I welcome back the former Cathaoirleach and now Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer. He is most welcome to Seanad Éireann and I thank him for being here today. I call Senator Duffy on the first of our Commencement matters today.
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Road Projects
I welcome the Minister of State back to the Seanad and thank him for making the time to discuss this issue with me.
Investment in road infrastructure in the areas I represent in Mayo has been underwhelming, to say the least. For the past three decades, we have been campaigning and advocating for investment for the upgrade of the N26. It is an incredibly busy roadway with thousands of motorists commuting on it every day, but it has had little or no investment over three decades. It is the gateway to the north west and connects Ballina to Foxford, on to Swinford and into the main arteries connecting to Dublin. It is one of the last remaining roadways in the country that has such a volume of traffic but has not received any investment. I ask the Minister of State to prioritise this matter and communicate with his departmental officials the imperative need for this road to be upgraded to a national standard for the sake of safety alone. The large number of HGVs, cars and buses that use this route every day are constantly in jeopardy because of the poor condition of the road. Similarly, the N58 connecting Foxford to Bellavary, which is the spine that interlinks the north and south of County Mayo, is in desperate condition and requires investment.
On a more local level, when I was sitting as a councillor in Mayo County Council three or four years ago, the local transport plans were rolled out. These were identified as the silver bullet to sort all improvements at a local level in communities and neighbourhoods in large towns. In Mayo, we had Westport, Castlebar and Ballina creating local transport plans. We were told these plans would be the bibles from which engineers would cherry-pick projects and deliver them. We have seen zero delivery on any of the projects identified under the local transport plans. Consultants have been paid and overpaid for their work and we still do not have projects.
A good example of expertise and consultant work regarding active and sustainable travel is the safe routes to school initiative. We have brilliant proposals under this model that would improve safety and connectivity for students and teachers travelling to and from school. Unfortunately, investment from the Department in these projects has been paltry, to say the least. This model for safe routes to school is supposed to be all encompassing and transformative in one go, not itty-bitty investments to keep people quiet. I ask the Minister of State that, when we invest in safe routes to school, we prioritise transformational projects that address a full school route and area in totality, not just as itty-bitty projects.
Last night and as we speak, traders and shopkeepers from the Ballina community have been meeting and continue to advocate and campaign for improvements in connectivity, the dire need for investment in an orbital route and improvements and changes to traffic flows within the town. The engineers on the ground need to move quickly but the TII needs to empower local decision-makers, councillors and the local community to allow us to act to improve the desperate traffic situation that plagues towns like Ballina and others in County Mayo with similar settings.
We need to work with the people on the ground and we need to address these issues.
Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. Thank you for your welcome. I thank Senator Duffy. As Minister of State, it is great to be here in Seanad Éireann, my second home, and thank you for the welcome.
I am taking the Commencement matter for Senator Duffy on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. I thank the Senator for raising the important matter of the upgrades of the N26 and N58 in Mayo. In total, approximately €411 million of Exchequer capital funding was provided for national roads through Transport Infrastructure Ireland to local authorities in 2024. That included approximately €23 million for national roads in Mayo. National road allocations for 2025 will be announced in the coming months.
I confirm that the N26 Foxford to Mount Falcon project received approval to progress the scheme to route option selection in July 2023. Following on from this, Mayo County Council prepared and tendered a brief for the provision of technical adviser services. The technical advisers were appointed in February 2024. A virtual public consultation was held between 13 November and 2 December 2024 to aid in the development of options. Work is continuing on the selection of assessment of potential options with an anticipated selection of a preferred route in late 2025. I agree with Senator Duffy regarding the N26 being the gateway to the north west. The Senator makes a good point on the importance of that route, the N26. It is important that we upgrade it to national standard and I thank the Senator for raising that matter.
The N58 Foxford transport project received scope and strategic assessment approval in March 2024. Following on from this, Mayo County Council prepared and tendered a brief for the provision of technical adviser services to carry out phases 1 to 4 of the TII project management guidelines. Tenders were returned in late 2024. Subject to the available funding, it is hoped to award the technical adviser contract and proceed with a feasibility study.
The current national framework for road safety is set out in the Government’s fifth Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030. In 2024, 18 people died on our roads in County Mayo. That is 18 too many, and an increase of seven on 2023. This year, to date, 24 people have died on our roads nationally. Two of these deaths have occurred in County Mayo. Every fatality is one too many, as I have said, which has an effect on families and communities.
The Senator raised the issue of connectivity and the meeting in Ballina last night and it is important we get that balance right.
As Members will be aware, a reduction in the speed limit for local, regional and rural roads came into effect on 7 February, reducing the default speed limits from 80 km/h to 60 km/h. TII and An Garda Síochána agreed the new locations for the roll-out of average speed camera zones will commence. One of these locations is on the N5 in Swinford, County Mayo. In addition, one new static safety camera, one of 12, was installed on the N17 at Claremorris.
