I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, to the House.
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Defence Forces
I thank the Cathaoirleach for choosing this important subject as one of today's Commencement matters. I also welcome the young people who are coming into the Gallery. It is always good to have the opportunity to see young people coming into the Chamber, listening and engaging with our process. I also thank the Minister of State for being here.
This issue I wish to raise relates to the Defence Forces and the Commission on the Defence Forces, which is important not just to me but also to the defence community in south Kildare and throughout the country. As the Minister of State will be aware, the Curragh Camp is the main training centre and more than 2,000 personnel are based there. There are many military families in County Kildare, and many retired personnel have made their homes there. I am only too acutely aware of the difficulties that exist for people who are serving in the Defence Forces.
I note there was a recruitment and rebrand launch in early June 2022 to communicate that a career in the Defence Forces will give a person skills for life. That campaign was run to inspire and motivate potential soldiers. I have no doubt a career in the Defence Forces would give a person skills for life. However, it is premature to say we want to inspire and motivate potential recruits while we are still in pure limbo in the context of the commission.
When the Commission on the Defence Forces report was published in February, I stood where I am now and said it must be a turning point for the defence community in my area of south Kildare and throughout the country. The days of reports and talking about reports must come to an end. We need to come to the next phase if we are to revitalise our Defence Forces and if we are serious about both retaining and attracting people into our Defence Forces. That is important and I stand by the remarks I made.
I must say I was incredibly concerned last week when I heard there are already potential delays just five months after the commission's report was published. We were given an absolute commitment that, within six months, the Minister for Defence would come back with costed recommendations and, more importantly, an action plan. The action plan on the implementation of the recommendations was due to be brought before Cabinet at the start of the month. However, that has now been thrown into doubt amid media reports of internal friction on the issue of costs.
The sticking point that has always held back our Defence Forces is a lack of money. Our Defence Forces, as the Minister of State knows well, go over and above in the service of this State. They work for low pay and in poor conditions, and battle every day to carry out their duties on a shoestring budget. That is something to which they have become accustomed. We owe them more than that. We owe them respect, honesty, investment and appreciation. That is what I hope the Commission on the Defence Forces delivers. It must deliver change, respect and transformation.
Prior to Covid I had a number of public meetings with personnel from the Defence Forces. I can honestly say they love their job and serving their country but we hear more than 20% of them have to rely on family income support to be able to meet their bills. I met a young family where the dad has had to serve four overseas missions back to back to help pay the rent and has no chance of being able to buy a house.
I appreciate the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, is representing the Minister, Deputy Coveney. Can he confirm a memorandum will be brought to Cabinet in advance of the summer recess and that the action plan will be brought forward to deliver on the ambition of the commission's report?
I thank the Senator for raising this matter. The Minister for Defence welcomed the publication of the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces in February of this year. The establishment of a commission on the Defence Forces was set out in the programme for Government and was a key priority for the Minister, Deputy Coveney. The members of the commission were drawn from a wide range of national and international experts. The publication of the report represents the culmination of 13 months of work and is testament to the considerable efforts of all those who contributed to it.
The report is wide-ranging and comprehensive. It contains 69 recommendations and together with sub-recommendations, there are 130 recommendations in total. The report proposes significant changes for the Defence Forces, including significant cultural changes and changes to human resources, HR, practices. It also includes proposals on high-level command and control structures and for the level of defence provision in Ireland. It challenges the status quo across a range of areas and is forthright about a requirement for cultural changes in the Defence Forces. It proposes a range of measures to make the Defence Forces a more inclusive, diverse, equal and attractive workplace. The importance of the Reserve Defence Force is clearly stated, as is the immediate action required there.
The report poses serious questions regarding defence provision that we, as a society, must carefully consider. This includes the types of defence capabilities we should retain and the level of resourcing we are willing to commit to equip and train our Defence Forces for the roles we require them to undertake. The Minister hopes this report will provide the platform for real debate about the defence we need as a modern neutral European country.
The report sets out three indicative levels of ambition, or LOAs, namely, LOA 1, LOA 2 and LOA 3. LOA 1 would encompass current capability, LOA 2 would enhance our current capabilities and seek to address specific priority areas and LOA 3 would look to develop full spectrum defence capabilities to protect Ireland and its people to an extent comparable with similar-sized countries in Europe. The commission recommends a step up to LOA 2 in the short term, pending more detailed policy debate and decision required for higher levels of ambition. This step up to LOA 2 would require an additional €500 million per annum. LOA 3 would require expenditure of €3 billion per annum.
Clearly, there are matters that require careful consideration and, in some critical aspects, interdepartmental discussion and agreement. This includes the level of resourcing that may be allocated to defence and the governance framework that will be required to underpin the changes the commission has recommended.
Since the report was published the Minister for Defence has engaged in extensive consultation with ministerial colleagues and a range of other stakeholders, including the representative associations. This is a complex and technical piece of work on which the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces have been collaborating with a range of stakeholders, including other Departments. This has included detailed and very constructive discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The Minister for Defence will shortly revert to Government with a proposed response to the commission's recommendations and a high-level action plan. The implementation process will follow Cabinet agreement on the recommendations to Government.
