I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell.
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Legislative Process
I, too, welcome the Minister of State. He is a very good and diligent colleague, a very hard worker for our party and was also very good to me when he was Chair of the Committee on Transport and Communications, which I commend him on.
I am about to have a hissy fit and it is not personal. Deputy O'Donnell is a Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and this is a matter about families and it is under the Department of Health. It is outrageous the Department of Health saw fit to send in someone from a different Department to address what is a very serious issue for families and it also, a Chathaoirligh, shows absolute contempt to the Seanad that the Department of Health thinks such a response is all right. I completely object to that.
Last December, the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, came out in a great flurry and was very well-received by the surrogacy community in Ireland for the announcement of the memo to Cabinet about the fact the Government is going to legislate for international surrogacy. Such legislation will have two elements, namely, a prospective one for babies that will be born and a retrospective one to address the babies born and families living here where the second parent in all those families has no standing in law - none - with regard to their child. If the child is more than two years old and the parent has cohabited with that child, the parent gets an opportunity to apply to the District Court for guardianship of that child. The parent does so only on the consent of the biological father of that child. If that relationship has broken down, that ends up in a very abusive, coercive situation. Irish Families Through Surrogacy and I are supporting at least ten families, predominantly women and two men, who are the second parents in these situations and are having their access to their own child limited. Thus the child may be weaponised in situations of family breakdown. There are also situations where the biological father has a terminal or very serious illness. In the event of that father's death, the child would be left with no parent in the State.
I can predict the Minister of State's speech. I predict it says this is complicated, there are many amendments to come through and we are the first state to legislate for this, which is a lie, by the way. I have heard these speeches from the Department of Health a million times at this stage. It is not good enough. There are families suffering detriment because of the fact the Government is slow and not urgent about bringing forth this legislation.
This week I made a very simple data subject access request in respect of my daughter concerning a very small matter. I sent in her birth certificate and stated I am her mother and am entitled to make that claim. They came back contesting that because the birth certificate is a foreign one. I had to produce the court orders to prove I am the mother of my child. That is not good enough. I should have had an Irish document that shows my parental order. My child should have an official State document that has my husband and me as her parents. As for the possibility that the relationship between myself and my husband were to break down, I am thankful we have strong marriage but I had to say as much in the email. I had to say this is a District Court order for guardianship and custody but our relationship is very sound. You end up overexplaining your personal life because the Government has dragged its heels and is making an absolute meal out of this when there should have been a level or urgency.
The report of the Joint Committee on International Surrogacy was delivered last July and we are now into February. I need a timeline for when these amendments are going to get into the committee so applications can be made to the court.
I acknowledge how serious an issue this is for families. Obviously, Senator Seery Kearney has been a pioneer on this, has campaigned on this and has done a huge amount of political work on it. It is a matter that needs to be expedited. With that, I begin by thanking the Senator for giving me, on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, the opportunity to inform the House of the up-to-date position in respect of introducing legislative provisions for the regulation of international surrogacy and historic surrogacy arrangements.
As the Senator is aware, the Minister for Health, together with the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Children Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, submitted proposals for the consideration of Cabinet in respect of both the regulation of international surrogacy and the recognition of certain past domestic and international surrogacy arrangements. This policy direction and draft outline legislative scheme were approved by Government in mid December 2022, and the Minister wrote to the Attorney General before Christmas to request the prioritisation of the formal drafting of these legislative amendments.
The drafting process by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, in conjunction with the three Departments, as appropriate, is well under way. I have followed up on it myself. It is being prioritised. I have spoken to officials directly and people are working exclusively on this issue in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in the Attorney General's office. I am aware of how important it is for both the Senator and for parents, of which she is one. The intention is to insert the finalised new legislative provisions in respect of international surrogacy and past surrogacy arrangements into the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022 on Committee Stage, along with any other proposed amendment to the published Bill. These new provisions will need to be approved by the Government following completion of formal drafting by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. That was agreed in December 2022. The process, therefore, of drafting new provisions in respect of prospective international surrogacy, the recognition of past domestic surrogacy arrangements and the recognition of past international surrogacy arrangements is being undertaken in tandem with the drafting of potentially substantial proposed amendments to the 11 Parts and 134 pages of the published Bill.
