Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 23 Jun 2015

Vol. 883 No. 3

Topical Issue Debate

Hospital Services

Deputy Derek Keating

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on the issue of rehabilitative care for persons with an acquired brain injury in Ireland, and I thank the Minister of State for being present. Due to the advances in medicine and technology, brain injury survival rates in this country have improved. Advanced imaging and surgical techniques mean that early intervention can lead to long-term survival for persons with acquired brain injury. However, they are often saved and then left, because access to, availability, and funding of rehabilitation services have not matched medical and technological advances.

Persons who acquire a brain injury frequently occupy a bed in an acute hospital for a protracted period of time and might move from there to a nursing home setting, or home, if they are lucky enough to have support in the family. Persons with an acquired brain injury in many cases cannot access services and rehabilitation on their own behalf. As a result, they often are left with a lack of rehabilitation opportunities and remain in inappropriate settings.

At this point, I will discuss the case of Sara Walsh Delaney, who entered hospital for a biopsy for a benign brain tumour in October 2011, three months after her marriage at the age of 28. She suffered a massive brain haemorrhage, could not be roused from a coma and ended up bed-bound in Beaumont Hospital for two years and three months. Her mother, Mary, her father, Martin, and her sister, Niamh, fought for her to have access to treatment when the powers that be saw her as a problem and wanted her to be moved to a nursing home to free up a bed. Sean O'Rourke of RTE championed her cause, and my colleague Deputy Finian McGrath asked questions in this House on Sara's behalf.

Sara was taken to the National Rehabilitation Hospital, NRH, in August 2014, was treated there for a period and then returned to Beaumont Hospital. Later, in December 2014, Sara, then 31, went to the Royal Hospital Donnybrook, in the ward for young patients under 65, under the Fair Deal scheme. Sara's family and friends engaged in extensive fundraising that meant she could travel to Germany for six weeks of intensive rehabilitation. Once there, she made great progress. After her return in April to the Royal Hospital Donnybrook, however, Sara regressed because she was entitled to only two hours of therapy per week.

A further scan a number of weeks ago showed the benign tumour to be growing, and Sara was transferred to St. Francis Hospice in Blanchardstown, where, sadly, she died on 17 June, a few short months after her 32nd birthday.

I mention Sara's case because it highlights the lacuna in the health services in Ireland. There is no golden ticket that fast-tracks treatment, as long-term care and rehabilitation is specifically excluded from health insurance policies by all providers. For persons with disorders of consciousness for which 24-hour care is needed, there are three beds in the country. Rehabilitation cannot be accessed or paid for in Ireland except through the HSE, and a person with an acquired brain injury cannot bring his or her own physiotherapist into a long-stay hospital in Ireland.

This evening I make the case that we need to urgently review the position with regard to the National Policy and Strategy for the Provision of Neuro-Rehabilitation Services in Ireland 2011-2015.

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Kathleen Lynch)

I thank Deputy Keating for raising the issue. I assume he understands that I will not be referring to any individual case other than to express our sympathy to the family of the person he mentioned. It was quite a tragic case. I hope that is accepted.

I am pleased to take this opportunity to outline the current position in relation to the provision of rehabilitative services to persons with acquired brain injury in Ireland. Brain injury health services are provided across a range of settings, by different organisations and by many health professionals and carers. The HSE clinical strategy and programmes directorate has a number of clinical programmes that are working in the area of the brain, including neurology, epilepsy, stroke and rehabilitation medicine. These programmes are focused on reducing waiting times and addressing specific disease pathways and models of care with a view to developing a national framework for the management of long-term neurological conditions. The HSE also provides services through primary care teams with community-based therapy services and personal social services, often funded through partner agencies in the non-statutory sector. The Government's national policy and strategy for the provision of neuro-rehabilitation services in Ireland provides the overarching framework for the development and provision of such services. The strategy made a number of recommendations for services for persons with neuro-rehabilitation needs that covered different types of provision, including clinical, therapeutic, social, vocational and community supports. The HSE has established a steering group which will guide the implementation of the strategy with the development of a framework for implementation and ensure adequate links with the national clinical programme for rehabilitation medicine.

