I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter. I am alarmed and perturbed to read reports emanating - from where I am not sure - that farmland and farms will be taken into consideration for the assessment of income for third level students. I am not sure if the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, is replying to this matter but I ask him to desist from texting during my contribution.
Topical Issue Debate
Higher Education Grants
Can I clarify? I am reading a response that is pertinent to the issue Deputy Flanagan is raising. It is in order to assist with the reply. I say that sincerely.
Now that the Minister for Education and Skills is not in the Chamber, I hope the House has the courtesy of the Minister of State listening to the contribution. Otherwise, I will leave it.
I am a Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills. The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, is unavoidably detained elsewhere.
On the basis that the Minister of State is offering me the courtesy of listening to what I have to say, I repeat that I hope the Minister will allay my fears, as one who represents a rural constituency, that this poorly-timed and ill-advised move will not take effect. I represent a constituency with low participation rates in third level education. It is a rural constituency with many farmers and farm families. Should these reports be true and if the Government is considering such proposal it will ensure that many low-income families throughout Laois-Offaly will in effect be disbarred from entering third level education.
The grant system that has been in place for many years is very important to a rural constituency such as Laois-Offaly. I have no difficulty with the income of parents being taken into account but not the farmland. In many respects, the capital asset - the agricultural land - is only material when the land is being sold. The Minister of State is aware that we do not have a high level of land transfer, and when the land is not being sold the capital asset that is a family farm is never taken into consideration. It is a volatile asset in any event and particularly in recessionary times when there is little market for such land.
If the self-employed assessment is to change, will the shop and residence of a shopkeeper be taken into account? I say "No". In the case of a business operating out of an office, will the value of the office be taken into consideration? I do not believe this to be fair or just in any circumstance. Similarly, all farm land, farm buildings and farmhouses should not be taken into consideration in the assessment of students for a grant entitlement.
There is a perception of discrimination against rural Ireland and the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, has an opportunity in his reply this evening to kill off that perception and to confirm that the current review group which will report shortly, and the Government, will not take into consideration farm land, the asset of the farm buildings and the farmhouse in the assessment for educational grant purposes.
I thank Deputy Flanagan for raising this important matter. The Deputy refers to an announcement last December that the means test for student grants will be amended to take account of the value of certain capital assets as well as income for the 2013-14 academic year. A considerable body of reports over a number of years have strongly recommended the introduction of a capital test for student grants, on the grounds of equity and fairness. The introduction of such a test would create a more equitable basis for means testing where a more complete analysis is undertaken of a family's capacity to support their children in pursuing further or higher education. The Deputy will appreciate, in the context of the current financial climate, the importance of accurately targeting increasingly scarce resources to those who need them most and this has become a high priority. While the introduction of a capital asset test for student grants may have traditionally been perceived as likely to impact in particular on farming communities, I assure the Deputy this is not the object of the proposal. The means test will be applied fairly to all applicants.
Deputy Flanagan may be aware that a dedicated capital asset test implementation group has been established. The group has been charged with bringing forward detailed implementation proposals for new means testing arrangements for student grants, to include the value of assets, for new applicants beginning in the 2013-14 academic year. The group has met on three occasions and its deliberations are ongoing. I anticipate the group will report to the Minister by the summer and will make recommendations on the inclusion or exclusion of various classes of assets. Any proposals will require further Government agreement and will necessitate legislative amendment. It will, therefore, be agreed at Cabinet level.
I have some brief questions about the dedicated capital asset test implementation group which has been established. I ask the Minister of State to confirm who will have the final say, the group or the Minister? I ask the Minister of State to assure the House that equity and justice and fair play will form the basis of this review and I ask him to take into consideration the income rather than assets in this review.
The short reply is that any decision of this nature is ultimately a political decision to be decided by Government. We must await the recommendations of the implementation group and have consideration to those recommendations. However, it is ultimately a political decision.
I share the concerns raised by Deputy Flanagan in that I, too, represent a constituency with a significant agricultural output and where for a certain coterie of the farming community, income would be meagre, to be frank about it.
