I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Kieran O'Donnell, and thank him for his attendance.
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Housing Provision
The Minister of State is welcome and I thank him for coming to the House. The Minister of State obviously had a big day yesterday with the big budget. Well done. The Minister of State helped to secure a record budget for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. That is very welcome.
Housing For All is the biggest housing plan in the history of the State. It is set to deliver more than 300,000 homes. I do not believe there is a constituency that needs homes more than Dublin Central. We are coming out of a decade when absolutely no new homes were built. I have brought forward this Commencement matter today because I would like the Minister of State and the Department to provide an update to the House on the delivery of new homes on Dorset Street.
Dorset Street is one of the oldest streets in the city. Everybody knows this. One passes up and down to go to the Phoenix Park, to go to Croke Park, or to go down to Henry Street shopping. The Dorset Street flats at St. Mary's Place is right in the shadow of the Black Church, which is a very famous landmark in the city. The flats have been earmarked for regeneration since 2012. The maths is easy enough to do there - it was 11 years ago. I congratulate the Minister of State and this Government in the progress it has made with this development since the Government was formed, since Housing For All, and since the Part 8 planning permission was granted back in 2022.
The site has the potential to deliver more than 163 homes in a part of the city and the country where they are desperately needed. It also has the potential to not only deliver really high quality inner-city homes but also créche and community facilities. Interestingly, on the site is a very old fire station. It is a beautiful old Victorian redbrick building that Dublin City Council did an amazing job in restoring and conserving, for which I commend the council. It is used as a boxing club. We have Saint Saviour's Boxing Club on site and we have a really great surrounding community but we desperately need homes. We need this development on St. Mary's Place to commence sooner rather than later.
I hope the Minister of State will be able to update the House today on the progress that is being made. When will Dublin City Council break ground on that site? When will we actually start to see construction? In the interim, the site has become such a destination for antisocial behaviour, crime and drug dealing. I thank the city council for responding to my requests and I thank the gardaí for responding to my requests but it had become such a destination for antisocial behaviour the city council had to move to putting up palisade fencing to close off a prime site in the heart of our capital city. That is not good enough but it is really not acceptable that we have this enormous potential to deliver more than one 160 homes and progress is too slow. I hope the Minister of State will give us an update.
I thank Senator Fitzpatrick for bringing this Commencement matter. I can see that it is very important to the Senator and obviously to her constituents in the Dublin Central constituency.
I will give the Senator the update she is requesting. St. Mary's Place on Dorset Street is an older complex that Dublin City Council advise is in need of modernisation and my Department supports this through the regeneration programme. The housing complex consists of four five-storey blocks containing 113 units and was built in the 1960s. Dublin City Council advise that the buildings generally suffer from condensation, dampness and drainage problems. The council also advise that there are issues relating to anti-social behaviour - as the Senator has already said - and negative impacts of the layout of the complex.
A feasibility study was undertaken to examine alternative options for the improvement of the existing scheme including introducing additional in-fill development, deep retrofitting of housing blocks, and demolition and redevelopment. The study indicated that demolition and redevelopment offered the best outcome in terms of quality of homes, cost effectiveness and improvement of site usage. I have no doubt the Senator is familiar with all of this.
That is worth putting on the record. In April 2020 my Department provided stage 1 capital appraisal approval for the project. The Senator is correct that it has very much moved in a big way since this new Government came in. In March 2022 we provided stage 2 approval in principle. Dublin City Council has advised that planning permission for the complete redevelopment was achieved in 2022. The Senator has already referred to the Part 8 approval. The project will involve the demolition of the existing housing blocks and the construction of 163 new homes and four non-residential units that will provide a multi-use community space, créche, karate, and community facility. Will that also include a boxing club?
Senator Mary Fitzpatrick: It will.
Absolutely. We will call it Saint Saviour's Boxing Club. That space will also include a commercial unit and a café space. The project will be completed in one phase and will provide a mix of one, two and three-bedroom homes. This is very important and much needed in the area.
In July 2023 my Department provided stage 3 pre-tender approval, which is just a number of months ago, for the redevelopment of St. Mary’s Place to provide 163 new units. Work is progressing through the eTenders platform on the tender process for the appointment of a contractor to the project. It is anticipated that this process will be completed in quarter 4 of this year with a stage 4 post-tender submission to my Department with work to commence onsite in 2024. The question the Senator will ask is "When in 2024?" Obviously we want to see that happening as quickly as possible.
Dublin City Council advise that this project is part of a long-term strategy for the redevelopment and refurbishment of their older most pressing complexes. For the purposes of information, they advise that a wider review has identified 96 of these older flat complexes for redevelopment and refurbishment in the years 2023 to 2030. My Department has provided various levels of pre-construction approval for the refurbishment or replacement of the following complexes with Dublin City Council: Pearse House; Constitution Hill; Bluebell; School Street; Oliver Bond House; Glover’s Court; Dolphin House; and Matt Talbot Court. We want to see projects receiving approval as quickly as possible. It is very much within the remit of Dublin City Council.
In summary, the update is that at this stage the St. Mary's Place project has gone to the eTenders platform, the work is already done with Dublin City Council and the tender for the appointment of a contractor is under way. At this rate they will complete that in quarter 4 of this year, with stage 4 pre-tenders submitted to my Department, with work to commence on site in 2024.
I thank the Minister of State for his detailed reply. It is worth putting on the record the work that has already taken place and the progress being made.