Senator Duffy raised the issue of schools. The Safe Routes to School Programme was launched in March 2021 with the aim of supporting walking, scooting and cycling to primary and post-primary schools, and creating safer walking and cycling routes within communities, through the provision of infrastructure interventions. It is important that we continue collectively to alleviate congestion at school gates, with over €290 million being expended nationally by the Department of Transport for active travel measures and with €3 million being allocated to the county of Mayo.
It is important that we understand there is a need for a greater working relationship with local authorities and the Senator mentioned that in his contribution. I concur with the Senator regarding the local transport plans and working with each local authority. The regional spatial and economic strategy for the northern and western region sets out that the Northern and Western Regional Assembly will support the collaborative preparation of local transport plans. This work will be led by the local authorities in conjunction with the NTA and other stakeholders to prepare local transport plans for selected settlements, including Ballina and Castlebar. Furthermore, the NTA, in conjunction with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, has developed an advice note which sets out a methodology on how to assess the opportunities and constraints for sustainable transport within an area. This area-based transport assessment methodology has been designed as a key input into local transport plans.
I thank the Senator for raising the matter and congratulate him on his election to Seanad Éireann.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I welcome the commitments for funding and prioritisation of the investment in both the N26 and N58. They need to be prioritised and kept on the table and we need a whole-of-Government approach to make sure that these are delivered as soon as possible.
More specifically, in respect of the local transport plan for Ballina, we need to see action, not bureaucracy and not consultant after consultant. Simple things, such as traffic lights needing to be replaced, took years to be delivered, causing frustration and backlogs within the town. Simple things, such as changing traffic flows and changing flows around the two bridges in the town and improvement in investment in infrastructure in orbital routes to improve congestion, need to be given proper attention and proper investment locally.
The €3 million investment in County Mayo is paltry compared with the €290 million invested across the country. The €3 million for Mayo is not enough. It is not good enough and needs to be improved drastically. We need transformative projects, transformative safe routes to school investment, so that each child, each student and each teacher who goes to school has a safe route and a safe corridor to connect him or her safely, not small measures to keep people quiet.
We need action and delivery in an ambitious way. I ask that the Minister of State prioritise this and make sure that we have action on these issues.
I thank Senator Duffy. He is right. Action is needed in terms of the simple asks such as changing traffic lights, traffic flow, orbital routes and easing congestion. It is not a mammoth ask and it should be done with ease.
With regard to new national road projects, there was a funding constraint in 2024 as the bulk of the €5.1 billion allocated for new roads becomes available in the second half of the decade. I hope we will see an exponential increase in spending. However, a number of new road projects listed in the NDP have already been completed. As the Senator knows quite well, these are the upgraded N5 Westport to Turlough project and the N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge project which is under construction and will greatly improve accessibility for people in Mayo.
Protection and renewal of existing national roads is a priority for the Government. The majority of funding allocated for Mayo in 2024 was utilised for this purpose. This funding is used for junction improvements, pavement renewal, road safety improvements, maintenance of structures such as bridges and the progression of minor improvement projects. In addition, in line with the NDP and Government policy, the TII will allocate national road funding for 2025 in a manner which seeks to achieve a number of outcomes, namely, protection and renewal of the existing national road network, progressing major projects which are near construction and progressing major projects which are at an earlier stage of the development pipeline. As I said, the allocation of funding is due in the coming weeks.
The Government, including me, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, is committed to road safety and to the target set out in the road safety strategy. Yesterday, we appointed a new chairperson of the RSA, Ms Anne Graham. We will see a new revamped RSA in the coming weeks and months. We are committed to achieving Vision Zero.
I will work with the Senator and with all Members of the House to ensure implementation of that the Safe Route to Schools Programme, which is important for rural Ireland and which comes under my area in the Department of Rural and Community Development in the context of rural transport, so that students, teachers and parents can access school in safety across County Mayo.
Departmental Bodies
I thank the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, for coming to the House. The Minister of State will stay with us for the next four Commencement matters.
I thank the Minister of State and congratulate him on his appointment. We are familiar with each other. We worked well in agriculture for a number of years. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. At 4 p.m. yesterday evening, I received a letter from the Department stating that, unfortunately, none of the Ministers from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage were available to take my Commencement matter today but the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, had kindly agreed to take a response. The Minister of State is welcome and I thank him, but I want to put a marker down here as we start in the Seanad again. As we rarely get an opportunity to engage with a Minister, these Commencement matters are critically important to our constructive parliamentary dialogue. If the Department is listening in, I ask it to make some effort to have a Minister from the Department come in.
I am going to set out a few concerns about Tailte Éireann and I do not really expect the Minister of State to know the finer detail of what I might say. Indeed, I did not know yesterday what I was going to say and hence an hour ago I changed my contribution. For any Minister or Minister of State to come here and be expected to read some sort of anticipated response is irrelevant and a disservice to the Department, the Minister or Minister of State and the elected Member. I hope that point will be taken on board.
