Europe-wide indicator on language competence at secondary level.

If Ireland is to have any aspiration of becoming one of the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economies in the world, we need to do much better in ensuring students can speak a greater range of languages. If we are truly to achieve greater social cohesion while also sustaining economic growth and the creation of jobs, education policy in general and language learning in particular are crucial. A Eurobarometer study in 2010 showed that 40% of recruiters in the industry sector highlighted the importance of language skills for future higher education graduates. Despite a slight uptake by Irish students of foreign languages in recent years, numbers are not increasing steadily enough to meet the demand from industry. There is a real risk that we are becoming over-reliant on the fact that in everyday work, English is our first and only language.

A recent document produced by the European Parliament's Committee on Culture and Education concluded that modern business is facing a complex world where a lack of language skills can represent real barriers. At present there is high demand by SMEs across Europe for multilingual speakers. However, this demand is not being met by Irish educational institutions. Conducting a job search on the website www.jobs.ie clearly demonstrates the requirement in Ireland for modern languages such as German, French, Spanish and Italian in banking and finance, accounting, sales and marketing, programming and information technology, customer services, legal services, and the tourism and travel sectors. Despite this, an insufficient awareness of the importance of foreign language acquisition has caused a number of language programmes at third level to be closed, including degrees in software development with French or German. Students are not being sufficiently encouraged to study languages. Many science and engineering programmes do not offer students the option to take a language at any stage of their course, even though Irish graduates with such qualifications are in high demand across Europe, North America and elsewhere. Once a programme or even a module is dropped, it is very difficult to reinstate it for budgetary reasons. It is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy where subjects that are not encouraged are falling off the curriculum and their budgets disappearing in due course. In the case of some business degree programmes, as a direct result of modularisation, languages are competing as elective modules against other subjects and this competition is leading to a decrease in language take-up.

Foreign language skills must be promoted at third level as an essential component of science, engineering and business degrees, as well as of more traditional arts and humanities degrees. Work placement and study abroad programmes are experiencing cuts in funding. In response, the Government must campaign for greater funding to be allocated to work and study placement programmes, such as Leonardo and Erasmus. Furthermore, the modernisation of the leaving certificate science syllabi and other aspects of the leaving certificate programme, which are on the agenda for review of the Department of Education and Skills, must embrace foreign language acquisition as part of a strategy for economic recovery.

A report published in March by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs states:

Where job vacancies arise, jobseekers with third level qualifications coupled with work experience and foreign language skills were more likely to be in demand by employers. This underlines the need for jobseekers to engage in upskilling and for the education and training system to continually align with the skills needs of enterprise.

If Ireland wants to talk business, we must up our game in teaching languages. The time to act is now.

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills (Deputy Ciarán Cannon)

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn. The Minister is aware of the importance of promoting competence in a range of languages to support business and employment opportunities in Ireland and abroad. However, there is a range of factors which must be considered in future decisions on language education at different levels and in the context of national economic and social priorities.

The primary school curriculum provides that pupils in Irish primary schools are taught two languages, Irish and English. Modern European languages are being taught at primary level in approximately 510 schools, or 15% of all schools, as part of an initiative that was introduced in 1998. In the participating schools pupils in fifth and sixth classes are taught one of four languages, namely, French, German, Italian and Spanish. However, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment has recommended against a further expansion of this initiative at present, citing issues of curriculum overload and difficulties relating to the replicability of the model across the system. The NCCA advice is set out in the context of the changing landscape in Irish primary schools since the primary modern languages initiative was introduced in 1998. The key factors relate to the feedback on curriculum overload, challenges highlighted in reports on language learning in Irish and English, particular issues relating to literacy in disadvantaged schools, and the new needs which have emerged in providing additional English language support for newcomer children.

The Minister's top priority is to advance a national literacy and numeracy strategy in schools and to ensure more time is spent each day on developing literacy and numeracy skills. Given the difficult budgetary position and in the context of the advice from the NCCA, there will be no expansion of the modern languages initiative at primary level in the near term.

At post-primary level there is a range of foreign languages available on the curriculum in schools which includes French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese and Arabic. A post-primary languages initiative is in place since 2000 with the objective of diversifying language provision in schools, focusing particularly on Spanish, Italian, Japanese and Russian. Some 81% of second level pupils study three languages — Irish, English and a continental language — to completion of upper second level, and more than 70% of schools offer two foreign languages or more. Indeed, given entrance requirements for many universities, studying a language is effectively an obligatory requirement, and this is an issue that may need reconsideration in the light of the economic imperative to encourage more students to study the physical sciences at senior cycle.

