I submitted this Commencement Matter because I was curious about this issue when we were going through budgets, expenditure details and so forth. I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this matter today, which I have submitted on a number of occasions previously. I am seeking information in relation to a number of departmental expenditure queries I received. As outlined by the Cathaoirleach, this query relates to the amount of money being spent on the international protection accommodation service, IPAS, on Ukrainian accommodation, on different subsistence payments and on related services. I am sure the Minister of State will have a very detailed response to my query, which I look forward to hearing.
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
International Protection
Since February 2022, as part of the whole-of-government response to the war in Ukraine, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has supported approximately 100,000 people who have sought temporary protection in Ireland, over 80% of whom have sought State-supported accommodation. On average, approximately 650 people per week seek accommodation from the State. In addition, Ireland and many other European countries are experiencing a significant increase in people seeking international protection. Over the period from 2017 to 2019, an average of 3,500 people applied for protection each year, averaging 67 people per week.
The arrival numbers remain significantly elevated. In the first 44 weeks of 2023 nearly 9,600 international protection applicants arrived in Ireland seeking accommodation from the State, averaging 218 people per week which is more than triple the average between the period 2017 to 2019. In recent months there has been a significant increase in those seeking international protection who require accommodation from the State, with numbers exceeding 250 per week in recent weeks.
The Department holds responsibility for the provision of immediate temporary accommodation for the beneficiaries of temporary protection who seek it. Other Departments and agencies are also involved in the whole-of-government response to the crisis, which is co-ordinated by the Department of the Taoiseach. The situation as regards the availability of accommodation for beneficiaries of temporary protection arriving in Ireland remains extremely challenging. If arrivals continue at the current high levels there is forecast to be a shortage for beneficiaries of temporary protection accommodation in the coming weeks. The Government is committed to taking all actions necessary to deliver a sustainable humanitarian response and to welcome people seeking protection in Ireland as part of the European Union's overall response. Ireland's supports remain under review.
I am advised by Departmental officials that the total expenditure to date, as of 9 November 2023, by the Department on the Ukraine crisis since the Russian invasion in February 2022 is €1.795 billion. Of this, approximately €1.287 billion was spent on Department-provided accommodation alone, excluding the CityWest Transport Hub, local authority accommodation, pledged supports, transport, and facilities management etc. Approximately €58 million has been paid to local authorities to provide emergency accommodation. The total spend on International Protection Accommodation Services, IPAS, accommodation in 2022 was €356,554,000. There were 19,202 people in IPAS accommodation on 31 December 2022. The average cost of accommodating an individual residing in IPAS accommodation in 2022 was €76 per night equating to nearly €28,000 per annum for each individual.
Services for all international protection applicants, including healthcare, are mainstreamed and are accessed through the same referral pathways as Irish citizens. Residents in accommodation centres access GP services within the local community. Mental health services are accessed through the same referral pathways as Irish citizens, that is through primary care, GP referral, and emergency services. A weekly personal allowance is also paid to each international protection, IP, applicant. In 2021 this was increased to €38.80 cent for adults and to €29.80 for children.
The figures are eye-watering to say the least. I am a supporter of what we have done for the people of Ukraine. It was curious, I was talking to a member of the Government of Georgia recently. It has a similar type of population to ourselves and is on the doorstep of Ukraine. Georgia has 40,000 Ukrainians in its country and Ireland has approximately 100,000. I have no problem with the number of Ukrainians Ireland is taking, or international protection applicants for that matter, personally - or as a party - we have no problem with that. The money we are spending is more than €2 billion, and all of the figures are not in this. In a calendar year I am looking at approximately €2.3 billion here and I am sure there are a whole pile of other ancillary figures behind this that are not shown here. This is very simple, just feeding and accommodating these people. It really is an incredible figure. I am just curious and I saw one of the figures.
To be exact, it has gone up by 95%. The money spent on accommodation has increased by 63% in a year. These are the figures for the last year alone. They are out of control. We have to do our thing. We are good Europeans and stand four-square behind Ukraine and the people coming here from war-torn areas seeking to be rehomed but we have to be practical. I am curious as to the Minister of State's further thoughts on the matter.
I gave the Senator some leeway because he did not use the full allocation of time for his first contribution.
The State has a legal obligation to assess the claims of those who seek international protection and, in that time, to provide accommodation and supports in line with the recast reception conditions directive, given effect by Statutory Instrument 230 of 2018. Under the temporary protection directive, 2001/55/EC, beneficiaries of temporary protection receive accommodation or access to means to source accommodation, if needed, as well as access to the labour market, social welfare income supports, education and medical care. The Government is committed to meeting our legal obligations and to supporting those seeking refuge in Ireland and is stepping up action to maximise the pace and scale of delivery of the accommodation strategy for people seeking international protection in Ireland.
I suggest that more than 100,000 refugees at the time of a housing crisis represents a hard number to crunch.
Disability Services
I too welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this very important matter. It was in February of this year that I raised this matter previously with Deputy Collins's colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. The issue is the need to find out what the waiting times for assessments of need are in the community healthcare organisation, CHO, 7 area, the area where I live, and to reduce them. On the day in question, I was presented with figures from the HSE which included a figure of 1,320 individuals and their families who were waiting on an assessment of need. In fairness to Deputy Rabbitte, she was very honest in her contribution on the day. I will recall what she said at that time because it is very important. She stated:
It is important for me to be honest and transparent with the Senator. [...] The Senator is after getting a script but I need to correct something on it. It states "CHO 7 currently reports 1,320". Thankfully, Noel in my office kept digging until ... [he got the correct figure, which was 2,665, a lot more than the figure provided by the HSE] ... That is the number of families in CHO 7 awaiting an assessment of need.
