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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 20 Feb 2018

Vol. 965 No. 7

Topical Issue Debate

Respite Care Services Provision

As we know, respite provides alternative family or institutional care for persons with disabilities in order to give their carers a break, but it also provides a break to the people suffering from disabilities. It allows carers in particular to continue looking after their loved ones in the long run. Carers benefit from the opportunity to take a break and recharge their batteries. Those receiving care enjoy an opportunity for comfort and care in new and different surroundings. Respite is an integral part of our community health care system, however in reality many carers meet difficulties when trying to engage or access the necessary respite.

In Wexford there is currently a shortage of supply of respite services. Carers are people who give vital care to their children, siblings and parents and do so in a selfless manner. It is also done in the case of foster parents. And yet these carers find themselves deeply frustrated and exacerbated. The lack of HSE response very often leaves families distraught. Frequent HSE staffing changes mean that calls for support from families are often not heard. Some families find themselves waiting more than a year for just one night's break. In one recent example in Wexford, a couple with three adult siblings had to wait for almost a year and a half to get respite care. Thankfully they got it just before Christmas, but they had to wait almost a year and a half for it. They had to contact their Deputies and councillors and even take to the national airwaves to get some sort of help and support.

Many of these parents are now becoming older. Some are even in their 80s. They are trying to take care of their children and foster children and they are getting tired. If their carers were not in a position to look after the cared for, the responsibility would fall back onto the State. Residential care for these people would cost an absolute fortune. Yet if the carers are not given the support that they need and that break to recharge their batteries, that is exactly what will happen. These carers want to look after the cared for. They fought tenaciously to get the care they need in order to look after their children, and their foster children in particular. However, the State is not stepping up. I will give one particular example. Two years ago Ard Aoibhinn in Wexford town opened up. It was supposed to provide additional respite care for these families in Wexford. It is now two years since it opened and there is still no respite there because the HSE, having provided substantial capital supports for it to be built, will not provide the necessary current funding to staff it in order to provide the necessary care. Other units are very often closed at weekends. Adults and children have to negotiate to get minimal access to these supports.

The programme for Government commits to help and support people with disabilities but unless carers get the necessary respite, and I am speaking about carers in my county in particular, the responsibility will fall back on the State. We have seen some examples recently in Wexford where people needed respite care but it was not received. Children were then getting into situations whereby they required long-term care and they were being put into the short-term respite beds which led to the amount of respite available decreasing even further. I am looking for further support for respite care in County Wexford.

I thank Deputy Browne for raising this issue. Unfortunately the Minister of State is not here to relay his reply to the Deputy but I will read his briefing notes and then the Deputy may like to come back in. I wish to thank the Deputy for raising this important issue which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath. On his behalf I am pleased to outline the position on respite places in County Wexford.

This Government’s ongoing priority is the safeguarding of vulnerable people in the care of the health service. We are committed to providing services and supports for people with disabilities which will empower them to live independent lives. As part of its ongoing service provision, this year the HSE will provide more than 182,000 respite nights and 42,500 day respite sessions to families in need right across the country. The Minister of State acknowledges that there is an urgent need for increased respite care throughout the country. That is why an additional €10 million has been secured specifically to enhance respite care in the disability sector.

Some €8 million will be used to provide 12 new dedicated respite houses which will come on stream this year. There will be one in each HSE community health care organisation area and three in the greater Dublin area. This will add 19,000 extra respite nights in a full year. In addition, a further €2 million in extra funding will be used for innovative respite solutions, such as home sharing and extended day services, to provide assistance where people and families need it most.

In the context of respite services in County Wexford, discussions are ongoing regarding the emerging need for additional respite services and the options to be developed to meet those needs.

The Minister has been informed by the HSE that each client is assessed by either a social worker or a liaison nurse using a prioritisation tool. Respite meetings are held quarterly between the HSE and service providers to provide a forum whereby those seeking respite are prioritised, discussed and an allocation is provided. This is in order to meet their needs as far as possible, taking into account the prioritisation tool and any other information from the members of the respite forum. A respite cancellation list is also in operation. Emergency placements for instance, where a care situation at home has become critically unsafe or has broken down altogether, must take precedence over any planned respite service provision, which can be difficult for service users and their families.