The Minister is aware of the demand for expansion of the range of languages on offer in post-primary schools, particularly Mandarin Chinese and Polish. However, sustained and continued cumulative reductions in public expenditure will be essential over the coming years to at least 2015, allied with further reductions in public sector numbers. Of necessity this will constrain the degree to which curricular reform can be promoted within schools. The Government is prioritising an agenda of curriculum reform in science and mathematics and improving innovation capacity in second level schools. The funds available in this difficult budgetary context do not allow for the inclusion of additional languages in the curriculum at present. However, the matter will be kept under review. To the extent that it is possible to expand provision into new languages, consideration will also have to be given to discontinuing some existing languages and re-orienting provision towards the languages of more strategically and economically important countries.

Students at third level have access to a wide range of foreign language courses which can be taken as core subjects or in combination with a range of other disciplines. In 2009-2010, 5,200 students were enrolled on programmes with a foreign language component, an overall increase of 16% since 2007. In the institute of technology sector, the IoT Languages Strategy Network is adopting a proactive approach to language learning and training and aims to foster greater inter-institutional collaboration for languages in the sector. The Erasmus study abroad programme has seen an increase in the numbers of students who have taken a study visit or placement abroad. In addition, a wide range of postgraduate and honours degree level programmes in Chinese is offered in the higher education sector.

The new higher education strategy emphasises that institutions must actively engage with stakeholders in the communities they serve and this will be a key priority for implementation. My Department and its agencies will continue to engage with industry to ensure the education system responds in so far as is possible to the emerging needs of enterprise in this area. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter.

Hospital Services

Deputy Michael Healy-Rae

Last week I tabled a parliamentary question to the Minister for Health and Children on the construction of our new community hospital in Kenmare, County Kerry. I was disappointed with his reply, which was that this is a matter for the Health Service Executive, HSE. With all due respect, this is nonsense. I really appreciated the new workmanlike approach of the new, Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and their Ministers. I did not expect a new Minister to do exactly what he criticised his predecessor for doing, that is, hiding behind the HSE.

This matter is of national importance. While Kenmare hospital is important to me and to my constituents, there is a bigger national issue. Will the new Minister in future when asked health-related questions hide behind the HSE? I genuinely hope that he will not and I hope the reply I received last week will be a one off. Surely the buck stops on all health matters with the Minister for Health and Children. All I want is straight answers to straight questions with no messing around. I thought we had moved away from that type of political gerrymandering. I expect more from the new Government, which I hope will be forthcoming. The people voted for change in the recent general election and the Government parties are doing their best given the dire financial situation in which we find ourselves but it does not look good when a Member of this House asks a straight, honest question and cannot get a straight, honest answer.

We are fortunate in Kenmare that over the years we had an excellent matron who had an excellent staff running a great community hospital. We have a new matron who again is highly respected in the community, as are the staff who work with her. The ambulance personnel provide an invaluable service covering a wide hinterland and they have to be complimented on their excellent local knowledge and their impressive response times to incidents in the town and its environs. Our hospital is very important to us.

I acknowledge the work done on this issue by my father, former Deputy Jackie Healy-Rae, and the commitment of the previous Government. The then Taoiseach included the construction of a new community hospital in Kenmare in the capital programme for 2010. This project did not fall out of the sky. It was lobbied for but there was a genuine case for a new community hospital. It had been prioritised by the HSE previously and it was debated at meetings I attended with the HSE. It was put forward as a priority.

Since then the project has progressed, planning permission has been granted, drawings completed and contracts are all in order. Considerable funding has been expended. The people of Kenmare and its environs have waited for construction to start for long enough. In 1999 when I started out on the old Southern Health Board, the first motion I tabled at the first meeting I attended was to prioritise an extension for the hospital. Little did I think all those years ago that I would be standing in the House tonight still looking for the same thing — a fair deal for the people of Kenmare and its environs. I acknowledge the HSE's work on this project, in particular, that of its local management in County Kerry who committed to prioritising a new community hospital for Kenmare.

