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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 17 Jan 2018

Vol. 963 No. 6

Questions on Promised Legislation

Members have one minute in which to put their questions.

The recent report of the Ombudsman has concluded that the treatment abroad scheme needs to be revamped, as patients who have tried to access it have found it to be extremely upsetting and stressful. He said it was too complex and needs to be streamlined. I have had to make many representations on behalf of people who need treatment abroad, particularly those with rare conditions or whose consultants determined that a particular treatment was required. The staff in the section are very helpful and co-operative but the policy context has changed. The former Minister, Senator James Reilly, changed the situation whereby patients in public hospitals, who are entitled to treatment as public patients, can be assigned as private patients, but this can be used as a potential bar to a patient accessing treatment abroad later in the treatment process. A restrictive policy context has been brought into the treatment abroad scheme. It was always a basic thing that if a consultant recommended treatment abroad, the patient should get it. Will the Minister indicate that the Government will change direction and make the scheme far more accessible for people who are entitled to it?

The Ombudsman said this scheme was predominantly a good thing and was working well for the vast majority of patients. He did, however, raise concerns, and the HSE will now establish a working group which will include key stakeholders, such as patient advocates, to progress the recommendations in the Ombudsman's report.

Will the Minister not just make a policy change?

The Deputy raised the issue of the Ombudsman's report.

I have been raising it for quite a while and from before it went to the Ombudsman.

The recommendations of the report will be taken on board and there is a working group to ensure that is the case. If the Deputy has a policy question-----

I thank the Tánaiste.

I apologise to the Ceann Comhairle but the reference to a working group will prompt groans all around.

With respect to the Deputy, it is a bit rich for him to be critical of setting up working groups, given his own record.

The Tánaiste has answered the question.

That is why you ran out of housing.

We are building houses.

If the Deputies want to bicker, will they do so outside? Can we please have order for Deputy Adams?

I want to raise the issue of the Government's commitment to funding for the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC. We are all agreed, and I have just said, that sections of An Garda Síochána treated Joanne Hayes and her family in a disgraceful way. I remember the case and a friend of mine, the late Steve McDonogh, published a book highlighting how Joanne was treated. Yesterday, I raised concerns about funding and resources available to GSOC as the lead agency to investigate allegations against An Garda Síochána. The Taoiseach glibly replied that he did not know of any public body which did not want more staff. This is in the face of Ms Justice Ring saying she cannot conclude investigations arising from protected disclosures. We are also all agreed that there are lessons to be learnt from the Kerry babies tragedy. One of the lessons would be to address the concerns raised by Ms Justice Ring and I ask the Tánaiste to do that. For her to say she cannot bring investigations to a conclusion is very damning and should not be dismissed.

I accept that there are funding challenges for GSOC and that is why we have seen a significant increase in the allocation for 2018 over that for 2017. The Minister for Justice and Equality has made it clear he intends to ensure GSOC has the resources it needs to do the obvious work it needs to do.

Right now, there are construction workers outside protesting over zero-hour contracts and calling for an end to them, warning that they have an extraordinary effect on family life, health and people's ability to plan their lives or get mortgages. Following the work substantially progressed by the then Minister, Senator Ged Nash, the Government published the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill last year. When will that Bill be introduced and when does the Tánaiste envisage that we will have a proper debate to address what is a very serious issue?

I will ask the Minister to respond.

The Deputy stated that the Bill was published before Christmas and it is on the list to be dealt with this session. As soon as we are given a scheduled date by the Business Committee, we will be in like Flynn.

On the same issue, the conditions faced by those workers outside, from O'Neill and Brennan, are somewhat equivalent to those in a 19th century dock in that they have no control over where they will be tomorrow, whether they will still have a job or how many hours they will have. I am glad we will debate it soon but will the Minister be engaging with Mandate and ICTU to take on board the criticisms that have been levelled at the proposed Bill? These include the question of eliminating the exemptions for casual workers, reducing the time for which the protections kick in as the current 18 months limit would exclude the workers outside, the need to narrow the bands, and the need to deal with bogus self-employment, which I know the Minister has separately referenced as an issue that will be dealt with but is not included in the current draft of the Bill.

There was extensive consultation with unions to develop the Bill and I am sure amendments will be made on the five Stages of the Bill, which we will discuss in this House and in committee. There is a separate report, done by the Department of Finance and the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, on bogus self-employment which will go to Cabinet shortly and will give key recommendations for tackling this very serious issue.