There are a couple of words that really ring an alarm bell for me, which are, "Dublin City Council advises that this project is part of a long-term strategy." We cannot wait for long-term strategies in Dublin city anymore. We just cannot wait for the council's long-term strategies. The council really needs to realise more ambition in its delivery when it comes to these projects.
The Minister of State's Department has provided very significant funds and support to Dublin City Council, which he has listed, not just for this project on Dorset Street but for eight other projects. Two of them are in my constituency, namely, Matt Talbot Court and Constitution Hill. The council does not have a director of services for housing and it has an acting CEO. I urge the Minister of State, as the official with responsibility for local government, to please meet with us and with Dublin City Council. Let us review what it will need to accelerate the delivery of these desperately needed homes in the city.
I thank the Senator very much. The Government, through Housing for All, is committed to increasing the supply of social housing to an average of 10,000 social houses per annum between 2022 and 2030. My Department is working with Dublin City Council to progress all schemes for the benefit of all and will consider and support the most appropriate funding streams to enable these refurbishments and replacements to proceed. A large number of these flat complexes will be effectively rebuilt while others will be refurbished and, in some cases, will need amalgamations, for instance, two in one, due to the unacceptable size of some homes.
The St. Mary’s Dorset Street regeneration has the potential to achieve an increased number of high-quality homes with high environmental sustainability. It will provide an opportunity for improved site planning and landscaping providing better access. It will contribute to local regeneration and support the council’s strategic regeneration policies relating to the civic spine, Parnell Square cultural quarter and the Grangegorman campus. More efficient utilisation of the site will enable provision of additional development and density. I look forward to the project advancing on-site in 2024, delivering high-quality social housing in 2025 and 2026.
I will follow up with the local authorities and I will go to Dublin City Council. The Senator made a very valid point. I will meet the local authorities to ask them about their projects and what we really want to see. More specifically, she referred to St. Mary's Place on Dorset Street. We want to see houses being built. We want to see the stage 4 post-tender submission. We need to see that from Dublin City Council in the Department. As I said, we want to see JCBs and workmen on-site in early 2024 or as early as possible in 2025.
I thank the Minister of State for coming into the Chamber.
Third Level Education
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, to the Chamber for our second Commencement matter.
Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach. I wish to raise the shortfall in funding for our higher institutes of education and third level sector, which is at €307 million. I welcome the additional allocation of €60 million in the budget yesterday. That is a very welcome development. Last year, it was only €40 million. If we are to continue at that rate, however, it will take up to a decade to address the shortfall in third level funding.
I want to specifically address the impact that is having on one particular university, namely, Trinity College Dublin, TCD. It is in the heart of the city. People pass by it every day but do not realise that it is actually part of the fabric of the city and the republic. A total of 22,000 students attend TCD just down the road. Unfortunately, however, because of some of the lowest capitation grants in the OECD, it has one of the highest student to lecturer ratios in the European Union. The average throughout the OECD is 17 students per lecturer. In TCD at the moment, it is 23:1.
I went to Trinity College in 1984 when the country was an economic basket case. Obviously, I was only 11 or 12 at the time. The country was an economic basket case and we had mass emigration. However, it was better funded in the 1980s than it is now. We really have to be cognisant of the impact this is having. Trinity College has been there for 431 years in the heart of the city. It is part of the engine of Ireland's economic recovery. To that end, I would highlight institutes like the centre for research on adaptive nanostructures and nanodevices, CRANN, which is a world-leading centre for nanotechnology and nonodevices. It is making a real material contribution to Irish economic outputs both at home and abroad. Then, we have institutions like the Trinity College institute of neuroscience, which is doing groundbreaking work and making over-the-horizon discoveries in the area of neuroscience. We all know somebody who has either a Parkinson's or dementia-related illness. It is something that impacts every family in the State. One that is very close to my heart is the Trinity St. James's cancer institute, which is carrying out pioneering research into individualised and sometimes gene-based therapies to deal with cancers. We are all probably aware at this stage of the great strides that are being made but they are being made because of institutes like that. I think of the gross blunt treatment of radiation treatment and chemotherapy that has been used in the past, which did not work for everybody. In particular, I think of somebody like my sister, Pauline, who passed away at the age of 43 from breast cancer, and my mum who passed away from cancer. The cancers they had are very treatable today. They would be alive today were it not for the treatments that were available at the time. They were unlucky with the very aggressive tumours they had. This is the kind of work Trinity College is doing.
With the massive budget surpluses we have, it really behoves the Government to invest in TCD and the other institutes of higher education to meet that shortfall. We are the only English-speaking country in the EU. Ireland, and Dublin, should be a destination of choice for massive international investment in terms of the arrival of researchers, but also research funding coming not just from the research grant agencies in the EU and domestically but also from private industry. They want to innovate. They want to see entrepreneurs. It is not just the economy that would benefit but the whole of Irish society.
Finally, the student experience is so important. This is mental health week. I heard the Minister of State speak about it very eloquently. Our student population in Trinity College is really suffering. The student experience is not what it used to be. That investment would really help that experience.
I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris. I am happy to provide an update on the funding of higher education. I accept that the Senator acknowledged the funding that was provided yesterday in budget 2024.