There is not a family in the locality that has not been affected in a positive way by the excellent care given by the matron and staff in the hospital. They deserve a new hospital, as do the people, and if it is provided, the capital expenditure involved will be minuscule when compared to the service that will be provided for many years to come. I sincerely call on the new Government and the Minister to allow construction to go ahead. I thank the Minister of State for taking the matter on behalf of the Minister and I hope he will give a positive response without hiding behind the HSE. That is not what Members or the people expect from the new Government. We expect much better.

Deputy Ciarán Cannon

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Health and Children. I thank the Deputy for raising it. This provides me an opportunity to update the House on this matter and to outline the position, especially in regard to the handling of parliamentary questions by the Minister for Health and Children. Approximately 6,000 parliamentary questions are tabled each year to the Minister, of which approximately 60% relate to operational issues, which are referred to the HSE for direct reply to Deputies. These questions refer to individual patients and day-to-day operational matters. The HSE is a statutory body with its own Vote and Accounting Officer and is statutorily responsible for operational matters in the health service. There is a commitment in the HSE's 2011 service plan to answer 75% of the referred questions within 15 working days.

A number of initiatives have recently been undertaken by the HSE to help improve response times to parliamentary questions. These include the introduction of a new IT system — due to go live shortly — the appointment of regional co-ordinators and the introduction of a dedicated web page for Oireachtas Members. The programme for Government contains a number of commitments to improve the way parliamentary questions, Adjournment debates, and so on, are dealt with. I expect that these initiatives will be progressed across all Departments in due course.

Since taking up office, the Minister has decided that parliamentary questions relating to operational issues of national scale or importance will be answered by him or the relevant Minister of State rather than being referred to the HSE. Whenever possible, these questions will be answered on the relevant sitting day. Where this is not possible because the information is not readily available, a reply will be issued as soon as possible thereafter. The Minister made it clear that he has ultimate accountability for the health services. However, this does not mean local service managers can abrogate their responsibility and accountability for local operational matters. Deputies will appreciate, therefore, that a balance has to be struck between local responsibility and the Minister's ultimate accountability.

With regard to Kenmare Community Hospital, a tender process has been conducted by the HSE and planning permission received. Contracts have not yet been signed with the successful bidder. Capital developments such as the proposed community nursing unit at Kenmare, County Kerry, must be considered in the context of the overall HSE capital plan. This is a multi-annual programme which is developed over a rolling five-year period. In drawing up its capital programme for the current 2011-2015 period, the HSE is required to prioritise capital infrastructure projects within the overall capital funding allocation.

Given the contractual commitments in place, limited funding will be available for new contracts before 2014. The HSE has submitted its draft capital plan for the period 2011-2015. It is essential to assess all projects on their merits, other than those where existing contractual commitments are in place, to ensure the limited capital funding available goes to developments of the highest national importance. This draft plan is under consideration and requires the approval of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, together with the consent of the Minister for Finance. Details of the plan will be published by the HSE following its approval.

Health Services

Deputy Bernard J. Durkan

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for affording me the opportunity to raise this issue which has been the subject of much debate and parliamentary questions in recent days. It relates to one of the symptoms that needs attention — no pun intended — in the delivery of health services. It concerns a dental service put in place to meet a local need at a time when it was decided that the persons whose interests should primarily be served were potential patients. This was done at a time when very few financial resources were available. It was a good decision to meet the needs of people in the area concerned by the delivery of services from the centre to the locality where they were needed. Unfortunately, however, a decision was made, not by the Minister but by the HSE, that the service would be phased out and relocated to a central location. As one who opposes the concept of centralisation, I view this decision as a retrograde step.

I accept it may not be possible to reverse the decision at this stage, but I call on the Minister to address the issue and take full control of it himself. He has committed to doing so. I welcome the decisions taken already that the HSE will no longer be the master of its own destiny in the sense that the funding it receives comes from the Exchequer and that it has a responsibility not only to this House but to the people also. I do not wish to delay the House other than to say this service is vital. It has been well supported by the local community. There is no reason to make this the decision on its removal other than the internal play-acting that usually occurs in large organisations when they want to be seen to, allegedly, be making savings, the net results of which are highly questionable.