An implementation framework for the strategy is being developed by both the HSE disability services division and the HSE clinical programme for rehabilitation medicine. It will be circulated to a wider group of stakeholders for consultation. The development of this framework is the first phase of the implementation planning process. It will establish implementation structures, develop a model of services and supports, map existing resources and review and reconfigure existing services. In addition, the framework will identify requirements to support service delivery, such as information systems, staffing competencies and quality improvement. Communication with stakeholders will take place during the implementation process. A priority will be to establish an implementation structure in order to guide the development of services. Services will need to be determined and informed by clear referral and service protocols which are developed nationally and implemented consistently throughout the health care system.

The strategy proposes a hub-and-spoke arrangement between the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire and a network of regional rehabilitation units. Plans to invest in and redevelop the National Rehabilitation Hospital are well under way, and I hope that this will give us greater scope and greater availability of beds. I also understand that a number of proposed developments at regional level are at early design stage. The HSE also provides substantial funding to a number of organisations, such as Acquired Brain Injury Ireland, Headway Ireland, Enable Ireland and Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland, to provide supports and services to persons with neurological conditions. It is important that the continuum of services and supports required are made available by the health system and by those other State agencies to provide specific services consistent with their statutory remit. Waiting times, access, treatment and quality of care continue to be priorities for reform for this Government, despite budgetary constraints. The Government recognises that neurological illness or injury has significant implications for the individual and his or her family and impacts on the individual's health and social, educational, vocational and recreational participation.

I hope this is of some benefit to the Deputy. The further development of the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire will give us greater scope for delivery of these services.

Deputy Derek Keating

I thank the Minister of State. I fully appreciate that she is not in a position to comment in any way on a specific case, but I am sure she understands that bringing such an example to the Dáil today helps to emphasise the need for progress on an issue such as this. I appreciate the Minister of State's statement on behalf of the Minister for Health.

I recognise that the Government's national policy and strategy for the provision of neuro-rehabilitation services in Ireland provides that overarching framework for the development and provision of these services. I referred to the 2011-2015 strategy report, and I recognise the importance of this. The strategy sets out a national model for service delivery and a framework for the future based on a continuum of individualised supports and services that are accessed at different stages in the rehabilitation journey, but what concerns me is that this report is still awaiting the development of an implementation plan by the Department of Health and the HSE. There is a large and growing unmet need since the report was introduced in 2011. What I really want is to see that strategy implemented and progress made on it after the number of years that have passed since its introduction. I thank the Minister of State.

Deputy Kathleen Lynch

As I stated, the priority will be to establish an implementation structure in order to guide the development of services. Services will need to be determined and informed by clear referral and service protocols which are developed nationally and implemented consistently throughout the health care system. I reiterate that on the basis that we know how to implement it. The difficulty is pulling together all of the services that already exist, not only within the Dublin region but throughout the country. Those services were fragmented to a significant degree, but they were there. With the hub-and-spoke approach, which is, I believe, the one that we should follow, one would have the hub, which is centralised within the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire, and the other areas would develop on a consultation basis, with rehabilitation consultants in different areas delivering services.

The most important issue - which, as an elected representative, I am aware that others hear about as well - is the constant cry to get people into an appropriate bed in that rehabilitation hospital. Even when this country was awash with money, that need was there, but it was not given any great freedom to develop. We have decided to allow that development to go ahead and we will be providing whatever resources are necessary to ensure that the hospital is redeveloped, because we need additional capacity and it has the expertise. As I stated, I do not want to refer to individual cases, but in the event that someone in a crisis situation had easier access to a bed within that type of specialist centre, I am not saying the outcome would have been different, but I believe that the security within the family would probably have been different.