There is significant work ongoing in the Department of Defence and Defence Forces, which the commission referred to in its report. This includes key issues such as the development of a capability development planning process, the work of the independent review into dignity and equality issues in the Defence Forces, ongoing procurement of equipment and infrastructure, direct entry competitions and the amendment of legislation relating to the working time directive.
I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to appear and for her interest in such an important matter.
I acknowledge that the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces is a substantial one, running to 224 pages and containing 69 recommendations. It is a colossal piece of work. I appreciate the complexity and the technical nature of devising an action plan to implement these findings. However, we cannot fall at the first hurdle. There must be a time-bound element to it.
The report calls for a major investment in the three arms of the Defence Forces, the Air Corps, Naval Service and Army. We must deliver the funding required for the people serving our country in order for them to be able to live a decent life and have a decent lifestyle for themselves and their families.
I have no doubt there is a time element but the Oireachtas and the Cabinet, as bodies, have a responsibility to play a part in advancing the agenda. The request is very clear from the perspective of the Commission on the Defence Forces and Defence Forces personnel. They want a well-funded multi-annual plan that will transform the operations of our Defence Forces, as well as providing a viable and sustainable career path for Defence Forces personnel. I have no doubt in the Department's ability to deliver that but it must be prioritised.
The Minister of State indicated in his response to me that the Minister for Defence will respond shortly. Will the Minister of State absolutely guarantee this will be done before the summer recess because that is what is required?
The first question is whether the Minister for Defence will come back on this before the summer recess. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, has said he will shortly revert to the Government and I cannot go beyond that. That is his guarantee. He has said he will respond to the report but he will also bring an action plan to the Government. That deals with the Senator's other question.
The Senator mentioned that the Army, the Naval Service and the Air Corps are the three branches of the Defence Forces but we must also think about cyber defences, which will also need attention. That is referenced in the report.
The budget is coming up and, as the Senator knows, the summer economic statement was published yesterday, although that does not provide any detail about the different Departments and who is getting what. The Department of Defence is liaising with my Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to work out what level of funding is required for this year's budget. I cannot say any more than that. I am here on behalf of the Minister and that is all the information I can give the Senator.
I have just read through the notes and there is mention that it will happen before the summer recess. That is in the statement that was circulated.
Early Childhood Care and Education
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Anne Rabbitte, to the Chamber.
I warmly welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to the House and thank her for taking the time to be here today. I had hoped the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth would have been here but I understand there are other commitments. I acknowledge efforts he made in response to matters we raised with him last year. I want to be fair to him about those efforts with the national childcare scheme and in particular the eligibility for after-school hours.
Today's question relates to the alarming loss of early childhood care and education, ECCE, places this September. In one area in Stoneybatter, an urban village in Dublin 7, there will be a loss of 55 ECCE places this September. This is across two services, the Donard/Glen community play group and Creative Kids & Co. It is an enormous loss to any community, particularly when we know there is massive demand for ECCE places right across the country and in Dublin at this point.
Both closures relate to changes happening within the primary schools in which they are located, and these are good changes. That is to be welcomed. It is important to say we accept that those who run preschools located in primary schools know there is uncertainty hanging over them every year.
The licence is renewed every September on a ten-month basis. Nonetheless there are very serious questions now about forward planning and co-ordination between the Department of Education and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when changes are made with regard to school buildings.
To be frank, the Department of Education has made decisions on ASD units without really looking at what is happening within those school buildings. We have to ask if the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is going to stand by and see the loss of 55 ECCE places within one very small area of Dublin. I have no doubt that is replicated right across the country. Creative Kids & Co. was informed at the start of the year that it would potentially not have its licence renewed. It started the search process then. The person who runs that service runs two others so she knows what she is doing. She cannot find anywhere for love nor money in terms of trying to locate her ECCE service in another part of Dublin 7. Cost does not even come into it. It is about finding an appropriate place. Because we rightfully have these services so highly regulated, it makes it all the harder to find an appropriate location. There is an onus and responsibility on the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to ensure that appropriate locations are made available.
The Donard community play group was told that its licence would end in December 2022 and it would be extended on a monthly rolling basis. Because of changes by the Department of Education the group was told only last week that it will have nowhere as of this September. The heartbreaking thing about this is that there are a number of kids in both services who have additional needs. The irony for these children, who were due to go into their second year of ECCE, is that when they get to primary school in September 2023 they will have fantastic services in place but they will have nothing in the 12 months between September 2022 and September 2023. Weeks and months matter in children's lives, particularly those children who have additional needs. There are serious questions here for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth about what it is going to do to put in place secure, sustainable locations for ECCE schemes that effectively have to close overnight.
I want to begin by apologising on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, who would have liked to have been here but he is delayed. I am going to read his script but I have taken a note of what the Senator mentioned in respect of Donard community play group and Creative Kids & Co.
