Vol. 728 No. 5
1 Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the commitment in the Programme for National Recovery Plan 2010 — 2014 concerning additional posts in the education sector will be honoured; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5639/11]
I do not propose to give any specific commitment at this point, as it is clearly a matter that I must consider with my colleagues in Cabinet having regard to the position in respect of public service numbers and payroll costs generally. I note that the National Recovery Plan 2011-2014 makes provision for a net increase of just over 2,000 posts across the education sector between the end of 2010 and the end of 2014. The net increase factors in reductions that are being achieved this year through budgetary measures and some additional posts to cater for increasing demographics. Notwithstanding the additional posts for demographics, the recovery plan provides for a net reduction in teacher numbers in 2011. The detail on these measures was outlined in the 2011 budget introduced by the previous Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government. These budgetary measures have been notified to schools and will be proceeding as planned to take effect from September 2011.
The recovery plan also provides for consultation with the education partners on how best to achieve a further reduction in teacher payroll costs from 2012. It envisaged the introduction of appropriate increases in the classroom teacher allocation schedules if the consultation process did not produce alternative feasible measures to deliver the required savings. My Department will be conducting the consultation process over the coming months and I would encourage the partners to identify alternative measures that they believe would be feasible. Therefore, it is prudent not to give commitments at this stage beyond 2011 as to the overall number of posts in the education sector. The Government will endeavour to protect front line education services as best as possible. However, this must be done within the context of bringing our overall public expenditure back into line with what we can afford as a country. All areas of government will need to manage on a reduced level of resources. The challenge will be to ensure that the resources that can be provided are used to maximum effect to achieve the best possible outcomes for pupils.
I thank the Minister for his response. This is my first public opportunity to wish the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, and the Minister of State, Deputy Ciarán Cannon, every success with the important work of the Department of Education and Skills.
The programme for Government clearly states that the Government will endeavour to protect front line services. In light of the fact that no reference is made to increasing the numbers working in education to meet demographic demands, namely, the pressure on the pupil-teacher ratio that will result from the requisite creation of new school places, will the Minister commit to supporting the proposal in the national recovery plan to increase the numbers working in education by 2,500?
I thank the Deputy for his good wishes, which I appreciate. We must respond to growth in demographics in the context of overall numbers, but I do not want to pre-empt a decision between the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, the Minister, Deputy Brendan Howlin, and myself. The figures have been set out and we intend to proceed on that basis. At the end of 2011, we will review the situation.
The Minister mentioned how all Departments had their overall Estimates reduced. The 2011 provision for the Department of Education and Skills emerged relatively unscathed. Is the Minister committed to the maintenance of class sizes and the pupil-teacher ratio at their current levels and to the employment of primary and post-primary teachers to meet demographic needs? The Minister has only been in office for two weeks, but I assume he can give a clear commitment in respect of the necessary provision of classroom education and front line services.
I am committed to maintaining the line established in respect of protecting and ring-fencing the education budget against the background of growing population numbers. However, all of this must be predicated on the reality that we are in a disastrous economic situation, the country is effectively in receivership and we are not in control of our financial affairs. We do not know what is coming down the line in terms of the macroeconomic situation in this country or the rest of Europe. With this caveat, I recognise that the outgoing Administration ring-fenced educational expenditure and I hope to be able to hold that line, but I am not in a position to give a categoric assurance, much as I would like to.
At this early stage, I assume the Minister is in a position to say whether he sees potential within the overall Croke Park agreement to meet efficiencies and achieve progress in this regard.
I do. I am pleased to note that the Teachers Union of Ireland, TUI, has endorsed the recognition of the Croke Park agreement in yesterday's results, which were published today. Where the agreement is operational in the secondary sector, some 70% or so of teachers endorse the recognition of the Croke Park agreement as a de facto agreement on the ground.