On behalf of the three Ministers and the Government, I reiterate their gratitude for the work undertaken by the special Oireachtas Joint Committee on International Surrogacy, of which the Senator was an esteemed member. She made reference to the report that is informing these amendments. The stated position of the three Ministers and the Government is to seek, insofar as appropriate and possible, to implement the recommendations of the committee. However, Senator Seery Kearney will appreciate that it is crucial the final detailed provisions are robust and able to withstand rigorous scrutiny, given the range of complexities involved, the rights of the various parties involved in surrogacy arrangements and the necessity to ensure consistency with any related existing legislation in the Statute Book. I understand the Senator's frustration but I think everyone here wants to get this right. In this regard, it should also be noted that the three Departments are not aware of any other state that has attempted to provide such a bespoke and comprehensive legislative solution to the issues arising from its own citizens engaging in international surrogacy. The Senator has already made reference to that. The Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, is aware, and completely understands the reasons Senator Seery Kearney is eager to know when these amendments will be ready for publication. However, at this juncture a definitive timeline as to when Committee Stage of the Bill will be scheduled cannot be provided. I have spoken to the Minister and the official. I have asked for it to be prioritised. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that the three Ministers will be in a position to bring the proposed new three surrogacy Parts of the Bill to Cabinet within the next couple of months. Finally, the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, wants to reassure Senators, particularly Senator Seery Kearney, that he wishes to progress this much-needed and long-awaited historic legislation as quickly as possible. He wants to ensure that both the goal of providing a route to formal recognition by the State of past surrogacy arrangements or surrogacy arrangements in other jurisdictions is achieved and that a robust regulatory framework for assisted human reproduction more broadly is put in place.
As a colleague, I know that if the Minister of State stands here and says he has made the phone calls and gives that reassurance, I know that he has. I am grateful for that. However, there are other concerns here. For example, the position paper approved by the Cabinet talks about application to the High Court for retrospective surrogacies. The regulatory authority would also have to be established. If that is what we are looking at my daughter, who is now almost eight, will be ten or 12 at the rate at which this is operating. Even were the legislation to be in place by the summer, we are still looking at another year before there will be applications to court. People like me, whose documentation has already had judicial oversight on not one but two occasions still have to apply and go to the expense of applying to the High Court. There are things in this, which are not person-centred or child-centred. As there is no sense of urgency, I ask the Minister of State to bring that back. It is my understanding that the Attorney General is sticking strictly by the High Court. I will be objecting to that all of the way through, as being totally unnecessary and cumbersome unless they are going to financially support it. We have already paid out tens of thousands to get in and get the legal orders we already have. It is unacceptable that there are any more delays like that.
I will conclude by emphasising the urgency with which the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, wishes to be in a position to bring the new surrogacy provisions on Committee Stage of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022 to the Select Committee on Health for consideration. He is particularly determined to seek a way to speedily resolve the predicament and uncertainty faced by parents of existing children born through surrogacy. Although it would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases, he is fully aware of the difficult situations some families face in ongoing court proceedings. Other key principles underpinning any new legislation measures on international surrogacy will be protection of the rights of all children born as a result of cross-border surrogacy arrangements and the safeguarding of the welfare of surrogacy mothers. I will bring the points raised by the Senator back to the Minister. I will ask him to correspond directly with her. It is a matter she has highlighted and it is a matter I will bring to the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, and I will ask him to communicate directly with her on those points. Formulating legislation adhering to these principles is challenging, given the absence of an international framework, and the challenges associated with overseeing practices and services in other jurisdictions. This includes having assurances that surrogacy arrangements are of the highest ethical standards and prioritising those who may be most vulnerable to exploitation in international surrogacy. However, building on the work of the Oireachtas committee, of which the Senator was a member, and the interdepartmental group, the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, hopes to be able to put forward the finalised new legislation to Cabinet shortly and ideally, when approved, to brief the Oireachtas accordingly .
