I thank the Minister of State. As he may know, we are in the middle of the Phoenix Park parking strategy, which is out for public consultation. I believe the Phoenix Park can, and should, be accessible and inclusive for all. The current commentary from the OPW is about how the popularity of the park is unsustainable, and the numbers have to be controlled. However, what we have seen over the past couple of years is a single-minded strategy that targets car users. We saw that with the attempted gate closures at strategic traffic points in the park. That did not go ahead, but it was attempted. There were also the introduction of the 30 km/h speed limit, parking restrictions and possible car parking charges. What we see is a focus on curbing use of the park by one cohort of park users, as opposed to introducing better and new ways of bringing people into the park. We have not seen the same energy put into that. The park can be a more welcoming place for people with simple as opposed to severe interventions. For instance, public transport has been talked about since 2019 and nothing has happened. The OPW has said there are 2,000 car parking spaces but they have not told people where they are. To be honest, there is a fine line with some of them between enforcement and a car parking space. There is, thankfully, more of a focus on accessible and disabled parking in the parking strategy. There is then toilet infrastructure, which is a key aspect of accessibility and inclusivity for people. There are toilets at the Phoenix Park visitors centre and the tea rooms in Farmleigh House. However, anyone who is a frequent user of the Phoenix Park goes to ramble and explore and those areas may not be suitable. Farmleigh House is seen as a destination in itself, rather than as part of the park. There has been a step in the right direction, with some portaloos that were introduced on a pilot basis. I ask the Minister of State for an update on that. The reason we have always been given is a lack of suitable water supply and wastewater infrastructure in the park. We do not actually need wastewater infrastructure. Other county councils such as Fingal have introduced eco-toilets. These are designed for areas that do not have a requirement for water supply, wastewater connection or power supply. Solar power is used for lighting. These are said to be designed for remote areas, which people frequent, such as beaches, car parks or places with monuments. Bird watching sites are another of the sites mentioned. Why are we not moving forward with this kind of infrastructure in the Phoenix Park? We also have a requirement for changing places in the park, and there are rapid build options for that. We also need better disabled toilet infrastructure. The Phoenix Park should be welcoming to everybody and this is a key aspect of making that happen.
National Parks
I thank the Senator Currie for this matter. I am answering on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan. He cannot be here today. The Phoenix Park is an historic landscape of international importance. It is one of the largest designed landscapes in any European city. The park extends to 1,752 acres and represents a unique natural and cultural landscape. It is both an historic and city park, and provides a setting for a range of activities and amenities. The location, size and use of the park can be compared to similar large urban parks in other cities, including Regent's Park in London, Bois du Boulogne in Paris and Central Park in New York. Phoenix Park is an archaeological complex and a national historic park of international significance and, therefore, toilet facilities have been developed to date where there is suitable water and wastewater infrastructure.
Furthermore, toilet facilities have been developed where large groups of visitors are attracted to visit. There are public toilets at various locations in the park, including the Phoenix Park visitor centre, the tea kiosk adjacent to Dublin Zoo, Farmleigh House as Senator Currie mentioned, and the Knockmaroon Biodiversity Centre. A number of temporary toilets are then located at the Papal Cross car park, and toilet facilities are located within Dublin Zoo.
To improve the visitor experience, the OPW carried out minor upgrade works to the toilets located at the tea kiosk adjacent to Dublin Zoo in 2020, and upgrades to the toilet facilities at the Phoenix Park visitor centre were completed in February of last year. This includes upgrades to universal access and changing facilities. Knockmaroon Biodiversity Centre opened in May 2022, again with refurbished toilets.