The Minister of State will be very familiar with Tailte Éireann. It is the State agency responsible for property registration, property valuation and the national mapping service. It was established on 1 March 2023 and I was centrally involved in the pre-legislative scrutiny of all those matters as part of the Oireachtas joint committee on housing and local government. We dealt with this, which is a critical issue. Tailte Éireann was formed from the merger of the Property Registration Authority, the Valuation Office and the Ordnance Survey of Ireland. It is critical in the context of the registration of farmland and commercial properties. We can speak of government policy and the Town Centre First approach. I was in Waterford yesterday and heard stories about how nobody could find out who owned properties the local authority was involved with. It affects farmland, farm buildings and commercial properties and we must have a co-ordinated response with respect to the work of Tailte Éireann. An article published in Saturday's The Irish Times raised a number of concerns about the body. I will reference some of them. The article states:
... Tailte Éireann, [has] been the source of "growing frustration" for solicitors involved in conveyancing and their clients, a Law Society committee has said.
Despite meetings between the registry and the conveyancing committee of the solicitors’ representative body, there "has only been limited progress" in having criticisms addressed, the committee has said.
The committee has been "forthright" in bringing to the attention of the land registration body the difficulties the changes are creating, but there is still a wide gulf between the two parties ...
That needs to be addressed.
There are critical changes required and I will touch on some of them. We need an immediate root and branch review of Tailte Éireann. That is my ask today. What is the issue? Does the body have sufficient resources? Has it the capability and skills with respect to IT resources and training? Has it initiated, engaged or spent great amounts on an IT system that is not fully operational? These are very pertinent questions in these days when we are talking about accountability, transparency and value for money. We need confidence in Tailte Éireann's capacity to provide an authoritative land and property database in a timely manner. It is not happening. Has it developed the appropriate and enhanced database systems required for this task? We want efficiency in relation to digital first and we want to look at the Tailte Éireann board's statement of strategy. Is it being implemented? Has the board the confidence in Tailte Éireann to do its job? There are the issues around local government and the Town Centre First approach.
In essence, I have no confidence in Tailte Éireann and many people do not either. Many solicitors are telling me clients are coming in and threatening to complain about them because of things clients feel they are not doing for them when in effect the buck stops with Tailte Éireann because of the way it is not dealing with issues in a timely manner. There are farm sales falling because of inefficiencies in Tailte Éireann. There are pubs and commercial buildings in Ireland falling because of Tailte Éireann. It is about the timely delivery of its mandate. This needs to change. I am asking for a review and am interested to hear what the Minister of State has to say.
I thank the Senator for raising this. I congratulate him on his re-election and on a very fine vote. I congratulate Senator Joe Conway as well and welcome him to the Seanad. I congratulate Senator Maria Byrne on her re-election and of course also congratulate the Cathaoirleach on his election to the Chair, which is a great honour. He has my best wishes for his term of office.
On the Commencement matter Senator Boyhan has raised, I will certainly relay his opening comments on his understandable preference to have a Minister or Minister of State from the Department here. Tailte Éireann is an independent government agency under the aegis of the Department of Housing. Local Government and Heritage, as the Senator knows. As he outlined, it provides a property registration system as well as a property valuation service and also national mapping and surveying infrastructure for the State. Under section 8(6) of the Tailte Éireann Act 2022, which the Senator was involved in the pre-legislative scrutiny of, Tailte Éireann is independent in the performance of its functions. As such, the Minister does not have a role in the operational matters relating to its function. However, it is important we see it carrying out its functions in a very efficient manner and serving well the purpose for which it was set up under law by the State and which it is funded by the State to serve as well.
The continued increase in applications received for registration by Tailte Éireann year on year and challenges in recruitment for some time now have unfortunately contributed to an accumulation of applications for registration. To address this, Tailte Éireann has embarked on a targeted recruitment campaign where a significant number of new staff have are now being onboarded who, when fully trained, will allow Tailte Éireann to reduce waiting times for registration services. Tailte Éireann has advised me improvements have been made to date in throughput times, especially for cases that do not require mapping. The Department is confident that as the full complement of staff is successfully onboarded it will be in a position to reduce waiting times across all application types.
Outside recruitment, every effort is being made by Tailte Éireann to reduce application processing times, including implementation of the efficiency driving measures. These include revised procedures for more efficient handling of the large volume of applications that are lodged that are not in order to proceed to registration, a targeted approach to reduce the age profile of applications pending registration, revised internal processes aimed at reducing the volume of applications on hand which are not in order to proceed and remain under query and also an organisation-wide focus on reducing processing times with business process improvements now implemented across the organisation. Tailte Éireann also continues to promote its digital services and uptake of e-registration services where paperless application types are available to legal practitioners and financial institutions which will help to reduce processing times for all service users. It is understood from Tailte Éireann that where an application is lodged fully in order for registration the application will be registered without any long delay. Applications involving transfer of registered land where no change to the registry map is required are in the main processed within 15 working days. Processing times for transfers that require a change to the map and those requiring first registration of property are improving. Lodging parties may of course contact Tailte Éireann about specific cases at its email address, info@tailte.ie. Further information on specific cases is available and obtainable by Oireachtas Members by contacting the dedicated email address in respect of the body, namely, oireachtas@tailte.ie.