National Children's Hospital
I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House today. This morning I seek an update from the Minister for Health on the proposal to name the new national children's hospital after Dr. Kathleen Lynn. The campaign to name the national children's hospital after Dr. Kathleen Lynn has been led by the 1916 Relatives Association and has the support of my own party, Fianna Fáil, as well as of SIPTU and Fórsa. It also has the support of Dr. Kathleen Lynn's alma mater, Alexandra College, and other political parties, non-political parties and organisations like the National Women's Council of Ireland. There is broad support for the campaign and the proposal to name the national children's hospital after Dr. Kathleen Lynn. For those who are not aware, Dr. Kathleen Lynn was both a medical doctor and a revolutionary. Maybe we would call her a disrupter in modern parlance. She was a pioneer of children's and women's health, and a champion of social justice. She was born in Mayo, she was not a Dubliner, in 1874. She studied medicine and was a suffragist. She was involved in both the 1913 Lock-out and the 1916 Rising. She was arrested and imprisoned. She did time in Kilmainham and Mountjoy prisons. Following all of that, which one would think was enough excitement in one woman's life, in 1919 she founded St. Ultan's Hospital, the first children's hospital. That was but a stone's throw from here on Charlemont Street. In that hospital she pioneered the provision of healthcare for children and women, many of whom would never have had access to healthcare. Certainly they would not have had access to professional healthcare. She has a legacy today that we all enjoy. She started and fostered a tradition of caring for children and those health needs that are particular to children and their mothers. She cared for women's health needs. Women's healthcare has come a long way but still has so much further to go. She was a woman who provided healthcare to people of a socioeconomic background who would never have been able to access it. She not only championed it as a value. She lived it and made it real. Her legacy is undisputable. Her contribution to our Republic we still enjoy. We rightly celebrate the fathers of our Republic but there is very little celebration of the mothers of our Republic. Very few women of Irish history are properly and appropriately commemorated. I believe, together with many others, that the creation of a national children's hospital providing best in class, up to date, best quality healthcare for our children is absolutely what our State should be doing.
That care and provision should be informed by the values of Dr. Kathleen Lynn. The values of provision of healthcare based on one's health needs and the provision of healthcare based on social justice. What I would like today is an update from the Department of Health and the Minister for Health on what the process is and where the Department is in the process of naming the national children's hospital after Dr. Kathleen Lynn.
I thank the Senator on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, for this opportunity to update the House on this important matter. The children's hospital project will truly transform how paediatric care is delivered in Ireland. The new children's hospital building is at the heart of this transformation bringing the acute paediatric hospital service and specialties in Children's Health Ireland under one roof for the first time, leading to improved clinical outcomes and a better experience for children, young people and their families. This is a much-needed and much-deserved investment in our children and young people and for the dedicated staff working in children's health in Ireland who are currently providing excellent care. This much-needed reform will support the expert tertiary and higher level care treatment for all children and young people, who represent 25% of our population, in world-class state-of-the-art facilities where healthcare providers can deliver care leading to better health outcomes.
In satellite centres we already see the benefits of the investment in the new children's hospital project with the two new pediatric centres in Tallaght University Hospital and Connolly Hospital helping to reduce waiting times for children, young people and their families. In 2022 more than 22,000 children presented to the urgent care centre at Children's Health Ireland, CHI, at Connolly Hospital. More than 92% were discharged home after their visit. There have also been more than 15,000 outpatients attending CHI Connolly. In 2022, more than 36,000 children presented to the emergency care unit at CHI at Tallaght Hospital with more than 4,000 outpatients attending. Both of the satellite centres provide a new model of ambulatory care fully aligned with Sláintecare, ensuring the right care in the right place at the right time.
On the naming of the hospital, which is the matter the Senator put forward for debate today, following its establishment Children's Health Ireland was put on a statutory footing in 2009 and the opening of the satellite centres in Connolly and Tallaght, Children's Health Ireland's sites are currently referred to as CHI Crumlin, CHI Temple Street, CHI Tallaght and CHI Connolly. As the physical building progresses apace on the new children's hospital there is an emerging need for a permanent name to be assigned to the hospital, as the Senator identified. A clear name and entity are essential for identification purposes to enable the organisation to raise awareness of its services and view the name with a positive messaging association. The Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, is aware of this need and of the importance of the name of the new children's hospital and as such the process for naming the children's hospital is currently under consideration.