Postal Services

Deputy Jonathan O'Brien

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, for attending to take this Topical Issue, which is one that has been raised with me by postmasters in my constituency in recent weeks. I am sure that postmasters have been contacting Deputies in other constituencies about it as well. It relates to the revised application form for pensions that was sent out by the Department of Social Protection asking people to consider financial institutions - banks - as their first option for payment. Postmasters believe that this was biased. As one stated, postmasters were being asked to put themselves out of business by recommending that their customers use financial institutions for certain Department of Social Protection payments rather than the post offices themselves.

The postmasters also pointed to the facts that more than 200 post offices have closed in recent years, approximately two thirds of which were in rural communities, and that Department of Social Protection payments constituted one third of post offices' revenue. That is a large chunk of revenue. If people were to move en masse to financial institutions, the Irish Postmasters Union, IPU, contends that approximately 400 of the 1,100 remaining post offices would be put at risk.

A review of the future of post offices was published recently. It made a number of recommendations on how to expand their services. The Minister of State might be able to indicate where those recommendations lie within Government policy or thinking.

We should recognise that the post office network is the largest retail sector in the State, employing approximately 3,700 people. Apart from the employment aspect, there is a social element to the post offices, particularly in rural areas, but also in urban centres. For example, my constituency of Cork North-Central has large urban areas like Farranree, Knocknaheeny, Parklands and Onslow Gardens that do not have a bank. In fact, there is no bank across the north side of the constituency. They are all centred in the valley. Elderly people must travel several miles to the nearest bank even though there is a post office just around the corner.

We need to examine policy on this matter and take the recent review on board. That review made a number of recommendations that should be examined. Asking people who are reliant on social welfare payments to consider as their first option banking institutions would be unfair. The letters that I received from the postmasters asked for the Government at the minimum to withdraw the application form and return the original, which placed the post office as the first option and made no recommendation as to which institution people should use. Their request could be considered.

This is a pressing issue. I have spoken to postmasters in other areas. They are raising the matter and there is some lobbying. Will the Minister of State comment on the review and the rationale behind the Department's decision to make banking institutions the preferred option?

Acting Chairman (Deputy Alan Farrell)

I thank the Deputy. That was perfect timing.

Minister of State at the Department of Social Protection (Deputy Kevin Humphreys)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. He was right about the number of post offices that had closed. I have just noticed in my notes that 198 post offices closed between 2007 and 2010.

I reassure the Deputy that the Government has consistently stated its commitment to maintaining the post office network, as is clear in the programme for Government. It is a key piece of the social infrastructure in urban and rural areas. A part of the strength of the post office brand and one of its chief selling points is that it reaches all parts of the country and can be accessed by everyone. In particular, we support the concept of the post office as a front office of government, in other words, a way by which an array of State services can be delivered.

In that regard, the Department of Social Protection contract is the single most important contract for An Post. Under it, my Department will pay more than €50 million to An Post this year for cash payment services to welfare clients. This is a significant sum and a vital source of business for post offices around the country. This indicates our commitment to the network.

The post office network business development group, chaired by Mr. Bobby Kerr, has decided that the future of the post office will be best secured through the development of a more sustainable business model, including the development of financial services, which is identified by the group as fundamental to the future of the network. The development by An Post of a payment account will be critical to a more sustainable business model as society moves to electronic payments rather than cash payments, for example, standard bank accounts. This approach was mentioned in Mr. Kerr's report and An Post is excited about developing it.

Concerns have been raised recently regarding the format of some of the Department's scheme application forms and how they may impact on the post office network. I assure the House that these application forms do not remove the option for clients to be paid at the post office. This option still remains on the forms and clients can continue to receive their payments at post offices if they so wish. Some of these forms were amended in the past year to recognise the general societal trend towards electronic payments.

