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Thursday, 27 Jun 2013

Written Answers Nos. 126 - 137

School Accommodation

Questions (126)

Simon Harris

Question:

126. Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Education and Skills if officials from his Department have met representatives of a board of management of a school (details supplied) in County Wicklow regarding its concerns about the proposed location for its new school building; when this meeting took place; the outcome of the meeting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31350/13]

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Written answers

As the Deputy will be aware, for some time my Department has been working with the local authority to identify and acquire land for the delivery of school accommodation for a Gaelscoil and Gaelcholáiste in the area referred to by him. I can confirm that agreement in principle has been reached with a landowner in relation to a suitable site.

My officials met with a delegation from the school to which the Deputy refers on 6 June. At this meeting, there was a mutual exchange of views and information on the matter. Both sides agreed to consider the matter further and there has been contact between my officials and the school since the meeting.

Teaching Qualifications

Questions (127, 128, 129)

Jonathan O'Brien

Question:

127. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if schools have the discretion to allocate resource hours to teachers who have no specialised training for teaching children with special educational needs; and if he will clarify the regulations that relate to the supports provided to children with special needs in a mainstream school setting. [31359/13]

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Jonathan O'Brien

Question:

128. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills in a case where a school is over quota, if the principal and board of management of that school have the discretion to decide the way in which resource hours are allocated; if it is his view that teachers who have not received specialised training can provide the type of tuition and duty of care that is necessary for children with special needs in a mainstream school setting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31360/13]

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Jonathan O'Brien

Question:

129. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason schools are expected to go through the process of applying for an allocation of resource hours which can then be allocated to non-qualified resource teaching staff. [31361/13]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 127 to 129, inclusive, together. I wish to advise the Deputy that class teachers in schools are required to be fully-qualified with a qualification relevant to the sector in which they are teaching. All primary teachers are qualified to teach in any primary or special school/classroom. It has been the policy of my Department for some time that only qualified and registered teachers should be employed by schools. This is set out most recently in Circular Letters 31/2011 and 0025/2013. Current recruitment procedures direct schools to ensure that teachers proposed for appointment to publicly paid posts must be registered with the Teaching Council and have qualifications appropriate to the sector and suitable to the post for which they are proposed.

In respect of Learning Support (LS) and Resource Teaching (RT) vacancies, Boards of Management are obliged to recruit and employ fully registered primary teachers. Any posts that comprise an element of General Allocation hours and Low Incidence hours are regarded as LS/RT posts and must be filled by fully registered primary school teachers.

Further guidance for schools on the organisation of Learning Support/Resource Teachers posts is provided in my Departments Circular SP ED 02/05: Organisation of Teaching Resources for Pupils who need Additional Support in Mainstream Primary Schools.

It is a matter for school authorities to employ teachers in accordance with the Department's policy in this regard and the deployment of teaching staff in the school is, in the first instance, a matter for the school management authorities.

Emergency Works Scheme Appeals

Questions (130)

Pat Breen

Question:

130. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will facilitate an application from a school (details supplied) in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31363/13]

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Written answers

My Department received an application under the emergency works scheme from the school referred to by the Deputy for works relating to the provision of boundary fencing to control access to the school grounds.

As the scope of the works requested is outside the terms of the emergency works scheme it cannot be considered for funding. The school authority has been informed of this decision.

The school authority has recently appealed this decision. The appeal is currently being assessed. As soon as a decision is reached the school will be advised of the outcome.

School Transport Eligibility

Questions (131, 135)

Tom Fleming

Question:

131. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will prioritise the rerouting of a bus that brings children to a school (details supplied) in County Kerry and that services the Kilsarcon area; if he will take into consideration the circumstances of this case and the fact that the proposed route is the more natural circuit and that there will be little or no extra cost involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31369/13]

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Brendan Griffin

Question:

135. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education and Skills if a school bus route issue (details supplied) in County Kerry will be addressed. [31425/13]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 131 and 135 together. Under the terms of my Department's Primary School Transport Scheme children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 3.2 kms from and are attending their nearest national school as determined by my Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.

Bus Éireann, which operates the School Transport Scheme on behalf of my Department, has advised that the child referred to by the Deputy, in the details supplied, is not attending his nearest national school and is therefore not eligible for school transport. Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis subject to a number of conditions, including the following:- routes will not be extended or altered, additional vehicles will not be introduced, nor will larger vehicles or extra trips using existing vehicles be provided to cater for children travelling on a concessionary basis; no additional State cost will be incurred. The family in question should liaise with their local Bus Éireann office regarding the availability of transport on a concessionary basis for the 2013/14 school year.