I will conclude by noting that the new children's hospital is more than just bricks and mortar. It is a key enabler of strategic reform of the way we deliver health services for our children and young people. This hospital, and the wider pediatric network, will provide the right care in the right place and at the right time for the children and young people of Ireland. The process for naming the new children's hospital is currently under active consideration by the Minister.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. I should have thanked everybody who is still working on the construction of the hospital. That was remiss of me. It is tremendous to see it coming out of the ground and everybody who has worked on it is to be congratulated and commended. It will absolutely transform not only the provision of care for the patients, the young people who are 25% of our population, as the Minister of State referenced, but it will also transform the work environment for everybody who works in the hospital. I also commend and thank, and we can never do so enough, those who work in our health services, and not just in Crumlin and Temple Street, which is in my constituency of Dublin Central, but in Tallaght and Connolly, the Mater and the Rotunda. Our GPs and our community nurses are fantastic.
In terms of the naming of the hospital, I take encouragement from the Minister of State's reply because I think it acknowledged and recognised that there is a need for a proper identity for the hospital and a naming of the hospital that is appropriate and will not just represent the future of paediatric care but also the values that will inform it. Those values are captured perfectly in the name of Dr. Kathleen Lynn as are the values of social justice, equality and care for children and those who need it.
Once again I thank the Senator for her contribution on this matter. I can see how passionate she is in respect of putting forward the name of Dr. Kathleen Lynn as the name. This significant undertaking and the children's hospital project shows the commitment of the Government to develop paediatric services for children and young people, or dare I say to further develop them. The key enabler of the new children's hospital project will be the hub, a national network of paediatric services. This network will support regional local hospitals to deliver acute paediatric care close to home for children, finding more ambulatory care, and integrated locally with community provision. The two supporting satellite centres at Connolly and Tallaght, which represent major milestones as part of the wider reform effort, are completely and fully operational. This hospital, and the wider paediatric network, will substantially develop children and young people's healthcare within the wider Sláintecare vision, providing the right care in the right place at the right time for children and young people throughout Ireland for generations to come. As previously stated, and in terms of the key element of the Senator's Commencement matter this morning, the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, is mindful of the importance of the naming of the new children's hospital and as such the process for naming the new children's hospital is currently under active consideration.
Rail Network
I wish to raise once again the issue of the western rail corridor and the all-island strategic rail review that has been sitting in draft form on the desk of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, but has not yet been published. When I raised this matter a number of weeks ago, I was told by the Minister that he was not in a position to publish the document. He said that because it is an all-island strategic rail review, there is a need for an Executive and a Minister for Infrastructure to be in place in Northern Ireland because they have to publish the document jointly. I raise this matter because the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, has said he will not be calling assembly elections for another year, which would be January 2024. Now is the time for the Minister to reflect, change his position and publish, without further delay, the all-island strategic rail review in order that we in the South can advance our rail projects. Surely it is not reasonable or acceptable to delay the advancement of our rail projects while we wait for those in politics in Northern Ireland to get their act together. When will the all-island strategic rail review be published? When will we see the projects to which I refers being advanced and delivered? In that context, I am specifically interested in the western rail corridor and the line from Athenry to Claremorris.
I thank Senator Chambers for the opportunity to address this issue. I would first like to outline the Minister for Transport's belief in the potential of rail. The Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options, and the rail network plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. As the Senator is aware, the Department of Transport, in co-operation with the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland, has commissioned an all-island strategic rail review. The two Departments have collaborated closely throughout the review. The Ministers for Transport and Infrastructure have met on several occasions to launch the review, announce the public consultation and to be updated on the latest progress. The results of the review will inform the development of the railway sector on the island of Ireland over the coming decades.
The strategic rail review considers the future of the rail network with regard to the following ambitions: improving sustainable connectivity between the major cities, including the potential for high or higher speed rail; enhancing regional accessibility; and supporting balanced regional development and rail connectivity to our international gateways. The review is considering the scope for improved rail services and infrastructure along the various existing or potential future corridors of the network, including disused and closed lines, such as the western rail corridor, which the Senator made reference to. The review has been informed by a public consultation process, which concluded last year and which received a great response both North and South.