I thank Senator Sherlock for raising this issue and for offering the opportunity to respond. I regret to hear that early learning and childcare services are being displaced from school premises although I can appreciate the position of the schools in needing to prioritise the establishment of early intervention classes. The Department of Education guidelines on the use of school buildings outside of school hours guides schools in the use of school facilities for other services, including early learning and childcare services. The guidelines are clear that the issue is a matter for the property owners, taking into consideration the needs of the school staff and students. The guidelines also require that any licence should include a term that the use of the facility or portion of the site covered by the licence must cease should it be required for school provision.
Government is aware of the challenges that can face an early learning and childcare service if it unexpectedly loses its premises. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has an effective process in place to support providers in such circumstances. The Department provides the majority of funding to the early learning and childcare sector, primarily to the ECCE programme and the national childcare scheme and, from September, through a core funding scheme. However, it does not directly operate or manage early learning or childcare services.
These services are provided as for-profit or non-profit services and are either privately owned or operated by community organisations. While decisions about the day-to-day running of such services, including choice of location, any contracts or leases for premises and any decision to close is ultimately a matter for the provider, the Department can provide support in a number of ways to services that face losing their premises.
Support to find alternative accommodation is available to all services, both private and community, from the local city and county childcare committee, CCC. The CCCs have engaged with services that were losing their premises and have provided assistance to identify alternative premises. The local CCC should be the first point of contact for any service seeking support.
Parents whose children are attending a service that may be due to close can contact their CCC for assistance in locating an alternative early learning and childcare place for their child. A recent survey of early learning and childcare services showed significant unused capacity for ECCE places. CCCs can share this information with parents.
The Department oversees a case management process through its city and childcare committees and Pobal, which work together to provide support to early learning and childcare services experiencing difficulties. Case management assistance can include specialist advice and support appropriate to individual circumstances. Financial support may also be accessed through the case management process following a financial assessment. This support is currently available to community services to assist with operational costs associated with a sudden need to move premises.
From autumn, a new strand of the sustainability fund connected with core funding will operate. It will be open to both private and community providers that are in contract for core funding. As with previous strands of the sustainability fund, it will focus on operational and financial supports to assist services manage their immediate difficulties and transition to sustainability. Any early learning and childcare services that are at risk of losing their premises in a school or elsewhere are encouraged to contact the local city or county childcare committee as soon as possible.
I know what I have just said is of little comfort to the Senator because, at the end of the day, there are 55 spaces in a particular area that will not be available on 1 September unless the service finds a premises. It is incumbent on the city and county childcare committee to assist both providers to find alternative accommodation.
I thank the Minister of State for reading that reply. The statement of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth that it has an effective process in place to support providers is simply not true. To say that the buck should be passed to the city and county childcare committees is simply unacceptable. The question here is not about the day-to-day costs; it is about undertaking a lease in a new facility. The providers to which I refer, one of which is a community provider, do not have a hope of finding an alternative location. I would say to the Department there is a real issue here because we are depending on people setting up a preschool out of the goodness of their hearts, either as a community facility or a for-profit facility. If there is an issue with the lease, that service disappears overnight. That is not good enough in 21st century Ireland. I know the Minister of State will relay that message back to the Department. The detail we have here is not good enough in terms of ensuring we have secure and sustainable locations for preschool education.
I appreciate the pressing need for schools to ensure there is sufficient accommodation for children with additional needs. I also appreciate the importance of early intervention. Indeed, substantial and significant developments have been made in the early learning and childcare sector to ensure children with additional needs have full access to the ECCE programme through the access and inclusion model, AIM. The Senator has unearthed a serious issue that requires the Department of Education and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to sit down in conjunction with the city and county childcare committees to identify alternative locations to support both providers, be they private or community. Those families need that support and the reassurance the service will be available in their area in September.
Special Educational Needs
I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber today and in particular for all the work she is doing and the commitment she has made in the past two years in regard to special education and inclusion. It is hugely significant. The impact is evident from the numbers of people working in the sector such as special needs assistants, SNAs, and the number of new classrooms being opened. Another 315 new classrooms are being opened in September. The impact of that in recent years is visible in any school or constituency in the country. The Department of Education is spending €2 billion on special education, which is more than at any time in the past. That is significant and represents about one quarter of the total budget of the Department.
Every couple of weeks, we see new school buildings or extensions being built in County Tipperary. A large new school has just been built and opened in Cahir in the past two weeks. In recent years, the Government has provided massive financial support for upgrading and extending school buildings and for new schools. Part of this has been for classrooms for special needs education, which is a requirement for all new buildings and extensions. This is really important. I see the need for those classrooms in Tipperary. When new classrooms are opened there is an influx of people who want to use them, and a waiting list as well. The demand is there.
In my parish of Ardfinnan I have spoken to the principal of the national school, Ms Bríd Quinlivan, a number of times. The school has had an occupational therapy room for more than ten years and it now needs upgrading, improvement and extra equipment. As Members know, all schools can apply under different schemes for funding for extra equipment and upgrading schools. However, due to the number of special educational classrooms and occupational therapy rooms in schools, it would be beneficial for the Department to provide for these rooms and classrooms separately in schemes. Ardfinnan National School was one of the first national schools to open an occupational therapy room. It accommodates about 32 pupils, which is about 10% of the total.