She went on to describe the situation as "Groundhog Day" and said:
That is as bad as it can get. To be honest, the HSE has not kept pace with the growth in population as shown in the census returns. Funding has not kept pace with the disability sector and the growing population. It is important to say that.
In subsequent conversations I have had with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, in this House and in conversations she has had in the Dáil, she has mentioned that she is in the process of setting up six regional hubs to tackle the delays on waiting lists once and for all. However, in the reply to a recent parliamentary question put by my colleague, Deputy Sherlock, Bernard O'Regan, head of operations in the HSE's disability services, gave a figure of 1,986 families in my area who are waiting on an assessment of need. Some 1,596 of these families have been waiting for longer than three months. The reply went on to describe an assessment of need administrative hub being set up being set up in CHO areas 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8 and stated that assessment hubs have been established in CHO areas 3, 6 and 9. I would appreciate it if, in his reply today, the Minister of State could outline the difference between an administrative hub and an assessment hub. In my own area, CHO 7, are we disadvantaged by only having an administrative hub rather than the assessment hub other CHO areas have? In his reply, the Minister of State might also confirm the correct number of families waiting on an assessment of need in CHO 7.
Has the figure that was given to me by the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, reduced from 2,665 to 1,986 or has the figure the HSE provided on the day risen from 1,320 to the figure quoted in the recent parliamentary question response of 1,986?
The reason that has been put down again is that behind those figures there are families. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, knows that but unfortunately I am not sure if everybody in the HSE realises it. A family I mentioned on that day, last February, from my home town of Athy, has still not heard anything about an assessment of need. The last time one was carried out for their young son was in 2012. They were offered a preliminary team assessment in 2021 and the High Court has overruled that, yet this family is still trying to get an assessment of need for their son. I mention that piece of paper, as I have described it before, that all families need, even though the HSE and the Minister of State on the day told us it was not needed. Everywhere I talk to families they are asked for their assessment of need first.
Campaigners like young Cara Dermody, who I met today, have highlighted the waiting lists time and again. I am sure that not a week goes by that the Minister of State and all colleagues in this House do not get a call from a family or families on assessments of need and on trying to improve their waiting times. I look forward to the Minister of State's reply and I hope he can explain some of the issues in that parliamentary question response.
I thank Senator Wall for raising this important issue for discussion in the House. I want to be completely clear that the development of any child with a disability to reach his or her full potential remains a matter of utmost importance for this Government. I am aware that the provision of a timely and effective assessment process that works for children and families is an area of ongoing focus for my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the Health Service Executive.
The principle of early intervention is recognised by both the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and the HSE, particularly in the context of the services and supports it provides to children with disabilities and their families. In line with this, the HSE focus has been to develop a strategy for services that is reflective of the best national and international practice. The backlog for assessments of need has been caused by a number of factors, including rising numbers of applications due to general population increases; staffing shortages being experienced by children's development network teams, CDNTs, across the country; and the impact of the High Court judgment of March 2022, which directed that the standard operating procedure used to address backlogs did not fulfil the requirements of the Disability Act 2005. Assessments of need are being progressed in line with the revised clinical guidance developed on foot of the High Court judgment, which has been clinically approved and allows for clinicians to exercise their professional judgment on the scope and extent of each assessment. Accordingly, assessments can range in duration, having regard to the complexity of the child's presenting needs.
On CHO 7, the HSE advises that there are 1,935 children waiting and assessments of need outstanding as of late summer 2023. A more recent figure is not available due to the ongoing industrial action within the HSE affecting administrative and managerial grades. I am aware that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has ongoing engagement with national and local HSE management and as a result of the launch of the progressing disability services roadmap last month, there are planned measures to alleviate the backlog, including outsourcing assessments to private clinicians to improve capacity. Funding of €11.5 million was allocated in 2023 to procure diagnostic assessments from the private sector. However, this sector is also experiencing staff supply issues. The measures also include the establishment of the regional assessment hubs, which will assist each CHO in the reduction of waiting times. At present, all assessment of need referrals are managed centrally by the regional team based in Naas. The measures also include an extensive recruitment programme to enhance CDNT's capacities so that any assessments of need and therapy interventions can be delivered. The building of the CDNT's capacity is a critical component for the HSE to achieve its objectives for children's services.
Among the many initiatives being pursued in the recruitment space, the HSE advises of the launch of a targeted initiative to recruit Irish health and social care professional, HSCP, graduates who have gone overseas. A competitive relocation package has been launched to facilitate overseas recruitment and all 2023 HSCP graduates who are successful at interview are being offered multiple permanent opportunities.
These measures, among others, are part of a national campaign and are intended to benefit all CHO areas.
I assure the House that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, continues to work closely with the Department and the HSE to address the issue of delays in assessments of need via the roadmap drive to make progress on the challenges to ensure the fundamental requirements of children with disabilities and their families are met in a timely manner.
