I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, to the House.
Adjournment Matters
Special Educational Needs Service Provision
I thank the Minister of State for taking this Adjournment debate. I have advocated for a long time that placements should be offered to school leavers who have intellectual disabilities in June of the year in which they leave school, so that their parents will know where they are going. Over umpteen years, I have spoken each September to parents who still do not know where their children will go. This can be detrimental to families because it prevents them from planning ahead. Some parents are worried that they will not be in a position to stay in employment if they do not have a suitable placement for their children. As I have been advocating on this issue since I became a Member of the Seanad, I was delighted to receive notification earlier this year that the HSE had put a target date of 30 June in place. I welcomed the proposal that by the time young people leave school on 30 June each year, they and their families will know exactly where they are going in September. I understood that a centralised system, implemented by the HSE, would be put in place to ensure a more streamlined approach to assigning placements is taken and that additional funding of €7 million had been allocated. I was really looking forward to 30 June coming around this year. I was hoping that any young person I know who is in the care of special services, or who will need special services when he or she leaves school, would be placed by then. Therefore, I was disappointed last week to speak with more parents who do not know where their children will be going even though we are in the second week of July. This is a huge time for these children. When a child leaves a mainstream school, he or she has a fairly good idea where he or she is going, or would like to go, in September. The amount of future planning involving other people that is required when somebody is leaving a mainstream school is not half the amount of planning that is involved in the case of someone with an intellectual disability.
I would like to refer to the case of a young lady who has reached school leaver age and has left school. Her parents, whom I know personally, have toured this country to look for a suitable place for their daughter, who has very significant individualised needs. Nobody knows a child better than his or her mother. This child's mother went around the country to search for a suitable facility and eventually found one not too far from her home. She decided she would like her daughter to be placed in this facility and submitted an application to that effect. She notified me of the outcome last week.
I am getting two different stories or scenarios. I am not sure what is happening. I am asking for this child to be placed in the facility where her mother would like her to be placed. The mother has written to me to say the place she has checked out has the ultimate in specialised care provision. It is where she wants her daughter to go. The young woman in question has a friend, with whom she has grown up since the age of five, who will be going to the same place. It is important for people to be able to send their children to mainstream schools with their friends. This lady would like to think her child will have the company of her friend who lives across the border in the next county. They want to continue to have that arrangement in place. I have contacted both places, but I am not sure what the answer or the exact situation is. It seems to be going around the world for sport. Meanwhile, a young woman and her family are suffering as they wait to see where she will be able to go. I ask the Minister of State to look into this matter. We need to follow through on our promise that all children would know where they were going by 30 June. We are now into the middle of July. If we could get a definite statement on where this young woman will be able to go, I would appreciate it.
I thank Senator Moran for raising this issue. I know of her strong commitment in this area. I am responding to her on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. I am pleased to outline the position on placements for school leavers who need continuing supports from the health sector. While the Government does not comment on individual cases, I wish to assure the Senator that our policy is to enable young people with disabilities to live independent lives to the greatest extent possible and to receive the supports they need to achieve this. Many young people with disabilities will progress to mainstream education, training or employment, but some will need continuing support from the HSE. Day services for adults with disabilities provide a network of support for over 25,000 people who have a wide spectrum of support needs due to intellectual, physical and sensory disabilities, autism and mental health problems. Every year, the HSE, through its occupational guidance service, works with schools, service providers, service users and families to identify the needs of young people with disabilities who are due to complete their second-level education and will require varying levels of continuing support. This year, at the request of the Minister for Health, an additional €7 million in funding and 35 posts were allocated by the HSE to meet the needs of school leavers with disabilities.
Over 900 school leavers applied. Even with the extra funding, the provision of this level of new service has been challenging for all concerned. To meet the challenge, the Health Service Executive, HSE, has implemented a new centralised application process and national operational approach to school leaver placements.