The OPW, together with its strategic partners Fáilte Ireland and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, commissioned an independent strategic review of the visitor experience in Phoenix Park. Following an extensive public consultation in late 2019, a number of key visitor priorities were finalised. These included the conservation of the Magazine Fort and the upgrade of the Phoenix Park visitor centre, along with sustainable transport and mobility recommendations for implementation. The planning application for the restoration and improvement of visitor facilities at the Magazine Fort has been approved, and while this will begin with conservation and stabilisation, it will, in the medium term, include the provision of new toilet facilities at that location. Furthermore, the regional architects are currently assessing the condition of the old toilet block in the People's Flower Gardens. Unfortunately, the toilets were subject to considerable antisocial behaviour and arson, and this led to the decision to close the toilets to the public. However, the premises is currently in disrepair and will now require extensive restoration work. It is hoped that the full refurbishment of these toilets can be undertaken during 2024, subject to the results of the full assessment of the building.
I thank the Minister of State. It is positive that they are looking at toilet infrastructure where there is a wastewater supply, but like I have said, they do not need to just restrict themselves to that. In fact, using these eco-toilets which are run on a composting basis would fit in with how people use the park, and prevent people going to the same places so they can have the reliability of accessing this essential infrastructure which makes the park a welcoming place.
I hoped the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan would be here, but he is not. However, I will draw it to the attention of the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, that the survey which is being run at the moment regarding the parking strategy includes a question which has been ruled out by the OPW as something which it is not going to bring forward. That is the option of expanding the Lord's Walk car park beside Dublin Zoo and surrounding parkland from 270 car spaces to 1,350 car spaces, with a new two-storey car park and associated infrastructure. That was ruled out by the OPW, but it is included in their survey. However, car parking charges which are being proposed by the OPW are not included in the survey. If we are talking spending about lots of money on infrastructure that is not going to happen, can we please spend money on infrastructure which should be implemented, like toilets?
It is difficult to install toilets in the Phoenix Park, not just because one needs wastewater facilities, but also because one needs freshwater facilities. I take Senator Currie's point on the requirement for composting, or the possibility of using composting toilets, and I will bring that to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan. Senator Currie can tell me if she thinks there is a way one can run a toilet without fresh water, through rainwater harvesting or through drilling a well. What would her suggestion be?
They are doing it in Fingal County Council. They have two sites where they are using eco-toilets which do not need the water supply.
Okay. I will bring that to the attention of the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, and also the Senator's question about the draft parking strategy consultation, which includes a question on a proposal which has already been ruled out, which is the large expansion of the Lord's Walk car parking area to over 1,000 spaces. This is an item which has been previously ruled out as a possibility.
Ruled out.
I will bring that to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan and draw it to his attention, and I thank Senator Currie for raising it in the House today.
Special Educational Needs
I have been working with a wonderful team of people at Sensational Kids in Kildare, including Karen Leigh, CEO, and Ann Marie Sweeney, to try to realise their vision to transform access and therapeutic supports for children with additional needs and their families.
On Friday last, I visited the enterprise's interim space in Kildare town once again and had the opportunity to tour its national headquarters, which really embodies the ethos of a child-first approach. Every element of this building is focused on supporting and developing the therapeutic offerings of the space and the use of play and fun are key drivers of the sessions. Ms Karen Lee, the CEO, has built Sensational Kids up with blood, sweat and tears. She used her own personal struggles in accessing services for her own child to build a one-of-a-kind social enterprise. It now has bases not just in its original location in Kildare but also in counties Mayo and Monaghan, west Cork and an outreach centre at Athlone. It is a real success story.
We all know the issues facing the HSE in terms of waiting lists. Children and their families suffer most when they languish on waiting lists. The waiting lists in community healthcare organisation, CHO, 7 which includes County Kildare, are the worst in the country. Quite often, we must take the opportunity to raise these issues in the Seanad.
Sensational Kids was established to provide access to vital therapeutic services at a discounted rate to ensure that as many children as possible get the supports they so desperately need. Last year alone the organisation provided 7,300 hours of therapy and it has supported more than 10,000 children since it was established. The Minister of State should bear in mind that this is a social enterprise that was started at the kitchen table of Karen Lee, a mother of a child with additional needs, to try to access services for her own child. She has developed that vision to the benefit of 10,000 children.