2 Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Skills if it is his intention to continue with the cap on special needs assistants for September 2011 leaving new entrants and newly diagnosed children with special needs without SNA support in mainstream classrooms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5642/11]
The programme for Government clearly states that education will be a priority for this Government and that we will endeavour to protect and enhance the educational experience of children, young people and students. To this end, we will endeavour to protect front line services in education. However, the fiscal position is difficult and the country is effectively in receivership. It is necessary to ensure that educational services are delivered within the resources available. While I intend to prioritise and support special educational services, I cannot revisit the previous Government's decision to place a cap on the number of posts available under the SNA scheme. This number is 10,575 whole-time equivalent posts. It is a significant number and, unlike other areas of the public sector, vacancies are being filled up to this number. It also represents continual increases in the number of SNAs in recent years. It is considered that, with equitable and careful management and distribution of these resources, there should be sufficient posts to provide access to SNA support for all children who require such care support to attend school in accordance with departmental criteria.
The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is responsible, through its network of local special educational needs organisers, SENOs, for allocating resource teachers and SNAs to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support. The NCSE has issued a circular to all schools advising of the allocation process for the 2011-2012 school year. A key feature of the amended scheme will be to provide for an annual allocation of SNA support to eligible schools.
My Department and I will be glad to consider suggestions from school managements or parent representative organisations as to how the allocation of SNA resources can best be managed within the context of the established overall limit on SNA numbers. In this regard, I am committed to making whatever improvements are possible to the resource allocation system, but we must understand the legacy of economic mismanagement that the last Government gave to this country.
Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire nua agus tá súil agam go mbeidh córas oideachais níos fearr againn. I listened to the Minister's reply carefully. I hope he will show some flexibility in this matter. The difficulty for schools and parents is the arbitrary deadline of 18 March for awarding SNAs. Leaving children who have real needs without the necessary supports is a travesty. Does the Minister agree that the deadline is an arbitrary, misinformed and sneaky method, one that treats enrolments as stopping in mid-air in March when they actually continue until September?
The potential loss of SNAs will see many children falling further behind and a danger of increased levels of suspension and exclusion. Does the Minister accept that the parents of children who are most in need of SNA supports are often the least able to access services? Earlier I received a call from a young mother from my constituency regarding her six-year old child who has a mental age of two. She is trying to get the child into a local school and the immediate problem she faces relates to SNA provision. It is a nightmare for schools but it is a bigger nightmare for parents.
I thank the Deputy for his good wishes. I recognise the extraordinary burden that falls on the shoulders of parents who have children with special needs whom they love dearly. I welcome suggestions from school boards of management and parents associations that deal with young people in this category on how best resources can be allocated. The numbers are fixed. The sooner we can get information into the system in order that management can plan for SNA provision in schools, the better. I am open to, and I invite, suggestions that can improve on what the Deputy describes as "the arbitrary date of 18 March".
This will inevitably lead to competition, which would be unseemly in the context of children who need this support. Schools will have to decide on which children will receive supports and so on. The difficulty is there is no flexibility between March and September. How can a school plan? What will happen is those children will not be enrolled.
A question please.
The Minister needs to think again. He said the decision has been made on the basis of available funding but does he not agree that many of the SNAs earn less than €12 an hour? Surely if the Government makes cuts, it should look somewhere else.
There has to be a lead-in time to prepare for the start of the academic year in September. That is required for consultation, advice and other processes in order that children with special needs are identified and SNAs are matched to them. The date is 18 March but I am prepared to examine this to see if it can be pushed out. I am not fully aware of the constraints but I will consult with those involved, including the NSCE, to make sure we match the school starting date for a child with special needs with an SNA. That requires time and I do not know whether that can be pushed beyond 18 March.
3 Deputy John Halligan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the promise in the programme for Government to explore a multi-campus technical university in the south east means that full university status will not be delivered; and when progress will be made in this regard [5592/11]
Policy for higher education needs to be directed at supporting the development of a higher education system of the highest quality and responsiveness in meeting the needs of the 21st century economy and society. One of the major factors associated with the positive performance of higher education systems internationally is institutional diversity.