An important aspect of the new approach has been the establishment of a national oversight group representing disability sector umbrella organisations, service users and senior HSE staff. With stakeholder support, the HSE has worked to identify the service providers with capacity to respond to assessed need and agree the allocation of additional resources where required. This process has been completed. The HSE has assured the Minister that, in all but a very small number of cases, school leavers and their families have now been notified of the placement which will be available to them in September. This is a significant achievement by all concerned and a great improvement on the position in recent years.
In the remaining cases, the HSE, service providers and families are still in discussions regarding the most suitable placement for the school leaver. Strenuous efforts are being made to reach a satisfactory resolution for each young person concerned as soon as possible. In respect of the young woman referred to by the Senator, the HSE has assured the Minister for Health that a suitable placement will be provided for her in September and that it is working with the local service provider to assess how her needs may be best accommodated. Discussions are ongoing and a meeting will be held with the young woman's family in the coming days. I assume the information with regard to the specific place the young woman in question and her family would like has been given to the relevant authorities.
I know there has been an improvement in this process. However, it does not matter how good the improvement is if one’s child is affected by not securing the placement, particularly when other children with similar needs from the same area have come through the same small school and have got a placement. I am not sure why there is a problem with the placement in this case. If this matter is not settled soon, I will be knocking on the door of the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. I would be grateful if the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O’Sullivan, would convey my concerns to her.
I will convey them to the Minister.
School Accommodation
My matter concerns many children in Gaelscoil Teach na Giúise in Firhouse, Dublin 24, who do not have a permanent school building. The school is accommodated in Tymon Bawn Community Centre which is not suitable. Originally, when the school was accommodated there, it was informed it would be out of there by the end of 2013. The date was then pushed forward to June 2014 but it still has not moved. I have been speaking to staff and parents on this matter. We understand the Department and South Dublin County Council are sourcing sites for the school, as well as for the Firhouse Educate Together school, but it has taken a long time. I accept local community needs have to be taken into account such as the provision of sporting facilities and so forth. I know the Department and the council have had difficulties in this respect and do not want disadvantage one sector of the community.
As the school has only a few rooms in the community centre, this has led to uncertainty for parents about enrolling their children in the school, as it essentially cannot physically expand in its current accommodation. Parents are now asking where their children will attend if the school cannot secure permanent accommodation. It is important that certainty is brought to this matter without delay. Using community halls as classrooms, furthermore, deprives certain elements of the community of the use of the hall for sports and so on. In effect, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is subsidising the Department of Education and Skills by providing community buildings for schools that were never meant as schools. The school in question must share communal facilities such as toilets with the general public which is not satisfactory or ideal. We have seen a fine new school open in Knocklyon. The secondary school, however, is not large enough to deal with the catchment area of the feeder school.
I had a similar Adjournment matter down for the Educate Together school in Firhouse some time ago. I am interested to see if the reply has changed. I was informed private as well as public sites were being sourced. Is there any more information on that?
I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, and thank the Senator for raising this issue.
Both the Minister and the Department are very much aware of the need to provide permanent accommodation for Gaelscoil Teach na Giúise, a school established to serve both a demographic and diversity need in the Firhouse area of Tallaght, County Dublin. I hope the Senator will take comfort from the fact that a building project for the school is on the Department's five-year construction plan, although the school is just completing its first year of operation. A building project for the school will proceed as soon as a suitable site has been procured. In this regard, the site acquisition process for the permanent location for the school is ongoing. Department officials are working very closely with officials from South Dublin County Council in identifying and acquiring a suitable site.
The Minister signed a memorandum of understanding between the Department of Education and Skills and the County and City Managers Association in 2012. This memorandum formalises the local authorities’ part in identifying and securing suitable sites for educational use and facilitates increased levels of co-operation between both parties. It is in this context that this work is progressing. As the process is ongoing and due to the commercial sensitivities associated with land acquisitions generally, it is not possible to provide further information at this time.