The provision of respite services in County Wexford has come under further pressure in recent years. There is an increase in the number of children and adults seeking access to these services. There are also increasing levels of changing needs due to the aging client population. The need for increased respite facilities is acknowledged and the HSE continues to work with agencies to provide various ways of responding to this growing need in line with the budget available.

I thank the Minister of State. The difficulty is that there is no concrete solution for the situation in Wexford. There is a unit in Ard Aoibhinn that is not being used for respite care because the HSE will not provide the necessary current funding for it to be staffed. The HSE accepts it cannot meet the increasing demand in Wexford, yet there is a unit there that can be used to help meet some of that need.

Carers have a very difficult job to do. It is an exhausting job but it is one they do with pride and care. They are also exhausted from being obliged to fight tooth and nail to get some respite so they can recover themselves. They are becoming ill and their own mental and physical health is deteriorating when they cannot get the respite they need. The carers are being let down and their adult children are being let down also. They need to be able to get a break for themselves as well.

A particular situation arises where there are two or three adult children in a family and maybe only one gets taken in for care. That is not respite for the parents at all. There was a well reported situation, recently flagged by the Ombudsman, where there were foster parents in that situation. Foster parents are saving the State an absolute fortune when they take on, support and give love and care to foster children. They need the support they should be given as well. It is deeply frustrating.

The Ombudsman for Children, Dr. Niall Muldoon, stated recently that the HSE needs to immediately devise a respite action plan for all children. It seems that some parents are finding it almost impossible to get any supports. For whatever reason, they are slipping through the cracks. The broader picture of more hours and nights being provided is all well and good. In my own county of Wexford, however, there is a desperate need for additional respite nights and care. The unit is there. We just need the funding to be provided in order that people can be given the support they need and deserve.

I think the Deputy hit it on the head; respite is an integral part of this. When people are dealing with people with difficulties, they have to have time out for their loved ones to go into respite. I believe that is a clear indication from all of us. I am very familiar with what it is to be a carer. My own mother had unconditional love from my two brothers, who cared for her until she passed away. I am familiar with the challenges they had living in a house with their elderly mother and most of all, the challenges when they themselves needed some kind of a break. Consequently, I understand the point.

Perhaps the Deputy can forward to me the details of the unit to which he refers. I am not familiar with it. I certainly will speak to the Minister of State on his behalf. If he is saying there is a place there that can take that, I certainly will raise it with the Minister of State as well. I am dealing with a case myself at present involving adult twins who need respite care and I have seen the difficulties that have been faced trying to have them at respite at the same time. I perfectly understand.

I will read the conclusion of my response. The national task force chaired by the head of HSE social care is identifying how best to deliver respite services in the areas of most pressing need. Community health organisation area 5, CHO 5, has submitted proposals for additional funding and they are currently being reviewed by this group. The Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, has asked me to assure the Deputy and the House that the commissioning of respite houses will come on stream as early as possible this year, subject to a procurement process, HIQA approval and staff recruitment. The Department of Health is working closely with HIQA and the HSE to ensure that the 12 respite houses can be opened without undue delay. However, there are commercial sensitivities with regard to the procurement of houses and respite services until contracts are finalised, and therefore the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath is unable to provide location data until contracts are signed.

Were the Deputy to forward to me an email about the particular service he is talking about, I certainly will raise it with the Minister of State.

Long Stay Residential Units

Táim buíoch go bhfuil deis labhartha ar an ábhar tábhachtach seo agam agus ag an Teachta Ó Gallchóir.