I agree with the analysis and conclusion of the recently published national strategy for higher education to 2030 that there is no case for the creation of any new universities on the basis set out in section 9 of the Universities Act 1997. However, I also believe that the development of technological universities of equal status and of significant strength and quality, with their own legislative framework and a distinct mission that is faithful to the ethos of the technological sector, would complement our existing universities in meeting the full range of needs of students and wider society. I believe, therefore, that there is strong merit in the development pathway that has been laid out in the strategy for the creation of technological universities. It is important that any process of redesignation would focus on the capacity of amalgamated institutes of technology to meet mission relevant performance demands. Simply relabelling existing higher education institutions is not an option and to do so would do a grave disservice to the reputation and standing of our system and the needs of our students.
The establishment of a technological university will require the enactment of legislation. More immediately, it will also be necessary to publish the detailed performance criteria for a redesignation process and initial work is under way in developing these. I am committed to publishing these criteria at an early stage. An implementation group has been established and a detailed plan for the overall implementation of recommendations in the national strategy report is being developed. I will consider the scope and timeframe for legislative proposals as part of my wider consideration of that implementation plan.
I thank the Minister for his kind words and I wish him well in the tough job he has in the years to come. I am sure he will do this best.
Four years ago, the former Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin, appointed Dr. Jim Port to assess the case for university status in the south east. Other prominent individuals and organisations such as SIPTU, Dr. Peter Bacon, South Eastern Regional Authority, Waterford City Development Board, Deloitte Consulting and politicians from all parties, in particular, those from Fine Gael and the Labour Party who were in opposition at the time, unequivocally stated there was an imbalance in the region because of the lack of a university. The population of the south east is 450,000. Within a 45 minute radius of WIT, the population is 267,000 whereas within the same radius of Galway, it is 167,000. The critical mass exists in the south east for a university.
According to the latest statistics for entry to third level, the figure for Waterford and the south east is 11.2% as opposed to 15.2% nationally and 22% in Dublin. Surely that highlights the case for full university status. It has been proven that many people who leave their home areas to attend university do not return. Why does the Minister think the south east should be different from the mid-west or the west, which have full universities?
I fully understand and sympathise with the sentiments that have been expressed in counties Wexford, Carlow and Waterford regarding the need for a top class third level university. However, that has to be balanced with where we are at the present time. We have seven universities and the Dublin Institute of Technology, DIT. There are 10,000 universities in the world. All our universities and the DIT are in the top 500 universities, which is extraordinary, and two of them are in the top 100. We should learn lessons from what our neighbours in Britain did years ago with the rebranding of polytechnics. Britain devalued the concept of a university by rebranding a host of polytechnics, which are similar to our institutes of technology. That is not the way to go. It would damage the university sector in its entirety to simply change the name of an institute. The Hunt report and the programme for Government have set out a path for a technological university. There are examples of first class technological universities across the world and the one that most easily comes to mind is Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, which is a world leader.
The Deputy is from Waterford and I am aware of the standards that have been achieved in WIT. The institute should play to its own strengths. A path is open to WIT to pursue a technological university structure. There will not be a rebranded university as long as I am Minister. I wish to be honest with Members.
I also congratulate Deputy Wallace on his election.
4 Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the additional training and education places provided for in Budget 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5640/11]
Budget 2011 introduced by the previous Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government contained an additional 15,500 places on three activation employment initiatives aimed at supporting the unemployed. The first of these initiatives was the work placement programme, which was expanded by 5,500 places in budget 2011. This has now brought the total number of places available to 7,500. Five thousand of the additional places are in the public sector with the remaining 500 places available for graduates in the private sector. The second initiative was the internship development programme. This programme aims to provide up to 5,000 12 month internship opportunities in the private, community and voluntary sectors. To assess potential interest in the programme, FÁS Employment Services last month launched a call for expressions of interest from employers.
