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Wednesday, 22 Oct 2014

Written Answers Nos. 184-190

School Curriculum

Questions (184)

Eoghan Murphy

Question:

184. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to extend the curriculum in secondary schools to financial education and financial risk management (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40658/14]

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Written answers

The management of personal finance is an important life skill which must be practised by everyone, young and old. To enable students to understand financial management skills as they apply to households and businesses both the current Junior Certificate Business Studies and Leaving Certificate business syllabuses include learning outcomes that focus on budgeting and financial management. While these subjects are optional on the curriculum the level of take up of the subjects is high. Also of relevance are the Transition Year business programmes developed by schools. Given the recent ongoing review of syllabuses, in particular the Business Studies syllabus, work is ongoing on strengthening existing curricular approaches to financial literacy development. A number of organisations are working towards supporting the development of financial literacy and nearly all of the resources they develop are free to schools and are widely used. Quite often links exist between individual schools and organisations in the community including for example, banks, credit unions and the Money Advice and Budgetary Service (MABS), and these links provide the basis for the use of relevant resources.

School Accommodation

Questions (185)

Denis Naughten

Question:

185. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Skills the annual cost of rented prefab accommodation at primary level in 2013; the estimates for 2014 and 2015, respectively; the steps she is taking to address these costs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40660/14]

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Written answers

Some €15.6m was spent on renting prefab accommodation at primary level in 2013. €20.35m has been allocated in 2014 to cover the rental of temporary accommodation at primary and post-primary level, including – but not limited to - prefabricated accommodation. While the overall allocation for the Department's Vote in 2015 has now been decided upon, the breakdown of the specific subhead allocations will not be finalised until the 2015 Revised Estimates Volume is published. As the Deputy is aware my Department's over-riding objective is to ensure that every child has access to a physical school place and that our school system is in a position to cope with increasing pupil numbers. To ensure that this is achieved, the delivery of major school projects to meet significant demographic demands nationally will be the main focus for capital investment in schools in the coming years. However, even despite the enormous financial challenges which have been faced in recent years, two iterations of the Prefab Replacement Scheme were funded by my predecessor. Under the Prefab Replacement Initiative 2012 and 2013 approval was given to 217 schools (209 primary and 8 post-primary) to replace 614 prefab units with permanent accommodation. In excess of €56m has been allocated to these initiatives.

School Accommodation

Questions (186, 187, 188)

Denis Naughten

Question:

186. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Skills the schools and the number of classroom units within each school in County Roscommon that are availing of prefab accommodation; the average rental cost of each unit per annum in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40661/14]

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Denis Naughten

Question:

187. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Skills the schools and the number of classroom units within each school in County Leitrim that are availing of prefab accommodation; the average rental cost of each unit per annum in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40662/14]

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Denis Naughten

Question:

188. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Skills the schools and the number of classroom units within each school in County Galway that are availing of prefab accommodation; the average rental cost of each unit per annum in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40663/14]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 186 to 188, inclusive, together.

Details of Primary and Post Primary schools in counties Galway and Roscommon that have rented prefab accommodation, together with the number of rented units and annual rental cost is attached for the Deputy's attention. There are currently no schools in Leitrim renting prefab accommodation being funded by my Department. Please note that a prefab unit may consist of one or more classrooms and/or ancillary accommodation. Schools whose major projects are being progressed under my Department's 5-Year Programme and schools on the Prefab Replacement Initiatives are highlighted on the table.

Prefab rental in Primary & Post primary schools in Galway and Roscommon - October 2014

Roll No.