The Minister of State will recall that about two years ago, there was much hype when the then Minister of State, Kathleen Lynch, announced the Government's five-year programme of investment in nursing home facilities. Despite all the Government's efforts to sell this package as a good news story, it was met with justifiable shock, confusion and anger right across communities in Donegal. This was followed by confirmation that nursing beds in three existing community hospitals in the county, namely, Lifford, Ramelton and St. Joseph's in Stranorlar, were to be replaced by a new 130-bed central nursing unit to be constructed in Letterkenny. It has been that word "replaced" that has been the root cause of this public outrage and it is hardly surprising. In a single press statement, it was announced that the Government was planning to effectively downgrade not just one public community hospital but three, and all in the same county.

Since then, the communities affected have not stood idly by. They have organised and stood up for themselves. Over two years now and more, campaigners, members of the public, hospital staff, residents and families have literally taken to the streets in opposition to these plans. While their determination, passion and fight-back must be commended, the future of the services, in particular the long-term residential care in these hospitals, remains as uncertain as ever.

What was the cause of this cold, callous stroke? A ministerial pen two years ago. That is what caused all of this. It has been allowed to fester for the last two years. Far from providing certainty, the Minister of State and her Government have continuously given conflicting reports to communities concerned about the future of these services. Will the Minister of State give these communities the certainty and straight talking they deserve and that has been so shamefully denied for over two years? Will she now, before this House, clarify the future of long-term residential care in Lifford, Ramelton and St. Joseph's Community Hospital, Stranorlar? Will she give a commitment that these services at these hospitals will not be downgraded in the future?

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl as ucht deis labhartha ar an gceist thábhachtach seo a fháil in éineacht le mo chomhghleacaí, an Teachta Pearse Doherty.

I am not surprised to hear the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, cannot be here today. I know exactly where he is; he is on his way to Donegal at the invitation of the Minister of State, Deputy Joe McHugh - on a Tuesday evening when we have a minority Government. They decided to do this when neither myself, Deputy Pearse Doherty nor any other Deputy could attend the event. I think this is very cynical and the Minister must answer to it. We would have been there if it was any other day. Had they travelled from Sligo on Friday last to meet 550 irate people, we could have discussed this in person.

As Deputy Pearse Doherty has suggested, the decision of January 2016 has to be overturned. The only consistency in all of this is that every single reply to our parliamentary questions has indicated that the long-stay beds in those hospitals of St. Joseph's, Ramelton and Lifford do not have a future.

I received that reply in early July this year, before the recess. Of course, when the political temperature became too hot for the Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy McHugh, the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Jim Daly, went on local radio and suggested that the information given to me by way of parliamentary reply was wrong. I was very pleased because I thought there had been a mistake and that this would be reversed. The Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, has yet to confirm to the Dáil that that was not true. The answer to the parliamentary question was correct, and I give full credit to those who prepare them. It is not good enough. Further to that, the Minister of State, Deputy McHugh, announced there would be €3 million available. That was fake news; it is a tissue of you-know-what. Those 550 irate people will be back there tonight again and they want answers. The answer cannot be that it is in the national development plan, because that plan is underwriting the plan of 2016. I hope the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Byrne, who is always available to answer questions, will be able to tell us, on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, that he has decided to rescind the decision of 2016.

I thank Deputies Pearse Doherty and Gallagher for raising this Topical Issue. Unfortunately the relevant Minister of State is not here, as the Deputies have noted themselves, but I will read the statement. I cannot provide any commitment on anything being turned around. I want to make that clear to both Deputies before I begin.

I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for mental health and older people, Deputy Jim Daly. Unfortunately, the Minister of State is unable to be here this evening. I am sure the Deputies will appreciate he is attending a public meeting in Ballybofey this evening with the Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy McHugh. He will also meet representatives of the Friends of Lifford Hospital and will visit St Joseph’s Community Hospital, Stranorlar.

The Health Service Executive, HSE, is responsible for the delivery of health and personal social services, including those at facilities such as at St Joseph’s Community Hospital, Stranorlar, Ramelton Community Hospital and Lifford Community Hospital. Public residential care units are an essential part of our health care infrastructure. They provide about 5,000 long-stay beds, amounting to approximately 20% of the total stock of nursing home beds nationally. There are also approximately 2,000 short-stay community public beds. While the care delivered to residents in community hospitals is generally of a very high standard, many of these services are delivered in buildings that are less than ideal in the modern context. It is important therefore that we upgrade our public bed stock. This is the aim of the five-year capital investment programme for community nursing units that was announced in 2016. This provides the framework to allow for an enhanced programme to replace, upgrade and refurbish these care facilities, as appropriate.