I thank the Minister of State for the overview he gave. In summary, it is not working. Tailte Éireann is not delivering. People who want to do property transactions, whether for agricultural land, farms, pubs and commercial buildings, are having difficulties with Tailte Éirean and so are local authorities. It is simply not fit for purpose at this time. There is talk of a recruitment drive but this is after the body has been established. It acknowledges it needs a recruitment drive and training. We need to look at its IT systems. I am putting down a marker that this very day I am going to draft a number of parliamentary questions and submit them to colleagues in the Dáil I work closely with. Every week for the next five weeks there are going to be parliamentary questions put through Dáíl Éireann to draw out what the issues of concern are within this organisation.
I will finish by returning to the article, which stated "[Tailte Éireann] has told the solicitors' committee [of the Law Society] it is not an 'advisory body', cannot devote resources to checking every application for errors and intends to devote available staff to processing applications that are in order, according to the committee update". Quite frankly, Tailte Éireann has a responsibility to do more than that. If there are failings in the legislation we put through these Houses we need to look at that again. I am sending out a clear message it is not fit for purpose. I will today draft a number of parliamentary questions to submit to my colleagues in Dáil Éireann and I am going to keep on this case because Tailte Éireann is not doing what it should be doing.
I thank the Senator. As I outlined earlier, there had been an increase in applications received for registration by Tailte Éireann year on year. In combination with the challenges in recruitment that have existed for some time, this has unfortunately contributed to an accumulation of applications for registration. I outlined in my initial response the steps Tailte Éireann has taken on recruitment and also the business steps they have taken to reduce application processing times, including trying to make the system more efficient.
I thank the Senator for raising this. I think we all agree it is important this service is provided in a timely fashion and done in a way that serves the public well. I will ensure the Department of housing is fully updated on the engagement here and continues to engage with Tailte Éireann on the issues the Senator has raised with the objective of ensuring the public is well-served by the service Tailte Éireann is tasked with providing under legislation.
Rental Sector
I thank the Minister of State for coming to answer my question. I know he is not directly involved in the Department so I thank him for taking it on behalf of the Department.
My question relates to the tenant in situ scheme and the continuation of this worthwhile programme. It has worked in many cases; however, I sat in two houses during the week in which people had received notification that they had to go because the landlord was selling the property. I have also sat in houses in which the landlord was successful, the local authority bought it and people had stability in terms of their tenure and home conditions. Many local authorities are waiting to hear on the sign-off of the scheme, waiting to hear whether the scheme is continuing and waiting for funding. Many apartments are sale agreed but the money has not been approved or the local authority has not received notification of the amount of money it will get. I am looking for an update on it.
I thank the Senator for raising this. Under Housing for All, the Government has outlined a commitment to delivering 47,600 new-build social homes and 3,500 social homes through long-term leasing in the period from 2022 to the end of next year. Our clear focus as a Government is to increase the stock of social housing through new-build projects delivered by local authorities and approved housing bodies, AHBs. Under Housing for All, there is provision for 200 social housing acquisitions each year. In 2023, following a lifting of the temporary eviction ban and a reported uplift of sales of homes in the housing assistance payment, HAP, and rental accommodation scheme, RAS, the Government introduced, as a temporary measure at that stage, the tenant in situ acquisition scheme in order to mitigate the risk of homelessness arising for tenants being supported by HAP or RAS.
A key objective of the programme is to prevent potential homelessness where other solutions cannot be found for affected tenants. It is a matter for local authorities to assess the circumstances of each case and decide the appropriate action. All available options should be considered in order to prevent homelessness, up to and including acquisition. These options include securing the continuation of the tenancy with the landlord, securing alternative accommodation through the HAP place finder, allocating another RAS property to the tenant, or allocating a social housing tenancy, including voids, untenanted properties or properties available through an AHB. There were 1,500 acquisitions approved for 2023. The programme was extended by the Government into 2024 with a further 1,500 acquisitions, of which 1,300 were tenant in situ acquisitions. Over 1,800 homes were acquired by local authorities and AHBs in 2023. While final figures for 2024 are not yet collated, it is expected that 1,500 acquisitions will have been completed.
The programme for Government commits to continuing the tenant in situ scheme. Pending a Government decision on the 2025 programme, local authorities are asked to continue to take appropriate steps to ensure their first response is through local tenancy sustainment structures in order to support households and prevent homelessness in cases where tenants have been served a notice of termination by their landlord. A decision on the tenant in situ programme for 2025 is expected to be made by the Government shortly and it will be notified immediately thereafter to local authorities.
I welcome the fact the Government is committed to continuing the tenant in situ programme but a number of people have to be out of their home in mid-March. At the moment, the local authority is telling them it does not know if it can purchase it because it does not have the funding. If the Minister of State can bring back one key message, it is that the Department needs to decide as quickly as possible how much money it will give to each local authority. There is a huge fear factor out there. I spoke to one lady who has been 26 years in the same house. They have been given the notice and they are so upset. They are in their 60s. They are saying they cannot get a mortgage and asking where they will find somewhere to rent. It is an important issue. If the Minister of State could get that message back, I would appreciate it.