The Department should have a scheme focused on upgrading facilities and equipment in special educational classrooms and occupational therapy rooms, rather than addressing this as part of a general scheme for upgrading classrooms. It would place a priority on principals and schools to identify the need to do this. The Department and the Minister of State have viewed this issue as a priority in the past two years. We support schools always, and the Minister of State in particular has done so in the past two years. However, a focused scheme would make it simpler for principals to identify what they can do in terms of upgrading and facilitating special education classrooms. As well as the principal, I spoke to a teacher in Ardfinnan National School, Monica Griffin. They are both very passionate about the work they do. All they want is the best for the kids who are with them every day. They love their jobs but it is about having the best equipment possible to serve the children in the school. I thank the Minister of State for coming in and for the support she has given this sector.
I thank Senator Ahearn for raising this matter. My role as Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion is to make sure we have sufficient special school places and, specifically pertinent to the Senator's question, to have special classes throughout the country and sufficient places for children with additional needs. There is no point having these classrooms unless they are properly kitted out and properly resourced and funded. That also applies to ancillary special education rooms such as occupational therapy rooms which the Senator mentioned. I am open to looking at a scheme to upgrade occupational therapy rooms. The Department tries to fast-track applications from schools that relate to trying to reconfigure existing accommodation.
A minor works grant is available. It is €5,500, plus €18 per mainstream student and €74 per student per special class. That might be of assistance.
Once the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, sanctions a class, a school can apply to the Department for capital funding to reconfigure its existing spaces. The Senator will also be aware of the additional accommodation scheme to construct additional accommodation where it is needed. Interim accommodation can also be provided if no space is available pending the delivery of a new building. The Department works closely with schools, as I said, to fast-track any applications in this regard, although this involves a workload for staff. The Department funds external stakeholders engaged in the devolved delivery of building projects for individual schools. I am sure the same also applies in respect of rooms.
Senator Ahearn also mentioned equipment. His question was not specifically on this topic but it is important that he is aware of the grants available for special classes. There is a start-up grant of €6,500, an ICT grant of €6,700, a grant for a sensory room of €7,000 and a furniture grant of €2,500. Additionally, if special equipment is recommended by an occupational therapist, such as specialist chairs, tables, desks, changing benches or tables, hoists, etc., the NCSE and the Department can sanction grants for all those items.
Our school building programme has many different projects under way. Overall, some 1,300 school building projects are at various stages of design and planning and we are ramping up our efforts to provide additional places for children with special educational needs. When there are rooms, as I said, it is important that they can be reconfigured, reconstructed or re-equipped if necessary for the purposes that may be required in this context, particularly for the work of occupational therapists and speech and language therapists. If we are to move towards the school inclusion model in the future, we will need more capacity for occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and other therapists to provide their services to these children who require them so badly. Therefore, what the Senator is saying has merit and I am certainly open to exploring a separate scheme, perhaps, for therapy rooms, as distinct from special educational classrooms. I thank the Senator for raising this issue.
I thank the Minister of State for her response and I am grateful that she will examine this issue. The problem will become more serious as time passes because of the amount of money the Minister of State has allocated to special classrooms and occupational therapy classrooms. If the Minister of State were open to this suggestion, it would be important for her to visit Ardfinnan National School. She has family connections in Kilcash. In her role as the Minister of State with special responsibility for special education and inclusion, it would be well worthwhile for her to visit Tipperary. I will bring her to Ardfinnan National School. She has already met one of the school's students, Cara Darmody. We have more than 300 other fantastic students who would also be grateful to meet the Minister of State and show her the facilities. It is a great school and is led by a fantastic principal, Ms Bríd Quinlivan. It would be a good opportunity to see where other schools will be in a few years' time if we do not put something in place to support them now.
The Minister of State and I must have a chat about Kilcash sometime because my grandparents were from there. They were the principals of the boys and girls national schools, respectively. What is now the community centre in Kilcash was then their home.
Senator Ahearn will need a bus to bring all the people to visit the school.
My mother was from Clonmel in County Tipperary. I am delighted to accept Senator Ahearn's invitation to come down to Tipperary and particularly to visit Ardfinnan National School. I have met the wonderful Cara Darmody. I am sure she did incredibly well in her junior certificate mathematics examinations. The school is to be commended.
It sounds like a role model in that regard. I would be absolutely delighted to come down, see the room and perhaps discuss how we can assist the school into the future, and any other schools in the environs as well. It is always very helpful to me to visit not just mainstream schools, but also schools with special classes and special schools, of course, as well, to get that feedback and listen to what the people have to say. The people on the ground everyday working with children with additional needs know what is required to sort of make sure the students have as independent a life as they possibly can into the future. They need the wraparound supports in order to do that.
The school inclusion model trialled in February 2019 was interrupted because of Covid. It is back now on a trial under community healthcare organisation, CHO, 7. I hope it is something we can bring forward in the future, which will assist Ardfinnan National School also.
International Students
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, back to the House.
The Minister of State may not be aware of the full history of this particular issue, but it is a problem for international students coming to Ireland and a requirement by the Department of Justice that they must have health insurance. This has been a long-running sore and to say it has been a difficulty is an understatement.