I emphasise that the forms provided by the Department to enable clients to apply for social welfare entitlements are continuously reviewed to ensure that they are amenable and relevant to all clients. However, in order to ensure that the Department's forms present payment options equally, I have asked it to update them to contain neutral wording in respect of payment options so that one option is not favoured over another. Changing the wording will take a bit of time.

I assure the Deputy that current payment options will remain in place in order to reflect the different circumstances and needs of our clients, as has always been the case, and in the interest of serving our clients in the best way possible.

Like the Deputy, I am from an urban area where post offices are as valued as they are in rural ones, but we must change the business model and work with An Post to do so. I am sure that the Deputy has friends and acquaintances who have retired and who, having received their salaries by way of electronic payment, will opt for the electronic payment of their pensions. We must work with An Post with a view to a more sustainable financial model. The Deputy may have read today about-----

Acting Chairman (Deputy Alan Farrell)

The Minister of State will have more time after Deputy O'Brien's supplementary question.

Deputy Jonathan O'Brien

I thank the Minister of State for his reply and welcome his statement that the wording of the application form will be changed as soon as possible so as to provide a neutral option. One of the postmasters' criticisms related to how the new form recommended financial institutions as the preferred option. I understand that some people may want to receive their payments electronically via financial institutions, but the Department's application forms should not cite preferred options.

I agree that much more work is necessary so as to secure the future of the post office network. This is why I welcome the report of the group chaired by Mr. Kerr. It contained some excellent recommendations that could go a long way towards ensuring that the network's future is guarded as much as possible. Obviously, there will be other challenges apart from this issue involving Department of Social Protection contracts, so we must factor in that possibility.

I welcome the commitment to change the application forms. I hope that it will be done sooner rather than later, as this issue is taxing the minds of postmasters.

Deputy Kevin Humphreys

The Kerr report comes under the remit of the Minister of the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Alex White, but as far as I am aware it is open for public consultation. I suggest that all Members and the general public make submissions in that area. We are all used to An Post, but the model of business is moving very quickly. We have only to look at our own offices to become aware of the vast amounts of correspondence that come in by e-mail. I notice that queries come in through social media, so the model has to change and probably has to change quickly. Bobby Kerr will not thank me for calling it the Kerr report. That report lays out a roadmap. There are options from An Post. The standard bank account is an excellent way for it to expand and develop. An Post is anxious to move into that area. I also know that postmasters believe that will play a key role.

The Government is developing pilot schemes for microfinance - that is, micro-loans for people on low incomes. Those payments could be made through An Post. We need to be positive about developing a business model that will lead An Post for the next couple of decades. If it remains in its current model it will not survive. Therefore, that model has to grow and expand.

The volume of money that flows from the Department of Social Protection to An Post is €53.8 million. That volume will decrease naturally as people go back to work and there is a drop-off in the payments we make to An Post for paying out dole money on a weekly basis. Those numbers have dropped significantly in the past four years. A net total of more than 100,000 jobs have been created in the economy. That represents 100,000 customers An Post had last year that it does not have this year and 100,000 payments it will not receive.

Acting Chairman (Deputy Alan Farrell)

I thank the Minister of State.

Deputy Kevin Humphreys

That is positive for the economy and for society. The unintentional consequence is that there is less business from the Department of Social Protection going through the post office network. Therefore, there is an urgency in developing that business model to ensure that post offices survive the next decade.

Student Support Schemes

Deputy Seamus Kirk

I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity to raise this matter and the Ceann Comhairle for selecting it as one of the items for discussion.

This is an important issue. It concerns a constituent of mine who agreed to rear and support the children of a family friend and his wife, both of whom died when they were very young. A guardianship arrangement was put in place. The couple who were the guardians do not have a family of their own. None the less, they looked after the children exceptionally well and supported them through primary and second level education. The first girl, a teenager, is going on to third level education. After making a grant application to SUSI, they discovered that the incomes of both guardians are factored in when considering eligibility for same. The teenager is the first of a number of children who will hopefully go on to third level, and the same issue will arise again. Given that the incomes of both parents are factored into the means test, they may not be eligible for a college grant.