Since the formation of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science by this Government, there has been a significant improvement in funding to the higher education sector. As announced yesterday, budget 2024 provides a significant increase in funding for higher education with €195 million in additional funding to be allocated to the sector in 2023 and 2024. This funding will lead to increased staffing levels and enhanced support services for students. It will also expand the capabilities of our higher education institutions to deliver on priority skills needs and the further development of tertiary programmes. It includes €60 million under Funding the Future, which builds on the €40 million delivered in last year's budget and is aligned with the intention that over a number of years, further additional core funding will be prioritised through the Estimates process while taking account of the Government's budgetary and fiscal stance. It brings the total committed core funding as part of Funding the Future to €100 million over the two budgets.
It would be remiss of me not to also speak about the reduction in student fees that was announced yesterday, which is really welcome. I was contacted by many people even across my own family yesterday evening and by others through my constituency office who, in some cases, have two students in university. That is very welcome.
The level of increase, particularly in light of other demands on Exchequer funding, demonstrates the Government's commitment to the sector to enable it to fully realise its potential. As part of budget 2024, the Government has provided funding to enhance the number of medicine places for Irish and EU students and for strategic healthcare places, which will facilitate further expansion from September 2024. Funding has also been secured for pay and pensions in the higher education sector and other non-pay costs.
In March 2022, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science published Funding the Future, which the Senator addressed, which recognised a funding shortfall of €307 million for the higher education sector.
As announced yesterday, budget 2024 brings the total additional funding allocated under Funding the Future to €100 million in just two budgets. This is in addition to additional funding provided to meet other demands in the sector including demographic pressures and additional pay costs arising from public sector pay agreements. A significant uplift of more than 1,500 core funded posts was also approved this year for the sector in line with increased funding which will enhance student to staff ratios. Senator Clonan spoke about that. I think he said it is 23:1 in Trinity.
Funding the Future confirmed that a mixed funding model would be adopted to ensure the sustainable funding of higher education into the future. This comprises a mix of Exchequer investment, employer contributions through the National Training Fund and student contributions. Funding the Future outlines an ambitious programme of reform, centred on improving quality, driving skills and engagement, enhancing student participation and creating a more unified third level system.
Senator Clonan also spoke about the student experience in third level education. So many students missed that during Covid as they did not get the same experience in those important couple of years. Some students are now graduating who missed a couple of years for that reason.
I welcome Sally-Anne Fisher from the senior leadership team in Trinity College and Zaid Al-Barghouthi and Ahlan Wa Sahlan from the Union of Students in Ireland. They are very welcome. It is an issue that impacts not just the institutions themselves but also the student population, as the Minister of State alluded to. As she is aware, I have three adult children myself, who are attending university. If we want to have the Nobel prize winners of the future, which we absolutely need for the economy and the development of our Republic, the Samuel Becketts and so on, we must enhance the student experience. That is by way of addressing this deficit and shortfall. We have the money to do it now. To quote a well-known economist and, of late, a Member of this House, it is a no-brainer. We really need to invest in the third level sector.
If possible, I might seek a meeting between the Minister and the Provost of Trinity to discuss the particular impact it is having on the college, which is in the top 100 university rankings in the world, despite all the challenges. That is a testament to the staff and the team there for all the pro bono extra work they do, but they do need help. It would be useful to have a face-to-face meeting.
I cannot answer for the Minister, but I am sure if Senator Clonan writes to his office such a meeting would be considered.
He is correct that Trinity College Dublin rose in two major world rankings published this year from 161st to 134th in the Times Higher Education, THE, rankings and, quite rightly, from 98th to 81st in the QS World University Rankings, which is very significant. After being outside the top 100 in the QS rankings from 2018- 22, it is very significant that, as Senator Clonan says, it re-entered the top 100 last year, and climbed a further 17 places this year. While useful, these rankings provide a limited view of the higher education system. They do not take into account, for example, the student experience or the broader social role played by higher education institutions in supporting access and tackling educational disadvantage.
In closing, I would like to confirm the Government's commitment to a right-sized appropriately funded higher education system. The best option for Senator Clonan is to write to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, to see if he can facilitate a meeting.
I thank the Minister of State.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is very welcome to the Seanad this morning. Unfortunately, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, cannot be with us because he is at a press conference. Given Waterford's very fertile agricultural land, I know the Minister of State will have an interest in this matter.
I seek a statement from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the audit and calculation of the current carbon sequestration of agricultural land and farm holdings, which is basically a carbon balance sheet for farm enterprises.
This is a very important issue, one I have been talking about for many years. I am very frustrated by the lack of clarity on the topic. We have had crazy debates, including some bullying in my opinion, over carbon budgets for agriculture. The narrative from some in the media and among elected representatives in this debate shows a significant level of misunderstanding by the majority about Irish agriculture. As a result, it often threatens and downgrades agriculture. That can be very difficult.
The agricultural sector people speak about is not some sort of anonymous entity. It is the farm I grew up on. It is the farm my neighbours toil on and where they struggle to make ends meet every single day of the week. While we are trying to keep all that going, we must cut emissions, which we agree with, but why are farmers taken advantage of?
We have big and small farm holdings. They are the carbon sink of this nation and to date there is no acknowledgement of that by the State. Trees, grass, soil and even sheep's wool sequesters carbon. The 400,000 km of hedgerows right across the country is a carbon sink and a biodiversity haven. Even the lowly common hawthorn has about 200 different insects living on it. We are entering into an era that could be a very exciting time for farmers. We could be empowering farmers and giving them control to work towards the net-zero agriculture we all want and they want. I passionately believe that science will back me up on this and that the majority of farmers, in particular the small ones, are farming in a net-zero way in terms of carbon, and that we can do this.