I ask the Minister of State to give some indication as to what is likely to happen because, far from witnessing a reduction in services in the area concerned, there is a need for enhanced services. I was appalled recently to find that the decision-making layer within the HSE had made decisions about the delivery of services in this rural area. Some of the decisions made do not provide for the continuation of services in place since the 1950s. That is what is called rationalisation. Rationalisation in that fashion means the end product is a reduction in services for the people who must be served first. Services are not provided for the benefit or convenience of those providing them, the HSE or administrators. They are not provided for anybody other than members of the general public whose interests must be served first.

It would be hugely beneficial, not only from the point of view of the community in Carbury or Derrinturn in my constituency but also for other areas throughout the country, if this issue was addressed once and for all. Let us determine who dictates policy. Is it the taxpayer, the Minister who provides money for an outside body or quango, or somebody else, some administrator who considers he or she has a critical role to play and that he or she can make waves where nobody else can? There is a unique opportunity for the Minister of State to give some indication as to who wields power.

Deputy Ciarán Cannon

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy James Reilly.

I am happy to have the opportunity to address the issue of the provision of dental services at Derrinturn Health Centre, County Kildare, as raised by Deputy Bernard Durkan. The service provided has operated approximately two days per week. Up until now it has been provided on a part-time basis by a dentist from Naas clinic. To ensure the most efficient and effective use of staff and resources, the HSE took the decision to centralise the service in Naas. This measure will ensure adequate emergency and routine services are provided for children in a timely fashion. Centralising the resources and eliminating a dentist's travel time will ensure more time, resources and facilities will be available to treat local schoolchildren.

The schools, parents and local services have been informed of the move. I emphasise that the service is not being discontinued; rather it is being relocated to Naas. Services for other schools in the vicinity have previously been moved to Naas. Parents and children have been very satisfied with the services subsequently provided for their care.

Regional Airports

Deputy Tony McLoughlin

I wish to share time with Deputy Paudie Coffey.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Joanna Tuffy)

The Deputies will have two and a half minutes each. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Deputy Tony McLoughlin

Is there a Minister available to respond?

Acting Chairman (Deputy Joanna Tuffy)

The Deputy should say what he has to say in two and a half minutes.

Deputy Paudie Coffey

There is no Minister available to provide a response.

Deputy Ciarán Cannon

I am not responsible for transport issues, only health and education.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Joanna Tuffy)

Deputy Tony McLoughlin should say his piece and we will see whether there is a Minister available to reply.

Deputy Tony McLoughlin

Dáil Éireann calls on the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to ensure his Department will provide €400,000 in aid for Sligo Airport to ensure this vital piece of infrastructure remains viable. I thank him for addressing this important issue for the people of the north west.

Since its foundation in 1974, Sligo Airport has been developed from an airstrip, effectively, to a commercial airport catering for up to 700,000 passengers. The recent decision to withdraw PSO funding is a dramatic blow that threatens the viability of the airport. As a key resource for Sligo, a gateway city in the national spatial strategy, the airport is an attraction when the IDA Ireland promotes Sligo as a location for foreign direct investment. Tourism growth is targeted by the Government, especially in the north-west region which lags behind others. Tourism potential will diminish if Sligo Airport ceases to operate.

Sligo Airport hosts the Coast Guard search and rescue service, medical organ transplant emergency flights, private commercial flights, Air Corps training and Government flights for a variety of Departments. The decision to withdraw from July the PSO subsidy will result in the ending of the daily Dublin to Sligo flights. It will have an immediate effect on staff and the finances of the operating company. I compliment the board and staff on their work. They have given value for money. A recent submission to the Department recommended that the decision be reviewed and that more cost effective ways of maintaining the route be examined. In recent contracts the cost of subvention has escalated and the board of Sligo Airport would welcome a review, as it would a more in depth look at the overall programme.

Funding of €400,000 is required by Sligo Airport to ensure its continued operation. I urge the Minister to consider this level of subvention based purely on the cost-benefit analysis based on tourism growth, industrial investment and the use of the airport by emergency services. At the least, I urge the Minister to ask his officials to examine in detail the submission sent by Sligo Airport before he closes the door on this issue.

Deputy Paudie Coffey

I thank Deputy McLoughlin for sharing time with me on this important issue.

