Seanad debates
Tuesday, 21 May 2024
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Healthcare Infrastructure Provision
1:00 pm
Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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Before our guests in the Gallery leave, I forgot a very important issue. One of the few powers the Cathaoirleach to the Seanad has is to decree that the children have no homework for the rest of the week.
John Cummins (Fine Gael)
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As a former teacher, I am sure the teacher is probably not best pleased with that. The students are probably happy.
I thank the Minister of State for taking this Commencement matter. Like the Minister of State, I am extremely passionate about the need for a new purpose-built multidisciplinary early intervention and respite care centre for children with complex additional needs on the grounds of St. Otteran's Hospital in Waterford city. In February 2021, our colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, responded to my Commencement matter on this very topic and confirmed that the project was in the capital plan. That was fantastic news to receive at the time. The Minister of State went on to communicate the timelines she was given by the HSE. She said the design team would be procured by the end of that year, 2021, and it was expected that the project would go out to tender in late 2022 with construction due to commence in 2023. Construction was estimated to last for a period of between 18 and 24 months. Of course, the usual caveats of the project being a dynamic process and subject to approval at various stages were stated.
I understand, as spokesperson on housing, that projects can be delayed when they go to the detailed design stage and further reworking of plans can cause delays. However, to be standing here in 2024 without the project having progressed to a construction tender is simply not good enough from the HSE estates.I want to know what is going on with this much-needed project for children with complex needs in Waterford city and the surrounding areas.
When I spoke in 2021, I described the inadequate nature of the existing Sacred Heart Centre and the associated disability services which operate from Johnstown industrial estate. I spoke about the narrow corridors, the poor ventilation, the inadequate parking and set-down areas, the lack of a sensory room, the health and safety risks, the lack of soundproofing and the lack of storage space for SLT and PT equipment. To be honest, these are the same today as they were three years ago. The Sacred Heart Centre was built over 44 years ago and the industrial unit in Johnstown is just that - an industrial unit that was leased back in 2003. Despite the amazing staff and the amazing parents who do Trojan work and provide an excellent service, the buildings they are operating from are simply not fit for purpose. That is why the failure of the HSE to meet its own timelines that it gave to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is very disappointing. I hope there will be some light at the end of the tunnel and that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, will be able to shed further light on this project. The most recent census figures for Waterford show that the number of children aged under 19 with a disability of great extent stood at 1,301. Therefore, the need for an integrated multidisciplinary centre to deliver for that young population and their families cannot be underestimated.
I have to highlight the fantastic committee, Touching Hearts, whose members have been fundraising for this project since 2017. They have committed €1 million to the project and raised over half of that total. When I was mayor in 2016 and 2017, I had the pleasure of making it one of the beneficiaries of my mayor’s ball. I compliment the committee, the staff, the parents and everyone associated with this. They are absolutely determined and committed to the delivery of this project, which will be transformational for this and future generations. However, they cannot wait any longer as they have waited too long already. This project has gone on for too long and it has to be fast-tracked from here. If it is the case that other services are trying to piggyback on this project to make it what it was not, and that is what is delaying it, this needs to be called out. People need to be told that this is a project that is for this purpose and we are driving on with it.
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising this very important issue. As he said, he and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, have at all times been championing this project. The Senator referred to Touching Hearts and I know Deputy Butler often talks about her niece, Amy, who attends its services.
I will be honest and give the Senator some information that will not be in my script. I really struggled to get a response for him today. The response I got is nothing more than a response of no progress, to be honest. It talks about my priorities. We all know my priorities, and capital is one of my them. Senator Cummins, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, and I continuously champion projects that have been long-fingered for far too long. I take on board exactly what the Senator has asked for, which is the fast-tracking of this project. I again thank the Touching Hearts charity for its enormous fundraising of €1 million.
Before I came to the House today, the current position regarding the project was brought to my attention. The stage 1 report from the design team in quarter 3 of 2023 estimated that the cost of the project would be dealt with through a significant funding allocation. The HSE disability services and HSE capital and estates are arranging stakeholder engagement to review the project and to provide a revised scheme of works for funding approval. The revised scope of works is expected to be completed in the next few months.
This was a priority when the Senator raised it as a Commencement matter back in 2021.It was prioritised within that capital plan to move it along. What the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, said on the floor of this Chamber has not been honoured. I will have to ask HSE estates why not. It is regrettable news for people listening in because St. Otteran's has been on the capital plan since 2014, ten years ago. At all times, I have tried to move St. Otteran's through the capital plan. There is communication from my office, over and back, where prioritisation has been given to St. Otteran's. The wonderful service it provides to the most vulnerable is critically needed. The staff that work there are amazing because they provide phenomenal support and services to the most vulnerable, but the conditions are not what we expect our staff to work in. Given the amount of equipment and storage required, they cannot deliver the interventions that are so needed.
The Senator is right that the ask in 2014 and the ask in 2024 are different. All the family, staff and board require is a fit-for-purpose building that any child who has to access it would be proud to enter. To meet basic needs, we need a far more welcoming, inclusive environment than the bricks and mortar that welcome those young people today. I will continue to work with the Senator and with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. I will convene that task force as soon as I can.
John Cummins (Fine Gael)
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I am disappointed with the response but I know the Minister of State gets under the hood of things and clearly, we need to get under the hood of what has been going on here. To go from procuring a design team in 2021 to only having stage 1 completed in quarter 3 of 2023, when construction was due to commence in 2023, does not tally.
Questions have to be asked of HSE estates. What has that office been doing over the past couple of years that it is unable to bring the project through to detailed design and tender? It is unacceptable. There are people in that office that clearly have not been doing their jobs. The Minister of State has to come in and answer questions from me because the stakeholders are asking me where is this project to provide much-needed services for their children. The Minister of State has their best interests at heart, as do I, but there are clearly people sitting in offices who are not thinking of the urgency of this project and have been long-fingering it for whatever reason.
I ask that the Minister of State convene all the bodies and have a meeting in the next couple of weeks on this, pulling in the people from estates and the stakeholders with the Minister of State to get to the bottom of what has gone on here. It is unacceptable a priority project for the HSE and for children with complex needs has not been fast-tracked. When we spoke in 2021, we said those timelines were not quick enough and now we find out they are further delayed.
Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I will work with the Senator and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, to convene that meeting of all the relevant stakeholders. Accountability is where it is at. I hope CHO 5, under the new leadership of the RHA, prioritises disabilities. For far too long in regions of this country, HSE estates did not prioritise capital development for disabilities.
I welcome that I have my own budget of €23 million.It has now come across to the Department. I will liaise with Bernard Gloster to ensure we have a point of contact for capital projects so that when they go on a capital plan they are followed through. It is the Senator's job and my job to advocate to get the funding to ensure that it actually meets the different stages throughout. The Senator and I cannot go out with a shovel and build it. However, there are people who are tasked and paid to ensure that delivery happens. Under my stewardship I can assure the Senator and assure the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, that I will be convening a meeting before the end of the month.
Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I say this as Chair and I am sure Senator Cummins will agree with me. It is refreshing for a Minister to come in and not stand over a reply that is clearly not what the Minister or the Senator finds desirable. It is always very refreshing when that happens.
John Cummins (Fine Gael)
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She was not given much to respond on in any case.
Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I again thank the Minister of State for her time today.