That is the Labour Party position.
There has to be some regard to the tools of the trade, as it were, that are necessary to derive that income. The Minister has met with ICMSA representatives and he has had regard to the position espoused by them and the implementation group is working as we speak and we await its recommendations. However, it will be ultimately a decision for Government.
Bullying in Schools
I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important matter, the need to combat homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools. Last December, while calling on governments around the world to take steps to combat homophobic bullying, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, declared that homophobic bullying was a moral outrage, a grave violation of human rights and a public health issue. It is also a loss to the entire human family when promising lives are cut short. The programme for Government commits the Government to encourage schools to develop anti-bullying policies and, in particular, strategies to combat homophobic bullying and to support students. In May 2011, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, announced the establishment of a working group comprising all the relevant sections of his Department, along with the NGOs involved in this area and the education partners, to help draft a roadmap for the elimination of homophobic bullying from our schools.
Homophobic bullying has been documented as one of the most pervasive forms of bullying in Irish schools. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual young people experience a much higher level of bullying than other young people. Irish research shows that homophobic bullying is a significant cause of suicide, self-harm and other severe mental health difficulties among young people. The statistics show that two out of five Irish teachers find homophobic bullying more difficult to address than other forms of bullying. The anti-bullying research centre in Trinity College, Dublin, found that 16% of all Irish second level students were the targets of bullying. The major study, Supporting LGBT Lives, funded by the HSE national office for suicide prevention, found that among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people the figures were even higher with 50% having experienced verbal homophobic bullying; 40% having been verbally threatened by fellow students; 25% having been physically threatened by their peers; and 34% having heard homophobic comments from their teachers. Four out of five Irish teachers are aware of homophobic bullying in their schools and research also shows that only one in five LGBT young people in Ireland who are experiencing homophobic bullying seek support from their schools or teachers.
The impact on the mental health of young people is severe. Research shows that 27% of LGBT people have self-harmed and 50% of LGBT people under 25 years have seriously thought of ending their lives. A total of 20% of LGBT people under 25 have attempted suicide. One in five has attempted suicide. It is also known that most lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual young people know their identity at 12 years of age but do not tell anyone until they are 17 years of age. This five-year period corresponds to the period in second level education. As well as avoiding school and leaving education altogether, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual young people at this age are particularly vulnerable to self-harm and attempted suicide. I await the Minister of State's response.
I thank Deputy Neville for raising this issue. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the very serious issue of bullying. Tackling the issue of bullying, and in particular homophobic bullying in schools, is a key commitment in the programme for Government. Bullying can ruin a young person's enjoyment of some of the most important years of his or her life and in some cases can have tragic consequences.
Deputy Neville summed it up when he spoke about the pervasive nature of this form of bullying. It can act as a barrier to a young person having equal access to education. I note that Deputy Neville referred to the document drafted by GLEN, the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network. I am to meet with that organisation's chair, Mr. Kieran Rose, shortly so that we can drive an agenda that speaks to the concerns raised by Deputy Neville.
Research has shown that, unfortunately, homophobic bullying is a problem in Irish schools, and a correlation has been found between homophobic bullying and serious mental health difficulties such as suicide. That is one of the reasons the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, convened an anti-bullying forum recently, on 17 May, to explore ways to tackle the serious problem of bullying in schools. That date, 17 May, marked the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia.
The forum, which was well attended and thought-provoking, considered issues around all forms of bullying including homophobic bullying, cyber bullying and racist bullying. There were a range of speakers at the forum, which included contributions from officials of the Department of Education and Skills, and from an acknowledged academic in the field of anti-bullying. There were also contributors from the school sector, including the various perspectives of school principals, parents and pupils. The objective was to explore with all the relevant stakeholders how best to tackle bullying in schools. A further objective was to consider what changes or updating of existing practices and procedures are required to achieve this, having regard to what is feasible to implement in the current financial climate.