The reality is that the couple involved did not anticipate this problem. Apparently under a guardianship arrangement the teenager ceases to be in guardianship after the age of 18 years. They looked also at the issue of children in foster care. Apparently children in foster care are fortunate in being able to go on to third level, as the income of the carers - the parents or the husband and wife looking after the children - is not factored in. Clearly, there is a dichotomy in the application of the grants scheme by SUSI. Obviously, it operates under the regulations set down by the Department of Education and Skills, but it is an area that needs to be examined.

Guardianship is an invaluable service for HSE and State bodies that would otherwise have the responsibility of looking after children who, when their parents die, are unable to look after themselves. There is a need to have the guardianship outlet available to them as well as foster care. It is an aspect we need to protect. There is a need to ensure it is not made less attractive for the honourable and commendable parents who are prepared to provide care in such a situation.

I am pleased that the Minister of State is from the north east. This is a north east problem. I am prepared, on a confidential basis, to provide him with more details of the case. I implore him to consider the case sympathetically. It is a genuine case. There is nothing political about it. I am being up front. I am providing limited details in my contribution in the Chamber as we are restricted in what we can say about individual cases. I appeal to the Minister to go back to the Department and examine the regulations with a view to seeing what can be done to help.

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills (Deputy Damien English)

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. As the Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, cannot be present, I am taking the debate on her behalf. I am not familiar with the case but I accept that it is a genuine case.

For student grant purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances, whether as students dependent on parents or a legal guardian, or as independent mature students. A student may be assessed as an independent mature student if he or she has attained the age of 23 on 1 January of the year of first entry to an approved course, or of re-entry following a break in studies of at least three years, and is not ordinarily resident with his or her parents from the previous October. Otherwise he or she continues to be assessed on the basis of the parents' or guardians' income.

An objective of the Department's statutory-based student grant scheme is to provide additional assistance to dependent students where the parents' or guardians' income is below a certain threshold and warrants additional assistance by way of a grant. Only in exceptional circumstances where compelling evidence of estrangement from parents or guardians is provided can applicants who are under 23 years of age be assessed without reference to their parents' or guardians' income or address. The difficulty is that parents are regarded as being under the scheme. The Student Support Act 2011 defines a parent as including a guardian appointed under the Guardianship of Children Acts 1964 to 1997. This definition also provides that a person who has adopted a child under the Adoption Act 2010 or outside the State is considered a parent for grant purposes. I understand the predicament and I can see that this can act as a deterrent for people who are considering becoming guardians. It is not an issue I have dealt with before. I will certainly take a look at the case to see whether in general the regulations are unfair to this particular category. Those are the rules at present. I appreciate that the Deputy is asking if we can have another look at them. I will certainly look at the case and will speak to the Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, about it to ascertain whether this is an area we need to examine in terms of the rules.

The Deputy raised the issue of foster parents. In the case of a fostered applicant, it is the State that is offering the protection and care in circumstances in which the parents have not been able or are unlikely to provide the care the child needs, so students may be assessed as dependent students by reference to their own income where they satisfy the conditions of article 21.3 of the student grant scheme, which refers to irreconcilable estrangement. It is a little bit different because the State is the person in charge, unlike in the case of guardianship. What the Deputy is saying in general is that this is a deterrent. We will examine the issue to see whether there are similar cases.

I am sorry I cannot give the Deputy a better answer or say that we can fix it, but I will certainly take up the case and look at the rules. I understand the point the Deputy is making.

The guardians did not realise all the consequences and costs involved. The Deputy did the right thing on behalf of the young family. I will examine that but I am afraid the rules as they stand do recognise a guardian and a parent as the same thing.