A draft report is being finalised. I have made inquiries WITH the Minister and his officials ,and I expect the Minister will receive a draft of the report within the next month. The draft report will be submitted for approval to both Ministers, as well as the Irish Government. After the necessary approvals have been secured, the Department of Transport will publish the report. Until the report is finalised, it would be premature to discuss publication arrangements or specific projects within the report. However, it is worth emphasising that this has been a collaborative effort between the two Departments from the outset. This is the first all-island review of the network since the formation of the State and will provide a framework to develop a much-improved rail network in the decades ahead. I look forward to its publication as I believe the review will provide an opportunity for transformative system change.
I feel it is also important that the Senator notes the huge investment already being made in our rail network. I note the point she raised in respect of the Northern Ireland Secretary. My understanding is that if the assembly is not restored by 18 January next year, he will then request an election within 12 weeks. We live in hope that it will be restored prior to that date. I note the Senator's point and it is a matter I will bring back to the Minister.
The DART+ programme will triple the amount of electrified track in the greater Dublin area from 50 km to 150 km, resulting in a lower carbon and higher capacity system, with more frequent and faster passenger services. I will just cover these projects generally. A ten-year fleet arrangement between Irish Rail and Alstom also received Government approval in December 2021. The rail network in Cork is benefiting from significant new investment. The Government also recognises the importance of the rail freight sector. I am pleased that funding has been announced for redevelopment of Ceannt Station in Galway and track and station improvements at Oranmore. Both projects are scheduled to be completed by 2024 or 2025. In November 2022, the Government approved the final business case for the Waterford North Quays project, allocating over €170 million in Exchequer funding to the project.
I thank the Senator for her interest in this matter and look forward to hearing her comments. I note the points she raised. I will come back on some of the other points in my concluding remarks.
I appreciate the Minister of State listening to the comments I made and responding to them because perhaps that was not information he would have been in a position to give. The Minister of State's response reads, "After the necessary approvals have been secured, the Department of Transport will publish the report." Can he please tell me what necessary approvals are required for the report to be published? He also said it would be premature to discuss publication arrangements or specific projects until the report is finalised. I do not agree that it would be premature to discuss publication arrangements. We can absolutely discuss publication arrangements. Is it the Minister's intention to publish when the report is finalised? What does he need in order to publish it?
As the Minister of State indicated, we hope that we will see an assembly and an Executive restored before next year but they may not be restored within the year. They may not be restored within the next five years. We have no idea. The idea that we would delay development of our projects and the publication of this worthwhile report, considering the public interest in it and the interest in contributing to the public consultation, and that we would sit back and wait for politics in the North to get its act together is absolute madness. The Minister of State has already alluded to the importance of this type of work. We have seen already the success of the western rail corridor in the Limerick to Galway section. The numbers continue to grow, despite all the challenges. The west of Ireland is a disadvantaged region when it comes to every metric. Whether it is public investment in infrastructure, our roads network or our rail network, we lag behind every other region. We need this project. In the west of Ireland, we would like to have public transport like everywhere else. We would like this rail connectivity. My question is very specific. What exactly are the necessary approvals in order to publish the report? What is needed? Is it the Minister's intention to publish once the draft is finalised?
The Senator's first question was about the approval process. As I said, a draft report is being finalised. The Minister expects to receive that within the next month. The draft report will be submitted to the Ministers for approval, as well as the Irish Government. The necessary approvals, based on what has been provided to me today, would be from both Executives, that is, the Government here and the Executive in the North. The Department will then publish the report. Until the report is published, it would be premature to discuss publication arrangements or specific projects within the report. That is the approval process.
Uniquely, the strategic rail review is being conducted on an all-Ireland basis, in full co-operation with our colleagues in the Northern Ireland Executive and at an official level within the Department for Infrastructure, to provide a holistic overview of the potential of rail on the island. The review is considering the scope for improved railway services and infrastructure along the various existing and potential future corridors, including disused and closed railways. It would be premature to commit to the reopening of the western rail corridor or any line before the review is finalised. It should be noted that the reopening of disused lines is endorsed by the review. A comprehensive body of work would still be required before any such decision is taken, in accordance with the public spending code and other guidelines and regulations. Reopening the line to passenger traffic would initially involve a detailed baseline survey to understand the requirements to bring the line back within operating safety and regulatory compliance.
As I said, the Government is not waiting to continue to invest in the rail network. I made reference to DART programmes and Cork commuter programmes in this regard. The Senator's points are well made. I will bring them back to the Minister.