I raised the matter not long after my election to this House and subsequently raised it with the Ministers, Deputies Harris and Stephen Donnelly, including in this House on 24 September 2020 when the Minister, Deputy Harris, assured me that there would be progress on the issue.
On 5 March 2021, I introduced the Health Insurance (International Students) (Amendment) Bill with the specific purpose of trying to address this problem for our international students coming here. On the basis that there was a Government commitment that it would be addressed, I chose not to seek to amend the Health Insurance (Amendment) Act that December, because the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, told me that this issue would be resolved in a matter of months. Indeed, I tabled this as a Commencement matter with the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, on 9 December 2021. He assured me that it was not a policy matter for the Department of Health, but that this would be resolved, hopefully, within the following two months.
On Wednesday, 22 June, the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, was back answering this very same Commencement matter. I had tabled it at the time to the Department of Justice, which kicked it over to the Department of Health. I appreciate it is not specifically the remit of the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, but this is why the question is tabled to the Department of Justice.
I have quickly determined that the worst phrase one can hear in these Houses is that a matter falls between a number of Departments. However, what is very clear from the responses that I received from the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the Department of Health, including from the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, just two weeks ago, is that this is now strictly within the remit of the Department of Justice.
Even though there are negotiations going on within the Departments, the other Departments said this is a matter for the Department of Justice to make a determination on. I am hoping that finally, after more than two years of raising this, and particularly where concerns have been expressed by the universities, the institutes of higher education, the Irish Council for International Students, the Alliance for Insurance Reform, the Union of Students in Ireland – a whole range of players – but more particularly, the concern that this is for international students and international students who want to come here, that we can finally have an effective system that can be put in place that will allow them to have access to affordable insurance.
I get that there are broader implications. For the most part, we are talking about students who are healthy and who are only going to be here for a specified period. However, if we are not clarifying this, it is a significant problem in respect of our wish to attract international students into Ireland. I hope that, today, the Minister of State will finally be able to give us some progress on it, particularly as the various Departments have all been promising that a resolution is imminent.
I am here on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee, and her Department. I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. The Minister is aware that this is an issue on which he is engaged. She, too, is keen to see a resolution to the matter as soon as possible.
By way of background, the Senator will be aware that many immigration permissions include the condition that the permission holder must have private health insurance; this does not just apply to international students. The rationale for this is that the permission holder must be able to support themselves while living in the State without recourse to State services such as public healthcare.
A 2018 Court of Appeal judgment found that students who are here for a course of study for more than one year are deemed to be ordinarily resident for the purposes of health insurance legislation, meaning that, if required to have private health insurance, that insurance must meet the conditions that apply to private health insurance generally. This means that health insurance policies sold internationally to international students would need to be community rated, provide minimum cover and comply with other requirements set out under law, potentially resulting in a higher cost to the student.
Ireland benefits from its international student population and our policy, led by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, is to encourage more international students to come to study in the State. We do not want to create impediments to this but we must also be cautious that any policy changes implemented do not have unintended consequences with implications for the delivery of State services. That is why the Department of Justice has been working closely with the Departments of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and Health to examine the implications of this ruling and to put in place an appropriate solution.
As the Senator will be aware, students already have travel insurance that covers their medical needs for their first year in the State. Discussions are, therefore, ongoing between the three Departments as to whether it would be appropriate to drop the requirement for health insurance under the student scheme, starting from year two. The removal of this requirement could impact public health services and, therefore, the views of the Department of Health are crucial to guiding any decision in this regard. The Minister, Deputy McEntee's office has been engaging directly with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly's office and, as I said at the outset, she is keen to see a resolution to this issue as quickly as possible.
I thank the Minister of State. I am afraid my response is to tell us something that we do not know. The difficulty, as he rightly outlined, is that this has been an issue since the 2018 Court of Appeal judgment. Discussions have been ongoing since that time between the Departments so I do not accept there is any urgency among them about trying to resolve this. The issue had always been around those students who were studying in the State for more than one year. It would surely be reasonably easy for the Department of Health to quantify how many “students” potentially impose a burden on our health service of those who are spending more than one year studying here. On the assumption that a significant number of them are younger, they are likely to be healthier and the number is probably fairly small but, in any event, one would imagine that in a four-year period that could have been quantified. I appreciate the Minister of State is only delivering the response but I really do not believe that, after four years some sort of innovative solution could not be found to address what is a relatively simple matter.
On the question of quantification, I believe 30,000 international students would be affected by this, so that is the number being looked at. There is a concern in the Department of Health that this could lead to calls from other groups for similar arrangements on the basis of fairness and, therefore, it would go beyond students and other people on international visas would request the same treatment, which could lead to a higher cost or higher burden on the State through the Department.
The Minister for Justice said it is clear that the insurance policy that was previously available to students in the State is no longer available for them to purchase as it does not comply with relevant legislation.
To avoid a problem for the students and the colleges they attend, the Ministers are committed to addressing the issue at the earliest opportunity they can.