The third initiative is called Tús, which is a community work placement initiative for up to 5,000 persons and was launched on 21 December 2010. Tús provides short-term, quality work opportunities for those who are unemployed for more than a year and currently in receipt of a jobseeker's allowance payment.
In addition to these initiatives, in December 2010 my Department launched the Springboard Fund, which is a €20 million multi-annual higher education labour market fund to enable unemployed people access part-time higher education opportunities. The deadline for receipt of applications for funding was Friday, 18 March 2011 and an independent panel will select successful proposals in the coming weeks.
Last December, my Department also launched the redundant apprentice placement scheme, at a cost of €7.3 million, to provide 1,000 places to assist redundant apprentices to progress their apprenticeship training. The scheme commenced in January 2011 and as of 11 March 2011 there were 254 redundant apprentices on the scheme.
These new initiatives are in addition to a total of 464,500 training and education places which are currently available in 2011. Of those, 140,500 are training places, 168,000 are in the further education sector and 156,000 are in the higher education sector.
Our programme for Government commits us to providing additional training, work experience and education places for the unemployed.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply. The Minister indicates in his reply that substantial provision was made in budget 2011 for further education, and training also through different methods including FÁS. The Minister rightly outlined the new additional initiatives announced in that budget including the €20 million multi-annual higher education labour market fund, the expanded redundant apprentice placement scheme, 700 places in institutes of technology for redundant apprentices and craftspersons, 5,000 places on a new skills development internship programme and 7,500 places on an expanded work placement programme. Could the Minister give me an assurance that he and his Department, and the Minister, Deputy Quinn, will ensure that these initiates are driven forward as quickly as possible to ensure that all places are taken up, that the many unemployed people who are seeking a place on a programme are facilitated and that all of the provision that has been made for 2011 will be availed of?
I very much empathise with Deputy Smith's wishes to have these programmes continue and be supplemented by other provisions within the programme for Government. In addition to the provisions I have just outlined we have also committed to creating an additional 60,000 places across a range of education and employment programmes for the unemployed. The programme for Government also states that within the first 100 days of taking office the Government will create a jobs fund which will be used to resource a number of initiatives aimed at stimulating economic growth and employment creation.
Deputy Smith is right in pointing out that this is a serious challenge facing our country. The most recent employment statistics provided by the Central Statistics Office indicate that long-term unemployment accounts for almost 52% of total unemployment compared with just 33% a year earlier. My fear is that the longer one remains unemployed, the more unemployable one becomes. The emphasis in my Department, therefore, will be on providing them with every opportunity we can resource to allow them re-enter the workforce and access the training and upskilling they will require to do that.
I thank the Minister for his commitment to ensuring that adequate provision is made. Both the public and private sectors are too lethargic in availing of these schemes at different times and perhaps the Croke Park agreement could ensure that the blockages put in place in the past to slow progress in the public service could be availed of also.
Could the Minister let me know if the Department of Education and Skills will have a role in the provision of training when FÁS is replaced by the new national employment and entitlements service?
The national employment and entitlements service, which is due to replace FÁS, will be predominantly the responsibility of the Minister for Social Protection. The programme for Government states that the national employment and entitlements service will integrate all employment and benefit support services into a single delivery unit managed by the Department of Social Protection. It will also provide a new one stop shop, as referred to in the programme for Government, for people searching for employment, seeking advice about their training options or establishing their benefit options. To a very large degree the duties currently carried out by FÁS will be subsumed into that new one stop shop service and, consequently, will be the responsibility of the Minister for Social Protection from now on.