School Staff
I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. This is an important matter. It calls on the Minister for Education to introduce a voluntary national post-primary redeployment panel which would facilitate the transfer of teachers from one area of the country to another while retaining their permanent status under contracts of indefinite duration, CIDs. As someone who taught in an education and training board, ETB, school in Waterford city until my election to this House, I know this issue very well. I had colleagues who commuted very long distances to work. Some are happy to do so while others wish to be closer to home but cannot move because they would risk their job security. It is a fact that some teachers are commuting up to 200 km per day, probably more, which is not conducive to a healthy lifestyle. That is even before one considers the carbon emissions involved. I know the Minister of State will say that a teacher in one area can apply for employment in another in the normal fashion. However, that misses the point that doing so involves risk. In the best-case scenario, everything works out and the teacher is interviewed again after 12 months, which is another bugbear of mine that I will not pursue now. In that best-case scenario, everything works out and the teacher has a permanent contract, going forward. However, let us consider a worst-case scenario. A teacher leaves a permanent position in Waterford and takes a 12-month contract in Cork. After 12 months, the teacher re-interviews for the position and the job is given to someone else or the hours are reduced. That leaves the teacher in a vulnerable position. Perhaps the teacher has family and mortgage commitments. It is easy to see why teachers would not risk leaving a permanent position in one location to seek employment in another, even though it would be better for them and would allow them to be closer to their families, obligations and support networks.
A group of teachers operates under the name "fair post-primary redeployment for teachers". The group has been campaigning on this issue for some time. Its membership totals approximately 700 teachers nationwide, all of whom feel that this is a necessary change. I agree with them. There is a redeployment scheme in place on a yearly basis but only a small number of applicants are successful. One of the reasons is that one must apply in February for redeployment but schools in a particular area may not know they have a shortage until much later and closer to the next academic year. The number of teachers who are successfully redeployed is small. The group is seeking something I support, that is, the introduction of a voluntary scheme that would facilitate the transfer of a teacher from one location to another if there is a matching teacher in the other location. Perhaps a PE teacher in Waterford is looking to move closer to family in Wicklow and a PE teacher in Wicklow is looking to move to Waterford. How can that not be facilitated? It makes complete sense. Those teachers are unhappy in their workplaces. The schools have two unhappy teachers who want to be closer to home and their support networks. If you are unhappy in your working environment, you cannot give your all in the classroom, and that negatively affects students. It makes complete sense to facilitate such a transfer of teachers between locations. I suggest that a dialogue commences between the Department, the ETBs and the unions on this matter. It has been put on the long finger for far too long. It makes sense. I ask the Minister of State to relay that message to the Minister, Deputy Foley. Dialogue needs to commence as a matter of urgency.
I thank the Senator for raising this issue as it affords me the opportunity to outline the position with regard to teacher redeployment schemes operating in post-primary schools. I am responding to the matter on behalf of the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley. I note the points the Senator has raised about redeployment. I will bring those back to the Minister and will highlight the points the Senator has made.
Teacher allocations to all second level schools are approved annually by the Department of Education in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment. The criteria for the allocation of posts are communicated to school management annually and are available on the Department's website.
The recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill teaching posts is a matter for each individual school authority as the employer. The deployment of teaching staff in the school, the range of subjects offered and ultimately the quality of teaching and learning are in the first instance a matter for the individual school management authorities.
Post-primary schools employ teachers with the appropriate subject mix to provide for a range of subjects that can be offered to students. It is an important aspect of the annual timetabling process that schools work towards achieving this outcome where possible. Matching the subject mix on offer with the qualifications of individual teachers who typically have more than one subject can be a challenging task for schools. It is important that schools as employers retain the flexibility to employ teachers with the capacity to teach varied subjects to maintain a wide range of subjects on offer to students. I note the point the Senator raised in respect of the February deadline and that is a matter I will highlight to the Minister.
The core function of the redeployment arrangements is to facilitate the redeployment of surplus permanent teachers to other schools where vacancies exist. Such a scenario may occur in instances where enrolment drops in a school.