Significant work was undertaken to determine the most optimal scheduling of projects within the phased provision of funding to achieve compliance and registration with the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA. This investment programme will see the provision of two new centres in Donegal, one in Ballyshannon and one in Letterkenny. It is proposed under this programme that the new community nursing unit in Letterkenny will be delivered by the end of 2021, through a public private partnership or alternative funding model to provide long-term residential care services in the area. This decision is related to long-term residential services and is separate to and independent of any consideration of the other services currently provided in the three community hospitals. The decision reflects a view that these hospitals were not considered to be appropriate for use as residential care homes in the medium term. No decision has been made in relation to the other services provided by the hospitals.

Both Deputies will be aware that since the announcement of the five-year capital investment programme for community nursing units and following discussions with public representatives, health forum members and local community groups and local HSE management agreed to review overall requirements for the area. The review also included an assessment of the adequacy of the existing facilities. I understand that a report has been submitted to the HSE national social care division and the HSE national capital property steering group. This report will be considered by the HSE national capital property steering group in March. Any proposals for changes to the approved capital investment programme will be considered in the context of capital funding available to health, potential revenue implications and compliance with the agreed capital approval process.

On Deputy Gallagher's question, I do not have the remit to give a commitment as to what the Minister of State is going to say at the meeting this evening, as I really do not know. I take on board that both Deputies have made their concerns known and that they are not at the public meeting this evening. I will take that on board and relay their annoyance and concerns about that.

I have no bloody idea what the Minister of State will say at tonight's public meeting, which was organised by Fine Gael. The meeting that was organised by the group concerned about this issue and to which all Deputies were invited happened last Friday. If the Minister of State has something to say we should be informed about it here.

I spoke about the confusion which has annoyed people on the ground, particularly those who have loved ones in these community hospitals. This just adds to the confusion. The Minister of State's statement indicates the decision concerning the Letterkenny unit is related to the long-term residential services and is separate to and independent of any consideration of other services currently provided in the three community hospitals. However, Kathleen Lynch's statement was to the effect that this is going ahead because it is replacing the beds in the other hospitals. The Minister of State's statement then goes on to say that the decision reflects the view that the hospitals were not considered to be appropriate for use as residential care homes in the medium term. It says that these premises are no good for use as long-term residential homes at this point in time.

I am really disappointed, not in the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, but that in his absence, the Minister of State with direct responsibility for this area did not provide this House with a clear, concise message. The message we want to hear is that Kathleen Lynch's statement of January 2016 - which is two years and one month ago now - is redundant, and that the HSE, through the Government, will invest in these hospitals to ensure the long-term beds will be secure into the future.

What stands out in the prepared reply on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, is the statement that the services are delivered in buildings that are less than ideal in the modern context. The Minister of State will see this evening, when he visits St. Joseph's, that the facilities there are adequate. I believe that, as do those who have their loved ones there. The Minister of State decided a number of months ago that those facilities would have a derogation so that the HIQA standards would not apply there. I believe the facilities there are as good as those in any other part of the country.

There is also a question mark here over the future of other hospital services, apart from long-term services. This adds to the confusion. In short, we want clarity on this issue. The political decision of 2016 must be reversed, and we must have a plan which is acceptable to all. It needs to be drawn up and put in place to guarantee the future of long-stay accommodation units in the three hospitals. They need to focus on the future-proofing of the long-stay accommodation beds, restoring the bed numbers to what they were a number of years ago and restoring the services for all three hospitals. The facilities in Letterkenny and Ballyshannon which were mentioned are red herrings, because in addition to those, the beds in these three hospitals are required to meet the demographic trends and the aging population in Donegal.