The outcome of the discussions at the forum will provide an opportunity to set out a roadmap on how best to tackle all forms of bullying in our schools. A considerable amount of work to address the issue of bullying in schools has been done by State agencies and NGOs, such as GLEN and BeLonG To. We need to address how we can deepen the impact of the measures that are already in place and also strengthen the culture of awareness in schools. The work of the forum and any recommendations from it must be cognisant of the current difficult and challenging budgetary environment.
The Minister, Deputy Quinn, has also established a working group on tackling bullying. The outcomes, recommendations and submissions from the forum will assist the working group in its deliberations. The first phase to be addressed by the working group will be homophobic bullying. There will be an opportunity for all interested stakeholders to submit their views in writing. Students, teachers, parents and all other interested parties are invited to submit their views on this important topic by 29 June 2012.
Deputy Neville has taken a strong lead on this issue. If we continue to engage in fora such as this one, we will be able to shed more light on the issue, thus having the required beneficial outcomes. We all believe that bullying is an issue we can address by sharing our experiences and working together to produce an effective response.
I welcome the Minister of State's response. I also welcome the fact that the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, has recently convened an anti-bullying forum. Over a 15-year period, the Irish Association of Suicidology has identified bullying in schools as a serious issue concerning mental well-being, suicide, attempted suicide and self harm. It is a real issue within the school system, so it is urgent to have more than guidelines within the education sector.
There is a mixed reaction among schools. Some schools are very good at identifying the problem and dealing with it while others are moderate. Some are very bad in this respect. I have met teachers who are interested in this matter but are very frustrated by the attitude of principals who may ask, "How many points will this approach obtain for the student?" There is a lack of understanding in this regard.
I also know that some school principals have attended the programmes run by the Irish Association of Suicidology and they do excellent work in promoting this area. I will finish by quoting President Higgins who recently spoke about the appalling, destructive reality of homophobic bullying. He said, "These are important issues, not merely emotional issues". I would like to congratulate GLEN on the work it is doing, the information it is gathering and the research it is undertaking to raise the profile of this serious issue.
I thank the Deputy for his input. It is important to acknowledge the work that is already being done by the Department of Education and Skills to combat and prevent bullying. The inspectorate provides help to schools by supporting, advising on and evaluating anti-bullying measures. This is done through the primary and post-primary school evaluation process, and through the social, personal and health education subject inspections. There are therefore a wide range of services in that area.
I note Deputy Neville's point about some schools being willing to engage in anti-bullying programmes while others are less so. If there is a submission to that effect coming through this process, the Department of Education and Skills should take it on board in order to have a qualitative outcome to this issue. Ultimately, the more educated we all are as citizens about this matter, the more it will be clarified and demystified. The more normalised our culture becomes around this issue, the less pervasive it will be. If we can change a culture we can then modify behaviour positively. I note Deputy Neville's points and I hope there will be some mechanism to address the lack of engagement by some schools on this matter.
Local Authority Mortgage Arrears
I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for allowing me to raise this issue. We are all aware of reports this week that levels of mortgage arrears in the private sector have reached 10.5%. Given that local authority house purchasing support is generally the lender of last resort, it is inevitable that it will suffer from a higher rate of arrears. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government needs to address this situation and provide guidelines to local authorities which are struggling to cope with the problem. The level of local authority house repossessions has greatly escalated in the past two years by comparison to previous years. Based on the latest figures available in County Offaly, for example, up to the last quarter of 2010, some 106 homes were in arrears under the various affordable housing schemes, including shared ownership and tenant purchase. The total value of those loans amounted to €1.7 million. Councils must be equipped to facilitate people who are struggling to repay these mortgages.
If local authorities repossess such houses they are still left with the problem of rehousing the individuals involved. There are up to 100,000 people on existing social housing waiting lists across the country. This will add further to the pressure placed on what are already very stretched resources. These individuals will also be placed on rent supplement, thus further pressurising the State coffers.