Deputy Seamus Kirk

I am somewhat disappointed. I am sure it is not the Minister of State’s fault. I am sure the briefing note comes from the section. He quite rightly identifies the fact that guardians are treated in the same way as biological parents. That seems quite unfair to me. I am sure the circumstances will vary from one case to another but there is a great need for a spirit of generosity and humanity and consideration for one’s neighbour to provide the family support that guardianship requires for children whose biological parents have departed this world. The guardians are prepared to step in, support and look after them right up to third level education. There is a problem. I would be more than happy to sit down with the Minister of State, go through the individual case and provide more evidence. The Minister of State understands all the circumstances I have outlined so I implore him to do that and perhaps we can arrange afterwards to meet.

Deputy Damien English

I will meet the Deputy on that issue.

Schools Relocation

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this topic for debate.

To say that Gaelscoil Phádraig in Ballybrack has had a raw deal would be a major understatement. It has been in existence for 20 years. In that time it has been in four different temporary locations. Most of that time, and currently, it has been on a 0.7 acre site with prefabricated buildings, many of which are over 15 years old, some of which have recently required emergency repairs. The contractor repairing them cannot guarantee those repairs for any period. Fifth and sixth classes, and first and second classes are thrown together. It has a tiny play area which because it has no assembly hall has to double up for use for school concerts and assemblies. The conditions are completely unacceptable. The classrooms are below the recommended size, yet this school was promised in 2005 that it would be moved to a permanent location in the nearby Archbishop McQuaid school. Ten years on and 20 years after it was set up, it is still in these completely unacceptable conditions.

The school wants to hear from the Minister of State today that the coming year will be its last year in these temporary conditions. It is shameful that it has been left there so long. It cannot abide these conditions.

At this stage the parents, teachers and students wonder what they did wrong, that they were allowed to persist in these completely unsuitable conditions. This is a disadvantaged area but despite having applied for Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS, status Gaelscoil Phádraig did not get that, although all the children come from the same area as children in other schools given DEIS status. The Minister of State might also consider that. They have been short-changed for 20 years. It is just not good enough. The Taoiseach talked earlier about the priority he gives to investing in the future, education, upskilling our citizens and so on. How the hell can we do any of that or how can that mean anything if we leave our kids in these conditions for 20 years? That is the commitment they want. They really want some hope because they have had enough and are at the end of their tether.

The Minister of State will probably tell us that the school has been allocated a new emergency prefab. It is even frightened of getting that because it thinks that may be an excuse to put it on the long finger again and it points out that will further infringe on the tiny play area it has and crowd the school out even further. It may have to put up with it for another year but it wants a guarantee this is the last year and that it will be in the school that was allocated ten years ago, which sits less than a quarter of a mile away, and that the new buildings the special school currently in that building requires will be completed by then, and Gaelscoil Phádraig can have the school it should have had ten years ago.

Deputy Damien English

I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy O'Sullivan, and I apologise that she was not able to take it.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity to outline to the House the current position regarding the accommodation needs of Gaelscoil Phádraig, Ballybrack.

The school is currently located in prefabricated accommodation on a site owned by Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown County Council in Ballybrack. The Deputy said it has been there for 20 years. I take his word for that; I did not realise it was that long although I knew it was a long time. It is agreed that the accommodation is totally unsatisfactory. The Deputy is also aware that it is intended that the school will relocate to a premises currently occupied by Ballyowen Meadows special school pending the construction of a new school building for Ballyowen Meadows.

The major building project for Ballyowen Meadows special school is at an advanced stage of architectural planning. During the course of the project, an appeal was made to An Bord Pleanála regarding the decision to grant planning permission for the Ballyowen Meadows building project. I cannot explain the 20 year delay. I can only say the last part of the delay was caused by the appeal to An Bord Pleanála. This contributed to some delay with the project. In February 2015, An Bord Pleanála upheld the decision to grant planning permission and I am pleased to say the building project is now progressing as fast as possible.