Tax Code
I thank the Minister of State for attending the House to respond to my Commencement matter calling for a vacant property tax. No more than anybody else I do not like taxes. We must accept, as everybody does, the housing emergency gripping our State. The Government has provided unprecedented funding and made changes to housing policy since taking office. A glaringly obvious waste of built properties is documented in the recent Central Statistic Office census. Anybody would objectively say it is morally wrong to see such vacancy when there is such enormous housing need.
We recognise that more than 10,000 people are homeless. More than 38,000 Ukrainians have arrived in our country since the start of the war and more than 6,000 people are living in direct provision. None of these numbers capture the tens of thousands of people who want to buy their own homes or are stuck in inadequate accommodation. I commend the Minister of State and the Government on the €20 billion commitment they have made under Housing for All to deliver 300,000 homes. I also commend the changes they have made to use State-owned land to deliver social and affordable homes and empower local authorities and housing charities to do this. The Government has committed to ending direct provision. It has banned co-living. It has returned power to local authorities so they can reserve new developments for home owner-occupiers. It has reinstated Part V to ensure a minimum of 10% social housing and a minimum of 10% affordable housing, with a total of 20% in every new private development.
All of this is very welcome, as is protection for renters through capping rents and increasing the notice periods, but we are treading water. It is like we are on a sinking ship bailing out the water as it is coming in when we look at all of the vacancy. The CSO numbers state more than 160,000 properties are vacant nationally. There are more than 30,000 of them in Dublin alone. Every vacant property has its own complex issues and mini-drama as to who owns it and the circumstances of ownership. Housing for All includes many financial supports under the lease and repair, buy and renew and living city schemes. There are also other supports to help property owners to restore them. We are doing this because the fastest and most sustainable way to increase our housing stock is to reuse the buildings already on roads with public lighting, sewerage and public transport and that are near schools. Not only would this increase housing stock and affordability, it would reinvigorate and regenerate communities.
I asked the Minister for Finance to come to the House because I have raised this issue in the House and at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The committee produced a report that calls for a vacant property tax. The reason it specifically did so is taxes are in place. A debate goes on about dereliction and vacancy. Under either of the two charges, the State is failing miserably. Under the derelict sites tax, €300,000 was collected. It sounds like a lot of money. Guess how much should have been collected? It was €5 million in 2020 alone. There is another local authority tax for vacancy. In 2020, local authorities collected €21,000 out of a target of €21 million. That is less than 1%. The levies are not being collected. They are not effective. They are not tackling the vacancy. It is morally, economically, environmentally and socially wrong for vacancy to be allowed to persist at a time of such huge housing emergency.
I thank the Senator.
Addressing vacancy and dereliction, and maximising the use of the existing housing stock, is a priority objective of the Government. Housing For All outlines a suite of measures aimed at addressing vacancy in a co-ordinated and robust manner, and specifically includes an action for the Department of Finance to collect data on vacancy with a view to introducing a vacant property tax.
In considering the case for such a tax, it is important to have a sound understanding of the quantity, locations and characteristics of long-term vacant properties. It is also essential to identify the reasons for vacancy, and whether these are long or short-term in nature. There may be genuine and acceptable reasons for vacancy such as refurbishment work, the temporary absence of the owner for medical reasons or pending the grant of probate for a deceased person's estate.
The Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Act 2021 enabled Revenue to collect certain information on the occupancy status of residential properties in the local property tax, LPT, return forms submitted by residential property owners in respect of the new LPT valuation period, 2022-2025.
Regarding vacant properties, the LPT returns requested information such as whether a property is vacant, the reasons for the vacancy, and whether the period of vacancy is 12 months or more. The return data provide a snapshot of vacant properties in Ireland as at the valuation date of 1 November 2021.
Revenue has completed a preliminary analysis of the LPT returns received to date which has been shared with the Department of Finance. The results of the preliminary analysis suggest that levels of vacancy are low across all counties.
The Revenue analysis provides a basis for the Department of Finance to assess the merits and impact of introducing a vacant property tax, and how best such a tax might be designed. This work is under way.
I will comment briefly on the recent publication of preliminary census data. According to the preliminary figures released two weeks ago, 166,752 vacant dwellings were recorded giving a rate of 7.8%. This is a decrease compared with 2016. It is an even further decrease - a reduction of 12% - compared with 2011, when 230,056 vacant dwellings were recorded.
It is important to note that the CSO highlights that this is a point in time measure of vacancy relating to the weeks either side of census night. The figures are not intended to be a measure of long-term vacancy, and do not suggest these properties are available for reuse. These homes may well have been occupied again a few weeks after census night.
Indeed, on the figures for Dublin mentioned by the Senator, it is relevant that of that vacancy figure of 30,000, 4,000 properties were up for sale, 5,000 were being renovated, 3,000 were vacant because the resident was in hospital or care, a further 3,000 were vacant because the resident was recently deceased, and, finally, 1,000 were new builds awaiting their first occupation.
The Minister for Finance is considering this issue in consultation with colleagues before reverting to Government with proposals on the appropriate response. I understand Revenue intends to publish a profile of the occupancy data from the LPT returns shortly.