Possible solutions to alleviate the burden on local authority housing lists include interest-only repayments, deferred payments for a period or an extended loan repayment period. The Department is committed to issuing guidance to local authorities for dealing with houses in arrears before the summer recess but no movement has occurred so far - at least, no movement that we are aware of, or led to believe may be forthcoming. The updated guidance to local authorities is supposedly being drafted in consultation with the County and City Managers Association. We are led to believe that this will come before us prior to the summer recess. Can the Minister of State confirm that this is the case?
Will the Government develop a system that emphasises the rights of home owners? Can the Government honour its commitment to produce new guidelines? If so, when will that happen and what form will those guidelines take? Can people be afforded some solace that local authorities will have guidelines which will have the rights of home owners as their focus?
I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. Local authorities have traditionally been the lenders of last resort for low income households who could not access funds from commercial lenders. By definition, this cohort of borrowers is more susceptible to the economic downturn and external shock. In this context, it is unsurprising then that local authority mortgage arrears should exceed those in the commercial sector and the Department's most recent information puts the level of loans in arrears at almost 28%.
In 2009, the Department issued guidelines for the granting of local authority housing loans which applied stringent conditions and a more homogenous process across all 34 administrations. Credit checking of applications by the Irish Credit Bureau was a central component of this initiative, and loans advanced under the new regime are performing considerably better than pre-2009 ones.
However, it is important that households facing difficulties are treated fairly and consistently across all local authority areas. In that regard, the Department issued comprehensive guidance in 2010 based on the regulator's code of practice. This is to ensure that cases of local authority mortgage arrears are handled in a manner that is sympathetic to the needs of the particular household while also protecting the position of the local authority concerned.
Recognising the increasing difficulty with local authority mortgage arrears, the Department has been working in conjunction with the City and County Managers Association to produce a loans management manual, the publication of which is imminent. This will provide borrowers in distress with a suite of options under a mortgage arrears resolution process, MARP, to deal with their loans. It closely mirrors the Financial Regulator's revised code of conduct on mortgage arrears, which came into effect on 1 January 2011. It provides for a collaborative engagement between borrower and lender to either restructure the loan to a sustainable level, or else recognise its sustainability and act accordingly.
Whereas it would be hoped that as many home owners as possible could be facilitated under the MARP, it would be unrealistic not to accept the inevitability of a proportion of loans being deemed unsustainable. In these circumstances the local authorities and the borrower would need to face the inevitability of the loan being unsustainable and act accordingly in a collaborative and co-operative manner.
Local authorities will continue to deal with distressed borrowers with the same forbearance and sympathy they have exhibited in the past. They will facilitate where at all possible as many home owners as possible to retain their properties and service their debts until such time as we return to less challenging times.
I do not have a date in respect of the question the Deputy asked but respectfully suggest that if he were to table a parliamentary question or send me on note on it, I would be happy to try to oblige him. We do not have a definitive timeline for the publication of the guidelines but I will endeavour to come back to the Deputy on that.
The Deputy referred to 106 homes in the case of County Offaly. I am not sure if that is the rate of arrears, to what exact figure that would amount, or what it would be as a percentage of the loan book in the Offaly area. If there are issues pertaining to his specific area, I have an open mind in terms of engagement or at least I can refer them to the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan.
On the Minister of State's last point, I merely used that example as a reference to indicate the levels that exist countrywide. It is indicative of the position in a county similar to it, be it Tipperary or Laois, and of the position across the country for similar types of counties. I used that example merely to show that in a county such as that, there is €1.7 million of a loan value that is greatly distressed and requires the attention of the new publication that the Minister of State mentioned. If he cannot give me a timescale for it, can the Government not honour its commitment to bring this forward before the summer recess?
Has the Money Advice and Budgeting Service been consulted and formed part of the consultancy process to bring about this publication? The Deputies present were here last week when we discussed a Private Members' motion on the area of credit management and Deputies across the board complimented the work that MABS is doing. They are at the coalface in dealing with this issue and they must form the basis of any publication which sets out an agenda and a ways and means by which local authorities will deal with this issue in the future. What are the Department's plans for the shared ownership scheme in the future?