Unfortunately, the reply does not differentiate between an administrative hub and an assessment hub. I ask the Minister of State to raise with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, the need to differentiate between the two. It seems an administrative hub gathers information, while an assessment hub carries out assessments. We do not have an assessment hub in CHO 7. The figure of 1,935 provided is 20 or so short of the figure provided in answer to a parliamentary question tabled a couple of weeks ago, notwithstanding the industrial action mentioned in the reply.
In a debate in Dáil Éireann, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, promised she would use private resources to reduce waiting times. Unfortunately, the figures in front of me show that times are not reducing for families, including the family I mentioned and many other families in my area. Are private resources being used? The Minister of State's reply refers to but does not go into detail on what is needed for many families who are unfortunately still waiting on an assessment of need. They have not received the update they are waiting on.
I thank the Senator for providing me with this opportunity to speak on this very important issue. I fully agree, and I know it is a view shared across government, that children who are seeking assessments of need must receive them in a timely manner. Funding has been provided to the HSE for additional posts in recent years to enhance the capacity of the children's disability network teams, CDNTs, and shorten waiting times. The overall funding in recent years provides for nearly 800 whole-time equivalent posts, including approximately 175 therapy assistance posts approved in budget 2024. The current delays in accessing therapy services are directly related to vacancies across the CDNT network. Work by the HSE is ongoing to maximise the capacity of each of the CDNTs via recruitment campaigns and other measures. These measures include sourcing therapy assessments and interventions via private service providers, along with the standing-up of regional assessment hubs.
My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is fully engaged with the HSE on the matter of recruitment. In addition to those mentioned earlier, there are specific measures being employed by the HSE to improve capacity. These include 227 additional training places that have been developed for health and social care professionals, which commenced in September, 147 of which are in the Republic of Ireland and 80 of which have been secured in Northern Ireland. In addition, the number of trainee psychologist posts increased by 45 posts per annum for the next three years and all final-year students who applied to national campaigns have been interviewed and placed on recruitment panels. These measures have been developed at a national level to address the needs of all CHOs and target the provision of timely service for both assessments of need and therapeutic interventions.
It is important to state that despite the challenges, significant work is ongoing, with over 45,000 children currently supported by the CDNTs across the country. It is acknowledged that there is yet more work to be done but the Minister of State firmly believes that the recently launched progressing disability services, PDS, roadmap will be the key to addressing this challenge. I thank the Senator again for raising this matter.
Agriculture Schemes
The Minister of State is more than welcome. I am raising the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, and the issue we have with time-sensitive applications and delays in the system. TAMS is a very important scheme for the agricultural community. It provides grant aid and helps to ensure we modify our systems to become more appropriate. We have schemes for solar farms, low emissions, slurry spreading and tillage, which is also a very important scheme. There is also the dairy scheme.
We need to make sure there is a more efficient way of dealing with TAMS applications. There are farmers who applied under the scheme last May.
They have gone through a process. They are now in a scenario where they will be drying off their cows next week and they cannot move ahead with the proposed construction of a milking parlour, storage and what is required. Because of that, whether they are in west Limerick or west Cork, the farming community is stalled because the Department cannot process applications. This is very significant for the many farmers who need to modernise their systems, make sure they are compliant with the new regulations that are brought forward and invest in their practice and their farm for the next generation to move forward.
Applications have been sitting there since last May. I know of farmers who have builders lined up and cows being dried off at the weekend, but they cannot move forward. We need to know when the application is going to be approved. If it is approved next January, it is no good because the cows are calving. This is a time-sensitive issue. They either get the application approved in the next seven days or they have 12 months to do it. There is no point coming back to anyone in the industry who was going to put in a milking parlour and tell them to start next January when the cows are calving. It just does not work.
What we need now is for the Department to work – and to work on Saturday and Sunday if necessary - to make sure that these time-sensitive applications are worked through and delivered in the next week. If they are not delivered in the next week, despite this talk about helping the farming community reach climate targets and make sure they have enough storage to meet their nitrates obligations, it just does not work because the farming community cannot get the approval from the Department. This is probably one of the most time-sensitive measures at the moment. What I suggest is that we make a statement regarding the number of farmers who are caught in particular with regard to milking parlours, that they are picked out and visited in the next week and that we get the approval in place. Otherwise, even the people putting in the milking parlours and the industry itself will be halted for 12 months.
It is one of the most significant issues that we have at the moment. I hope we can get movement in the short term. If we do not, there is no panic because there is no point in doing it for the next 12 months because the farmers cannot move forward. We need to get movement on this issue. I appeal to the Minister of State that we need urgent intervention from him and others to make sure this can happen.
I thank the Senator. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Charlie McConalogue.
The TAMS provides grants to farmers to build and-or improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment on their holdings. TAMS 2 closed to applications on 16 December 2022. This extremely successful scheme has paid out more than €427 million in respect of 35,778 payment claims, with processing of claims continuing weekly.
Following the success of TAMS 2, the scope of the scheme and the number of investments available have been significantly increased in TAMS 3. There are now 430 available investments and an increase from seven to ten measures. Reference costs have also been increased. The additional measures are a stand-alone solar capital investment scheme, a farm safety capital investment scheme and a woman farmer capital investment scheme. These three new measures will provide an enhanced grant rate of 60%. The ceiling for the pig and poultry investment scheme has also increased to €500,000. TAMS 3 will be in place for a period of five years until 2027, with an indicative budget of €370 million. The first tranche of TAMS 3 closed on 30 June 2023, with 8,241 applications. The scheme has proved very popular, with an unprecedented level of applications received at almost four times the average number received per tranche under TAMS 2.