Redeployment may also arise in instances where the qualifications of teachers no longer match the subject needs of the school or where surpluses arise from the inclusion of career break and secondment service in the eligibility criteria for granting a contract of indefinite duration. This scheme includes provision for a teacher in a surplus school who wishes to volunteer to redeploy from that school to another location subject to the agreement of school management. Where this occurs, compulsory redeployment can be avoided. Ensuring efficiency in the annual redeployment processes is significant in terms of managing the overall teacher numbers and help to provide a supply of teachers to fill vacancies.
Following discussions and agreement with relevant stakeholders, a voluntary redeployment scheme has operated on a pilot basis in specific regions in recent years. Permanent teachers employed in these regions are given an opportunity to volunteer for a transfer to other areas of the country if such a transfer would free up a vacancy that would facilitate the redeployment of a surplus permanent teacher in that region. To date, the pilot voluntary redeployment scheme has operated in 24 counties. The pilot voluntary redeployment scheme helps the Department to achieve its objective of redeploying all the surplus permanent teachers. Teachers who apply under the pilot voluntary scheme and are not facilitated with a transfer continue to have the option of applying for posts in their preferred location that are advertised in the normal manner. I have no doubt but that the Senator will address some of the points I have raised.
Since the introduction of redeployment at post-primary level, more than 800 teachers have been redeployed ensuring an equitable and fair teacher allocation system to all schools. The teacher redeployment arrangements are reviewed annually by the Department of Education involving the education stakeholders, including teacher unions and management bodies. It is open to members of the school community to liaise with their representative bodies on any matters of concern they may have.
As part of the review, the education stakeholders can raise issues or concerns with the Department in respect of the operation of the redeployment process generally. The review in respect of the 2023-2024 redeployment process took place last December with education stakeholders.
The pilot voluntary redeployment scheme will operate in counties Longford, Westmeath, Laois and Offaly for 2023-2024 school year. The criteria for the allocation of teachers to schools including the redeployment arrangements for the 2023-2024 school year is available on the Department's website.
I appreciate the Minister of State is only relaying the information he has been given. He made comments in respect of the operation of the pilot voluntary redeployment scheme, which is fantastic for counties Longford, Westmeath, Laois and Offaly, but what about every other county in the country? There are teachers in those areas who want to get closer to home and if there is a matching teacher in another location, it does not make sense for a redeployment not to be facilitated. A teacher should be able to move from one location to another while retaining his or her permanence and without risking job security, considering all of the obligations a teacher may have. We cannot recommend to an individual that he or she take such a risk. The scheme only applies to surplus staff.
The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, responded to my colleague, Senator Seán Kyne, in the Chamber last year on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Foley. She said that "... the only way to reach a solution to an issue is through positive engagement around the table". I could not agree more, but that has not happened. I am suggesting dialogue between the Department of Education, the ETBs and the unions to come up with an acceptable scheme that makes sense to facilitate teachers who wish to move from one location to another while retaining their permanence.
Anything less would just be tinkering around the edges. It makes sense and it needs to happen soon.
I thank Senator Cummins again for giving me the opportunity to outline to the Seanad the position on the different redeployment schemes operating in the post-primary sector and how the voluntary transfer scheme helps to deliver on the important objective of successfully redeploying surplus post-primary teachers to where they are needed most. I note the point he has made in respect of the pilot schemes. It has operated in 24 counties but not all at once. At present it operates in counties Longford, Westmeath, Laois and Offaly. I note the point Senator Cummins has raised and I will bring it back to the Minister, Deputy Foley. I also note the point Senator Cummins has raised on dialogue and engagement between the Department of Education, the education and training boards and the unions, and I will bring it back to the Minister. Dialogue is key.
It is important that the voluntary aspect of the redeployment process does not inadvertently cause undue delays for the recruitment of teachers by schools or cause additional challenges to teacher supply throughout the country. Members of the school community are advised to discuss areas of concern with their representative bodies. The review in respect of the 2023-24 redeployment process took place last December with education stakeholders and the pilot voluntary redeployment scheme will operate in the four counties I have named. The criteria for the allocation of teachers to schools, including the redeployment arrangements for the 2023-24 school year, are available on the Department of Education's website. I note the points Senator Cummins has raised and I will bring them to the attention of the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, for her consideration.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 11.22 a.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 11.30 a.m.
Sitting suspended at 11.22 a.m. and resumed at 11.30 a.m.