Written Answers Nos. 94 - 97
94. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will review a decision to withdraw funding from a school (details supplied) in County Meath in respect of the July Programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4787/13]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that participation in my Department's July Provision Scheme is an option for all special schools and mainstream primary schools with special classes catering for children with autism or severe to profound general learning disability that choose to extend their education services through the month of July. The position in relation to the provision of this scheme in all qualifying schools, including the school referred to by the Deputy, is currently being considered and this school will be informed of arrangements pertaining to the scheme for 2013 once they are finalised.
95. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding a Student Universal Support Ireland grant application in respect of a person (details supplied); the length of time this application has taken to process; if it is the case that the applicant's birth certificate was in fact lost by SUSI during the processing; the extent to which the loss of this documentation contributed to the delay in the processing of the application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4789/13]
View answerOfficials in my Department have been informed by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) that the documentation initially supplied by the student in question in support of her grant application was incomplete and a request for the further documentation issued in November 2012. SUSI has no record of receiving the birth certificate before January 2013. SUSI wrote again to the student on 15th January 2013 in relation to this matter. Documentation was recently received and the application has being examined. SUSI is in direct contact with this student to resolve any outstanding issues in relation to the application.
96. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to upgrade or replace a school (details supplied) in County Laois; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4802/13]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, a project for the school to which he refers is included in the 5 Year construction programme that I announced in March 2012. It is my Department's intention that this project will proceed to construction in 2015/16. My Department are liaising with the school in this regard. The current status of all projects on the school building programme, including the school in question, may be viewed on my Department's website at www.education.ie.
97. Deputy John Lyons asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he is considering the use of social clauses in all public procurement contracts in his Department; and if he will consider including a quota to employ jobseekers who are long-term unemployed. [4698/13]
View answerThe scope for including social considerations in public contracts is something that I have been examining closely recently. In this regard, I would refer the Deputy to my recent reply on this issue (PQ 3066/13 - answered 23/01/13).
The range of social considerations that could be relevant for procurement includes promoting employment opportunities for young unemployed or long-term unemployed and promoting compliance with core labour standards. In this regard the standard template contracts issued by the National Procurement Service (NPS) in 2012 include provisions requiring compliance by the contractor with employment legislation. The standard public works contracts include provisions to ensure that the rates of pay and the conditions of employment, comply with all applicable law and that those rates and conditions are at least as favourable as those for the relevant category of worker in any registered employment agreements.
The inclusion of a social clause in all public procurement contracts requiring that a quota of long-term unemployed be employed in the delivery of the contract poses a number of risks. In the current economic climate, it would be quite likely that where a business is awarded a public contract, in particular a small-scale contract, the work would be carried out by the existing employees of that business. In such circumstances a social clause requiring that a number of long-term unemployed be employed in delivering a public contract could either impose an additional cost on SMEs that they may not be able to afford, or result in the displacement of existing employees. Challenges also arise from the need to ensure that the benefits are capable of being measured and monitored during the performance of the contract and that additional costs are not placed on local suppliers relative to other potential suppliers.
The Government has a wide range of measures that it is deploying to facilitate job creation and support labour activation, with particular emphasis on assisting the long term unemployed people. Obviously, the main purpose of the public procurement process is to ensure that goods, services and works are purchased by the State in a manner that is legal, transparent and of high probity, and our key requirement is the achievement of value for money. Within this context my Department and the National Procurement Service are in the process of examining the use of social clauses as an additional means of supporting activation. In light of the risks noted above, we are seeking to identify the scope for the use of social clauses in parts of the capital area in particular, where employers are likely to be hiring additional workers to perform the contracts.