An issue we talk about all the time and about which the Taoiseach said he was shocked is the trolley crisis and delays in emergency departments. We have been trying to extend the community hospital in Clogheen in Tipperary for six or seven years. It is a fabulous facility and excellent care is provided there. A number of local organisations, Friends of St. Theresa's and Boston Scientific, have contributed €400,000 to the extension which has got planning permission and for which a builder has been appointed. The Minister visited the hospital on 15 September 2017 and we were promised that works would start before the end of 2017, but there is no sign of any work at the moment. It is totally embarrassing and Boston Scientific has stated that it will reallocate the money to another project because it has a timescale. The fundraisers are highly embarrassed because people, such as families and former patients, made contributions in good faith but there is no quid pro quo from the HSE. When is it going to progress this development? Will it be included in the capital plan, which we are told will be announced imminently?

I will have to refer that question to the Minister for Health.

I am tired of asking about this.

The Deputy cannot expect me to have the details of an individual project off the top of my head.

This morning, Age Action and a number of other organisations held a press conference to highlight the plight of the 40,000 people, mainly women, who are being denied full pension rights as a result of the 2012 changes, and the groups in question will protest outside the Dáil tomorrow. The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Doherty, gave commitments to address this issue as a matter of urgency.

Six months have elapsed since that commitment was given. I understand that proposals are being brought to Cabinet. I ask the Minister to outline precisely what is being proposed and the timescale involved. Can the Minister give an assurance that we are not talking about a post-2020 move to a total contribution system? Can she assure us that measures will be introduced in the coming months to address the urgent issues that are at stake today?

I am having déjà vu. This is probably the fourth time I have said this today in the House as I took oral questions from 10.30 a.m. An extensive report has been compiled by my officials over the last couple of months. It is absolutely nowhere near six months since this conversation came up in the House; it was just before Christmas, after the budget. I gave a commitment then to fix the issue and the anomaly in respect of the 42,000 people, 60% of whom are women and 40% men, who are currently disadvantaged by the changes that were made in 2012. The report is ready to go to Cabinet Committee A tomorrow afternoon. Pending proposals for acceptance or amendment at that committee meeting, or whatever the results of the meeting are, the report will be going to Cabinet on Tuesday and will be published thereafter.

I have said before and will say again that there is no money to reflect the changes that will be required in the 2018 budget. There will be new money needed to make the changes that will be required to fix the anomaly for the affected people. That will form part of the discussions over the coming weeks. I am not in a position to give any commitments on timelines.

Has the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade given any consideration to the make-up of the European Parliament following Brexit in 2019? Is there any indication that we could get better representation for this country? Has the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade taken any view on this? As the Tánaiste knows, we are increasingly becoming a large net contributor to the European Union in financial terms. If Commissioner Hogan's proposal is accepted, we will be even more of a net contributor. Is the Tánaiste giving consideration to getting more seats for Ireland in the European Parliament after Brexit and the loss of the British delegation?

Once the British no longer have representation in the European Parliament, if the same number of parliamentarians are to be retained, there will have to be reallocation of seats to other countries. I had a number of discussions in the European Parliament some months ago on that issue, to decide on a recommendation. I do not want to give any detail of that without certainty as I do not want to raise expectations. Ireland will look to ensure that we have the maximum possible representation in the context of any changes that take place.

In the programme for Government, the intention is clearly set out to appoint a contractor to roll out high-speed broadband to 540,000 premises in rural parts of Ireland. A contract was due to be signed by June 2017, according to that document. The Government and, in particular, the Taoiseach talk repeatedly about supporting rural Ireland.

I note from a press notification that the Taoiseach indicated last night to the farmers at the IFA conference that he would be a champion of the self-employed and people who get up early in the morning. He went on to say that nobody gets up earlier than farmers. He is right about that; they get up very early. However, they have no access to broadband to do much of the work that they are now required to do online, to communicate with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The Tánaiste will be familiar with that work from his time in the Department. Their children, who study in school and come home to do their projects, do not have access to high-speed broadband. Those who go on to college and come home at the weekends to work on the farms and assist their parents to live and work there do not have access to high-speed broadband to do their college work. When is the Government going to sign a contract to allow work to start on the roll-out of high-speed broadband to those 540,000 premises?

The Taoiseach's speech last night to the IFA was reaffirming-----

It was just claptrap and soft language.

-----what most people would accept, namely, that Fine Gael is the party that represents farmers most effectively and will continue to do so.

The Tánaiste must be referring to the big farmers.

Tell that to the fellow who has the grub lost to him. That is a joke.

That is obviously a sore point with some Deputies, but I am afraid it is the truth.

If the Tánaiste believes that-----

I think the farming families would like to see some delivery rather than the claptrap.

It is sore for a lot of people.

On broadband, close to seven out of ten premises now have access to high-speed broadband. While that is not enough, the figure will rise to eight out of ten by the end of this year. By 2020 it will be nine out of ten. We are moving to invest significant amounts of public money in ensuring that parts of the country that are not going to get broadband through its normal commercial roll-out will get it because the State will pay for it. We are absolutely committed to doing that as quickly as we can-----

The Government started talking about this in 2012.