School Name

County

Desc. of rental

Annual Rent

Number of units per school

*03607G

Leitrim NS

Galway

Pre-fab

€10,693.35

1

*04506F

Oranmore BNS

Galway

Pre-fab

€69,479.75

4

**05754G

SN Chreachmhaoil

Galway

Pre-fab

€41,222.22

4

09833W

Lettergesh NS

Galway

Pre-fab

€2,558.22

1

*10095T

Scoil Naomh Treasa

Galway

Pre-fab

€4,892.94

1

13208V

Convent Primary School

Galway

Pre-fab

€23,379.84

2

13365O

Scoil Mhuire

Galway

Pre-fab

€96,707.52

6

**16071M

Scoil Chroí Naofa

Galway

Pre-fab

€6,204.26

1

*16293H

Kilrickle NS

Galway

Pre-fab

€4,374.86

1

17444H

Carrabane NS

Galway

Pre-fab

€5,200.00

1

*17613E

Scoil Chaitríona Naofa

Galway

Pre-fab

€18,976.94

2

17655U

SN Caladh na Muc

Galway

Pre-fab

€7,035.60

1

**17668G

Scoil na bhForbacha

Galway

Pre-fab

€11,340.11

1

*17782E

Scoil Bhríde

Galway

Pre-fab

€46,062.90

5

17789S

Kiltartan NS

Galway

Pre-fab

€5,756.40

1

**18089S

Scoil Mhuire an Gharran

Galway

Pre-fab

€3,248.52

1

18112K

Scoil Éanna

Galway

Pre-fab

€37,991.50

3

*19965W

Scoil Mhuire

Galway

Pre-fab

€14,391.00

*19965W

Scoil Mhuire

Galway

Pre-fab

€9,210.24

2

19994G

GS Mhic Amhlaigh

Galway

Pre-fab

€47,035.90

3

**19998O

GS De hÍde

Galway

Pre-fab

€130,093.50

13

**20000L

Galway Educate Together

Galway

Pre-fab

€38,673.84

2

20070J

Rosedale School

Galway

Pre-fab

€100,999.32

7

**20123E

Gaelscoil Riabhach

Galway

Pre-fab

€61,807.32

4

**20211B

Claregalway ETNS

Galway

Pre-fab

€28,782.00

2

**20237T

Gaelscoil Riada

Galway

Pre-fab

€131,157.08

9

20280U

Newtown National School

Galway

Pre-fab

€10,000.00

1

20326S

Kilcolgan Educate Together

Galway

Pre-fab

€38,007.00

4

**62870G

Presentation College

Galway

Pre-fab

€171,540.72

10

**71270G

Athenry Vocational School

Galway

Pre-fab

€21,746.40

1

**71330V

Coláiste na Coirbe

Galway

Pre-fab

€28,759.86

3

71390Q

Archbishop McHale College

Galway

Pre-fab

€28,142.40

1

**76102K

Coláiste an Eachréidh

Galway

Pre-fab

€30,700.80

1

*16816N

Attyrory NS

Roscommon

Pre-fab

€2,302.56

1

17266J

St. Mary's NS

Roscommon

Pre-fab

€2,878.20

1

18395C

Cloonakilla NS

Roscommon

Pre-fab

€15,798.12

1

* Included in Prefab Replacement Programme

** Included in 5 Year Programme

Third Level Fees

Questions (189)

Michael McNamara

Question:

189. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on amending the residency clause of the free fees initiative which would allow domiciliation here; the number of applicants this would affect; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40667/14]

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Written answers

Under the terms of my Department's Free Fee Schemes the Exchequer meets the cost of tuition fees in respect of eligible students who are pursuing full-time undergraduate courses of study which are a minimum of two years duration in an approved higher education institution. The main conditions of the scheme are that students must be first-time undergraduates, hold inter alia EU/EEA/Swiss nationality in their own right, and have been ordinarily resident in an EU/EEA/Swiss state for at least three of the five years preceding their entry to an approved third level course. Where full-time undergraduate students do not qualify for free fees they must pay the appropriate fee as determined by their third level institution. In the case of students who do not meet the residency clause of the free fees scheme, higher education institutions have been requested to charge the more moderate EU fee to EU/EEA/Swiss nationals who have completed at least five academic years of study (Primary or Post-Primary level) in the EU/EEA or Switzerland. I have no plans to amend the residency clause of the Free Fees Initiative at present.

Schools Building Projects Status

Questions (190)

Stephen Donnelly

Question:

190. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason her Department continues to pursue the construction of a new school (details supplied) even though the statistics from her Department show that there is huge over-capacity in the area and the enrolment in the eight schools in the locality has dropped from a high of 4,007 in 1981-1982 to 1,154 in the school year 2013-2014 and, in the case of four schools, the enrolments have dropped as follows, 788 to 107, 715 to 192, 336 to 96 and 244 to 99; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40676/14]

View answer

Written answers

Permanent accommodation for the school in question is warranted to meet what continues to be a strong demand for primary education through the medium of Irish in the area served by the school in question. As well as teaching through the medium of Irish, the school is the only multi-denominational provider in the area. While enrolments may have decreased in some schools in the area since the 1980s, this does not necessarily mean that the schools have vacant accommodation to a level which would accommodate the needs of the school in question. Pupil-Teacher ratios have been significantly reduced since the 1980s. The current pupil-teacher ratio is 28:1. In the early 1980s, however, some 77% of ordinary classes in schools had up to as many as 45 pupils in a class group. With the reduction of the pupil-teacher ratio in the intervening years, the same level of accommodation can now accommodate smaller numbers of pupils. In addition, seven of the nine schools in the area directly concerned have urban Band 1 DEIS status, which means that their average pupil-teacher ratio is lower again at 20:1 for junior cycle classes and 22:1 at senior cycle with an attendant impact on accommodation. DEIS schools also have extra supports for pupils and parents, most of which require extra space for their delivery. Also, in line with Government policy to support children with special educational needs, significant extra teaching resources have been made available to schools requiring corresponding accommodation such as resource rooms and learning support rooms. The Deputy will also be aware that the primary school curriculum and pedagogies are considerably different today from those of the 1980s. This has impacted and altered accommodation requirements and room usages in schools generally.

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