Devenish, a private agri-technology company, has done this in County Meath. It is using sustainable farming initiatives that help decarbonise global agriculture by supporting farmers to continue to produce nutritious meat and milk while dramatically improving their carbon balance. As the Minister of State is aware, knowing the carbon balance sheet leads to the identification of actions that will help the wider agricultural sector to reach net-zero carbon emissions and beyond. That will boost environmental credentials for producers and processors at every point along the food chain.
I was very glad to hear the announcement this morning by the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, about an extra €2 million in funding for his research budget, bringing it to €22.45 million. To quote the press release, "This will be used to drive greater innovation in our agriculture, food, forestry and bioeconomy sectors as we position Irish agriculture as a leader in sustainable food production. In addition, Teagasc will receive an allocation of €168 million to support their activities."
I know the Department is behind me on this, but I want to ensure that money will be put into farms to make sure every farm is audited. We could start a pilot project in County Louth because we have every type of agriculture there - tillage, grain, sheep, cattle, dairy and we even have aquaculture - to ensure that every single farm has a carbon balance sheet. I am very excited about this. I hope the new research budget will assist in that regard.
I thank Senator McGreehan for the passion with which she delivered her opening speech on farms having a balance sheet of carbon sequestration. I have learned a lot in the past four minutes.
At the outset, it is the responsibility of the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, to report emissions and removals associated with land use activities on an annual basis to the EU and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC. However, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is working with the EPA to improve reporting of the agriculture and the land use, land use change and forestry, LULUCF, inventory.
Carbon farming is an essential component of strategies to mitigate climate change and meet our climate targets by reducing emissions and increasing carbon removal from the atmosphere. As Senator McGreehan says, it is therefore critical that this is underpinned by a well-functioning national carbon farming framework that provides confidence, verification, and certification to generate a potential additional income source for farmers in the actions they take to remove and store carbon in soils, forests, grasslands, croplands, and hedgerows.
In November 2022, the European Commission published a proposal on the certification of carbon removals to boost removal technologies and sustainable farming solutions, which underpins the European Green Deal and sets out rules for the independent verification of carbon removals and certification schemes to create a viable carbon farming market.
On 26 September, the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, launched a public consultation to guide the development of a national carbon farming framework, which will be customised to an Irish context, complements the environmental activity within the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 and that is cognisant of the trajectory and requirements at EU level.
In addition, the Department has been developing and supporting initiatives to gather national baseline data on a range of activities.
To date, we have provided for the establishment of the national agricultural soil carbon observatory and the national soil sampling programme along with a range of research projects on peat soils. An example is the RePEAT project working to accurately identify the extent of organic soils under agricultural management while investment in European innovation projects in the midlands is developing a results-based agri-environmental model to reward farmers for implementing sustainable management practices on peat soils.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is collaborating with the EPA, Teagasc and other research institutions in a range of research projects to better understand the capacity of Irish soils to sequester carbon in different types of grassland or on different individual farms. It is challenging given the different soil types, crops, climatic conditions and land use to accurately measure carbon sequestration emissions as well as proving the additionality and permanence of carbon sequestration.
The Minister has provided funding for the formation of a nationwide network of best practice demonstration and research farms under the Teagasc Signpost programme. The Signpost programme is a collaborative partnership of farmers, industry and State agencies working together to lead climate action and the transition towards more sustainable farming systems.
I thank the Minister of State for her response. A lot of work has been done and I know the Department is behind me on this. I know it can be done because Devenish has done it. It has done incredible research in Dowth in County Meath just across the border from County Louth. By accurately measuring on-farm carbon emissions, we can capture and understand carbon sequestration and the power of our land.
In Northern Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs is doing this. It is putting money behind this on a voluntary basis for dairy farmers. The Department acknowledges that many farms across the country are doing incredible work in various mitigation initiatives. Regarding carbon balance, if people do not know their balance sheet, they are working in the dark so an understanding of the figures is needed. Farmers then need to be rewarded when they are doing a really good job.
As the Senator is aware, carbon sequestration is only one part of our overall approach. The Signpost programme currently has 119 Signpost farms whose performance is being assessed using data gathered by Teagasc and analysed to calculate greenhouse gas emissions. The reduction of soil-based emissions is very important to deliver the reductions in the overall carbon balance and we have delivered several projects to address knowledge deficits in this area.
One of the tools developed to assess these Signpost farms and soon to be available to all farmers is the new AgNav sustainability digital platform, which delivers science-led support and planning tools to help Irish farmers play their part in reducing agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions. AgNav will facilitate access to reliable and robust estimates of carbon for each individual farm and accurately provide baseline figures for farmers using verified data. Platforms such as this will underpin the adoption of any carbon farming framework by land managers in Ireland.
Special Educational Needs
As the Minister of State is aware, I have chaired the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism since early 2022. After meeting with a large number of parents' groups, one issue came to the fore early on, namely, the lack of summer provision in special schools. These children have the highest needs. We issued a report in October 2022 and engaged with the Department of Education and the Minister of State with responsibility for special education on what we regarded as a major issue of concern. In fairness, the Department took on board our concerns. New rules, guidelines and supports were put in place for summer 2023. We opened a portal for students of the therapies in colleges and ECCE-qualified staff who were very well-educated to ensure they would be available to work in the programme. Anecdotally, we were told that a significant number of schools did not provide the programme because they could not get staff. A portal was opened and extra supports were put in place, with shorter hours and a €2,000 grant organised for it. I compliment the Department and Government for putting those supports in place.