-----in the context of the complex contracts that need to be put in place and that the Minister, Deputy Naughten, is managing.

I thank the Tánaiste for that. The farmers will be thrilled.

There is a commitment in the programme for Government, under housing, to overhaul the terms of the tenant purchase scheme to make it more attractive for social housing tenants. As a former Minister with responsibility for housing, the Tánaiste will be aware that the scheme as currently constructed is unfair. It is inequitable and discriminates against people in receipt of social welfare. It is possibly unconstitutional. Two and a half years down the line, when is this commitment going to be implemented?

Over 80% of local authority tenants are debarred from purchasing their homes. If a person has retired and has a lump sum, he or she has plenty of money to purchase the house but if he or she is on a pension or disability payment, he or she is not allowed to purchase the house from the local authority. Surely to God it should be overhauled. It needs to be looked at. We cannot debar 80% of tenants from entering into the tenant purchase scheme. I urge the Tánaiste to overhaul the system as soon as possible.

The Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, will respond.

The tenant purchase scheme was overhauled very recently. We undertook a second review over the course of this year, which is now almost complete. We are in consultation with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. We are finalising the review and will be publishing the details very shortly.

In the programme for Government, there is an ambition that we would become a leader in the provision of a world-class education model. However, in recent times a retiring college professor or president said that college fees should be increased and that students should have to take out loans. This, again, will affect students from rural areas much harder than those from urban areas. I ask the Tánaiste not to increase college fees because it will impact on rural areas. Students coming up to cities where there are colleges are already disadvantaged with the rising cost of accommodation. I ask the Government to ensure that the cost of college fees is not increased and that students will not have to take out loans.

I take that point. We are doing a lot to try to help students to access college. In particular, there has been a huge effort in respect of student accommodation. There is a lot happening in this city to ensure that students from other parts of the country can find accommodation here. I am sure that before any decisions are made in respect of improving the funding model for third level education, there will be an opportunity for a very extensive debate in this House.

The programme for Government makes reference to tackling diabetes. There are over 200,000 people suffering from diabetes in Ireland. Up to five teenagers and children each week are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. To ease the pain for these young people and for our elderly, the FreeStyle Libre glucose monitoring system is available. Is that monitoring system going to be made available under the long-term illness scheme and, if so, when?

I will have to refer the Deputy's question to the Minister for Health. I will get him to come back to the Deputy.

The programme for Government makes a clear commitment to increase the number of ambulances and paramedics. We know that the optimum time to reach a patient in a life-threatening situation is eight minutes. However, a report commissioned by the HSE last year clearly showed that in rural areas, this target was not being met.

It was met in only one out of 15 cases. As we all know, there have been numerous cases where ambulances have taken an hour to reach patients in life-threatening circumstances. We also know that the policy of dynamic deployment is failing and will not work. Paramedics and ambulance drivers are being put under pressure to travel long distances to reach an incident. More importantly, patients' lives are being put at risk. This issue needs to be addressed. Will the Tánaiste advise me what is being done to improve response times in rural areas? What resources are being put in place, as committed to in the programme for Government?

Increased resources are being provided in this area. In my area there is a new air ambulance service which is a community initiative and looking for the support of the HSE. There are multiple initiatives in different parts of the country, particularly in areas where people suffer from rural isolation, where response times are not as good as they need to be. On the precise increase in funding and so on, I can ask the Minister to come back with the facts.

The programme for Government makes specific reference to the need to create more jobs outside Dublin. There was a very positive announcement yesterday on the creation of 100 new jobs in Sligo. I acknowledge the involvement of the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys, and thank her and her Department, IDA Ireland and AbbVie for the wonderful announcement. There will be an investment of €130 million in Sligo. It is also important to note, however, that a number of jobs have been lost in Sligo and Ballyshannon in the past few months. Given that the roads capital plan has just been announced, does the Tánaiste agree that road infrastructure is vital in helping to create new jobs in the north west? Will he outline the efforts the Government is making in that regard? Will he lend his support to the calls made to have Sligo designated as a centre of growth in the development plan to 2040?

Undoubtedly, in the future Sligo will be and needs to be a major driver of growth in the north west. In terms of the provision of investment to make sure this will happen, phase 2 of the western distributor road project in Sligo which will open up an IDA Ireland greenfield site for new investment was recently announced. There is a total investment of over €130 million in roads in Sligo included in the capital plan. There are some significant projects which are about planning for future growth and expansion to ensure Sligo will be able to fulfil its potential, including in terms of the regional impact it can have in the north west. I expect a lot of positive news for people in Sligo in upcoming plans.