I will certainly feed that back to the Department of housing. It is important we have a decision on this promptly so there is clarity for local authorities. It is the intention of the Minister, Deputy Browne, to ensure there is a Government decision on it. There is a commitment in the new programme for Government to continue the scheme. There were many acquisitions in 2023 and 2024. We now need to see the detail of the programme for 2025. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has engaged extensively with local authorities on the current position through individual engagements and also in plenary discussions with the CCMA housing committee and executive. A decision on the tenant in situ programme for this year is expected to be made by the Government shortly. It is important that this happens. I will relay to the Department all the Senator's feedback on it and her call for certainty as quickly as possible.
Disability Services
I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, on his appointment and wish him the very best of luck in the role. I have no doubt we will have plenty of engagement over the coming term.
I submitted this Commencement matter on foot of a constituent contacting me in the New Ross town area to advise me of the difficulties they were having in getting access to speech and language therapy for their child. I was advised by the HSE in response to representations I made that at present all three of the allocated speech and language therapy posts are vacant. The HSE has allocated one senior staff speech and language therapist and two staff-grade speech and language therapists. At the moment, a boy or girl in New Ross town or the wider New Ross area does not have access to a designated speech and language therapist in his or her own area. It is important to highlight this issue. It is completely unacceptable.
I understand there are recruitment challenges across the HSE regarding speech and language therapists but we have to put in place a mechanism to allow for situations where the designated posts available in a town for speech and language therapy are not filled. There has to be a contingency plan put in place. Everybody understands it can be difficult to get staff but there has to be a plan B. Maybe it is that children whose designated speech and language therapists are not available are allocated to a neighbouring area, or perhaps there is something similar to the private treatment purchase fund whereby the parents can take their children to a private speech and language therapist and it is covered by the State.
This is a failing. Everybody knows that early intervention is crucial in the area of speech and language therapy. They need access. If you have had an assessment of need and the report says you need speech and language therapy, early intervention is crucial. Unfortunately, as time passes, the needs of the children increase. Unless there are targeted measures in the New Ross area, this situation will continue. I ask for greater clarity. Will the Minister of State raise with his officials the urgent need for a contingency plan so boys and girls in the New Ross area have a mechanism to access speech and language therapy?
I thank Senator Byrne. Congratulations to him on his election and indeed to Senator Brady beside him. It is a great honour to be elected to the Seanad.
Both Senators, and Senator Higgins, know better than anyone it is a very difficult election so congratulations to all and best wishes for the term ahead.
I thank Senator Byrne for raising this matter. It is important to state the Government and Minister of State for disabilities, Deputy Naughton, are fully committed to providing the necessary services to enable any child with a disability to reach his or her full potential. Both the Government and the HSE are committed to further progressing and enhancing children's disability services in the State. As the Senator will be aware, one senior speech and language therapist, SLT, post and two staff grade SLT posts have been allocated to the children’s disability network team, CDNT, area in New Ross. Regrettably, the senior SLT post and one staff grade SLT post are currently vacant, while the staff member in the filled staff grade SLT post is currently on statutory leave.
There are ongoing efforts by the CDNT to recruit into these posts with the senior SLT post recently being accepted and currently in the HR pre-clearance process. Unfortunately, however, no expressions of interest have yet been received for either of the vacant staff grade SLT posts. As an interim measure the CDNT is currently providing cross-cover SLT services for the purpose of providing urgent feeding, eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties support. Universal supports are also available to children in the CDNT such as a workshop on supporting your child's feeding, and sensory pathway and understanding autism supports.
I acknowledge the difficulties faced by children and their families seeking to access the services of CDNTs, in New Ross and across the country. The continued development and support of our 93 CDNTs as they seek to ensure equitable access to services for all children with complex needs is a priority for the Government. The Government is committed to addressing the underlying recruitment and retention issues to fully staff each team to maximum capacity. These challenges are reflective of the issues affecting the wider health and social care sector.
The HSE national recruitment service continues to explore a range of options to enhance the recruitment and retention of staff to CDNTs. To optimise recruitment into funded agencies, the HSE is facilitating direct access for funded agencies to existing HSE health and social care professionals, HSCP, panels which will shorten the recruitment process and will provide direct access to competent and eligible candidates. Officials will work with the HSE to seek to introduce specific recruitment and retention incentives for therapists to work in CDNTs, along with a CDNT sponsorship programme with bursaries for fourth year and postgraduate students linked to acceptance of conditional job offers. In addition, placements on CDNTs will continue to be expanded alongside a continued expansion in the number of places in higher education to increase the pipeline of future therapists. Measures will also be provided to assist with sustainably addressing the assessment of need backlog while freeing up resources available to provide therapeutic supports to children with complex needs. In addition, some bespoke initiatives designed to provide specialist supports for children with complex needs will be supported.
While recruitment and retention of staff to CDNTs remains a considerable challenge, I affirm Government’s commitment as well as that of the HSE to exploring all avenues to improve access to CDNTs for children and their families in New Ross and across the country.
