Written Answers Nos. 94-106
94. Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide in tabular form the number of advisors, programme managers, press officers and political staff and communication staff employed by his Department in 1981, 2011 and currently in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40703/13]
View answerAccording to our records at end 1981, the Department employed the following:
|
Title |
Number |
|
Special Adviser |
1 |
|
Personal Assistant |
1 |
|
Personal Secretary |
1 |
|
Publicity Officer |
1 |
At end 2011, my Department employed the following:
|
Title |
Number |
|
Special Adviser |
2 |
|
Press Officer (Civil Servant) |
1 |
|
Personal Assistant |
1 |
|
Civilian Driver |
2 |
Currently, my Department employs the following:
|
Title |
Number |
|
Special Adviser |
2 |
|
Press Officer (Civil Servant) |
1 |
|
Personal Assistant |
1 |
|
Civilian Driver |
2 |
95. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of pupils in County Mayo who have been assessed as eligible for the home tuition scheme for school year 2013/2014; the number who have received teachers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40204/13]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that the purpose of the Home Tuition Scheme is to provide a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of reasons such as chronic illness, are unable to attend school or for children who are awaiting a suitable educational placement and also to provide early educational intervention for pre-school children with autism. As tuition takes place outside the usual school structure it is important that home tutors are qualified to provide an educational programme. Accordingly, it is a condition of the scheme that parents must recruit a fully qualified teacher who is registered with the Teaching Council of Ireland. Officials in my Department have confirmed 25 eligible Home Tuition application have been received, of these 10 are qualified teachers.
96. Deputy Colm Keaveney asked the Minister for Education and Skills the name and business address of all of the providers of public relations services to the Department since the current Government came into office: the total amount spent on such services in the same period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40220/13]
View answerMy Department has not incurred any expenditure on the provision of public relations services since the Government came into office.
97. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills with regard to the recent policy change allowing non-EEA nationals who acquire EEA citizenship to avail of reduced tuition fees; if existing students in this situation will also be allowed to avail of reduced fees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40229/13]
View answerThe recently announced change referred to by the Deputy involves an amendment to the free fees schemes whereby with effect from the academic year 2013/14, a 'Change of Nationality' clause now forms part of the schemes. This change to the criteria of the schemes provides that students who are not eligible for free fees at the commencement of their course of studies, because they do not meet the nationality clause, and who subsequently acquire EEA citizenship during their study, may be eligible for free fees for the remainder of their course of study subject to certain conditions. This amendment also applies to existing students who, with effect from the 2013/14 academic year, may be eligible for free fees funding where they were ineligible due to not meeting the nationality requirement of the schemes and have subsequently acquired EEA citizenship since the commencement of their course of study. In order to be eligible under this 'Change of Nationality' clause students must have met all other criterion of the Free Fees Schemes, apart from nationality, at date of entry to their course of study. Where students do not meet the terms of the free fees schemes, including nationality, it is the higher education institution that determines, in accordance with its own criteria, the rate of tuition fees (EU or non EU) to be paid by students.
98. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a person (details supplied) in County Clare is only receiving a portion of the training allowance while participating on a FÁS course; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40230/13]
View answerThe FÁS training allowance paid to those in receipt of Jobseekers Allowance is generally aligned to the amount of the persons Jobseekers Allowance payment as determined by the Department of Social Protection which is subject to means testing. The FÁS training allowance is paid to participants in lieu of Jobseekers Allowance for the duration of the training course.
The majority of Jobseeker's Allowance recipients under 25 years of age are entitled to a reduced jobseeker's rate of either €100 or €144 per week.
As part of Budget 2013, it was decided to provide an incentive to those persons under 25 in receipt of the reduced rate of Jobseekers Allowance by increasing their weekly FÁS training allowance to €160. Increasing the maximum weekly rate that under 25s can receive when they engage in education and training encourages participation rates among this cohort which is a particular concern at EU and local level.
99. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the budget and final cost for programmes (details supplied) in the 2012-2013 academic year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40231/13]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that last January I launched the Well-Being in Post-Primary Schools: Guidelines for Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention, which were developed by my Department in conjunction with the Department of Health. The guidelines provide practical guidance to post-primary schools on how they can promote mental health and well-being in an integrated way and they also provide evidence-based advice on how to support young people who may be at risk of suicidal behaviour. Direct expenditure in 2012/13 related to the production, design and printing of the guidelines which, in the main, was funded by the National Office of Suicide Prevention (N.O.S.P.) but involved a contribution of €3,740 from my Department's National Education Psychological Service. NEPS Psychologist are also raising awareness of the Guidelines at school level. In addition in the same period I had published, along with my colleague, Minister Fitzgerald, an Action Plan on Bullying which sets out twelve actions to help prevent and tackle bullying in primary and second level schools. Officials from my Department have already commenced work on the implementation of the actions. In particular, an awareness raising initiative on cyber bullying targeted at young people is already underway and my Department is supporting the Stand Up! Awareness Week Against Homophobic & Transphobic Bullying in second level schools which took place in March. I have allocated €500,000 to support the implementation of the Action Plan on Bullying. Actual expenditure in respect of 2013 will be known closer to years end. There are no substitution costs involved. My Department's National Behavioural Support Service afforded during 2012/13 post-primary school teachers an opportunity to train in the delivery of the 'Friends for Life' and 'My Friends Youth' programmes which are aimed at reducing anxiety and building resilience among students. For 2012/13 some 193 teachers from 93 schools received training in this regard at a cost of €91,193 (including teacher substitution costs).
100. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools that have sought guidance counselling concessionary hours arising from a critical incident in the school; and of these, the number that were granted extra hours over the course of the 2012/13 academic year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40232/13]
View answer101. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide in tabular format, the number of one to one guidance counselling hours received over the past five years in the secondary and further education sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40233/13]
View answer102. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if there have been cases over the 2012/13 academic year where teachers have been time-tabled to provide guidance counselling programmes despite not holding a recognised qualification in guidance counselling; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40234/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 100 to 102, inclusive, together.
Guidance is a whole school activity and it does not just involve the guidance counsellor. Under existing arrangements each school develops a school guidance plan as a means of supporting the needs of its students. Since September 2012 guidance provision is now being organised by school management from within the staffing schedule allocation. In this way principals have discretion to balance guidance needs with the pressures to provide subject choice. A framework document was published jointly by the Post Primary Management bodies and the NAPD (National Association of Principals & Deputies) in September, 2012 to provide guidance for school management in the allocation of teaching hours to guidance counselling in post-primary schools in the context of the decision in Budget 2012 to withdraw the provision of ex-quota guidance hours to schools. This should be of assistance to schools in terms of how they maximise guidance provision. My Department helped shelter the impact for DEIS post-primary schools by improving their standard staffing allocations. All 195 second-level school in DEIS have been given targeted support by a more favourable staffing schedule of 18.25:1. This is a 0.75 point reduction compared to the existing PTR of 19:1 that applies in non fee-paying second-level schools (23:1 in fee-charging schools). My Department also has existing arrangements in place for providing short-term support to schools that are dealing with particularly acute incidents that arise due to tragic accidents, bereavements etc. Five schools were supported in this manner in the 2012/13 school year.
103. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding an application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40263/13]
View answerThe State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations including organising the holding of examinations, determining procedures in places where examinations are conducted including the supervision of examinations and making arrangements for the marking of work presented for examination. In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.
104. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding a Student Universal Support Ireland grant in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 3. [40280/13]
View answerThe independent Student Grants Appeals Board has received an appeal from the student referred to by the Deputy.
The Appeals Board aims to issue appeal determinations as promptly as possible and within the specified timeframe specified in the Student Support Act, 2011.
The student will be notified directly of the outcome by the Appeals Board.
105. Deputy Noel Coonan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will authorise secondary school pupils to translate public documents from English to Irish in view of the stream of revenue this would generate for schools and considering the commitment given in the Official Languages Act 2003 to publish official documents in both official languages; if this initiative will be included as part of the student's assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40292/13]
View answerThe Curriculum is devised to place the needs of our students at the core of what we do and to ensure they have the best possible learning experiences and outcomes that are age appropriate. I don't consider this suggestion appropriate for second level students. Of course the students may consider the content of some of these documents but as they are official documents they require extremely sophisticated translation by professional translators.
106. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason for the refusal of higher education grants in the case of persons (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40332/13]
View answerOfficials in my Department have confirmed with Student Universal Support Ireland that in the case of the first named student referred to by the Deputy, following an appeal to the SUSI Appeals Officer the original decision of the awarding authority was upheld and a decision letter issued on 23rd May 2013 stating that the student was ineligible to receive a grant. This student also applied for a grant for the academic year 2013/14. The application will be further reviewed when the outstanding documentation has been received.
In the case of the second named student referred to by the Deputy, following an appeal to the SUSI Appeals Officer the original decision of the awarding authority was upheld and a decision letter issued on 20th September 2013 stating that the student was ineligible to receive a grant. 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 appeal is turned down in writing by SUSI and the applicant remains of the view that the scheme has not been interpreted correctly in his or her case, an appeal form outlining the position may be submitted by the applicant to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board. The relevant appeal form is available to download from www.studentfinance.ie.