Sensational Kids is now at a vital stage in its development. While its current facility in Kildare is good, it is clear that it has outgrown the space, which is no longer sufficient to support the organisation's long-term development and commitment to supporting children with special needs. Karen and her team are at an advanced stage in realising their dream of constructing a flagship child development centre for vulnerable children. I have seen the designs and the centre has the potential to transform how Sensational Kids operates. Sensational Kids was relying on the immigrant investor programme, IIP, as a key source of funding to deliver the project, which was originally costed in 2021 at €9.6 million. In March 2022, it was deemed to be a suitable project for IIP endowment funding, with a total amount approved. However, shortly after the project was approved, it became clear that additional funds would be required because of increases in the cost of construction.
Overnight on February 14 this year, the Minister for Justice, Deputy Harris, announced the decision to close the IIP to new applications. An agreed procedure had been put in place in 2022 by the IIP's independent evaluation committee to deal with requests for further tendering in the context of higher costs. This involved the project submitting various documentation and information to the evaluation committee for further assessment. At no point was Sensational Kids ever informed by the Department of any timeframe or deadline by which to submit updated costs before the programme closed overnight in February, or of any timeframe with regard to returning the application form for additional funding. We are now at a point where a social enterprise that has supported 10,000 children to date, with ambitions to support 30,000 children over the next ten years, has been left in limbo. The organisation has taken out a significant loan on the site, has secured planning permission and has fully developed designs. It has put huge work into private fundraising and is in a quandary. The Minister for Justice needs to put something in place to support Sensational Kids and other similar enterprises.
The Minister for Justice believes it would not be appropriate for me to provide details on, or make reference to, the specific project to which the Senator refers.
The IIP was established more than a decade ago, during a time of unprecedented economic difficulty, to stimulate investment in Ireland that would be of strategic and public benefit to the State.
However, it is important that we keep all programmes under review, including any implications for wider public policy, such as the continuing appropriateness and suitability of this programme for cultural, social and economic use.
As the Senator is aware, the Minister, Deputy Harris, obtained approval from the Government to close the IIP to further new applications from 15 February 2023. It is appreciated that closure of the programme has given rise to many queries and concerns on the part of individuals and organisations with an interest in it. The Minister and his officials are committed to an orderly wind-down of the programme and the management of the closure in a way that is fair to all.
I assure Senator O'Loughlin that the Department of Justice is aware of the many organisations that are anxious to receive a decision and it will communicate with all individuals and organisations in a timely manner. However, the volume of applications to the programme has accelerated rapidly in recent years and this has given rise to significant pressures on the IIP unit. In addition, a significant number of queries have been received since the programme's closure on 15 February 2023. The Department confirms that all applications recently received are currently pending examination and that each application will be examined on its own merits.
It is not possible at this time to give an indication of when individual applications will receive a decision. The programme's independent evaluation committee has requested that an analysis of certain issues be undertaken to assist it in the task of ensuring that the closure of the programme is carried out in a manner that is consistent and fair to applicants. The committee has committed to more frequent and intense engagement to progress these matters, and the patience of stakeholders is requested over the coming months while this work is completed.
The Minister assures all applicants and project sponsors that the closure of the programme will not affect existing projects or individuals already approved. Detailed communications, including an updated frequently asked questions document, will continue to be provided through the immigration service delivery website, www.irishimmigration.ie, on the arrangements applicable to the closure and winding down of the programme.
The bottom line is that the Department of Justice has pulled the rug out from under Sensational Kids at the last minute. It was approved for the IIP programme. It was told it could still access the required additional funding to complete the project after the IIP closed. It was never advised of a timeline to submit additional information and now it is in a situation where costs have risen by more than €4 million and there is nowhere to turn.
Sensational Kids is not alone. Numerous organisations have committed significant financial investment to their applications, based on the reasonable expectation that their application would be treated in the same manner as all previous applicants had been treated.
