Written Answers Nos. 100-108
100. Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an update on whether colleges of further education that provide higher education courses (details supplied), in addition to post-leaving certificate courses, are eligible to apply to offer Springboard and Momentum skills places; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26157/13]
View answerIt is open to all public, private and not for profit higher education providers to submit proposals for courses to be funded under Springboard. All courses approved for funding are selected by an independent panel with industry and educational expertise, having regard to published selection criteria and following a competitive tendering process. A call for proposals for courses to be run under Springboard 2013 was issued by the Higher Education Authority in February 2013 with a deadline for receipt of proposals of 9 April. The call documentation is available on the Higher Education Authority website (www.hea.ie/en/node/1502). Details of the courses selected for funding by the independent panel will be available in the coming weeks. Both public and private providers were also eligible to apply for funding from the Momentum fund, subject to a tender process. There were two stages in this process: (i) pre-qualification and (ii) project proposals assessment. Notification of the pre-qualification for the current round of funds was published on the e-tenders website last summer. Pre-qualified providers had the opportunity to submit proposals which were considered in line with the tender specification. No subsequent notification has been published.
101. Deputy Regina Doherty asked the Minister for Education and Skills the differential in costs between sending a child to St. Ultan's school, Navan, County Meath, in comparison to Ratoath national school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26172/13]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that my Department provides for a continuum of special educational provision to be made available for children with special educational needs, so that regardless of the level of need of the child, educational provision can be made for them. My Department provides for a range of placement options and supports for schools which have enrolled pupils with special educational needs in order to ensure that, wherever a child is enrolled, s/he will have access to an appropriate education. Some children may be fully integrated into mainstream schools without additional teaching or care supports. Others are able to attend mainstream schools but need additional teaching and/or care assistance. In respect of children who cannot be accommodated in mainstream education, they may be enrolled in special classes or special schools where more intensive and supportive interventions are provided. The extent of supports required for any child in a particular class setting or school will depend on their disability categorisation and the extent of care needs that they may have. Additional costs relating to school buildings, transport, the July Programme, the National Educational Psychological Service (Neps) the Special Education Support Service (SESS) and assistive technology support may also arise depending on individual needs. Given the different supports provided in special and mainstream schools, depending on the disability categorisations of the pupils attending those schools, the care or attendant additional needs required, it is not possible to provide an estimate of the cost differentials between a child attending one school versus another. The National Council for Special Education can assist parents to identify school placements which can then be resourced to support children with special educational needs. All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.
102. Deputy Regina Doherty asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children presenting with Down's syndrome that have been assessed by SENO for the school year 2013-14; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26173/13]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports. Pupils with Down's syndrome attending mainstream schools may receive additional teaching support in primary schools, either under the terms of the General Allocation Model (GAM) of teaching supports, if the pupil's educational psychological assessment places the pupil in the mild general learning disability/high incidence disability category, or through an allocation of individual additional resource teaching hours which are allocated by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), if the child is assessed as being within the low incidence category of special need, as defined by my Department's Circular Sp Ed 02/05.
Pupils with Down's syndrome may therefore be allocated resources under the category of mild general learning disability, or under the categories of moderate general learning difficulty or Assessed Syndrome, in conjunction with another Low Incidence disability. There is not presently a distinct disability category of Down syndrome for resource allocation purposes. As such, it is not possible to advise of the number of children with Down's syndrome who will be attending school for the 2013/14 school year.
103. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an update in relation to proposed legislation, the education (admission to school) Bill 2013; when the draft heads of this Bill are expected before Cabinet; and when it is hoped that this legislation will take effect. [26190/13]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, I announced at the Easter Teacher Union Conferences that I will shortly bring to Government draft heads of a bill – the Education (Admission to School) Bill 2013. Work on the draft legislative proposals is largely completed and the proposals are being legally proofed at present. When this process is completed I intend to bring the proposals to Cabinet. I will seek to publish the Bill in draft form to allow a full public discussion, including inputs from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection and the education partners. I also intend to publish draft regulations that I plan to make when the Bill is enacted.
In bringing forward these proposals, it is not my intention to unnecessarily intrude into how schools do their business. My policy objective is to ensure that the way in which schools decide on applications is structured, fair and transparent. As the Bill and the Regulations will be published in draft form, they will also be subject to a lot of detailed scrutiny before becoming law. I will be reflecting carefully on the views expressed in the consultation process to ensure they strike the right balance between school autonomy and fairness in our education system.
104. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding resource hours for children with specific language impairment (details supplied). [26195/13]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that my Department provides an extensive range of supports for pupils with Specific Speech and Language Disorder (SSLD) including provision for the establishment of special classes for Specific Speech and Language Disorder in primary schools. Applications to establish such classes are considered by the school's assigned Special Educational Needs Organiser (SENO) and those meeting the criteria for establishment are approved by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).
The NCSE have informed my officials that there are 64 such classes established at Primary level throughout the country, and that 9 of these classes are in the Dublin area. Local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENO) will be able to provide advice on the location of the nearest special classes and the criteria for admission. Contact details for SENOs are available at www.ncse.ie.
Where a special class has been established, a full-time teacher is assigned to each class, and classes operate with a reduced pupil-teacher ratio of 7:1. Speech and language therapy services are provided to these classes by the Health Service Executive (HSE). An enhanced capitation grant is provided to schools operating special classes for pupils with Specific Speech and Language Disorder. The current rate is €857 per pupil. Pupils who are not enrolled in a special class for SSLD and who meet the criteria for Specific Speech and Language Disorder, as outlined in my Department's Circular 0038/2007, may qualify for additional teaching support where he/she is enrolled in mainstream school. Applications for such support may be made to the NCSE through the local SENO.
The NCSE have indicated to my officials that there are approximately 4932 pupils at primary level and 912 pupils at post primary level for whom resource teaching hours were allocated to schools under this category for the current academic year. Pupils with mild speech and language difficulties may qualify for supplementary teaching support from within the school's general allocation of learning support/teaching support. All schools were advised to apply to the NCSE for resource teaching support for the 2013/14 school year by 15th March 2013. The NCSE are currently processing these applications and schools will be notified by SENOs of their resource teaching allocations for 2013/14 in advance of the coming school year, based on the number of valid applications received. All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.
105. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Education and Skills the Minister or Minister of State that represented Ireland at the Ministerial Council meetings of the European Union during the Irish Presidency of the Council to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26211/13]
View answerThe Council formation in which I participate is the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport (EYCS) Council. Since the start of the Irish Presidency on 1 January, there have been two meetings of the Education component of this Council formation: 15 February and 16 May. I attended as President of the Council at both meetings.
106. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of parliamentary replies issued by him to this Deputy in 2013 containing an undertaking to provide extra information requested; the date of the question in each case; the date on which the information was provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26226/13]
View answerThe Deputy had 28 questions answered by this Department between January to May 2013. There was no additional information to be forwarded to the Deputy in relation to any of these questions.
107. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding an application for an extension in respect of a school (details supplied) in County Dublin; if he will provide details of the level of priority being given to this application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26236/13]
View answer110. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the current status of a primary school (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26261/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 107 and 110 together.
The major building project at the school referred to by the Deputy is at an early stage of Architectural Planning. The Board of Management and their Design Team have recently been authorised to proceed to complete Stage 2A of Architectural Planning, which is the Developed Sketch Design Stage. Due 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 this project in the five year construction programme announced in March 2012. School building projects, including the project referred to by the Deputy, which have not been included in the five year construction programme, but which were previously initiated will continue to be progressed to final planning stages in anticipation of the possibility of further funds being available to the Department in the future.
108. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to reform the eligibility for schools to avail of capital funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26239/13]
View answer109. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the criteria for the selection of schools to be capitally funded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26260/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 108 and 109 together.
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. The Five Year school building programme that I announced in March 2012 is focused on meeting those demographic needs. The 5 Year Construction Plan, together with my announcement last December of the 50 school projects which are scheduled for construction in the current year as part of a €2 billion capital investment programme, outlines the major school projects that will commence construction over the duration of the Plan (2012-2016).
It is not possible to progress all projects within the Department's building programme concurrently due to competing demands on the Department's capital budget imposed by the need to prioritise the limited funding available for the provision of essential additional school accommodation to meet increasing demographic requirements. I wish to advise the Deputy that where an immediate enrolment need in an area has been identified e.g. the appointment of an additional teacher and where a school's existing accommodation cannot provide for this growth, my Department will be prepared to consider applications by schools for capital funding for additional classrooms mainly on a devolved basis. My Department has no plans to adjust the current criteria for schools accessing capital funding.