To assist farmers who require the construction of slurry and manure storage facilities or urgent animal welfare-related investments for the winter of 2023-24, a priority access facility was provided by the Minister, all of which has now been assessed. Approval has issued in the majority of non-query priority cases. Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine officials have also been in contact with farmers where there is a query on their application to regularise the situation before approval can issue.
More than 50% of all investments under tranche 1 are for mobile equipment. To facilitate farmers who apply for mobile equipment, it was decided 100% of eligible applications would receive approval. Applicants may purchase the mobile equipment at their own risk, subject to verification of eligibility in accordance with the terms and conditions of the relevant schemes. Applications received across all the measures in tranche I are currently being processed and all eligible applications will be accepted. An analysis of risk must take place and this is again a regulatory requirement. Once the risk analysis has been completed, approvals are expected to issue. It is anticipated this will commence shortly on a scheme-by-scheme basis, starting with the solar capital investment scheme.
I welcome what the Minister of State said about the applications that have been moved forward regarding the slurry storage, which prove it can be done. The dairy equipment scheme element of that is the key issue here. It is a time-sensitive module of the scheme. It is sensitive because 95% of our cows are spring calving. We have the opportunity in the last few days of November and the month of December to do the work in the milking parlour. As the Minister has done it with one scheme, I implore him to do it for the dairy scheme as well. He has proven it can be done. We have farmers in west Cork, west Limerick and all over the place who cannot move ahead because they cannot get the approvals required. We have literally only a few weeks to do this. I plead with the Minister of State to use his initiative and the powers he has to ensure staff are made available for this scheme for the next few weeks, because if we do not we cannot touch it for another 12 months.
TAMS has been a very successful scheme since its inception. TAMS II provided more than €427 million to farmers to encourage modernisation and it is envisaged TAMS III will be just as successful. The level of uptake in tranche 1 of TAMS III proved the interest farmers have in improving animal welfare and contributing to climate change. The success of the scheme and the large number of applications involved led to increased processing times. Priority approvals are issued to tranche 1 applicants who require slurry and manure storage facilities or urgent animal welfare-related investments. The processing of applications is nearing completion. Approvals for the solar capital investment scheme will issue shortly, with all approvals for all other measures to follow. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, thanks the Senator for raising the important topic of TAMS III. It will be open for applications until 2027 and will grant-aid farmers a sum of some €370 million over the coming years. This money will improve farm buildings, encourage self-consumption of renewable energy, encourage generational renewal and help farmers meet the considerable costs associated with updating their farms.
Departmental Schemes
I am very grateful to the Cathaoirleach for selecting this Commencement matter. As a member of a Government party, I should be able to be out in the constituency of Dublin South-Central lauding the fact the Government has moved on an apartment and duplex remediation scheme, that it has delivered on it with Cabinet approval for it on 18 January and that the codes of practice were published back in July to give guidelines to both owners' management companies, OMCs, of buildings and the fire regulations people in the local authorities. I should be incredibly proud of that and in one sense I very much am. Certainly, the current Minister has worked hard on this. When he was a member of the Opposition, he spoke about it and all that would be delivered when he became a Minister, if he got into government. The difficulty is the people who really need the money for this are not going to get it until at least 2024 and they are told that time and time again. The Minister has had multiple online briefings with people who are affected.
There are more than 100,000 such accommodations, including apartments and duplexes, around the country and it therefore affects everybody's constituency. There are complexes where they are not able to do work at this moment in time because they just do not have the money. We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis and have been for quite some time now. They cannot come up with some of the bills. In the likes of Park West, the bill is for €68,000.
The Minister has spoken about emergency funding, but the problem is that there is no sign of the money. The line from the movies is “show me the money” but at this stage, we have to show them the money because people are living in dangerous buildings and dangerous accommodations. We could triage them, put them on a priority list and say that the most dangerous ones should be done first, but the Government still is not underwriting the cost of this. It will do so at some point in the future, but an emergency fund is needed between now and then.
If the code of practice is followed in the implementation of this, then we will have a reference point. There is therefore no reason works that are done in accordance with the code of practice could not be certified and funded in advance. The Government could enter into an arrangement with the banks to advance the money, knowing that the Government is underwriting it. We need that level of intervention and creative, outside-of-the-box thinking to ensure the money gets where it is needed.
Every weekend, there is a report of a fire somewhere in the country. We know that from our fire services around the country. It is normal for people to go out and tend to fires. Fires occur for very simple reasons. People are living in complexes that have had an engineer’s report and are on this list. For instance, in some of them in Dublin South Central, they cannot park in the basement. They cannot store their refuse in the basement car parks that are purpose-built for this because of the potential fire hazard. People are living in multi-unit accommodations and know they are on a list of defective apartments. They cannot use the underground car park or store their refuse in the complex. They have to be out on footpaths, yet there is no sign of the money needed to carry out that remediation. The regret I have is that this is defeat plucked from the jaws of victory when it comes to the Government taking action in this regard. We need a timeline, hence I am raising this Commencement matter today.