I do not have much more to add. I have listened to both Deputies. After the meeting in Donegal this evening there might be more clarity about the hospitals but I do not have that in writing and I cannot offer the commitment the Deputies are looking for. I apologise to both Deputies if they feel that the written statement I have read out is not appropriate at this moment in time. Perhaps the Minister of State will clarify things this evening when he visits Donegal. I will bring the concerns of the Deputies back to the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, as well as to the Minister of State, Deputy McHugh. I will probably be shot for saying this but it would have helped if the Deputies were at tonight's meeting in Donegal.

We are not there because the Ministers of State chose a day when we could not be there. It is political spin.

NAMA Portfolio

This is a really important issue in the Dublin West and Dublin 15 community. NAMA seems to be allowing whoever owns the land under its jurisdiction to ask the local GAA club to move off that land.

To give the Minister of State a brief background on this particular area, it is one of the most diverse areas in the entire country. It was also one of the worst planned areas in the entire country, thanks to the failure of Fingal County Council and, ultimately, the State, which took the unprecedented decision in the late 1990s to accept money from a developer in lieu of providing open space. When prices of land subsequently crept up during the Celtic tiger years, it was impossible for the local authority to source any land for the local community, leaving a community of more than 2,000 housing units without a blade of grass on which the children could play. It will definitely be an area that will be the subject of a tribunal of some kind in years to come.

Meanwhile, the local community and the GAA club used all their efforts and goodwill to try to create pitches themselves and persuaded the developer, Twinlite Developments, which is also responsible for seeking to evict tenants from its land having sold the houses to a vulture fund, to allow them to use them. They got the council to back it and they raised the money through fundraising events, etc. There is a pitch in front of the local schools and if that pitch is lost to the community, there will be no GAA club in that area; it will be gone. An area cannot have a club if it does not have pitches. They have now been told that they will have an extension for a year. They have a stay of execution for a year, but what will happen next year?

Political decisions have left this community bereft of facilities. I was on the council when a decision was taken by political parties, which are now jumping up and demanding action on this issue, to rezone that piece of land to a local centre, making development of a commercial nature possible on it. That decision should never have been taken, and it should be changed. In terms of what we need now, NAMA needs to be told not to allow any club to be evicted from any land in which it has an interest. It is very clear to people that NAMA only exists to help developers get cleaned up. It is certainly not there to help communities. While we are glad that we have an extension, we also need to make sure that pitches and facilities are provided for the local community.

Twinlite Developments has had its pound of flesh from this area. It sold thousands of houses during the boom and has maintained those homes with people renting them at very generous rents. It is hardly too much to ask it to pass over this piece of land to the local community, which has been left bereft of facilities. The club and the entire community need the support of this House to make sure they get the facilities they so desperately need.

When I was given this issue, I contacted the Taoiseach and I have been made aware of some of the background to it. It is important to note that NAMA has a commercial remit and a statutory objective to obtain the best achievable return for the taxpayer. However, in the context of its commercial remit and consistent with section 2 of the National Asset Management Act 2009, NAMA is at all times open to considering proposals aimed at contributing to broader social and economic objectives.

I am informed by NAMA that the property in question is controlled by a receiver, Mr. Tom O'Brien of Mazars, with NAMA having a secured interest in the property. As the Deputy will appreciate, receivers are obliged to optimise the value of property and other assets under their control and under section 10 of the NAMA Act 2009, NAMA is required to obtain the best achievable financial return for the State from its acquired loans and the properties that secure those loans so that, to the greatest extent possible, the debt outstanding against the assets can be repaid.

Prior to the receiver’s appointment over these lands, the property owner entered into an informal arrangement with Tyrrelstown GAA Club, which granted the club the use of the lands on a temporary basis, free of charge. The agreement with the GAA club was accepted as being no more than a temporary arrangement until such time as the owner of the land, now the receiver, determined the ultimate strategy for the land concerned. It is important to highlight that the site currently occupied by Tyrrelstown GAA Club is zoned for mixed use development under the Fingal development plan. As a result, the long-term use of the site as a sports amenity is not currently possible, unless the plan changes.