University Libraries

Questions (132)

Michael Healy-Rae

Question:

132. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 144 of 18 June 2013, if he will acknowledge the conceivability of a publicly-funded university determining arrangements and regulations concerning public access to its library; if it is his understanding that the public is excluded as a rule from the library of University College Dublin and the libraries of other publicly-funded universities; if he will confirm that Parliamentary Question No. 144 did not ask him if he has a role in the management and operation of universities and concerned only his role under section 20(1) of the Universities Act 1997; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31392/13]

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Written answers

As I have indicated to the Deputy in reply to previous questions on this matter the management of the university's library is entirely a matter for the university in accordance with its statutory autonomy. I refer the Deputy to Question No. 95 of 24 April, Questions Nos. 87 and 92 of 2 May, 250 of 14 May, 355 of 21 May and 144 of 8 June which set out the position.

Higher Education Courses Applications

Questions (133)

Martin Heydon

Question:

133. Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will review the case of a special needs assistant (details suppled) in County Kildare who needs to take time off from their contract for study purposes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31418/13]

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Written answers

A career break scheme for Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) was agreed with school management bodies and trade unions representing SNAs in 2012. A circular setting out the regulations and procedures of that scheme issued in June 2012. The scheme was generally in line with the teacher's scheme and one of the items it catered for was for those who wished to pursue further educational opportunities. An example of this is the online Higher Diploma in Arts in Primary Education course with Hibernia College. This intensive course requires students to engage in periods of classroom observation and teaching practice amounting to a total of 18 weeks over two school years. As a result, an SNA is required to be away from duty on many occasions (between unpaid and paid leave types), possibly impacting on the care, educational and welfare needs of special needs pupils, which as you will understand, must take precedence over all other considerations.

The above-mentioned circular, therefore, requires SNAs who are undertaking this course to take a career break for the school years in which they are required to spend periods away from their SNA post on school observation/teaching practice for the purposes of completing the course. It should also be noted that in addition to the Circular which issued in June 2012, a letter issued to the Deputy Programme Director of the Higher Diploma in Arts at Hibernia College on 19 July 2012 enclosing a copy of the circular and explaining its impact for SNAs.

Student Grant Scheme Eligibility

Questions (134)

Gerry Adams

Question:

134. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Education and Skills if a student who was classed as a dependent mature student for the academic year 2012-13 and did not qualify for a grant under the student grant scheme and who has been living independently since September-October 2012 and wishes to continue their studies, be now treated as an independent mature student; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31419/13]

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Written answers

For student grants purposes, a student is defined at their first point of entry to an approved post leaving certificate course or an approved higher education course or at their point of re-entry to such an approved course. This status will continue to apply for the duration of their studies either as students dependent on parents or a legal guardian, or as independent mature students.

A student may be assessed as an independent mature student if he/she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st of January of the year of first entry to an approved post leaving certificate course or an approved higher education course or of re-entry to an approved course following a break in studies of at least three years and is not ordinarily resident with his/her parents from the previous 1 October. Otherwise he/she would continue to be assessed on the basis of his/her parents' income.

Question No. 135 answered with Question No. 131.

Departmental Staff Numbers

Questions (136, 137)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl

Question:

136. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of staff in his Department who availed of term time in 2012; the average duration of such in 2012; the number that will do so in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31211/13]

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Seán Ó Fearghaíl

Question:

137. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of staff in organisations or agencies under the aegis of his Department who availed of term time in 2012; the average duration of such in 2012; the number that will do so in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31227/13]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 136 and 137 together.

The Term Time scheme was replaced by the Shorter Working Year scheme in 2009 which allows civil servants to balance their working arrangements with outside commitments, including the school holiday periods for children. Under the terms of the scheme, special unpaid leave periods, not exceeding 13 weeks, may be available. The following table outlines the number of staff within my Department and those under my aegis who availed of the Shorter Working Year scheme in 2012 and the estimated number in 2013:

Number of staff availing of the Shorter Working Year scheme

Department/Office

2012

Number of Staff

2012

Average Duration

(weeks)

2013

Number of staff (Estimate)

Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

27

5

20

Ombudsman

5

7.4

4

Public Appointments Service

4

4.5

4

State Laboratory

11

4.5

10

Office of Public Works

63

5

50

Total

110

5

88

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