I thank Senator Seery Kearney for providing us with an opportunity to update the Seanad on this important matter. At the outset, I would like to assure the Seanad of this Government's commitment to support homeowners and residents of many apartments and duplexes with defects. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, fully acknowledges the stress that is caused when defects arise in these buildings and, indeed, homes.
Since the receipt of the Government's approval in January of this year to draft legislation to establish supports for the remediation of defects, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has been working to progress the various programmes of work that are required to place the remediation scheme on a statutory footing. As the Senator will appreciate, it is a complex situation. There are legal, technical and financial issues and challenges involved in establishing the scheme, many of which we have surmounted already. The Department is advancing the steps to prepare the required legislation and put the remediation scheme and statutory footing as a matter of priority.
Given the complexity of issues - including the significant amount of Exchequer funding we are committing to provide to assist affected homeowners, including an element of retrospection that is likely to cost in excess of €2.5 billion - sufficient time is required to ensure that the scheme is fit for purpose and includes appropriate oversight and governance. It is expected that the draft legislation will be published next year. It is intended that subject to the legislative process the statutory scheme will be in place shortly thereafter.
The Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, has given priority to the steps that are needed to underpin the legislation but, more importantly and in advance of that, to support the introduction of interim measures that can help release funding to address immediate fire safety defects. A significant milestone was met with the publication in July of this year of the Code of Practice for the Remediation of Fire Safety Defects. Significant work went into that, because we need chief fire officers, engineers, etc., to detail what the appropriate works would be. This guidance is critical to support the development of a practical approach to resolving fire safety defects on an interim basis and to ensure a consistent approach nationwide.
That is key to the effective operation of the remediation scheme when it becomes operational. As recently as 4 September, the Minister held a public webinar, along with the Construction Defects Alliance and the Apartment Owners Network, which was attended by approximately 400 people. He has held a number of such webinars since the Government approved the establishment of the scheme.
I am pleased to inform homeowners that the interim scheme addressing essential fire safety works is being finalised. There is now a dedicated housing remediation unit in the Department with a priority focus on developing and completing this work in as expeditious a manner as possible. The Minister has stated that this work will be completed within a matter of weeks. The Housing Agency will play a key role in implementing the interim and final schemes and has appointed a senior programme manager to co-ordinate the scheme. In fact, a meeting with residents led by that senior programme manager took place just yesterday evening. Within a matter of weeks the interim scheme will be open for applications. Work has already been done on a web portal, on which residents have been updating their details of the specific defects in their estate. This has captured a lot of useful information.
The Government understands and appreciates the frustration among people whose homes have been affected. This is only natural given that serious works need to be done. I reiterate that the Government is committed to moving this scheme forward as quickly as is practicable, given the need to respect good governance and oversight when it comes to such significant amounts of taxpayers' money.
I know the Minister has held a number of online briefings. I have no doubt about his commitment and that of the Government to this matter. The Taoiseach is one of the people whose apartment was affected by it. I hear a little glimmer of hope in that the interim scheme is opening very shortly or in a matter of weeks. I hope it is not just that the announcement will take place in a matter of weeks and we will still be looking at late 2024 before there will actually be money in people's hands. When there is an emergency, we need a triage system whereby this is done and produced very quickly. I would like to know that the interim scheme will actually put money in people's pockets to deal with the necessary remediation works.
I again thank the Senator for raising this important issue and allowing me to assure the House of the Government's commitment to deal with the issue of defects in apartments and to assist homeowners who may find themselves in difficult financial circumstances. Progress is being made. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, ably assisted by the Housing Agency and the local authority sector, has been working collaboratively to design a fit-for-purpose scheme that meets the needs of homeowners while respecting the rules of good governance. This work is almost complete in regard to an interim scheme and will ensure that funds begin to flow to those who need them.
I fully appreciate that affected homeowners want a statutory remediation scheme to be established immediately. I assure the Deputy that the Government shares that ambition but it is important to remember that this scheme will be with us for a number of years. It is important that we get this right, as I am sure all Members will agree. Our goal and main objective is to help residents get their homes and lives back together. We will do that. It will be a 100% redress scheme for affected homeowners and will be delivered in a meaningful and real way very shortly.
Invasive Species Policy
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, and thank him for taking time out of his very busy schedule to deal with this issue on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Noonan.
As everybody may be aware, the mink, a member of the weasel family, is not natural to Ireland but was imported in the 1950s as part of a commercial fur production operation. Due to many escapees, and in instances where the commercial entity may not have been as successful as people thought, mink were sometimes deliberately released. They have now become a very invasive pest or species in the Irish countryside. By nature, mink is an aggressive, opportunistic and invasive predator with no natural predator of its own in the Irish landscape. Its population, therefore, is ever-growing. A mink will and can kill surplus to its food requirements.
It is known that when mink go into the hen houses of domestic fowl, they do not just kill the hens they want to eat but they will kill all ten, 15 or 20 hens, fill their bellies and then they are gone. This is common, and not just with domestic fowl. They will also target any eggs, fish within our lakes and rivers and ground-nesting birds.
We have a situation in this country with, we will say, hen harriers and various species of eagle where much land has been designated. Many people have made many sacrifices and bought into projects where their lands and properties have been devalued by designation for the hen harrier, in particular, and for numerous different species. It is, therefore, a complete contradiction if some measure is not introduced to control the mink. There is no point in land being designated and people going to the ends of the earth to try to enhance, increase and improve species of wild bird if an opportunistic invasive predator is creating an imbalance within the numbers of that species and can undo all the good by a quick kill overnight.