As part of the zoning process for the Tyrrelstown area, the property owner ceded 60 acres of lands to Fingal County Council for use for educational sites and amenity space, including playing fields. It is my understanding that Fingal County Council is currently developing the fields on this land, which are due to be completed in 2019.

I am advised that, following discussions, the receiver has agreed to grant Tyrrelstown GAA Club a licence to continue to use the property for another 15 months to the end of May 2019, at which point alternative facilities should be available, and that this arrangement has been accepted in principle by the GAA club. The receiver has been reasonable in his dealings with the club and it is now a matter for the club to engage with Fingal County Council as regards the alternative facilities now being put in place that I mentioned earlier.

While this is a positive development, it is important to reiterate that as NAMA does not own these properties, it is not in a position to compel debtors or receivers to sell their assets at less than market value. While it is clear that NAMA is not in a position to gift land or property, should a community group have an interest in a particular piece of land or property or wish to extend a sports pitch, it should speak, in the first instance, with the debtor or receiver who controls the land.

While working to obtain the best achievable financial return for the taxpayer, the NAMA board is open to proposals that achieve desirable social objectives in a manner that complements the objectives of other public bodies, including Departments, State agencies and local authorities. In line with this, NAMA has facilitated the sale of land and property for a range of public uses including schools, parks and health care facilities.

NAMA also works with local authorities and other public bodies in the planning system to support the achievement of key policy objectives including, for example, the provision of social housing and the resolution of unfinished housing estates. To date, NAMA has facilitated the provision of almost 2,500 properties for social housing.

I believe the approach determined by NAMA's board is contributing in terms of its primary commercial objective, while at the same time contributing to the achievement of wider public policy objectives.

I am thrilled to think the Minister of State thinks a receiver is being very reasonable in allowing this club to stay on the land for another year. Is he aware that it is the same receiver and the same owners of the land who are trying to evict dozens of families in Tyrrelstown from their homes? Does he believe that is reasonable as well? There is nothing reasonable about the way Tyrrelstown has been mis-planned and mis-developed.

This club has been very successful in providing a vital social service, despite all of the odds. I mentioned that Tyrrelstown was a very diverse community. It also has needs and to provide cohesion in a community, it needs sporting and youth facilities. There is nothing for young people in this area. As a result, there are social problems where young people are becoming waylaid and misdirected because they do not have viable and proper outlets and amenities in the area, and the local community has paid the price for that. There has been massive under-investment in this area and in Dublin 15 and while the Taoiseach is boasting about all the great resources that will be brought to Dublin West, there are huge chunks of Dublin West, such as Tyrrelstown, Mulhuddart and many other areas, that are bereft of transport, sporting and social facilities.

The Minister of State mentioned other pitches. There are many Indian, Pakistani and other nationalities who want cricket facilities, and Ireland does quite well at cricket, but the cricket club in Tyrrelstown has not been developed. There is huge competition and demand for the pitches the Minister of State mentioned.

I agree with the Minister of State that it is very unfortunate that parties like his, Fine Gael, and Labour decided to rezone that land and make it commercial. A strip of green in front of two schools should not be used for a commercial and local centre. The place is full of empty shops and buildings. The pub has closed down. The kitchen shop and a furniture shop recently closed down. The pharmacy may close down. The idea that a sports club has to be evicted to provide for commercial use is outrageous.

It is not the case. Rather than support for the receiver, it is a poor show of support for the local community to get what it was let down about in the first instance.

I do not want to get into a bashing session on the zoning, which is really a matter for Fingal County Council.

It is the Minister of State's party also.

Changing the zoning is a matter for the local authority not the House. I speak as the chairman of my local GAA club and I am well aware of the super facilities, sporting opportunities and everything else that clubs bring forward. I am not aware of Tyrellstown GAA directly but if the local authority has organised 60 acres for community and amenity space, it is a lot of ground and there should be space within that for pitches. That is the information I have. The 60 acres that has been made available to Fingal County Council should be sufficient to meet the requirements of any GAA, cricket or other club. Something I support fully and that is happening in local authority areas nationally is the convergence of facilities in one complex or space under the auspices of the local authority. It has happened a great deal in Dublin but not as much in other local authority areas. One cannot ignore the fact where a deal has been done and there is 60 acres available for amenity-----

There are two large schools included in the 60 acres. That is the Department of Education and Skills.