I will give the figures for 2022. Of the 8,682 children in special schools, 1,408 had some programme - either two or four weeks - so 16% had a programme. In 2023, with all the changes and supports introduced, of 8,945 children, 2,443 had some programme, which is 27%. This included additional schools like Linn Dara School for the blind and Beaumont Hospital Special School. Twenty-three new schools were involved compared to 2022. Two did it and 22 did not do it in 2023 so there was an additional figure of 21, which brought us up just short of 60, or under 50%. Of that total, 369 children out of 8,945 got four weeks so, unfortunately, it is still a major issue of concern, which is why I am raising it today.
We need to address this issue for 2024. Rosedale School in Galway recruited 37 staff from the portal to run the summer programme. Most of those staff were then taken on and worked in the respite services so getting staff for the month for August is always an issue.
I do not think it is acceptable that we will have the same situation in 2024 where children with the highest needs are not getting supports. The committee sent a questionnaire to all 130-odd special schools in the country, collated the answers and issued a report. A total of 35% had difficulty in recruiting an organiser, 48% had difficulty in recruiting internal staff, 18% had difficulty in recruiting external staff and 20% did not have available school buildings. One in five said it could not run the programme because school buildings were unavailable. I will not name the school but one school said it could not do it because its school grounds were used for a private summer camp. A school is being used for a private summer camp for profit while the children who are in that school for the rest of the year did not have it for the summer programme. We know how children regress because of that gap.
We need to make this compulsory. I know that would cause a lot of anger but we have a portal for staff who are available and want to work in that service so there is no reason for any special school not to put that in place. The staff are available and have put themselves forward. They are more than qualified. I gave the example of a special school in Galway that recruited 37 staff. The children and parents were happy. They got their programme rather than the school saying it did not have the staff to run it.
I want us to start the process for 2024. I appeal to every principal and board of management. The responsibility is with the board of management of these schools as well. The starting point should be that they will offer the programme in 2024.
I thank the Senator for raising this really important issue. He is right to raise it now because it comes around very quickly. All credit to both the Minister for Education and the Minister of State with responsibility for special education as they have done phenomenal work to improve access to this programme.
The needs of children with complex special educational needs and children at most risk of educational disadvantage continue to be a huge priority for Government. There has been significant progress in the summer programme over the past few years. Numbers have grown substantially since 2019 with 2023 seeing more schools and students participate than ever before. Provisional figures show that over 1,200 schools participated this year compared to 1,000 schools in 2022.
In particular, there has been an increase of more than 50% of special schools that participated this year. This means that 59 special schools have taken part this year - more than ever before - but I do take on board the points made by the Senator, which is that many did not take part. This increase in participation, particularly among special schools, follows an extensive review of the programme and the introduction of new measures to give meaningful support to schools and staff.
Following extensive consultation with education stakeholders and advocacy groups representing families of children with disabilities, steps taken to encourage more schools to participate in 2023 included a new initiative to the scheme for special schools. This initiative had been designed and developed to ensure supports and funding are targeted to enhance the availability of a school-based programme for pupils in special schools. As part of this pilot, a national co-ordinator was appointed to liaise with special schools to help them run a summer programme.
This has proven successful with more than 50% of special schools participating. Schools were also given flexibility to engage staff who were not employed in the school. The Senator spoke to the school in Galway that was able to employ 37 staff members so that just shows how successful it is. A staff portal was made available for teachers and special needs assistants, SNAs, to register their interest in working on a school-based programme. Student teachers and students in relevant disciplines such as therapy, social care, nursing and others including early childcare workers and carers, were also able to register their interest. More than 1,900 people registered their interest in 2023. Other key additional supports were also put in place for both school and teacher SNAs involved in the programme. In 2023, instead of preparation hours, there was a dedicated role of school organiser in each school and they received an enhanced payment of €3,000 for this role. For special schools, the length of the day was reduced from the full school day to 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with the same daily rate being paid to staff taking part. This again recognised the challenges associated with running the programme in a special school. In order to reflect the unique circumstances that would have arisen in a special school during the summer months, additional grant funding of €2,000 was provided for each week a special school provided a school-based summer programme. In fairness to the Ministers, they have worked really hard to try to encourage special schools to take part.
Other enhanced measures from last year have been continued to encourage schools’ participation. This includes a centralised application process to reduce administration burden on schools; earlier payment of school staff - something I heard was a deterrent before; an additional capitation to cover the running costs of the scheme; as well as enhanced capitation for special schools. A home-based summer programme was also made available for students with complex special educational needs where a place on a school-based programme was not available to them. Under this strand, grant funding was made available so that parents or the legal guardians could engage the services of a teacher or an SNA to provide tuition or care support as appropriate in the child’s home. Parents of eligible children were able to arrange the programme over the summer holidays to best suit their needs. Following the budget yesterday, I am delighted that funding in line with 2023 will once again be available to provide the summer programme in 2024.