I thank the Minister of State for the response.
We all believe in reasonableness and fairness and we can all accept that properties can be from time to time vacant. Nobody has any argument with that. In fact, the joint Oireachtas committee states that reasonableness must be applied.
I welcome the fact that the Department has made progress with the report and on its summary. I urge it to publish that report without any further delay.
I take the point about the 30,000 properties in Dublin. What they are saying essentially is that there are explanations for 16,000 of the 30,000. That is fine, but that means there are 14,000 without explanation that could house 30,000, 40,000 or 50,000 people. We are in an emergency and it is incumbent on the Department to publish the report as soon as possible and to bring forward recommendations.
I thank the Senator.
The report will be published as soon as possible. She has a point that there are still a significant number of vacant properties in Dublin and that the Department is doing the groundwork for introducing a vacant property tax.
With regard to dereliction, I am advised that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage continues to liaise with local authorities on the implementation of the Derelict Sites Act 1990 with a view to improving its effectiveness. The Department initiated a review of the Act in November 2021 to identify potential improvements with local authorities and it will engage with local authorities on this matter during the year.
Regarding a tax on vacant residential property, the Minister for Finance is considering this issue in consultation with colleagues and will revert to Government with proposals on the appropriate response. The Minister for Finance will take the points that were raised by the Senator today on board when considering the matter.
Special Areas of Conservation
This Commencement matter was intended for the Minister of State with responsibility for heritage and electoral reform, Deputy Noonan. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, for being here. I ask him to provide an update from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, on the conservation status of 45 special areas of conservation, SACs, Irish turloughs and objectives to restore habitats and protect the local community in the Lough Funshinagh area.
There were hundreds of people at a public meeting in Lecarrow, County Roscommon, last night. They were there to talk about the severe flooding and loss of homes, farms and access at Lough Funshinagh. There were families young and old, farmers and residents of Ballagh, Rahara, Lisfelim and Ardmullen. They came out to support action and to find solutions and a way forward. I thank the organisers for bringing people and public representatives together and giving a presentation on events since 2016.
Lough Funshinagh, the lake of the ash tree, is classified as a turlough and designated a SAC. However, it has not drained in 26 years, with the last time it did being in 1996. In 1997, it was designated a SAC. It is an area of beauty but is now one of devastation too. In 2016, the lake doubled its surface area. It forced families from homes. Acres of farmland were lost. This disappearing lake does not disappear. Instead the waters rise year on year. People are in distress. There is pure mental anguish and people just wait to see when the next flood will be.
The impact on wildlife and vegetation is clear for all to see, with trees standing as white sculptures within the lake. They have no leaves and are all dead and rotting away. High floods and waves from the lake in the wintertime wash away the vegetation and all the soil to leave only stones. Land is crumbling away and the SAC itself has been listed with the poor condition status. An urgent engineering solution by Roscommon County Council and the Office of Public Works, OPW, was halted in the courts and yes, environmental assessments are required.
I understand a turlough, listed as code 3180, is an annex I habitat and there are 75 designated turloughs in the Natura 2000 network. Most, if not all of them are in the west, across Roscommon, Galway, Mayo and Clare. I understand the west of Ireland contains close to all of the Irish SACs, that is 45, or 60%, of all listed turloughs, according to the Natura 2000 network. Therefore, Ireland can, as a member state, take a lead in how we manage and bring our turloughs back to a favourable condition and how we work with vital farming communities in that region. Along with the habitats directive we have the floods directive and the water directive. The objective of the floods directive is to establish a framework for the assessment and management of flood risks, and to reduce the negative consequences of flooding on human health, economic activities, the environment and cultural heritage in the EU.
I thank some Irish researchers for their paper entitled "Groundwater flood hazards and mechanisms in lowland karst terrains". That is what we have in the west; it is a karst limestone landscape. It can be seen that "... backwater flooding of sinks, high water levels in ... flooded basins (turloughs), overtopping of depressions, and discharges from springs and resurgences" lead to flooding, especially in karst areas. How then are we going to protect our cultural heritage in the west of Ireland, where we have the majority of turloughs for the whole of the EU and also manage the flooding to ensure we are also protecting those communities?
Positive farming practices such as grazing turloughs are crucial. They assist in the maintenance of these turloughs. Last night we heard of studies on the lough. We have the floods directive to protect people and the habitats directive to protect habitats, species and wildlife, yet there is rotting vegetation, trees in the lake, the growth of algae and probably no oxygen. Whether fish are dying or not we do not know. We have the birds directive and the soil has washed away, as have the food plants and vegetation that is one of the qualifying criteria. There is anecdotal evidence the whooper swans are not there and neither are the curlews. There is the water directive and yet our rivers do not meet the criteria.
How do we work together with Departments, the NPWS and the OPW? How do we ensure the qualifying criteria and conservation objectives for Lough Funshinagh? How do we update designations for the SAC? What is the active management plan? What is the timeline for this type of review? How do we fund and increase the expertise level so local authorities in the west can have ecologists and hydrologists, as we are supposed to be the ones maintaining this environment for the whole of the EU? How can Ireland take a lead at the EU level within the Directorate General for the Environment?