As a result of the recession, funding for regional airports was cut drastically in budget 2010 by the previous Government. I am concerned that recent media reports indicate that Waterford Regional Airport may be an airport the Minister is considering closing. I would like to present some facts to the Minister. Waterford Regional Airport passenger numbers increased exponentially, from approximately 15,500 in 2002 to almost 112,000 in 2009. The Buchanan report states that 85% of businesses in the south east view direct air access to the region as being very important. Millions of euro have been spent on infrastructural investment to date at the airport and the local authorities have invested in additional servicing infrastructure, such as a better roads network.

I note from the value for money report prepared by the Department that Knock and Kerry airports are successful because they have the facility to land jet aircraft. Waterford Regional Airport was expected to receive additional investment, via the Transport 21 project, to extend the airport, but that funding was never forthcoming. This has put the airport at a serious disadvantage. Waterford Regional Airport is the only airport in the south-east region and there is a strong economic argument for its retention. With Waterford city as the gateway city to the region, for balanced regional development and strategic infrastructure there is a strong economic argument for the retention of the airport for access to the region. It is the only regional airport in the country not in receipt of the PSO subvention.

I acknowledge the Minister faces huge challenges to balance the budget in his Department. However, the continuation of the regional airport will help to deliver economic development and growth in the region. I note from the recommendations of the value for money report that the operational expenditure for Waterford Regional Airport would continue, subject to an annual assessment of subvention. I hope the Minister can put to bed the concerns I, my constituents and people in the wider south-east region have and that he will confirm that support will continue for Waterford Regional Airport for the reasons I have outlined.

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (Deputy Leo Varadkar)

I thank Deputies McLoughlin and Coffey for raising this matter.

The Deputies will be aware that I am faced with dealing with the lack of funding available for the regional airports programme for 2011 and for future years, following the reductions made by the previous Government. At the same time, some of the regional airports are becoming more dependent on Exchequer support as the cost of operating and providing necessary security facilities rises and the number of people flying domestically continues to decline. Essentially, the regional airports are asking for more money to do less. This is not a sustainable position and I expect it to worsen in the coming years, with an improved road network, cheaper train fares and rising security costs.

There is a total allocation of €13.4 million available for the programme for 2011, some €11.4 million for current expenditure on the PSO air services and operational losses of the airports and €2 million for capital projects at the airports. This compares to expenditure of €21.2 million on the programme in 2010 and €200 million in the past ten years. After existing commitments for PSO air services to July 2011 and for new PSO air services from Kerry and Donegal to Dublin are accounted for, only €0.6 million is available for operational subvention for airports in 2011, whereas €4.8 million was paid out in 2010. The €2 million for capital expenditure is also considered to be inadequate for essential safety and security work at all the airports. Obviously, an increase in funding would have to come from cuts to road maintenance, bus services, railways or the coast guard. That might be possible this year, but not next year in the context of the €2 billion or more of spending cuts sought by the Government.

Last January, the previous Government announced that it would continue to support PSO air services for Donegal-Dublin and Kerry-Dublin. Only the Donegal-Dublin PSO operates currently. It was subsequently decided that a scheme would be introduced to allow the six regional airports to apply for whatever funding was available for operational expenditure, but the Government at the time did not identify what funding was available, because there was none.

I understand these decisions were based on the value for money review published last January, which recommended that funding for PSO air services between Dublin and the regional airports be discontinued when current contracts end in July 2011, with the exception of the Donegal-Dublin service. It also recommended that OPEX and CAPEX funding be discontinued for Sligo and Galway airports for a number of reasons, including the fact the catchment areas of these airports overlap with other airports with jet capability nearby at Knock and Shannon. The review took account of recent improvements in alternative transport modes, changes in EU legislation and the requirement to make best use of ever scarcer Exchequer resources.

I fully appreciate the implications for Sligo arising from these recommendations. However, in the context of addressing the lack of funding issue, I must focus on ensuring the sustainability of a strong network of regional airports serving the public, both in terms of business and tourism. I am conscious that once the PSO expires in July, Sligo will not have any regular scheduled air services.

While no decision has yet been made by the current Government on regional airport subsidies, I will bring proposals to Government within weeks with regard to funding of the airports for 2011 and future years. It would be inappropriate at this stage to comment on the possible outcome of the Government's deliberations on those proposals. However, it is clear that in the current financial crisis, any decisions will have to take account of available Exchequer funds. It is not business as usual and unpopular decisions must be made on matters like this today or we will be unable to pay for even the most basic or essential services in the future.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.10 p.m. until 1.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 18 May 2011.