I thank the Minister of State for his response. I very much welcome the fact the senior SLT post has been offered and is going through the pre-clearance checks at the moment. I wish whoever takes up that position the very best of luck in the role. I ask the Minister of State to bring back to the Government the fact the two other posts are currently vacant. While I appreciate the efforts being made in the recruitment to speech and language posts both in New Ross and across the country and the commitment to deliver that, I ask for it to be treated as an urgent priority. As I said earlier, early intervention is crucial when it comes to speech and language and the reality is that, today, the three posts are vacant. I very much welcome the fact the senior post will be filled.
I again thank Senator Byrne. I assure him that, as I have outlined, the Government will continue to work with the HSE to take every step possible to try to ensure the posts are filled. It is not an issue of will or funding; the funding, the desire and the commitment are there. There has not been an expression of interest so far for a couple of those posts I outlined. We want to see the posts filled. It is a particular issue in New Ross. It is also an issue in many other parts of the country, including my own. To address that, we need to see a much stronger pipeline, so steps are being taken with the regard to training and those coming through and qualifying because that is crucial to ensure all of these positions are filled. The Senator is absolutely right that early intervention is crucial. None of us, particularly parents, want to see a child not get the speech and language support whenever they need it. Collectively, we all have to press to try to make progress as quickly as we can. I thank the Senator for raising this matter on behalf of his local CDNT, of parents and of children in his area of New Ross. Following this morning's Commencement matter, I will certainly relay to the Department the points he made and the priority needed to backfill those posts.
EU Directives
I hope the Minister of State will speak to us about a matter of great urgency. My Commencement matter concerns what steps Ireland is taking to ensure there is a proper process for the very alarming proposal by the European Commission for what is called the "omnibus Bill", which has been called the "bonfire of regulation", to open up the corporate sustainability due diligence directive. This directive was agreed just last year after a lengthy process of many years in which our own Government played an important role, and on which I spoke to the previous Minister, in, for example, pushing for stronger gender equality provisions. Our national business and human rights strategy strongly references the corporate sustainability due diligence directive. Companies that engage in best practice have already started the process of implementing due diligence and proper processes within their companies. This applies to the very largest companies. This is not something that applies to small or medium companies but to the very largest corporations in order that they would have proper standards governing their supply chains and their impact on human rights and on the environment.
Along with the taxonomy, it is now proposed that the corporate sustainability reporting directive agreed just last year be opened up and started again in a back to the drawing board move from the European Commission. This in itself is really shocking because it sends a signal, in terms of the balance of powers within Europe, that the Commission feels it can trample on the work done by national governments through the European Council and by elected representatives in the European Parliament if it does not like the outcome and can effectively seek to scrap those laws.
To be very clear, it is being framed as a simplification but it is not. It is being framed as being related to reporting. The corporate sustainability due diligence directive is not to do with reporting, primarily, and anything that is to do with reporting could have been dealt with through other subsidiary Acts and tools attached. Opening up the directive is, as has been said by the director of the European Coalition for Corporate Justice:
...a full-scale deregulation designed to dismantle corporate accountability and abandon the EU's Green Deal commitments ... [signalling] that corporate profits are more important people's lives or the future of our planet.
That is something Barry Andrews MEP agreed with when describing this as a gutting of corporate accountability and of the EU Green Deal.
Why was there no impact assessment and why has there been no public consultation on the proposal as required under the Commission's own better regulation principles? What engagement has the Irish State had to demand a better process on this? I note there have been closed consultations, effectively in secret, with large corporations only and very few of the large corporations that support this directive. Many of them support having proper sustainability because they want to be able to continue their business on a liveable planet.
However, companies like ExxonMobil and other large fossil fuel companies that have caused the climate crisis are the ones invited into the room with the European Commission to say how they want it to change these directives, and what changes they want it to make. I hear the proposal will be published today. My Commencement matter said that surely it should not be published without a proper open public consultation and, for example, the Irish State taking a stand in support of proper sustainability standards and due diligence. In fact, we are hearing that it will be published today, and will not look at simplification of reporting, but will try to remove civil liability so there is no liability for corporations. It will limit who it applies to even further than the tiny percentage. It will also say that you can have a climate transition plan, but you do not need to implement it, which is effectively meaningless.
Go raibh maith agat, Senator.
As the Minister of State can see, I am very concerned. I would like to know what position Ireland is taking. Ireland played a positive role in the original negotiation. What are we doing now about this alarming development?
I thank Senator Higgins for raising this important matter to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. There is a particular focus on simplification and burden reduction at EU level following on from the Letta and Draghi reports published in 2024. The European Council has called for a simplification revolution by ensuring a clear, simple and smart regulatory framework for businesses and drastically reducing administrative, regulatory and reporting burdens, in particular for small and medium enterprises. One of the key objectives to be implemented without delay was reducing reporting requirements by at least 25% in the first half of 2025.
The European Commission’s work programme for 2025, which was published last week, places a strong focus on simplification and proposes a series of so-called omnibus proposals to include an omnibus package on simplification, investment simplification, small mid-caps and the removal of paper requirements and a digital package.
