Written Answers Nos. 66 - 74
66. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Finance the tax position of a person who is aged 74 years and is a widow and in receipt of approximately €20,000 per year, with no other allowance other than the PAYE allowance an appropriate credit in respect thereof and has no other income other than the amount specified therein; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39653/12]
View answerA widowed person in receipt of a gross income of €20,000 would be chargeable to both Income Tax and Universal Social Charge for the year 2012. These would be determined as follows:
Income Tax (PAYE) Liability:-
|
Income: |
€20,000 |
|
Tax payable 20,000 @ 20% = |
€4,000 |
|
Less: - |
- |
|
Personal Credit |
€2,190* |
|
PAYE Credit |
€1,650 |
|
Age Tax Credit |
€245 |
|
Total Credits |
€4085 |
|
Net Liability |
€Nil |
* Personal Credit in this instance refers to the Widowed Person or Surviving Civil Partner without qualifying children tax credit.
Universal Social Charge (USC) Liability (if none of the income is from Department of Social Protection):-
€10,036 @ 2% = €200.72
€9,964 @ 4% = €398.56
Net Liability = €599.28
Persons aged over 70 years have Universal Social Charge deducted at the rate of 4% in respect of any income in excess of €10,036. The higher rate of 7%, for income in excess of a ceiling of €16,016, is not applicable to persons over 70 years.
Income from the Department of Social Protection is not subject to the Universal Social Charge. If a person is in receipt of total income of €20,000 of which €11,500 is received from the Department of Social Protection, then the balance of €9,500 is not liable to USC as it is below the €10,036 threshold.
Any individual who wishes to have their liability checked for any of the 4 prior years of assessment should contact their tax district which will carry out the relevant reviews. There are other credits that an individual may be entitled to which are set out in leaflet IT1 and which is available on the Revenue website at http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it1.html#section1.
67. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reasons that girls who attend an all girls school will receive four hours learning support instead of five hours as afforded to all boys and mixed schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36964/12]
View answerI understand the Deputy is referring to the General Allocation Model (GAM) of additional teaching supports which are allocated to all Primary schools to cater for children with high incidence special educational needs. As I previously advised the Deputy, in response to his Parliamentary Questions of 25th January, 2012 and 19th July, 2012, differing pupil teacher ratios are applied under the GAM in relation to boys, girls and mixed schools in order to account for differentials of prevalence of learning difficulty between boys and girls. The rationale for the differing ratios is based on international literature on the incidence of disability as well as international and national surveys of literacy and numeracy which indicate that there is a greater incidence of disability/learning difficulty in boys than girls. The NCSE Report on the Implementation of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act, of 2006, also examined a range of sources to establish prevalence rates, including national databases, local and international studies and expert estimates, which indicated significantly higher rates of Mild General Learning Difficulty and Specific Learning Disability prevailing in boys, in comparison to girls. Revised arrangements to update schools' GAM allocations with effect from September 2012, based on the number of class teaching posts in schools for the previous year, reflect the previous arrangements for the allocation of supports under the GAM, which also provided for differentials in allocation between boys and girls schools. The criteria for the allocation of GAM hours are outlined in circular 007/2012 which is available on www.education.ie.
68. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on a matter (details supplied) in relation to an education grant in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39381/12]
View answerThe decision on eligibility for new student grant applications from the 2012/13 academic year is a matter for the new centralised grant awarding authority, SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland). The basis on which the income of self employed persons is determined has not changed with the introduction of the new centralised grant awarding authority. In the case where an accounting year end differs from the tax year, the income shown in the business accounts for a year which ends between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2011 is acceptable for the purposes of the Student Grant Scheme. This is the basis on which income was determined in previous years and is the same as used by the Revenue Commissioners to compute income for the tax year.
69. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education and Skills if a student grant will be provided to a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39443/12]
View answerThe decision on eligibility for new student grant applications is a matter for the central grant awarding authority SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland). The Deputy will appreciate that in the absence of all of the relevant details that would be contained in an individual's application in relation to means, residency, nationality and previous academic attainment, it would not be possible for me to say whether or not a student would qualify for a grant.