In the meantime, the school is temporarily located in the Firhouse Community Centre on Ballycullen Drive, Firhouse, as opposed to the Tymon Bawn Community Centre mentioned by the Senator. It will remain in this accommodation for the 2014-15 school year. The school will be a single-stream, eight-classroom school when fully developed. The school's current enrolment is six pupils and it has one teacher. When it started up in 2013, the entire top floor of the community centre, comprising a large room, used as a classroom for the six pupils, a boardroom, used as ancillary accommodation and office space for the teacher, a kitchen-staff room and male and female toilets, were made available for school use. The school also uses a large indoor sports hall and an outdoor play area.
The Department refurbished the premises to make it suitable for school use. The school advises it will have total enrolment of 21 pupils for the 2014-15 school year. This will attract a second teacher giving the school a pupil-teacher ratio of 10.5:1. Further enhancements are being made to the top floor and outdoor play space to facilitate the increased enrolment. The boardroom, which is adequate in size for the number of pupils that will occupy it, will be used as the second classroom. Another space, available to the school last year but which it did not use, is being converted into a principal's office and ancillary space.
While the school shared the boardroom and kitchen last year, it will have exclusive use of these facilities for the new school year. The school will continue to have priority access to the sports hall. The Department has worked and continues to work closely with the school's principal and the management of the community centre to ensure the school’s accommodation needs are met as best as is possible. Inevitably, some compromises are necessary when a school is using premises that are not purpose-built.
Gaelscoil Teach na Giúise can be assured that every effort is being made to provide it with adequate accommodation in its start-up years and to curtail its tenure in temporary accommodation by providing it with purpose-built accommodation as soon as a suitable site has been acquired. I am sorry I cannot give the Senator further information on the site.
Two thirds of the reply was a stick and paste job from the answer I got when I raised the issue previously. There was nothing new other than the sensitive commercial information. The funding being made available to community halls by the Department of Education and Skills through renting out rooms in them is valuable because sometimes they struggle. On the other hand, there may be playschools or community facilities in the locality which are disenfranchised by having a school in the hall. Long ago we tried to ensure primary schools stayed open after school hours for community use. Now community halls are being taken over by the Department of Education and Skills for school use. We have come full circle. It is not a way for the Department of Education and Skills to plan to state it loves to hear everything is being renovated and facilities will be better next year than they are this year. This must be balanced as one must consider who is losing out. Do other community facilities lose out if the top floor of the community hall is given over to a school? I am not saying this is the case, but the Department should examine it before it takes over every community hall. I am involved in community development and I know the expense South Dublin County Council went to, which was grant aided by the Department, to provide a community hall. Funding from the Department of Education and Skills for schooling is different. I will return to this issue at a later date because it is not finished business.
I will convey the Senator's points to the new Minister for Education and Skills-----
Is the Minister of State announcing it?
-----as the current Minister has indicated he will not stay in the job. The Department is very anxious to proceed as soon as possible. I agree with the Senator that it is not suitable to have children in a hall for any length of time.
On that note, I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Quinn, on the work he has done and I appreciate it. I wish him well.
Wind Energy Guidelines
The Minister of State has been tipped to be the next Minister for Education and Skills. She would do a very good job. I wish her the best of luck. I saw it in some of the newspapers over the weekend. Senator Cáit Keane will have a head start on her matter if the rumour turns out to be true.
I wish to raise a very serious issue and I am glad the Minister of State is here because responsibility for its lies within the Department. Often the relevant Minister is not available to deal with an Adjournment matter. I am sure the Minister of State is aware of the issue of wind turbine development because I am sure it takes up much of her time. The Minister rightly announced a review of the guidelines last year and draft planning guidelines and regulations for wind turbines were published. It is fair to say the existing guidelines were completely outdated.
The review in the Department is ongoing and there has been public consultation to which my party and many others contributed. Meanwhile, quite a number of planning applications have been decided by An Bord Pleanála or have been submitted to it. There is much confusion as to whether the old guidelines apply. They might be considered more liberal than what is required for a modern day wind farm development. If applications are pending with An Bord Pleanála, will revised guidelines, which hopefully will come into operation and be acceptable to the public, apply to planning decisions?