It is estimated at the minute that the population of wild mink in Ireland could be north of 50,000 and it is ever-spreading and ever-increasing. The National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, has responsibility for the implementation of domestic and European wildlife Acts. The programme for Government states that we will prohibit the spread of invasive species. A report is being compiled on it at the moment, but it is not happening. I would plead at this time in the interest of the fish population in many of our lakes and rivers, hares, young pheasants, water hens, curlews, corncrakes, black-headed gulls, hen harriers, snipe and all domestic fowl, all of which are rare species at the moment in Ireland. We hear conversations on a daily basis about how limited their numbers are in comparison with when we were all younger back in the day. There is no point in us making a concerted effort to try to reintroduce and protect these species if we are allowing another one to run wild and undo all that good work.
I look forward to the Minister of State's response. This is a major issue for our biodiversity in rural Ireland.
I thank Senator Daly for raising this important issue. The NPWS is responsible for the implementation of the Wildlife Acts and the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011, both of which prohibit the spreading of invasive species. In addition to this national legislation, EU Regulation No. 1143/2014 on invasive alien species also provides for a range of concerted EU-wide measures to be taken with respect to listed species of Union concern, known as the Union list. Together, these instruments make up the legislative framework for dealing with invasive alien species in Ireland.
Public bodies, Departments and agencies throughout the country work within this framework in the context of species listed both nationally and on the list of invasive alien species of Union concern to manage, control and, where practicable, eradicate these species. Responsibility for dealing with invasive alien species rests with largely with landowners. Much of the work in tackling invasive alien species happens at local level and is carried out by local authorities in their areas through their own biodiversity action plans.
There is a range of ongoing efforts by NPWS to control mink in this country. These are primarily being managed by the service's regional staff and under a number of life projects, for example, for curlew and corncrake. These efforts are focused on the protection of rare ground-nesting birds and nest protection officers are in place across the country to control and remove mink where they catch them.
Additionally, the Department's local biodiversity action fund, which offers funding to help local authorities achieve actions identified by the national biodiversity action plan, has been utilised consistently since its inception to aid in combating invasive alien species. Since 2019, 29 of 31 local authorities have availed of this funding for 85 projects with a total amount of €1,123,605 being spent.
These include projects to control such species as Japanese knotweed and the quaga mussel along with awareness and education projects on how to tackle invasive alien species. However, there is a need for greater co-ordination and coherence in the overall approach to invasive alien species. In this regard, a national invasive alien species management plan has been included in the programme for Government and has been prioritised by the Department. Co-ordinated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, this new national plan will act as an overarching framework for the implementation of policy and legislation around invasive alien species. The plan will set out actions to tackle invasive species and incorporate the range of monitoring and reporting activities already under way in accordance with the EU Regulation on Invasive Alien Species, IAS.
With specific regard to mink, funding was provided by NPWS in 2012 for a scheme administered by the National Association of Regional Game Councils, NARGC, for a bounty on mink as part of a wider effort to protect ground nesting birds in western counties. I understand that this scheme ran for three years until 2015, non-deterioration and is no longer in operation. As with any scheme that might be supported by grant aid its renewal and expansion would need to be discussed with the relevant parties and decisions taken in the context of the overall NPWS budget, priorities and work programmes.
I thank the Minister of State for his response. The kernel of the response was on what was in place before and has expired, and that was the bounty scheme. With the greatest respect to the NPWS and its implementation of the invasive species Acts, identifying areas, sometimes very small areas, where there may be a rare species and concentrating on that, does not or will not work. Mink can travel up to 30 km in a night or two. It needs to a national effort. I implore the Minister of State to go back to the Department and request that the bounty scheme be reintroduced. It worked in the areas where it was piloted. It needs to be monitored and controlled and only be available to licensed gun and hunting clubs. There needs to be terms and conditions therein but it needs to be on a national basis. The mink do not recognise boundaries or borders and will travel for food and for the kill. It, therefore, needs to be nationwide. We need to control this or we will be back here again, by which time the number will be north of 100,000 mink. If you corner a mink, he will face you. They do not back off. They have been known to kill very large animals and injure sick cows. They go for the jugular. It could become an even bigger issue, but it is a big issue at the moment. In the interests of biodiversity, where we are concentrating so much on the maintenance and rebuilding of our national biodiversity, it is a contradiction that we allow an invasive species to undo much of the good work that has been done.
Invasive alien species are acknowledged as one of the five main drivers of biodiversity loss globally. It is vital that we continue to mobilise resources across sectors to tackle these species. While eradication of species is not always possible it is important that work is undertaken to manage and control invasive alien species is co-ordinated and effective to mitigate the threat posed to biodiversity. It will operate on a national scale with the involvement and co-operation of key stakeholders at local level will continue to be crucial for successful implementation. The plan will provide a useful shape and focus to the range of good work already being undertaken by NPWS and other Departments as well as by local authorities and stakeholders throughout the country. We hope to be in a position to provide positive updates on the development of the plan in the coming months as it moves closer to the public consultation phase.
For our sixth Commencement matter, we welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, and thank the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, for his engagement over the last five debates.
Sport and Recreational Development
Last Sunday was an amazing day for Irish football with a record attendance of 44,000 people at the FAI cup final in the Aviva.