I put on record my thanks to both the Minister and the Minister of State in the Department of Education. The Government has put everything in place and made the changes that were needed. Unfortunately, schools are not coming on board. I do not see why, when one school can do it and employ staff, that another can not. Another issue that arose and on which I had a meeting last week with SIPTU and staff members in the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme, was where some of the information about the availability of that portal did not seem to filter down to those staff. It seemed to happen in some areas and not in others. That may be something for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to look at. I am aware that different Departments need to inform all the staff within ECCE that this portal is available. I note that we hope that schools will participate in 2024. We have to go further than this, to be quite honest. Will the Minister of Education and the Minister of State at the Department of Education with special responsibility for special education and inclusion, write to every single special school on behalf of the Government and the parents? We want every single school to participate next year. The supports are being put in place. The financial supports and the availability of the workforce through the portal is there. There is no reason at all for this not to be done in every single school. That has to be the minimum place to start.
In fairness to both Ministers, there has been improvement this year but there is always more to do. Preparation has already started for the 2024 summer programme. This will involve engagement with education partners, parents, schools, advocacy groups and other stakeholders. I will take the Senator's point back to the Minister as some people did not know the portal was there. The portal did simplify things because we heard previously that it was onerous to go through the system. On foot of this engagement, the terms and conditions for the 2024 summer programme will be designed to encourage even more schools and staff to participate. We will also be engaging with other groups who are interested in running an educational programme to ensure the widest possible participation. As the Senator knows, the aims of the summer programme are to support children to maintain their connection with education, build their confidence and increase their motivation through peer engagement and socialisation. We also know it is hugely important for parents that they get that break for that three or hour hours a day during the summer holidays as well. The Senator makes very valid points and I will bring them back to the Minister.
Health Services Staff
The Minister of State is welcome. I raise the issue of podiatry care. It is a significant issue nationally and is a major issue in my part of the world down in west Cork. The level of podiatry care that is being provided by the HSE at the moment is very limited. We have had patients come to my office in the past number of years who have been waiting 18 or 19 months for appointments. We have a huge issue as to how to make sure that the cohort who need podiatry care have the opportunity to get it. We had the same Commencement matter debate in October 2022 and we asked for an update on the recruitment campaign that was happening. At the time, we were told that in my area, which is the CH04, 15 of the 25 posts were vacant. This is really significant when you take into consideration what we are talking about here. When 15 of the 25 posts were vacant in March 2022, we realise why we have a huge issue. I know the Minister of State has a unique understanding of the geography of west Cork. We had patients being moved from Bandon to Bantry, from Bantry to Skibbereen, from Clonakilty to Skibbereen. It was hectic and was all over the place. The geographical distance that patients had to travel, sometimes in areas without major public transportation routes, was absolutely huge and it made no logical sense. This really affected a cohort who needed help.
The obvious knock-on implication is that the private podiatry services are overloaded beyond all belief at the moment. A person would be waiting three to four months for a private appointment in west Cork today. The entire system is crumbling at the moment. Finding an avenue or a pathway to make sure we can get appropriate podiatry care into places like Bantry, Skibbereen, Clonakilty, and Bandon, is really important. I realise that there is a third level podiatry course in the University of Galway. There is a really significant issue about trying to make sure we get new recruits into the system itself. It is an avenue we need to start talking about to make sure we have more recruits coming through that podiatry course and maybe a second course somewhere in Ireland. In the long term we have an issue going forward for the whole country; in the short term, west Cork in particular is really badly affected. Will the Minister of State provide an update as to where we are with the recruitment process? How are we regarding the huge gap in the service itself? Last March, we had something like 15 of 25 posts vacant. Do we have movement on that? What can I tell my constituents regarding this really important issue?
Go raibh maith agat Senator Lombard for raising this really important issue. I will answer on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, today. I am aware that the recruitment and retention of staff across community healthcare organisation, CH04, has been very challenging recently as considerable organisational and operational changes have been implemented. As the Senator knows, this is not only in podiatry. Indeed, as part of the enhanced community care programme there are several vacancies across Cork and Kerry, including in west Cork. Cork Kerry Community Healthcare teams continue to run recruitment campaigns at a local, national and international level to fill these vacancies. The teams assure me that a robust communication campaign is being utilised to attract eligible candidates. Cork Kerry Community Healthcare has identified a number of factors which contribute to the difficulty of staffing these roles. There is a high demand for these healthcare professionals, which is outpacing the supply of trained podiatrists. The current workforce in some areas is ageing. As these staff members retire, new graduates are needed to fill their positions.
Training to become a podiatrist is an expensive and lengthy process, with only one course available at the University of Galway. The Senator has made a really valid point. I spoke earlier to Senator Clonan regarding Trinity College Dublin and pointed out that the Minister, Deputy Harris, had put in place 15 new medical positions this year through universities and colleges. Progress has been made. The Senator made the point about there being only one college in Galway where students can go. We saw recently that a course on home economics that was only available in Sligo previously is now available in Mary Immaculate College, St Patrick’s Campus, Thurles. That is extremely important because before this, everyone had to go to Sligo if they wanted to do that course. The Senator has made a very valid point about the podiatry course only being available in Galway. Students choosing a course may be unaware that podiatry is an option for study diverted by other healthcare fields such as orthopaedics and nursing.
Once they enter the workforce, podiatrists may prefer to work in urban areas. This can lead to recruitment difficulties in rural areas, which is identified as a problem in several geographical areas of Cork and Kerry. Addressing these factors requires a multifaceted approach, including expanding educational programmes, just like I spoke on, providing financial incentives to encourage individuals to enter the field, and implementing policies to ensure equitable distribution of podiatry services across regions. All efforts are being undertaken within the parameters of the HSE to address the deficits, including international promotion and recruitment campaigns, increased training places, and formal engagement with academic partners. The recruitment for staff grade posts is being communicated to graduates through the national recruitment service. A bespoke campaign has been developed to recruit senior grade posts which will launch imminently.