There has been a lot of talk during Leaders' Questions about justice and support for people who are vulnerable. I am looking for support for eight young people with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities who are seeking places in a secondary school. They are in an excellent ASD unit in Scoil Na Naomh Uilig. For the past 12 months, with others, including their parents and the principal of the school, I have been seeking appropriate places at second level. It is incredible to think eight to ten years after they started in primary school in a mainstream setting they now have no place to go to. We have been down the road with SENOs and the Department, but absolutely no places have been identified. There was a possibility of places being provided in a local school, but that option is no longer on the table. The children may have to go to Dublin or Carlow in order to attend school. When I raised the issue in December, the Minister said he would get back to me, but I have heard nothing since. On behalf of the children, parents, school and community, something needs to be done. As the children and their parents need help, I ask the Tánaiste to prioritise the issue. Will he ask the Minister to meet me and the parents of the children?

I do not have the details of the case, but I recognise the Deputy's frustration. They are not the only eight young people who are having difficulties in transitioning from primary to secondary school in terms of the provision of special needs supports. The Deputy has raised the issue with the Minister and I will raise it with him again and make sure he will come back to the Deputy with a response.

The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, has been telling everyone for a long time that he is planning to introduce an affordable housing scheme. Yesterday a list of forthcoming legislation was published by the Government. Amazingly, despite the significant housing crisis, there was no mention of an affordable housing scheme. Many citizens remain excluded from the housing market. The Government made a commitment to resolve the housing crisis, yet we will not have an affordable housing scheme. When will we see such a scheme? What is holding things up? It is not rocket science to introduce a proper system. I remind the Tánaiste that this is the Government's second term and we still have not seen an affordable housing scheme.

We will be reintroducing an affordable housing scheme very shortly. It does not require new legislation because legislation is already in place which we will re-purpose for the scheme.

The Minister said he had asked for new legislation.

New legislation is not required. We have legislation in place from 2009, from which we will take provisions and regulations for a new scheme to be introduced very shortly.

There are various commitments given in the programme for Government and various others outside it to address the rising cost of insurance. The Tánaiste's colleague, Brian Hayes, MEP, took a cut off the Department and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport on the issue of motor insurance. Businesses across the country are facing increased insurance costs. People are considering the viability of their businesses because of the cost of insurance, particularly in areas where there is a large footfall. We will debate section 39 organisations later today. St. Joseph's Foundation in Charleville has seen its insurance costs increase from €100,000 to almost €500,000, which is incredible. No decisive action is being taken by the Government with the insurance industry which is crippling householders, businesses and section 39 organisations.

There was a recognition in government that increases in insurance costs were unsustainable. It was decided to review the insurance industry, an approach which was led by the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, when he held a different brief. For the most part, the report and recommendations have been implemented and resulted in motor insurance premiums stabilising. The changes will have a positive impact over time. Phase 2 of the approach taken was to examine business insurance costs. The process is under way, but the group has not yet reported. When it does, we will take the same approach that we took to the cost of motor insurance, namely, making sure we implement the recommendations made.

In the programme for Government a commitment was given to implement the report of the Committee on the Future of Healthcare, known as the Sláintecare report which was published last May and which has been repeatedly referenced by the Minister for Health, the Taoiseach and Mr. Tony O'Brien. The single most important part of having the report implemented is the establishment of an implementation office which will drive implementation of the report and, it is to be hoped, improve the health system over a ten-year period. When will the implementation office be set up? It is critical to ensure implementation of the report.

It will happen as soon as possible, but the implementation office needs a chief executive. As I understand it, the post was advertised last Friday.

Tá ceist agam faoi na fadhbanna millteanacha atá ag páistí le fadhbanna meabhairshláinte san iarthuaisceart agus na liostaí feithimh fada atá i bhfeidhm ansin. I refer to the north-west region or CHO 1 as it is called in the HSE.

We have 204 children waiting for initial assessment in the child and adolescent mental health services. Sixteen of those are waiting for more than a year and a further six of them are waiting more than 15 months. I am sure the Tánaiste, like me and many others in this House, has spoken to some of the children but more so to the parents and friends of those children who are going through difficult times. For some of them it is depression, others anxiety, eating disorders or ADHD, while still others are self-harming. We know that the prevalence of self-harming in this State is dramatic.

The fact that children who are vulnerable have to wait for more than a year and in some cases 15 months for initial assessment is a complete and abject failure of this State to look after the welfare of those children. I ask the Tánaiste what he and the Government are going to do. We have 30% vacancies within CAHMS across the State. What is the Government going to do to ensure that those children and their families do not have to worry about their mental health anymore and that when they reach out for support from the State, it reaches back a hand of support to help them through their difficulties?

The answer to that question is to increase resources and to work with the HSE through its service plan to improve services. Clearly, services are not as good as they need to be in many parts of the country. Waiting lists are too long and we are working to reduce them with some positive results, certainly in the second half of last year. The instances Deputy Doherty outlined are examples of the need for reform, increased investment and increased staffing numbers in certain sectors to improve services, in particular for children.

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