I put it to the Minister of State that all organisations should be granted 12 months from 15 February 2023 in which to resolve IIP projects already approved, in particular when the project is at serious risk of failing due to this decision and through no fault of its own. That is a very important message to bring back to the Minister.
I hear Senator O'Loughlin's sincere passion for this project and I understand she wants to get a good resolution for it. I feel the same when representing anybody.
The Senator indicated that the project was already approved. I am told by the Department that projects that have already been approved are not affected. I presume this refers to an additional requirement for money, which has not yet been approved and is subject to appraisal. I think Senator O'Loughlin is asking that I go back to the Department and ask that all projects that have sought additional approval get a response within 12 months. I will ask the Minister.
To clarify, it is not to get a response within 12 months but for the scheme to be extended for a 12-month period in order to get the additional costings, etc., in.
I will take the Senator's request back to the Department of Justice. I think she understands that not every request for funding is automatically approved. There has to be an appraisal process. As a result of the announcement of the wind-down of the funding programme, there has been a large increase in the volume of inquiries and submitted requests. Those requests that have been received are causing a large workload for the Department, which is working as fast as it possibly can. I will take Senator O'Loughlin's specific request to the Minister. I can see how sincere she is about this matter and I thank her for raising it.
Broadcasting Sector
Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I thank him for taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin. We are looking at the future funding of public sector broadcasting. This has been one of the proverbial cans that has been kicked down the road.
In November 2017, there was a report on the future funding of public service broadcasting by the Oireachtas committee on communications. That, in turn, led to the Government setting up the working group on TV licence collection, which reported in April 2019. It very clearly stated: "The current model of TV licence regime does not provide the required level of sustainable and future-proofed funding [for public service broadcasting]." It suggested, as I am sure the Minister of State knows, a device-attached fee, which the Government did not accept. That was kicked to the Future of Media Commission, which reported in July 2022. The Government accepted 49 of the commission's recommendations. It is acting on a number of them and doing very well, bar the one on the question of public sector funding, which recommended that funding should come directly from the Exchequer. A technical working group was established in September 2022 to examine a secure and sustainable funding model for public service media and licence fee reforms. The then Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, said in November that this would optimise the future structure of the fee.
At the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Sport and Media, we have been exploring how we can look at funding models as well. One of the things we would hope, and we have been making this case to the Minister, is that whatever funding arrangement comes into being should be a multi-annual funding arrangement, whether that is for RTÉ or others engaging in public sector broadcasting, so there is a guarantee as to the level of funding over a number of years. I understand that the report of the technical working group is with the Minister at this stage.
It is widely accepted that RTÉ is in the middle of a funding crisis. That is not just due to the licence fee issue. Broader issues relating to the management of RTÉ internally need to be resolved. There is also the core question of the overall funding of public sector broadcasting. The Minister of State will be very aware that we are in an increasingly fragmented media environment. Streaming services and digitalisation have transformed how we consume media. Equally, we know the importance of public sector broadcasting. That was very evident during the Covid period. With regard to his brief, we know the importance of public sector broadcasting in combating misinformation and disinformation and the major role broadcasters have in that space. We need to have a level of certainty within this and I am concerned that we are not getting that. The working group report has not been published and a decision is not being made on what we are going to do with public sector broadcasting.
In fact, the recent debate around GAAGO and what happened there was only a symptom or part of this broader and bigger challenge about what constitutes public sector broadcasting, how sport needs to be funded, the role of streaming services and so on. We need the wider debate but if we are going to have proper public sector funding for RTÉ and the sound and vision fund that will now be administered by Coimisiún na Meán, we need to have a level of certainty. All I am asking is for the Minister of State to tell us today that the Government is not going to kick the can even further down the road.
While the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, unfortunately cannot be present due to a prior commitment, she has asked me to thank the House for the invitation to update it on the progress of the technical working group on TV licence reform and enhancement.