Ireland welcomes the increased focus on better regulation and simplification at EU level. This includes the appointment of Commissioner Dombrovskis as Commissioner for implementation and simplification with responsibility for co-ordinating the Commission’s burden reduction and simplification initiatives. The mission letters from President von der Leyen to each Commissioner have effectively mainstreamed the better regulation agenda, with all Commissioners now tasked with reducing administrative burdens and reviewing the legislation within their remit. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has responsibility for both the corporate sustainability due diligence directive, CSDDD, and the corporate sustainability reporting directive, CSRD, and is supportive of their objectives, which aim to promote responsible business conduct. The EU taxonomy regulation is under the remit of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Paschal Donohoe.
I understand that the European Commission in recent weeks held a number of round-table consultations with representatives from industry and civil society as part of its preparations for the development of the omnibus proposal on sustainability. I also understand that this proposal is formally being presented to EU ambassadors today, as Senator Higgins outlined, and will subsequently be published. Officials in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment will carefully examine the content of the proposal once published and will engage with the appropriate working group in Brussels, prior to the proposal being finalised.
The alarming thing is that the proposal is to bring this back to level 1. We take a process that took years and go back to the drawing board. Those are years we do not have. We are at the end of the ten hottest years on record. It is frankly patronising to the public that the word “simplification” gets used again and again when what is being done is clearly deregulation and a move away from sustainability and acting on climate. Whatever the threats to Europe we hear about, let us be clear what the threats to the world and Europe are if we fail to act on climate. The idea that we would be competitively chasing the US, which has pulled out of the Paris Agreement, and setting the world on fire to do so is not acceptable.
I want two answers from the Minister of State because I did not have them. What is he doing about the process in terms of the idea of it reopening to level 1? He said he supports the CSDDD. Will the Irish State continue to implement the CSDDD rather than putting things on ice until this new revised version comes through, which could take years? Will we continue to give rewards to the good companies rather than reward the laggards that have failed to act?
Thank you, Senator.
Will we reward those companies that have been acting responsibly? Will we show leadership by implementing the CSDDD during the period of time before this new version, which may be years?
Thank you, Senator.
I would like to know that. That is a direct question to the Minister of State. Will we be going ahead with implementation as planned and promised?
I will relay the Senator's question, perspective and views as expressed here to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment following from this Commencement matter and the discussion.
As I have indicated, we are seeing a particular focus on simplification and burden reduction at EU level with a view to improving EU competitiveness generally and ensuring there are not disproportionate burdens on business, particularly SMEs. That has been articulated in the Letta and Draghi reports as the Senator knows. As part of the simplification agenda at EU level, each Commissioner is required to hold at least two implementation dialogue meetings with stakeholders to assess progress and identify areas needing attention for EU policies which will deliver real impactful results. That is an important part of the process as it will provide-----
You have answered about simplification and not about sustainability.
Senator Higgins, allow the Minister of State.
It will provide stakeholders with an opportunity to feed into and influence the Commission’s simplification agenda.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment will review the content of the omnibus proposal when it is published in the context of improving competitiveness while, importantly, seeking to strike the appropriate balance between providing effective protections for stakeholders and ensuring that the measures to be implemented by companies, and in particular SMEs, are clear, proportionate and, importantly, enforceable. The Department will also engage with the appropriate working group in Brussels as discussions on the proposal progress. I will relay the Senator's contribution today and her points in this matter to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment for his full consideration.
Sustainability is the issue, not simplification. We need to hear about that. I understand the Minister of State has been given what he has been given but it does not answer it.
Community Care
I appreciate the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, to take this matter. It is an important issue for all of those impacted. Day centres provide a valuable service in the communities and towns in which they operate. We saw during Covid the negative impact the closure of day care centres had for older people. In this instance I am talking about the Allenwood day care centre, which is located in the Ballyteague GAA centre. It is a fabulous place in the middle of nature. It really provided a great space for people to have recreational time outside as well as in. This was operated by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and Albert Perris and his team provided a professional service with great empathy and support. It was a place I had an opportunity to visit many times, so I can attest to the wonderful service given there. Thirty-seven people have been going to this day care centre. Approximately one third of them sadly have dementia, but the families really noticed the huge improvement when they started attending the day care service up to three days per week. It ran five days per week and provided meals on wheels. Unfortunately, ten weeks ago this coming Thursday, the service closed. There was a disagreement with regard to the move to a new centre in the nearby village of Kilmeage. However, instead of having a negotiated transition, what happened was that the board was told it had to leave and the service stopped.
To be fair to the HSE, it said it would step in and provide the service directly. It is important to note that. However, the fact that ten weeks later we have nothing in place is really wrong.
Of the 37 people affected, four have now gone into a nursing home and two are in hospital. The families are seeing a very negative impact. As we know, daycare centres are about socialisation, stimulation, the opportunity to meet neighbours and friends and spend time with people we have known all of our lives. The HSE said it would consider a transfer to nearby daycare centres in Newbridge and Naas, but this is not something that suits local people. The communities of Allenwood and Ballyteague are devastated by this. I have to pay tribute to Karen Gorey, who is spearheading the campaign.