Again, however, what was a momentous day for Irish football was overshadowed by events going on off the field. As the chief soccer reporter of the Irish Independent, Daniel McDonnell, put it yesterday, there are good people in the FAI who are being failed by their inability to present a coherent message of progress without some other wing of the organisation, be it the executive or the Luddite wing of the general assembly, blundering. The Minister of State has rightly said that there will be no discussion of an extension of State support to the FAI to 2026 until the matter that has erupted over payments to the CEO, Jonathan Hill, totalling €20,000 are resolved. The FAI, for its part, has stated that the CEO is not to blame for these overpayments and that it is, rather, a technical financial interpretation.
There is another institution of this country that was mired in controversy this summer because of one man's interpretation of technical financial arrangements. That controversy nearly sank RTÉ and it needed a €40 million bailout today. The last time there was a technical financial arrangement between the FAI with the CEO, he was loaning his employer a €100,000 bridging loan, and the resulting controversy nearly sank the organisation. Again, the State needed to bail out the FAI. This cannot be another exercise of sweeping it under the carpet.
I would like to know what the technical explanation is that the FAI is referring to, and whether it has offered that technical explanation to the Minister of State. Is that audit report going to be presented to the Minister of State? It is a report that Packie Bonner, a board member, is also looking for. I would also like to know why eminent board members, such as Packie Bonner, were not aware of the suspension of State funding to the organisation. Is it, as has been described in the papers over the weekend, a case of a board operating within a board? That is not what was envisaged when the memorandum of understanding, MOU, bailed out the FAI. Third, why are ordinary members and employees of the FAI being told by their employer that when it comes to holiday leave, they have to use it or lose it and they cannot carry it over to next year, when their CEO is receiving cash payments in lieu of holidays? Last night, SIPTU issued a very angry and strongly-worded statement about that carry-on. Will Sport Ireland, in its board meeting today, be probing - and I mean really probing - and seeking assurances that the FAI now has its house in order?
We cannot have a return to the days detailed in the book Champagne Football. The reason that there was controversy in the FAI back in 2019 was because the auditors, Deloitte, stated that the FAI did not keep proper accounting records. Now, we are back getting statements about technical financial arrangements. I have not even had a change to touch on the gender quota issues for the board, its failure in that respect and where that sits in terms of the Minister of State's Department making sure that State funding will be provided because of the board's failure to comply.
I have two main questions. What scrutiny is going to be applied to the FAI, given these failures? What timeline does the Minister of State envisage for the restoration of funding by the State to the FAI, given its importance to grassroots football in particular, to ensure that it gets its house in order?
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir Cassells agus leis na Seanadóiri uile as ucht an deis seo labhairt leo faoi infheistíocht an Stáit sa sacar. At the outset, I assure Senators that the Government recognises the importance of investment in football as one of the key participation sports in Ireland. There has been a sustained commitment in that regard by Government, particularly so in recent years when, as Senators will recall, a significant financial support package was put in place which ensured that the FAI remained solvent, allowing it to continue to function as the national governing body for football and to rebuild after the financial mismanagement and subsequent implosion of the association just a few short years ago. It is important to outline the funding that we have provided.
The support package provided for the restoration and doubling of funding for football development to €5.8 million each year from 2020 to 2023, which significantly more than is provided for any other sport national governing body.
Additionally, and this point is often forgotten, €7.6 million was provided between 2020 and 2022 towards the FAI's licence fee for the Aviva Stadium.
In total, between the support package, Covid support funding, energy support funding, women in sport funding and other programme funding, approximately €62 million was provided by the Government between 2019 and 2022. That does not include, for example, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which provided nearly €32 million to the regeneration of Tallaght, a substantial proportion of which is in respect of the Tallaght Stadium. It does not include money that has been granted to Finn Harps, for example, or for the design of Dalymount Park. That is a very significant level of Government investment in one sporting organisation.
There have been a number of news stories regarding the FAI in the past few days and I would like to address them. First, on a positive note, as Senator Cassells mentioned, there was a wonderful occasion on Sunday, in the Aviva Stadium, when St. Patrick's Athletic beat Bohemians in the FAI Cup Final. A record attendance of over 43,000 people ensured there was a wonderful atmosphere at a fitting occasion for a showpiece final. I was representing the Government in Belfast at the Armistice Day commemoration and, unfortunately, could not attend the cup final. I understand this was the ninth highest attendance for a cup final in Europe this year. This shows the potential of the League of Ireland. As someone who has gone to League of Ireland games as a committed Drogheda United fan all my life, I am delighted to see the growth in League of Ireland attendances and want to continue to see the league flourish.
There were two other stories in the headlines recently. The first was in relation to the salary of the FAI CEO. As I mentioned, the memorandum of understanding agreed in January 2020 between the then Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and the FAI provided for additional funding to support the organisation and football development to the end of this year, and I have set that out. In addition, the MOU set out a comprehensive range of reform measures, 163 in all, which the FAI was to implement and embed in the organisation over the lifetime of the MOU. Sport Ireland is tasked with monitoring the implementation of those recommendations.
As part of the recommendations, the MOU requires a firm commitment that the remuneration of the CEO will be in line with Government pay guidelines. This means it should be no greater than the remuneration of officers in the grade of Secretary General. That is identified as MOU 35. Earlier this year, Sport Ireland asked a company, KOSI, to conduct an audit to consider whether this condition was embedded within the FAI in 2022. The primary finding of the KOSI audit is that this condition was not embedded in the FAI in 2022. The audit report was sent to my Department last month and was subsequently reviewed and considered by me, the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, and our officials.