5 Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will examine and reverse Circular 0017/2011 with regard to the withdrawal of resource teacher for Traveller posts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5643/11]
The programme for Government sets out that education will be a priority for this Government and that we will endeavour to protect and enhance the educational experience of children, young people and students. To that end, we are committing during the tenure of this Government to improving the co-ordination and integration of the delivery of services to the Traveller community across all Government Departments, using available resources more effectively to deliver on principles of social inclusion, particularly in the area of Traveller education through the DEIS programme.
I do not intend to revisit the decision of the previous Government to withdraw resource teacher for traveller posts. The Deputy will understand that Ireland is effectively now in economic receivership because of the disastrous legacy of the last Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government. The requirements to make expenditure savings and to ensure that staffing numbers remain within the public service employment control framework prevent me from revisiting this decision.
The decision, however, is broadly in keeping with the recommendation in the report and recommendations for a Traveller education strategy that an integrated, collaborative and in-class learning support system should be adopted for all children, including Travellers, with an identified educational need. The strategy aims to enhance access, attendance, participation and engagement for Travellers and is underpinned by the principles of inclusion and mainstreaming with an emphasis on equality and diversity.
Traveller pupils eligible for learning support teaching will, from the next school year, receive this tuition through the existing learning support provision in schools. All schools should select students for learning support on the basis of priority of need.
I recognise that withdrawing all RTT posts will place a strain on existing learning support services in schools. In recognition of this, limited alleviation measures are being provided to assist some schools that have high concentrations of Traveller pupils and who were previously supported by resource teachers for Travellers.
I want to advise the Deputy that, in respect of the DEIS scheme, Traveller pupils have been included in the valid enrolment for the purpose of allocating additional staffing under DEIS from the 2011-12 school year. The schools involved have already received their staffing allocations for next year.
The Minister might send me a note at some stage on the limited alleviation measures to which he referred.
Would the Minister agree it is unacceptable that one in every ten Travellers who enrolls in post-primary education completes that education but that one in every 100 goes on to a third level programme? No Minister can justify the withdrawal of resource teachers for Travellers at primary level, the withdrawal of teaching hours for Travellers in post-primary education, the withdrawal of visiting teachers for Travellers in September 2011 and the phasing out of senior Traveller training centres in June 2011.
Will the Minister accept the importance of the outreach work by visiting teachers for Travellers, which has led to a significant increase in Traveller participation up to junior certificate level? The role of the visiting teacher service is to break down hostility and suspicion, particularly on the part of people who do not have a tradition of going on to education.
With regard to the cuts in the programme, could the Minister elaborate about the alleviation measures?
I will send the Deputy the detailed information he requires. We must assess how effective the allocation of resources was in the past in terms of the outcomes. A task to be carried out within the Traveller community and with the support groups for Travellers is to try to convince Traveller parents of the value of education in the first instance. Education starts in the home before young people reach the classroom and staying in the classroom requires the commitment of parents as much as the enthusiasm and dedication of teachers. One cannot work without the other. We are trying to enhance that commitment across a wider range than just Travellers. However, there are outcomes that are unsatisfactory at present and the figures the Deputy quoted indicate that. We will have to try harder. It must be said in all honesty that we must try to achieve more with less. That is the position at present.
What alleviation measures does the Minister propose to introduce for schools with a large number of Traveller pupils, given that the cut in the allocation will lead to a serious loss of staff in these schools? Is it based on the cuts to the education budget being dictated by finance rather than educational need? That is a terrible indictment of our system.
I am aware that, for historical reasons, in certain towns in certain parts of the country with settled communities there is a large concentration of Travellers, including in parts of the Deputy's constituency. In a sense, the first step for the Traveller community in maximising educational opportunities for their children is to become settled. That has led, by virtue of the location of those settlements, to high concentrations of Travellers. I do not have the detailed statistics with me to give the Deputy that information but I will write to him. We recognise that some schools have a high concentration of Travellers and that has a knock-on effect both within the Traveller community in the school and within the wider school community. They require additional support. I will send the Deputy the details of that support.
That concludes priority questions.