Eligible patients continue to be seen and are being provided with ongoing care. Those who are most urgent on the waiting list are being seen first. The HSE advises that when all the active, in remission and high-risk patients are seen, and when space in the schedule becomes available, moderate risk patients will be offered scheduled appointments. There are currently 1,138 people on the podiatry waiting list in Cork, in CHO 4. The HSE reports that there are three children, aged up to 17, on the waiting list. Some 359 adults have been on the waiting list for less than 12 weeks. However, 329 adults have been waiting for more than a year. The number of patients seen within 52 weeks has improved slightly at 71% compared with the same time last year when it was just under 70%. The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, and the Department have been assured that priority is being given to those patients most at risk and that most of those waiting are in the lower risk categories. However, the Department has asked the HSE to accelerate the process by which those waiting over one year can be seen.
I thank the Minister of State for the update. I think we are probably where we were last year. There is no major change. More than 1,100 people are on a waiting list. Unfortunately, 329 adults have been waiting for more than 12 months. It is probably that cohort who have been talking to me. That is a really significant figure.
Something needs to be done about the CHO 4 area regarding where it is going with this and other issues. How will we make sure that staffing levels in this area are appropriate compared with other areas? There needs to be a national approach. If we were to look for the figures across the entire country and compare this with other places, I am nearly assured this is the highest in the country. There needs to be a combined approach and even the potential of moving staff from other parts of Ireland to this location to make sure that the Cork-Kerry region can actually work on what we are dealing with. It is a huge waiting list. There has been no significant move in the past 12 months. I suggest that the national approach, which obviously involves recruitment, should also have the relocation of staff as key. A programme needs to be put in place to move staff to this location, otherwise I will be back here next October with the same Commencement debate, the same figures, and the same people calling me in the office asking what in the name of God is happening.
I thank the Senator. The problem is that the demand for podiatry healthcare professionals is growing everywhere. It is not only in CHO 4. This is in part due to an ageing population, with people living longer, and the increased prevalence of chronic conditions like diabetes. Obviously, as Minister of State with responsibility for mental health and older people, I am proud of the fact that we have the highest life expectancy in the EU, as deemed by the World Health Organization, and support older people to age in place. Podiatry services are necessary to ensure that people have access to the right care, in the right place, at the right time, which we are aiming for under Sláintecare. The HSE advises that every effort is being made to fill the current podiatry vacancies in CHO 4. The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, agrees that there needs to be a robust campaign to ensure the recruitment of suitable staff to these important vacant posts. At times, when I hear people saying it is very hard to recruit, I wonder because we are recruiting into some of the most scenic areas in the whole country. We often see challenges with filling posts in child and adolescent mental health services in Donegal, Kerry and many different counties. I find that hard to believe because we are recruiting into beautiful areas.
Mental Health Services
Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I thank the Minister of State for being here to take this matter. She is a champion for mental health. I know she is very much aware of the question that I am raising this morning. In September, the Mental Health Commission in its report on child and adolescent mental health services from 2022 to 2023, while it identified many positives about mental health services, sounded quite a number of alarm bells. The particular issue I raise today is about access to CAMHS in north Wexford. The commission pointed out that as of March this year, there was a waiting list of 99 patients for CAMHS in north Wexford. That was up from 77 a year previously. When one compares that with south Wexford, and there should not be a waiting list-----
There is not.
-----there were ten patients, compared with 13. I quote from the report, which states, "The difference between the number of the waiting list for South Wexford (10) and North Wexford (99) and between Tipperary team 1 (68) and Tipperary Team 2 (8) shows an inequality of access to CAMHS services dependent on where the child lives (even within the same county) and requires urgent investigation and remedy." CHO 5, as the Minister of State knows, already has the second-lowest funding per capita across all CHO areas for CAMHS. This has been an ongoing problem. I do not accept that a child or young person should lose out on access to CAMHS because of their Eircode.
I know a new CAMHS team is being recruited for north Wexford. There is still no premises for that CAMHS team. I have spoken with CHO 5 and engaged with potential property owners to help them. There are many people in the Gorey and north Wexford area who would be more than willing to assist in finding a premises for this vital service. There is huge goodwill towards it. I cannot get answers from the HSE. The reason I am having to ask the Minister of State directly today is that I keep asking the HSE and I do not get any updates about what happened other than being told the matter is progressing and staff are being recruited. For those children and young people, it is critical that we see this service open as soon as possible. The Minister of State knows, having met most of them, that there are many people who, through voluntary and community work, are providing exceptional services for children and young people and indeed not-so-young people in the area of mental health supports. We need the professional support in the area to reduce the waiting lists and to provide the services.
The Minister of State knows about one of the big issues, which is that all of those working in the local area, including Ray Cullen and the team in Talk to Tom, Patrick Hipwell and George Graham who are involved in See Change, the Wexford Mental Health Association with Alice Doyle, with whom the Minister of State has engaged regularly, Joe and Catriona Dixon in Cycle Against Suicide, and Wexford Macra na Feirme, have identified the question of mental health among young people as one of their top priorities, as has Comhairle na nÓg in County Wexford. No matter how good all the voluntary work that is done in those areas is and no matter how strong a champion the Minister of State is, unless we have the professional support from CAMHS that has been promised being delivered on the ground and the centre opened in Gorey, we will continue to see this problem with waiting lists.