Having been a member of a local authority and as somebody who continues to interface with a local authority on behalf of my constituents, it is fair to reiterate that the level of sympathy and empathy with individual clients is one kind of a positive engagement where the local authority endeavours to do its very best for the client in question. I believe we would all agree on that point. However, there is an inevitability that a certain number of mortgages will go under.
On the specific issues the Deputy raised, it is not fair to assume that because there is a lack of a timescale for the publication the Deputy would infer that it will not be before the summer recess. I can come back to him on the specific matters raised and refer them to the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan.
I will undertake to also refer the Deputy's question on the shared ownership scheme to the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. I am not trying to dodge the issues, I simply do not have the specific replies to the Deputy's questions and I would rather not try to play a game of bluff.
Hospital Services
I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for providing time for the discussion of the recent HIQA report. I wish to reflect on the fact that this report came about following the unfortunate death of Tom Walsh and I join others in conveying my sympathy to his family.
This report is frank, straight and detailed in the 76 recommendations it presents. It commenced as a report on one hospital, namely Tallaght hospital. I have not finished reading it but, interestingly, it raises some important issues about all 33 public hospitals and puts a spotlight on some of the practices and systems that pertain to them.
I note when the report deals initially with Tallaght hospital, it rightly refers to a history of long-standing challenges with regard to governance, management and funding. Every detail of the statement is correct. This begs a question about those supervising public hospitals over the past 12 years and says much about the shortcomings of previous Ministers with responsibility for health and about the HSE. They are as complicit in what happened in Tallaght hospital and what is happening in other public hospitals as those involved in mismanaging hospitals, in this case with regard to governance. This continued for 12 years in the case of Tallaght. I must acknowledge after three months the Minister, Deputy Reilly, told the House he would deal with the issues of governance in Tallaght hospital and he did so. I am not one given to flattering people, but I am stating a fact.
The practices that continued there should not have been allowed to continue but they were. For 12 years the powers that be turned away from what was happening despite the fact that those working in the hospital, the very good staff in Tallaght hospital, were the first to recognise the difficulties and the bad practices in the hospital but got nowhere with those involved in its management and governance and this is regrettable.
When it was first opened, Tallaght hospital was flagged as being the jewel in the crown of the health system. This may have been the intention, but it should be noted the catchment area for Tallaght hospital has a very large population and population growth in the large urban areas in its surroundings such as Clondalkin, Lucan and Rathfarnham was not considered. Therefore, from Tallaght hospital's early days we ended up with it becoming the busiest hospital in the country. Not only was it the busiest but it was underfunded and for its first 12 years neither the HSE nor the previous Minister with responsibility for health did anything about the number of consultants working there. People are mesmerised by the waiting lists and the number of people on trolleys in Tallaght hospital, but there had to be because it had one of the lowest ratios of consultants and operated with one of the largest population concentrations of any public hospital. It could not have gone any other way. It had a pretty unfair deal.
I thank Deputy Maloney for raising this important issue. The recently published HIQA report on Tallaght hospital is a very significant document and I welcome its publication. I am happy to confirm to the House it will be of tangible use as the Government continues to introduce major reforms in the health sector.
Let us not forget what is at the heart of this, that 14 months ago in March of last year a man died in Tallaght hospital. He was positioned on a corridor adjacent to the emergency department and perhaps the most significant single fact is that he was in a corridor where there was not clear clinical responsibility for his care. He was effectively in a zone where no one had clear responsibility for his treatment and he died. At the start of any discussion on this matter I want to express again my deepest sympathy to the family involved. It should never have been allowed to happen and such a tragedy must not be allowed to happen again.
As HIQA states in its report, the corridor was symptomatic of wider governance issues. We should be grateful that HIQA has provided us with detailed analysis of all that flows from this fact. As the Deputy knows, I moved to radically alter the governance of Tallaght hospital last year. This document provides us with a blueprint for many more governance changes that will need to apply on a much wider scale.