Officials in my Department have confirmed with Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) that an application was received from the student in question on the 8th August 2012 and that a decision on his eligibility for a student grant issued on 14 August, 2012 refusing him a grant on the basis that he indicated on his application that he intended to pursue year 1 of a level 7 course which represented a repeat period of study in his case. If an individual applicant considers that she/he has been unjustly refused a student grant, or that the rate of grant awarded is not the correct one, she/he may appeal, in the first instance, to SUSI.
Where an individual applicant has had an appeal turned down in writing by SUSI and remains of the view that SUSI has not interpreted the scheme correctly in his/her case, an appeal form outlining the position may be submitted by the applicant to the independent Student Grant Appeals Board. The relevant appeal form will be available on request from SUSI.
70. Deputy Billy Timmins asked the Minister for Education and Skills the company that has the contract in respect of internet and broadband support for primary schools in counties Wicklow and Carlow; the details of this contract, including the costs and if the company is providing a satisfactory service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39522/12]
View answerUnder the Schools Broadband Access Programme the Department provides for the supply of internet connectivity for all primary schools that wish to avail of this service. All contracts under the Schools Broadband Access Programme were recently re-tendered. As a result of this the number of service providers has been expanded from 6 to 13 and this should lead to improvements in the quality of services available to schools. These contracts were signed in the last two months and the migration of schools onto the new services is currently underway.
Schools in the Wicklow and Carlow area will be migrating to new suppliers in the coming weeks. In awarding services to primary schools and in in line with EU procurement rules, the aim was to maximise bandwidth provided to schools within the current budget. All service providers are required to sign up to a service level agreement to ensure that their performance under the contract is satisfactory, where they fail to meet the service level agreement credits may be sought or the Minsiter may exercise the right to remove schools from a service provider and re-award to another service provider.
71. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills if further consideration will be given to the need to restore the proposed building project at a school (details supplied) in County Cavan to his Department's school building programme in view of the fact that the long-term permanent accommodation needs of this school have long been finalised and agreed by his Department; if he will accept that the total reliance on temporary accommodation at a very high cost poses particular difficulties for this school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39531/12]
View answerDue to competing demands on my Department's capital budget, imposed by the need to prioritise the limited funding available for the provision of additional school accommodation to meet increasing demographic requirements, it was not possible to include the project referred to by the Deputy in the five year construction programme.
As the Deputy is aware, schools which have not been included in the five year construction programme, but which were announced for initial inclusion in the building programme will continue to be progressed to final planning stages in anticipation of the possibility of further funds being available to my Department in future years. The project referred to by the Deputy remains available to be considered for progression in that context.
The major building project for the school concerned is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning. The Design Team are currently working on the Stage 2(b) Detailed Design and the project has been authorised to apply for Statutory Approvals which is part of the Stage 2 (b) process.
I can assure the Deputy that the use of temporary accommodation is avoided where possible, but sometimes it is the only feasible option to ensure that children have access to a school place. The delivery of projects to meet the increasing demographic demands will be the main focus for capital investment over the next 5 years, particularly in those areas where most future demographic growth will be concentrated.
72. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the higher education access route in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 17. [39552/12]
View answerThe Higher Education Access Route (HEAR) is a third-level admissions scheme for students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The scheme is operated by a number of higher education institutions and not by my Department. Admissions to the institutions under this programme are regulated by the institutions themselves. Further details are available at www.accesscollege.ie.
73. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he has identified a permanent site for a school (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39563/12]
View answer74. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Education and Skills the stage of the planning process in relation to the provision of a permanent school premises for a school (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39564/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 73 and 74 together.
My Department has sought the assistance of, and is working closely with, the relevant Local Authority in relation to identifying and acquiring a suitable site for a permanent building for the school referred to by the Deputy. Due to commercial sensitivities attaching to site acquisitions generally, I am not in a position to comment further at this time.
Once an acquisition is concluded, the proposed building project will be considered in the context of the capital budget available to my Department for school buildings generally.