We need the HSE to act. There is a service provider ready to step in and provide that service, but I understand it is being held up by some red tape in terms of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul reviewing its service level agreement. The Minister of State could make an order that the new service provider could move in straight away and provide what is a very much needed service in a place with which people in Ballyteague are familiar. The new centre in Kilmeague will not be ready until the summer. Leaving a gap from before Christmas to summertime is simply not good enough. I ask the Minister of State to use his good services and influence to ensure that this issue is solved.
I thank Senator O'Loughlin for raising this important matter. She will appreciate that the new programme for Government has highlighted the importance of community services for older people to assist them to remain independent and live in their homes with dignity and independence for as long as possible. Many older people living at home rely on services that they receive through day centres and the outreach these centres provide, which often includes meals on wheels.
As the Senator referenced, Allenwood daycare centre is a HSE-funded service in Kildare. It is managed and operated by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul through a service level arrangement for daycare and meals on wheels services in Allenwood and the surrounding area. In December 2024, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul issued a temporary notice of closure to the people who use the service and notified the HSE older persons services accordingly. The HSE reports that 34 people were affected - the Senator mentioned 37 - by the notified closure. I fully appreciate that the closure has caused considerable upset to the people who use the service. The Senator referenced people like Karen Gorey and many others have contacted me. The Minister, Deputy Martin Heydon, has been in communication with me. Councillor Brendan Wyse also contacted me about the closure. The centre is hugely important for the community.
The HSE older persons section contacted all people affected by the closure, offering them an alternative daycare place from 28 January. Engagement is ongoing. The HSE actively sources transport to assist clients to travel to other day centres. I note the reservations the Senator has highlighted in that regard. I am also advised that everyone has been offered a meals on wheels service. Furthermore, the HSE is also examining the possibility of engaging new providers to deliver the service. I instructed my officials to contact the HSE and seek to expedite the engagement of a new provider to deliver the service.
As a private voluntary organisation, decisions about the closure of the service and the employment of staff rest with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. It has advised the HSE that it is currently conducting an internal review of the service and the HSE is awaiting the outcome of that review. It is understood that the decision to close is not related to the availability of funding from the HSE.
In the meantime, it is essential that people who rely on the service are provided with reasonable alternatives. Senator O'Loughlin referred to Ballyteague GAA club, which is where the Allenwood service is located. As I have stated, as well as working to find places in other services for those affected, the HSE is examining the possibility of engaging new providers to deliver the service. That is something I have asked my officials to look at expediting. I know the impact it is having on people and their families. I am new to the role, but I have made a lot of inquiries about this matter. I know the impact of the lack of services on people.
In the longer term, it is planned that the day service would move to Kilmeague Health Centre. Refurbishment works are currently under way and are expected to be completed by June 2025. The HSE continues to seek engagement updates from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul on this matter. The matter the Senator has highlighted is that a service was in place which was of huge benefit to local people and their families. I have asked the HSE, through my departmental officials, to consider extensively the possibility of engaging a new provider to deliver the service.
I thank the Minister of State for his empathy and understanding. I appreciate he is new to his role. I also appreciate that he has taken the time to look into this.
I find it incredible that the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is holding this process up by conducting an internal review. The fact is that service users and their families are being let down. That decision should be superseded by the HSE and the Minister of State. I mentioned Karen Gorey, who is spearheading this campaign. She has written to the Minister of State to seek a meeting. I ask him to ensure the meeting takes place. We could have the meeting in Government Buildings, Leinster House, Allenwood or Kilmeague. This service is of vital importance. I want the Minister of State to understand that this is a critical issue that needs to be resolved as soon as possible, before June. We need to provide that much-needed service to those who need it.
I once again thank Senator O'Loughlin for raising this issue. As I said, the service in Allenwood has been very important to communities. It is essential that people who are affected by the closure are accommodated quickly. It is important that there is good communication between the HSE and the service provider and the people who have been affected and their families.
As Minister of State with responsibility for older people, I am conscious of the significant contribution made by day centres like Allenwood across the country to support older people living in communities. I appreciate the considerable upset the closure has caused to the people who use the service. As I have stated, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is conducting an internal review and the HSE is awaiting its outcome. I note the points the Senator raised. The decision to close is not related to the availability of funding from the HSE.
In the meantime, it is essential that people who rely on the service are provided with reasonable alternatives, as I stated. As well as working to find places in other services, the HSE is examining the possibility of engaging a new provider to deliver the service. Through my officials, I have asked the HSE to expedite that. I am available to meet anyone. The Senator has written to me and I will set up a meeting. I understand Karen Gorey wrote to my predecessor. I am taking up the issue. It is something we can discuss again. The most important thing is to try to get a resolution to this as quickly as possible for the people who use the Allenwood service.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 11.39 a.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 12.02 p.m.
Sitting suspended at 11.39 p.m. and resumed at 12.02 p.m.