I remind Deputies that from the moment the Government came to power I made clear that the problems in our emergency departments would receive the highest priority from me, and in June last year we established the special delivery unit. By September it was operational and much has already been done to tackle the many very complex issues that contribute the problems in emergency departments.
HIQA has recommended that the Department puts in place an oversight committee to implement its recommendations. I intend to put this in place quickly and I will consider immediately how best it should be established.
Many changes have already been made in Tallaght hospital and the report acknowledges this. The practice of leaving patients waiting for admission on trolleys in a corridor adjacent to the emergency department was clinically unsafe and completely unacceptable. As I stated, this has been stopped. The Chief Medical Officer has referred the report to the Medical Council and An Bord Altranais to ask them to address the significant issues that arise.
I have also noted the report's findings into certain financial issues in the hospital. I welcome the involvement of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General's into the matter but given the role of the Comptroller and Auditor General, I do not wish to comment further in light of this investigation
Last November, the CEO of HIQA wrote to me with regard to her concerns about the deficits in governance and management at the hospital. As a result a new interim board, chaired by Sir Keith Pearson, was appointed last December. A new CEO is in place who is building a new management team, including clinical leadership.
Safe quality health care is a fundamental principle of the reform programme. Last week, I approved the HIQA national standards for safer better health care to underpin the development of quality safe health care services. The authority will shortly begin providing support to providers to implement the standards.
Long waits on trolleys are unacceptable. The number of admitted patients waiting on trolleys in Tallaght and in 27 other hospitals continues to be proactively managed by the HSE with the support of the special delivery unit in the Department. For the first quarter of this year, the cumulative number of patients waiting on trolleys throughout the entire system was approximately 20% lower than in the corresponding period in 2011. This equates to almost 5,000 patients whose experience of our emergency departments was markedly improved through the work of the special delivery unit. The equivalent result for Tallaght Hospital is an improvement of 63.2%, equating to 1,256 patients.
There are still far too many people waiting for far too long and we continue to address this issue with the co-operation of the clinical programmes and front line staff. I am seeking the greatest collaboration and personal commitment from all involved in the acute hospital system to protect patients and ensure the very best outcomes despite the challenging economic and financial circumstances we face.
I share the Minister's views on the matter and recognise fully the changes he initiated in a very short space of time. I repeat that it is regrettable that the citizens who live in the catchment area of Tallaght hospital had to wait 12 years for these reforms. Tallaght hospital is a better place as a result of the report. I have described it as the busiest hospital in the country. It is fair to state that apart from being the busiest hospital, as a result of recent events it is also the safest public hospital in the country.
I pay due compliment to the very good staff of Tallaght hospital who provide the best possible care within the resources. I wish the new CEO, Eilísh Hardiman, well. She has brought about great changes in a very short period of time and this must be recognised.
I referred to the deficit of consultants at the hospital. Will the Minister clarify what is the appropriate number of consultants for the hospital given its size?
From previous discussions I know the Minister had intended to deal with the issue of the catchment area. Is there a catchment area or is this hospital required to care or cater for such a large number of patients coming from outside its catchment area? Will any changes be introduced so that the hospital can operate within the parameters for which it was built?
I concur with the Deputy that Tallaght hospital is a much better hospital than it was a year ago. That is very much down to its new management and clinical leadership, and the new board that was put in place. I pay tribute to Sir Keith Pearson, who has been chair of the interim board for a number of months, for which he received no remuneration and travels at his own expense on a pro bono basis. He has offered much insight into how to turn the hospital around.
In response to the Deputy's question, the manpower would always be under review. The catchment issue is one that has come into the news recently. I assure the House that there is no legal basis for a catchment area per se. Patients who historically attended a hospital like to go back to that hospital because their notes are there and they do not need to go over their history again or remember all the tests they might have passed. That issue should not arise in the future. From the point of view of a hospital on a fixed budget, this is a major problem. However, as we move to a system based on the money following the patient, we should not hear complaints from hospitals about the patients who attend because they will be getting rewarded for each patient they see regardless of the part of the country from which they come.