The issue has become particularly acute in County Meath where Element Power developed a major wind farm for export but the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, announced before the local elections that the plan had collapsed. A week after the local elections the company applied for planning permission for a project for domestic electricity supply, which had very similar infrastructure to the original proposal for export. It has begun the preplanning consultation process under the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act for 50 major wind turbines in County Meath. Public consultation has already taken place but it is completely unclear as to what guidelines or rules the company must comply with in the planning application. I am not asking the Minister of State to determine a particular planning application, but she and the Government set the guidelines and rules and the public wants to know the rules. Another consultation process is taking place with the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources on the export of wind, which will also have an impact on the development of these farms. In County Meath, we were told a project for export collapsed, but an identical project is now being planned for the domestic market. All of the guidelines are extremely relevant. The Minister of State knows the question I am asking and I look forward to hearing her response.
I thank Senator Byrne for raising this issue. Proposals for wind energy developments are subject to the statutory requirements of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, in the same manner as other proposed developments. Planning applications are generally made to the relevant local planning authority with a right of appeal to An Bord Pleanála. In the case of proposals which meet the statutory threshold criteria for classification as strategic infrastructure developments, such applications are made directly to An Bord Pleanála.
In addition to considering the proper planning and sustainable development of the area and the provisions of the local development plan, planning authorities, including An Bord Pleanála, must also have regard to the Department's wind energy development guidelines, which were published in June 2006, when determining planning applications for wind energy developments. These guidelines provide advice to planning authorities on catering for wind energy through the development plan and development management processes. The guidelines are also intended to ensure a consistency of approach throughout the country in the identification of suitable locations for wind energy development and the treatment of planning applications for such developments.
I commenced a public consultation in December of last year on proposed draft revisions to the existing 2006 wind energy development guidelines, focussing specifically on the issues of noise, setbacks and shadow flicker. These draft revisions propose the setting of a more stringent day and night noise limit of 40 decibels for future wind energy developments; a mandatory minimum setback distance of 500 m between a wind turbine and the nearest dwelling for amenity considerations; and the complete elimination of shadow flicker between wind turbines and neighbouring dwellings.
The Department received submissions from 7,500 organisations and members of the public during the public consultation period and the submissions, which are being considered, will be an important input into the final version of the guidelines, which will be issued to planning authorities. Further work is advancing to develop technical appendices to assist planning authorities with the practical application of the noise measurement aspects of the wind guidelines.
It is intended to finalise the revised wind energy development guidelines later this year and they will then be issued to planning authorities by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. Planning authorities, and, where applicable, An Bord Pleanála must have regard to guidelines issued by the Minister in the performance of their functions under the planning Acts. In this regard, planning authorities will be obliged to have regard to the revised guidelines with effect from their date of issue in subsequent decisions made by them on proposed wind energy developments. The latter part of the reply addresses the issue raised by the Senator.
The reply raises a number of other questions. When will the guidelines actually be published? There were rumours they would be published this week. The problem is that an application for planning permission under the Planning and Development (Strategic Infrastructure) Act may not take very long. Preplanning consultation is taking place in this case. We are told a formal application for planning will be submitted in the coming weeks. Will the guidelines be published before the application is decided by An Bord Pleanála? Will the Minister of State make clear that these guidelines have effect on every application from the date of their publication? If an application is submitted before they are published, will the guidelines still apply if they are published during the planning process?
I want to make clear we do not think the guidelines go far enough. I do not agree with the draft guidelines and we submitted our own proposals. This issue is crucial. Theoretically, a planning application could be decided over the summer before the guidelines are published. This would be retrograde and unfair. It would give people an unfair advantage. Many applications are pending with An Bord Pleanála. I counted 15 which are either pending or were decided in recent weeks. Last week, an application was granted in south County Meath and I understand from Senator Whelan that another application was granted in County Laois in recent weeks. We also have this application in train in County Meath. We want certainty and it is becoming very urgent.
I understand that people on all sides of the political divide want certainty on this, which is why we are working as fast as we can on the guidelines. We received a huge number of submissions and we must give them due consideration. The guidelines will be issued as soon as possible. I cannot give the Senator an actual date.