I thank the Senator for his constant advocacy for mental health in his own area and in general too. It is not the first time he has raised these issues with me. As he knows, the development of all aspects of mental health, in line with our national policy, Sharing the Vision, remains a priority for me and for Government. This includes CAMHS, which receives around €137 million in dedicated funding annually. I was delighted yesterday to increase the budget for mental health to almost €1.3 billion. On the day of last year's budget, mental health spend for the following year was €1.221 billion. As of yesterday, it is €1.295 billion, which is a significant increase. About €108 million has been provided this year to community-based mental health organisations and NGOs, with a significant proportion dedicated to supporting youth mental health in the wider sense.
As the Senator is aware, a significant recent development is the new national office for youth mental health in the HSE. It is the first time we have ever had this. This will improve leadership, operational oversight, and management of all service delivery and improvement nationally. I wish Dr. Donan Kelly, who has taken up post, the very best. I will be working closely with him.
We will have a new clinical lead, which we never had previously, for mental health, Dr. Amanda Burke from CAMHS from the Galway area, who is a fantastic person with many years of experience. I have to say I am really excited about all of these components coming together.
An ongoing focus for the HSE is to improve access to CAMHS and to reduce waiting lists. This was my focus in the budget yesterday and 68 more people will be recruited into CAMHS next year. This is really important because after the Mental Health Commission reports we know, for example, that there is a postcode lottery. I visited Arden House in Wexford last year and they work very well, have small waiting lists, and then you have the team - we see this across the whole country - in the north of the county with a higher waiting list. I also have to point out that during the Covid-19 pandemic, there were 33% more referrals into CAMHS and 21% more children were seen by the teams that were in place. Last year alone, 225,000 appointments were issued through CAMHS. Of our population of 1.2 million children or young people in the country, only 2% of them will ever need the support of CAMHS. We do have a lot of referrals into CAMHS, approximately 30%, that probably are not appropriate.
The CAMHS teams have worked closely with the Mental Health Commission over the past year to develop and implement improvement plans as needed following its interim and final reports. In addition, the HSE continues to progress the national audits. Regarding the specific point the Senator has raised, recruitment has been ongoing for a third CAMHS team in Wexford. The HSE's CHO 5 recently interviewed again for the position of consultant psychiatrist. It is a multidisciplinary team led by a consultant psychiatrist. It is understood that the post has been accepted and the candidate is currently in the clearing stage of the recruitment process. There have also been two clinical nurse specialists, one senior psychologist, and administration staff recruited to the team, which is very welcome. The CAMHS team will become operational when the CAMHS consultant psychiatrist commences in post but the timeline for this has yet to be confirmed. CHO 5 hopes to have the team in operation in early 2024. This will be subject to the context of agreeing the HSE service plan 2024 for mental health overall. I think it is an important team to get in place as soon as possible.
I thank the Minister of State and am glad that we are finally moving towards the appointment of that consultant. That is very welcome news today. I do not doubt the Minister of State's commitment to delivering on this service and appreciate that on the recruitment side, certain elements are outside the Minister of State's control. It is critical to get assurances now from CHO 5 that it will have the premises for this service secured in time for early 2024 and that the team are ready and able to work. I acknowledge the Minister of State is deeply committed to it but for a child, it should not depend on where they live as to when they have access to these services. Children or young people, no matter where they live in Ireland, should have equality of access to this vital service. Today, I appreciate the good news the Minister of State is bringing. However it is critical, and I do not want to see another Mental Health Commission report that highlights the problems in north Wexford and how the waiting lists there are among the longest anywhere in the country.
A significant conversation needs to be had because we have 75 CAMHS teams but not all of them are fully staffed. Some of them have more capacity than others. I have spoken to many parents and they said to me that they do not mind driving for an extra 20 or 30 minutes if they know the child will receive the supports. There are a lot of conversations to be had. I had a series of round-table meetings just before the summer recess and brought all the stakeholders in to decide what we could do.
As for two of the things I will announce later today - I will give a preview of them - one is that I secured the money yesterday in the budget for a new youth mental health app. Nearly every young person has access to a phone and there will be a youth mental health app that will signpost the supports they need. Senator Malcolm Byrne spoke about the great work being done in the community in Wexford.
The second piece I will announce later today relates to a pilot of a no wrong door approach. We will pilot this in CHO 9 because it is in a position to put this in place. Basically, when a child attends a GP and a referral is made, there will be a no wrong door approach. Every child who is referred will be clinically assessed and it will be determined where that child should go. In some cases it may be Foróige, in some cases it may be a family resource centre, it might be Jigsaw, it might be Talk To Tom, it might be whatever services are available in the area. It might be CAMHS. It will be whatever is appropriate for the child. What we want to do going forward is to pilot this in order that parents know that when they bring their child to the GP, there will be a door and the door will open. I am really excited about launching that this afternoon. I secured the funding in the budget to do that. I thank the Senator and will certainly keep an eye on this for him.
I thank the Minister of State.
I thank the Minister of State and did not want to stop her with all of her previews. I congratulate her on her work on the budget for 2024. The House stands suspended until 12 noon.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 11.35 a.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar mhéan lae.
Sitting suspended at 11.35 a.m. and resumed at 12 noon.