Specifically, the school's design team is preparing the stage 2(b) detailed design documentation for submission to the Department for review and approval. Assuming no issues arise in the review of the stage 2(b) submission, the project will then be authorised to proceed to tender, with a view to commencing construction late this year, 2015, or early 2016. I cannot say how quickly it will be built, hopefully it will get a good builder but it certainly is the plan to start construction at the back end of this year or early next year. That is the best I can give the Deputy at this stage. I know he wanted a guarantee that it would be in for September 2016. That might be a bit tight. It depends on the construction but the construction should start at the end of this year or early 2016.

Once the building project for Ballyowen Meadows school is complete, the vacated building will become available for Gaelscoil Phádraig. It will not be possible for Ballyowen Meadows to vacate the building until its new school is constructed. The Deputy understands that and is not asking for that. He is right, in the meantime, the Department has sanctioned a temporary mainstream classroom to Gaelscoil Phádraig for September 2015 to assist with its accommodation needs. I understand from the Deputy that will cause difficulties in terms of space but we also have to have accommodation for the students. The Deputy is looking for a guarantee and the start of construction is probably the best we can give and it looks like that should happen at the back end of this year.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

There is no news there for Gaelschoil Phádraig. It is aware of all that the Minister of State said. This is the fear, that it will extend beyond this year. The situation has got progressively worse for it after a 20 year saga of moving from one place to another. It was in one room without proper windows, then it had two classrooms in another school, then it had to be bussed to another area, now it has been in the prefabs for years. These prefabs are way beyond their sell-by date and are completely unsuitable. The numbers have increased by 26 this year so there will be more overcrowding. It had to hold last year's school concert in the playground. That is the only place it can hold assembly as well. It is not acceptable. Of course it does not want to be played off against a special school, which also needs to be housed. For this to have gone on for this long is crazy. After all it has gone through, the Department should be able to say it will get it, come hell or high water, by September 2016.

It would not be fair or right for this to drag on for another year thereafter. Gaelscoil Phádraig is asking the Department to recognise that it has been wronged, not only by this Government but by its predecessors over 20 years. The school has been short-changed and is asking that special care and attention are shown and an effort is made to ensure the new building is completed by the end of 2016. This could be achieved with determination. That is the appeal being made by the school.

I also ask that the Department consider the DEIS status of Gaelscoil Phádraig, which will, I understand, apply for disadvantaged status again this year. There is no reason for the school's failure to secure DEIS status given that other schools with students from the same catchment area have such status. Gaelscoil Phádraig has been short-changed at two levels and the Government must recognise the wrongs done to it by showing fairness to the children in the school.

Deputy Damien English

I understand the frustration felt by Deputy Boyd Barrett and students at Gaelscoil Phádraig having been educated in a prefabricated building for four years. This type of building tends to be too hot in summer and too cold in winter and I do not blame the pupils of the school for wanting to get out of prefabs.

The building project is progressing. I am not aware of any alternative that would shorten the process, nor did the Deputy suggest one. I cannot answer for 20 years of history as I have not been in this position for that long. It is safe to say, however, that the Department will progress this project as fast as it possibly can. This is a priority project to which we are committed. If everything goes to plan, the project will go to tender in the next couple of months and building will start either before Christmas or early in 2016. There is no point stating a school will be completed in a seven or eight months because we must not compromise the construction process. For this reason, it will probably be late 2016 or early 2017 before pupils transfer to the new building. That is the best option available.

The building project is proceeding and a new school will be built. The Deputy has asked that everything be done to ensure the school is completed as quickly as possible and I assure him that will be the case. The school will be built and when the special needs school moves into it, a building will be freed up for Scoil Phádraig. I do not expect the project to be delayed at this stage. I cannot answer for the previous planning history, the role of An Bord Pleanála and so forth; I can only explain what occurred in recent years. The project is moving ahead and the Department has a strong commitment to ensure it is completed as quickly as possible. Officials will do everything they can and I hope others on the ground will do likewise.