Please, Deputy, let the Minister of State reply.

It is totally disingenuous of him to use that figure. There are schools on those sites.

It is not. The Deputy is talking about what has not been done but she has chosen to ignore what I have read out and what has been done also.

There are schools on the 60 acres so the Minister of State should stop saying that is available.

Crime Levels

I am glad the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, is here and I thank him for taking this Topical Issue himself. I am sure the spike in the number of burglaries is not unique to my area or Cork in general. However, it is a huge problem and people are very concerned and fearful. To place the matter in context, Cork city and county saw 324 burglaries in the last three months of 2017, which represents an increase of 40% year on year. That is to say burglaries were up 40% compared to the last quarter of 2016. Thefts from vehicles were up from 144 to 202, which is also a significant increase. The particular area I am highlighting this evening is the Togher Garda district which includes some of the most rapidly expanding communities in Cork, namely Douglas, Carrigaline, Passage West, Crosshaven and Togher itself. There has been a dramatic surge in the number of burglaries in that area. If one takes the example of the town I live in, Carrigaline, there have been more than 20 burglaries in the last three months alone. There have been burglaries right across the Togher Garda district and beyond, including in Glanmire, Blarney and so on. It seems to be a problem gardaí do not have the resources to respond to adequately. When I sought statistics on Garda resources in my area, the reply I received showed that Cork city got just 38 of the 1,600 new gardaí who have qualified since 2014. The second largest city in the country got just over 2% of the newly qualified gardaí since 2014. We are not getting our fair share. The Minister might hear that from representatives all over the country, but the statistics bear it out in this case.

The Garda stations in my area are very poorly equipped. They are meant to be open for a certain number of hours, but they make it clear that they may not be open during those hours at all in circumstances in which the gardaí on duty may be called away. In Carrigaline and Douglas, which are very large commuter towns, there are no set guaranteed hours during which the Garda stations will be open. People who have very straightforward requirements like having a passport form stamped must go to the district headquarters in Togher as that is the only 24-7 station in the district. My own observation is that there are not enough civilians working there. The Minister has spoken about increased civilianisation but I went there a number of weeks ago myself to get passport forms stamped and I felt sorry for the garda on duty. He was on his own, the phone was hopping and he was trying to answer it and deal with my issue at the same time.

Carrigaline has a population of approximately 17,000 and Douglas has a population of approximately 40,000 but the Garda numbers there are far too low. It is very evident that gardaí do not have the resources they need. We are not seeing enough foot or vehicle patrols by gardaí and there must be more support from the overall Garda division. We need to see Operation Thor in our area and more checkpoints. Visibility is vital, not only as a deterrent but as a way to build confidence among residents in the local community. I am liaising and working with gardaí locally, including the chief superintendent. I have raised these issues directly with the acting Garda Commissioner and I await a detailed response. I hope the Minister will take up these issues and ensure we get greater Garda resources which are appropriate to the scale and growth of the areas I represent.

I assure Deputy Michael McGrath that An Garda Síochána continues carefully to monitor the activities of criminal groups affecting all areas of the country, including Cork city and the surrounding areas as raised by the Deputy. I also assure him that we are ensuring the implementation of strong policing measures to disrupt and dismantle the networks of criminal gangs. The Deputy will appreciate that it is the acting Garda Commissioner and his management team who are responsible for the deployment of Garda resources. However, in terms of specific actions being taken by An Garda Síochána in the district, I am advised by the Garda authorities that as a result of information derived from intelligence sources and investigations, a number of mobile organised criminal gangs have come into focus in Cork. I am further advised that a strong crime prevention element has been put in place in the Cork city division consisting of a number of measures including uniformed Operation Thor patrols, a dedicated detective unit assigned to patrol the off-ramps to Cork city and improved communication between Cork north and Cork west divisions and other regions with motorway access to Cork. These measures are further supported by the armed support unit.