Will they apply to a planning application that is already started?
I will repeat what I have said. It is "with effect from their date of issue in relation to subsequent decisions made by them on proposed wind energy developments".
Okay.
Overseas Development Aid Provision
I am delighted that the Minister of State, Deputy Costello, is here because his portfolio is relevant to my question. My question is simple and straightforward. I am asking the Minister of State to strongly consider including Rwanda in Irish Aid's support programme, in view of that country's critical stage of development.
This week marks the 20th anniversary of the ending of the genocide in Rwanda, a tragedy which cost approximately 800,000 lives over a 100-day period in 1994. In 2012, I was in Rwanda working on a short-term mission there with VSO, an NGO, supporting its planning and advocacy in early childhood development and education for children with special needs.
I can bear witness to the great progress which Rwanda has made over the past 20 years in terms of general development, but also in providing health, education and other services to the country's entire population.
Rwanda is a land-locked country about the size of County Tipperary with a population of 11 million. That is a lot of people in an area that size. We worked with many widows and orphans of the genocide. Some of those children lost both parents in the genocide but, with support, they went on to become heads of families themselves. There have been a number of genocides in the world but this one occurred in our lifetime, so we all remember it.
According to the UN, over 96% of children attend primary school in Rwanda and the poverty rate was reduced by an impressive 12% from 2005 to 2010-11. That implies that about 1 million people were pulled out of poverty during that period, with the sharpest declines registered in rural areas. I am pleased to hear that because I know that people experience incredible poverty in rural areas of Rwanda. When the floods come, for example, some children with extreme physical disabilities risk their lives to attend school. Some of them must slide down ravines on all fours. It is incredible what they do to get to school.
Their school benches are just wooden logs on the ground on which they sit sideways. There is such hope in the Rwandans' eyes, however; it is unbelievable. The Prime Minister, Paul Kagame, has brought a lot of discipline and has created really clean streets in Kigali, the capital. He is pulling those people up.
As we know, there are those who do not support leaders - that is not a new phenomenon in any country - but what I saw in Rwanda was extremely positive and hopeful. The country is at a critical stage of its development. I was involved in writing the UN's Rwanda development assistance plan 2013-18. The plan states that the Government made achieving its planned targets central to its development strategy. Three years ahead of 2015, the country has achieved, or was on track to achieve, all of its targets bar one. These are remarkable achievements by any standards.
Some people might criticise the idea of another country being included in Irish Aid's programme, but Rwanda should be included as part of that pie. I am not necessarily saying that more aid should be added.
There are long-standing links between Ireland and Rwanda. The former President, Mary Robinson, was the first Head of State to visit Rwanda following the 1994 genocide, thus demonstrating solidarity between our citizens and the people of Rwanda during their darkest hour. That has not been forgotten in Kigali.
Ireland has an embassy in Uganda, which also serves Rwanda. However, Irish Aid provides financial support to Uganda but not yet to Rwanda. It is worth noting that Rwanda has very low levels of corruption, so any money given would be well spent there.
We are all at different stages of development and sometimes one can make a big difference with only a small aid donation. My brief time there was probably one of the best experiences in my life. I was glad to make a contribution to an education system that was noticeable, compared to what we might achieve in another country, or even here, for the same time devoted to it.
I look forward to hearing the Minister of State's response.
Go raibh maith agat. I thank the Senator for tabling this Adjournment matter which is most appropriate on the 20th anniversary of the terrible genocide in Rwanda when one fifth of the country's population died. I appreciate the work undertaken there by the Senator and many others in volunteering during the difficult years following those events. Senator Healy Eames has put the case well concerning the importance of providing assistance to Rwanda. I will answer her points as best I can.
Despite the terrible legacy of the genocide, Rwanda has made impressive progress over the last decade. In fewer than ten years, as the Senator mentioned, 1 million people have been lifted out of extreme poverty. Annual economic growth has averaged 8%, which is at the higher end of countries in Africa. Many challenges persist, however, particularly youth unemployment which remains above 40% and is endemic throughout Africa.