We fully agreed with the finding of the audit that the FAI was not in compliance with this aspect of the MOU and set out that we fully expected the FAI to become compliant with the recommendations set out in the audit report by KOSI. Sport Ireland is actively engaging with the FAI in relation to this matter and we understand the FAI has recently written to Sport Ireland to confirm its intention to achieve compliance.
Any decisions with regard to amending or extending the MOU or the provision of additional funding for 2024 or future years, similar to that provided under the current MOU, cannot be progressed in the absence of confirmation from the FAI and verification by Sport Ireland that the recommendations have been implemented.
In relation to other commitments under the MOU, the FAI has generally made very good progress on the reforms required. The Sport Ireland oversight group has formally endorsed the status of the FAI's implementation of 155 of the 163 items from the governance review group report, the KOSI audit and the commitments in the MOU. This represents an implementation rate of 95%. I have also asked Sport Ireland to prepare a full report on the FAI's compliance with the MOU, including in relation to the CEO's salary. We will publish that report in the coming period.
The second issue I would like to address is the vote taken by the FAI last week in relation to gender equality. The current sports action plan 2021 to 2023 sets out a specific target for all national governing bodies, NGBs, to achieve a minimum 40% gender representation balance on their boards by the end of the year. This applies to every NGB. I note the vote taken by the FAI. I understand there is still time for it to take the appropriate steps before the AGM next month to ensure it has met the target. I encourage the FAI and other NGBs which have not done so yet to do so.
I remind people that in the case of the FAI, there is a requirement in the MOU of a 50-50 split in respect of independent and football directors and that 50-50 split is required regardless of the number of directors on the board overall.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply and the work he is doing. I agree with him in that I too hope the FAI takes the appropriate steps before its AGM in respect of making sure it reaches the gender quotas for the board. I also welcome the audit that Sport Ireland undertook to make sure it had the checks and balances in place to uncover these payments and I welcome that the Minister of State has commissioned a report. When does he expect the report on these payments that he sought from Sport Ireland to be on his desk?
As the Minister of State set out, more than €62 million in Government support has been provided to the FAI over the past three or four years. Five months ago, however, the FAI put another document on the Minister of State's desk in which it sought €500 million in capital structural support for grants around the country. FAI representatives were due before the Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media next Wednesday to discuss those plans but, surprisingly, they decided they are not and cannot attend. Perhaps we would have been discussing something else. Given the amount of money being sought by this sports organisation, which does such immense good work for many people throughout the country, it will be important that when it seeks half a billion euro in Government support, the checks and balances we sought following the previous controversy four years ago have been put to bed and we have confidence that taxpayers' money going into this sport is properly used.
It is clear that we want to support football. We made a special effort to reach out to football clubs and get them to apply for sports capital grants. I did that and I know the Senator did so locally as well. I wanted to do this because I want to see clubs benefit from the fund. We will do the same when we open the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF, which is very important.
I have made clear that if the 40% target is not met, there will be serious consequences. That is something on which the FAI and a number of other sports organisations need to reflect. We have made significant progress on that requirement, with 39% of directors now female. Given that it should be 40%, we are almost there. In fairness to the GAA, it has made the administrative change. It has not yet implemented it but it is on the way. The Irish Athletic Boxing Association had scheduled a meeting for last weekend, which did not go ahead but will take place this weekend. I strongly encourage it to do so as well.
What will happen, unfortunately, is that when we announce sports equipment grants, hopefully in the new year, any national governing body that does not have 40% gender balance will only be awarded 50% of the grant. Probably a more accurate way of putting it is that it will be able to draw down only 50% of what it has been awarded.
We want football to succeed. There has been massive investment in the sport, with significant investment, for example, in Tallaght Stadium, which should be acknowledged, and in Finn Harps. The latter was a difficult project which we have pushed over the line. We are waiting on the FAI to get back to us on the issue but we want to see it go ahead. A number of other projects have come to us outlining general plans for the future.
I visited a number of football clubs recently. I have been with Drogheda United and Sligo Rovers and I have an invitation to meet Shamrock Rovers, which I will be more than happy to do. I visited Shelbourne in Tolka Park as well. These are places I have been long before I was ever in politics. I am familiar with this issue as a supporter of the FAI and the sport. To be honest, like Senator Cassells, I spend every weekend at sports games, between soccer and football. I can certainly be described as a grassroots supporter.
We want to make sure the FAI gets everything right, and it has got most things right. If it does that, funding can continue. I look forward to discussions in the coming months.
Regarding the report, I apologise to the Cathaoirleach but there is a very important point to make on the MOU. When this issue came to my desk, I realised it would be a matter of considerable public controversy. For this reason, I decided the best thing to do would be to get a report on overall compliance with the MOU. It is absolutely essential we publish that. This was a public issue when it first arose and it still is. To be fair to everybody, we should see progress but also the work that still has to be done. The oversight in this case, as the Senator mentioned, appears to have been very effective. I thank my colleagues in Sport Ireland and the officials in the Department in that regard.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 2.10 p.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 2.32 p.m.
Sitting suspended at 2.10 p.m and resumed at 2.32 p.m.