As the Deputy will be aware, very significant resources have been provided to An Garda Síochána, including the overtime allocation of almost €100 million announced in budget 2018, to support large-scale policing operations, including Operation Thor, to which the Deputy referred. It is also worth noting that Operation Thor has now entered its winter phase, which runs from October to April. Indeed, provisional operational material released by the Garda in January of this year indicated a significant drop in burglary rates for the two-month period of November and December 2017. This success has been attributed to the winter phase of Operation Thor. Of course, these figures should be viewed with caution until such time as the publication of the official crime statistics has recommenced.

The scale of Garda activity against burglary and property-related crime under Operation Thor nationally has led to concentrated Garda activity. As of 18 January 2018, 105,790 targeted checkpoints and 99,210 crime prevention patrols have been conducted nationwide. To give the House an idea of the impact of the operation, I note that this concentrated policing activity has produced approximately 6,600 arrests and 7,420 charges covering a range of offences which, in addition to burglary, include handling stolen property, the possession of firearms and many drug offences.

As part of the concerted strategy to combat burglary, the Government has made it a priority to secure the enactment of specific legislation targeting prolific burglars, namely, the Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Act 2015. The provisions of the Act are available to gardaí to support prosecutions arising from Operation Thor. Furthermore, the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act, which has been commenced, introduced the DNA database that provides gardaí with investigative links, or "hits", between people and unsolved crimes, including burglaries. It is anticipated that this will assist in improving detection rates for burglary in the coming years in the Cork city district, referred to by the Deputy, as well as throughout the country.

I thank the Minister. I have to make the case again that the expanding communities I represent need more gardaí. When we look at the overall number of new gardaí and the proportion that has come to my area, it is clear we are not getting a fair share. The communities I represent are growing. Unfortunately, despite the national figure quoted by the Minister, which shows a significant drop in burglary rates in November and December of 2017, we had the opposite experience, with a lot of thefts from cars and many burglaries. These mobile gangs to which the Minister refers have their homework done and they have clearly been surveying properties for God knows how long. The trend has been early evening burglaries when the home is empty and the gangs focus, in particular, on the older housing estates in my area.

This is a significant problem. What people want above all else is to see more gardaí. They want greater visibility, they want a local Garda station that works and that is open as much as it possibly can be to service their area. They want more Garda patrols and more checkpoints, and they want to see gardaí on the beat in the local community. The Minister hears this from all over the country but surely areas that are growing in population, where the demand is expanding, deserve to get extra resources. The fact is that we are not currently getting this and, in overall terms, despite massive population growth, my Garda district is still well below 2010-2011 Garda strength levels.

That is the key issue. I want to plant that seed. I ask the Minister to raise this with the acting Garda Commissioner and to try to get some practical progress, so people can see there is a change and that their area does matter for An Garda Síochána and the Minister.

I assure Deputy Michael McGrath that I have taken careful note of the points he has raised and I would be happy to engage further with him. We must all remain vigilant in the fight against all forms of criminality across communities, urban and rural. I assure the Deputy that the acting Garda Commissioner and I remain in ongoing contact in the context of the deployment of Garda resources in line with new and emerging trends. Operation Thor is proving most successful to date and the Government remains committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has an appropriate level of resources to tackle crime in our communities. Indeed, the recent budget will support the continuation of this high-level investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track.

I agree that availability and visibility are all-important, and that is now what we are seeing across communities in terms of an increased presence of gardaí since the reopening of the Garda College in Templemore under this Government. A further 800 new recruits will enter the college and an additional 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. I agree with the Deputy on the matter of form-filling and passport applications. In addition, we have plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve, with new reserves expected to commence training in early 2018.

I assure the House and Deputy Michael McGrath that all Garda activities, including community policing, will undoubtedly benefit from the resources now coming on stream through the Garda recruitment programme and, in particular, the commitment on the part of the Government to increase Garda numbers so that the force will have the capacity to address the needs of communities throughout the country, including in Cork and other areas, well into the future.

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