Of course, there is the ongoing challenge of bringing justice and reconciliation to a country where it is estimated that, as I have said, one fifth of the population was killed during the genocide. Ireland has been playing its part by providing significant support to Rwanda, through the Government's overseas development programme, Irish Aid. Since 2009, Ireland has provided over €10.7 million to Rwanda through non-governmental organisations, such as Concern and Trócaire, and Irish missionaries, for programmes focusing on health, agriculture and livelihood development.
Irish Aid supports private sector investment in Rwanda through funding to the Investment Climate Facility for Africa, and the Private Infrastructure Development Group. In addition, the Revenue Commissioners are providing technical assistance to the Rwandan revenue authorities, as they are also doing in Uganda.
As regards the choice of key partner countries, Ireland currently has eight KPCs in Africa, the most recent of which is Sierra Leone. The latter country became a KPC this year. In the context of contracting resources, our approach to working at country level has been to concentrate the majority of our resources for long-term development on that small number of countries. In this way, we believe we can have a bigger impact and see real improvements on the ground for poor people and communities.
A number of criteria are in place in order to determine the choice of KPC, including the levels of poverty and inequality in the country, as well as our history of partnership and the added-value our presence would bring.
Ireland has also been active at a political level concerning Rwanda, supporting the establishment of the International Criminal Court for Rwanda, in Arusha, Tanzania, since the outset. As an EU member state, we have continued to support efforts to counter the destabilising forces in the Great Lakes region, in particular by supporting the implementation of the framework agreement for peace, security and co-operation in the Great Lakes region, signed in Addis Ababa in February 2013.
Most recently, on 1 July, the Tánaiste, speaking at an international symposium at NUI Galway on the issue of women's leadership in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Great Lakes region reasserted this commitment and announced a contribution of €100,000 to the Women's Platform for Peace and Security in the Great Lakes region, which is under the leadership of the former President Mary Robinson, the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for the Great Lakes region.
The Irish Government remains committed to working with the government and people of Rwanda, through our partnerships with NGOs and multilateral organisations, to assist them complete their recovery and move forward towards a future of peace, reconciliation and prosperity.
I am pleased to hear about the various links the Minister of State has outlined. I was not familiar with all of them. I understand that his answer is "not now".
I did not mention an area where there is a real need. My husband did voluntary work there in the area of agriculture. He found that the people needed help to advance their breeds of cattle. A former ambassador from Africa told me that in the past people from African countries came here to upskill for a while in skills that they needed to take home, which was very successful. Does the Minister of State think there would be an opening for something like that in the area of agriculture?
While I said in my reply that we do not have a partnership with Rwanda directly, we do have partnerships with various organisations engaged in Rwanda, particularly NGOs such as Concern and Trócaire and we will continue to assist them with funds. Likewise, we have a partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and we are engaged with it in various agricultural projects in several African countries, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, and to a degree in Nigeria.
A new programme will start shortly which will involve all Departments. We are seeking to engage with the Departments to see what added value each can bring. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine can bring a lot because so many Africans live in a rural and agricultural environment. The Departments of Health, Education and Skills, and Justice and Equality also have something to add. We can consider something involving cattle and seed in agricultural promotion. A decade ago we might have considered Rwanda because it was in a post-conflict situation. Our new policy, "One World, One Future" focuses on fragile post-conflict states. Rwanda has been doing very well. We have moved into Sierra Leone where there has been recent conflict, and its neighbour Liberia. They have had conflict for the past ten or 12 years. We have moved out of Lesotho which was our longest-standing partner country, at 40 years, and Timor Leste, which had conflict. We are beginning to move to a more cutting edge engagement and seeking to build up sustainable development in these countries. While we would love to be in Rwanda, wonderful progress has been made there over the past few years, despite the terrible genocide that took place.
That leaves scars.
That leaves scars and takes a long time to recover from. I will certainly consider what agricultural input we might make and how we might engage with that.
That would be very useful. I thank the Minister of State.
The Seanad adjourned at 7.55 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 9 July 2014.