The birds have flown away, the trees are dead and we are left with families in despair. We have to find a way forward.
I thank Senator Dolan for raising this matter. I will answer on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, to whom the NPWS reports.
SACs are prime wildlife conservation areas in the country that are considered to be important on a European level as well as an Irish level. The legal basis on which SACs are selected and designated is the EU habitats directive, which was transposed into Irish law by SI 477 of 2011, as amended.
Turloughs are semi-natural habitats that are virtually unique to Ireland. They generally flood in winter and dry out in summer, but there may be other sporadic rises in response to high rainfall. Turloughs are considered to be of high conservation value for their plant, invertebrate - both terrestrial and aquatic - and bird communities and are an annex I habitat.
Under Article 11 of the directive, each member state is obliged to undertake surveillance of the conservation status of the natural habitats and species in the annexes and, under Article 17, to report to the European Commission every six years on their status and the implementation of the measures taken under the directive. In April 2019, Ireland submitted the third assessment of conservation status for 59 habitats and 60 species. The overall status of the 45 sites designated for the annex I habitat turloughs, because of ongoing pressures related to drainage, groundwater pollution and ecologically unsuitable grazing, has been assessed as inadequate and stable.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, has published site-specific conservation objective documents for all the SACs that have been selected for the priority annex I habitat turloughs, along with a supporting document called Conservation Objectives Supporting Document: Turloughs and Rivers with Muddy Banks with Chenopodion Rubri p.p. and Bidention p.p. Vegetation. That document is available on the NPWS website.
Lough Funshinagh was selected as a special area of conservation taking account of the more drawn out pattern of drainage than the typical annual rise and fall of other turlough lakes. The typical species of turloughs, including those found at Lough Funshinagh, are those that occur underwater as well as those typical of the water's edge. Lough Funshinagh SAC, however, is also selected for the EU habitats directive annex I habitat rivers with muddy banks with chenopodion rubri p.p. and bidention p.p. vegetation.
Geological Survey Ireland, GSI, has been monitoring water levels on Lough Funshinagh since 2016 and has indicated that the levels are due to rainfall rather than blockage or change in the natural draining system. GSI has found that the rate of drainage during dry periods has been consistent and that the problem is that the drainage rate in general is unusually slow for a turlough of Lough Funshinagh's size. While most turloughs empty each summer, Lough Funshinagh is slow to drain, typically every four to five years. It is evident that Funshinagh does not get a chance to reset, as it is called, its flood pattern each year. As a consequence, Lough Funshinagh has not drained since before the 2016 flood. This issue has been further exacerbated by the heavy rainfall of recent years.
I assure the Senator the Government is acutely aware of the difficulties faced by landowners and householders in the local area in respect of the threat of flooding. However, a change to the designation of Lough Funshinagh SAC, or to any Natura 2000 site, is not a national policy decision in isolation but would require ratification by the Directorate General for Environment of the European Commission and would always be based on scientific grounds. The current advice from the National Parks and Wildlife Service is that there is not a compelling scientific case to go to the European Commission seeking to remove Lough Funshinagh from the SAC list.
Policy relating to flood risk management and its implementation are primarily the responsibility of the Office of Public Works and the local authority, which also have a role in ensuring adherence to EU nature legislation.
From what I understand, then, the GSI is stating Lough Funshinagh is still a turlough. Is that correct? From what I understand and from what the Minister of State has told me, he is stating that the last time Lough Funshinagh was cleared was in 2016, whereas Roscommon County Council has stated the last time it was fully drained was in 1996. In other words, Lough Funshinagh is not operating as turloughs normally would.
The Minister of State has stated that every six years an update is provided to the European Union, on the conservation objectives. When was the last update given to the European Union? All the sites in Ireland, from what I understand, are assessed as inadequate and stable. Does that mean they will continue as inadequate? As for the conservation objectives, I know that within the NPWS there has been funding for a conservation implementation section, which will look at the conservation measures.
We need to know what the plan ahead is. Conservation measures need to be put in place or else we will lose the habitat that we want to protect in Lough Funshinagh. We cannot proceed unless we know, from the NPWS, the measures that will be put in place to protect the habitat, vegetation and all other qualifying criteria under the EU habitats directive annex I designation.
Geological Survey Ireland has stated that the problem at Lough Funshinagh is caused by rainfall and poor drainage, and that the recent problems were caused by increases in rainfall. I understand that there are strong feelings locally and I am aware the Senator attended a meeting with other representatives to which a large number of people turned out. I know as a politician that this is significant and means there is considerable concern about the issue. I will seek to arrange a meeting between the Senator and the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, to discuss this in order to find a way forward within the law. Naturally, we must abide by not just Irish law but European law regarding special areas of conservation. In whatever way we manage a balance between staying within the law, protecting the environment, as well as protecting the livelihood and lives of those who live around Lough Funshinagh, I will do whatever I can to help.
That would strike a balance.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 1.12 p.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 1.30 p.m.
Sitting suspended at 1.12 p.m. and resumed at 1.30 p.m.