A healthy independent media sector is vital for our society in general, our culture and our democratic processes. The media, and public service media in particular, is a source of independent and trusted news and information, which enables dialogue and debate. It supports societal well-being through the provision of access to entertainment, sports and culture. It also supports economic activity, particularly in the cultural and creative sector. However, it is a sector that has seen significant transformation over the past number of years. Changes in technology have impacted not only how we receive and consume media content, but also the economics of the sector. They have impacted the ability of traditional media to attract the necessary commercial revenues to help sustain their activities. This is no less the case for public service media.
In recognition of the important role of the sector, and in light of the significant impacts it has faced, the programme for Government committed to the establishment of the Future of Media Commission to consider the future of print, broadcast, and online media and to make recommendations to Government to ensure public service media delivers value for money to the public and maintains its independence.
The commission was also tasked with making recommendations on how the future funding of public service media could be made secure and sustainable. It is worth noting one of the commission’s key findings was that the Irish public places a strong value on public service content. The commission quite rightly noted the media sector is undergoing transformation with regard to technology, revenue models, competition and the impacts of disinformation. It also concluded the public funding model needs to be reformed to ensure a more sustainable future for the sector.
As Members of this House will be aware, the commission proposed the TV licence should be abolished and replaced with Exchequer funding. When considering the report of the Future of Media Commission, the Government decided not to accept this recommendation on funding and instead, to examine how the current TV licence system could be reformed and enhanced to provide a more sustainable funding model. To this end, the Government established a technical working group to examine the matter, including how the licence fee might be reformed to reflect changes in technology and viewing habits. The group was also mandated to examine a number of other key factors, such as issues arising with the current TV licence database and future requirements for the identified funding options; the scope of liability noting that liability currently falls on those with a "traditional" television set, while the ability to access public service content is almost universal; improvements and efficiencies to the collection and payment process for TV licences and possible changes to enforcement procedures to decrease the number of TV licence evaders.
The Minister is sure Senators will appreciate that reform of the TV licence is a complex issue with many dimensions and has required detailed analysis and consideration by the technical working group in order to arrive at an informed and considered report for further consideration by the Government. The group submitted its report to the Minister on 31 March. She is currently considering the detail of the report and will bring the matter to Government, as soon as practicable, for decision and publication. I am sure the Senator will appreciate the Minister cannot comment on the group’s report until Cabinet colleagues have had the opportunity to provide input.
I always worry when I read the phrase, "as soon as practicable", in a response, because it is frequently used when reports have been kicked down the road for a long period. The difficulty is that the issue is not new. We have known this for a long time and yet, we have seen how RTÉ and other broadcasters and media have performed a very good public sector function, not just during the Covid pandemic, but at other times as well. We need certainty. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Tourism Culture, Arts, Sport and Media has held a number of hearings on this issue. Major challenges face print media and broadcast media in particular. It is important we stress the urgency of this issue and that there be a guarantee in the report that multi-annual funding options will be provided for public sector media. I ask, when the report is finally brought to Cabinet, there be a broad debate between both Houses and an assurance this will not just be another report kicked down the road.
The goal of the report is to find a sustainable and fair funding model that responds to the changing technological landscape. We have moved away from the time when there was a black-and-white TV licence and a colour TV licence, to people watching TV on their laptops or hearing it on their phones. We need a sustainable model if we are to have public sector broadcasting. A detailed analysis was carried out and, to be fair to the Minister, she only received the report a number of weeks ago. She has to consider something dramatic, because RTÉ and other public service broadcasters play a significant part in the lives of Irish people and they are vital to democracy. One does not want to make dramatic changes to them and regret those changes at leisure. The Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, is not somebody to hang around or kick the can down the road. I imagine she will bring a detailed response to the Cabinet. The other Ministers will all have an interest in that. I cannot say what is in the report, primarily because I have not been shown it either. I think there will be a response from the Cabinet when the report is produced. There is a strong desire to make sure we continue to fund our public sector broadcasting, which is vital to our society.