Written Answers Nos. 95-103
95. Deputy Peter Mathews asked the Minister for Finance the bodies or persons with whom his Department has had contact in relation to the formation of economic programme 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41775/13]
View answerI assume that the Deputy is referring to the preparation by the Government of a Medium Term Economic Strategy (MTES) for the period 2014 to 2020. The MTES is being developed jointly by the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure & Reform in conjunction with other relevant Departments and will establish the macroeconomic strategy and policy actions for achieving sustainable economic and employment growth for the seven years to 2020.
A key commitment in my Department's Statement of Strategy is to engage more with our stakeholders. In that context two consultation exercises in relation to the MTES were undertaken by the two Departments in September 2013 which focused on the challenges to be addressed to achieve economic growth and job creation. The first of these was a conference in Dublin Castle on 3rd September under the auspices of the Irish Government Economic Evaluation Service (IGEES) which inter alia supports Departments in evaluating policy and providing economic analysis. The IGEES event was attended by representatives of government Departments and agencies, regulators, the Central Bank of Ireland, the ESRI, the Irish Fiscal Council and academia.
In addition, a major consultative forum took place on Tuesday 24th September 2013, again in Dublin Castle, at which around 160 representatives of businesses and enterprises, relevant government Departments and agencies and bodies representative of business and industry participated. This forum facilitated the exchange of ideas between Government and business with a view to Ireland maximising economic growth and meeting its fiscal commitments to the year 2020 and will help to inform the preparation of the MTES. It is intended that a short paper on the outcome of the MTES Forum of 24th September will be presented by my Department to the Global Irish Network Economic Forum on 4-5 October. The Global Irish Network is a permanent network of influential Irish and Irish-connected individuals abroad that provides Ireland with a valuable resource of international expertise.
96. Deputy Peter Mathews asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department has had discussions regarding to the changing of existing academic contracts in order to impose a mandatory contract hours element and if so, with whom; if this will distinguish between the university and the institute of technology sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41693/13]
View answerChanges to academic contracts were discussed and agreed in the context of negotiations on the Public Service Agreement 2010 – 2014 (Croke Park Agreement) and more recently the Public Service Stability Agreement 2013 – 2016 (Haddington Road Agreement). These changes have resulted in the delivery of additional hours by academic staff to facilitate educational activities, which allow Universities and Institutes of Technology to cope with the reduction in staff numbers while dealing with an increase in the student population.
In Institutes of Technology lecturing staff provide an additional hour per week in timetabled periods of availability to students. Lecturing staff are also available for an extra two hours flexibility per week resulting in the delivery of in excess of 150,000 lecturing hours annually. Where previously, if an Institute was closed on a church holiday, it will now be open and academic staff may be timetabled for normal teaching hours on these days.
In the University sector academic staff are providing an additional hour per week to facilitate teaching and learning, resulting in the delivery of in excess of 100,000 lecturing hours per annum. Under the Haddington Road Agreement academic staff in universities will work an additional seventy-eight hours per annum. This additional time will be deployed through Workload Allocation Models to maximize savings and productivity by achieving more effective deployment and utilisation of academic staff resources.
97. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views regarding the heavy weight of schoolbags carried by school children; if his Department has carried out any long-term studies on the effects on children of carrying heavy schoolbags; if he is willing to issue guidelines in this area regarding the maximum weight of bags; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41782/13]
View answerMy Department issued Circular M35/05 in 2005 to highlight the potential health hazard of overweight schoolbags and to outline a range of local measures that could be put in place to help alleviate the problem. The circular referred to the recommendations of the previously published report of the Working Group on the Weight of School Bags. This report acknowledged that many of the solutions belong at local school level and made various recommendations in this regard, such as optimum use of storage facilities, developing pupil organisation skills and timetabling. It is a matter for each individual school to determine which particular measures are most suited to its individual circumstances and to how the school concerned organises teaching and learning. The circular and the report of the Working Group on the Weight of School Bags are available on my Department's website at www.education.ie.
98. Deputy John Halligan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will confirm the rationale behind the decision to introduce the supplementary allocation panel for special needs assistants; the reason entry onto this panel is only open to special needs assistants who have been working for the past school year and were to lose their positions on 31 August; the way a panel such as this could so blatantly discriminate against special needs assistants who had the misfortune to lose their positions at an earlier date; the number of persons currently on this panel; if a school is obliged to state on any job advertisements that applicants will be taken from the panel only; if there should be an obligation on his Department to have those best suited for the available positions added to the panel; the way he can justify this panel as it stands; and if he will make a commitment to look into the implications of this oversight and make the necessary arrangements to have entry to such panels opened to all qualified applicants [41563/13]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, a new set of proposals for a public service agreement were put forward by the Labour Relations Commission which now form the Public Service Stability Agreement 2013-2016 (the Haddington Road Agreement). One aspect of this Agreement relates to supplementary assignment arrangements for Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) and as both Unions that represent SNAs namely, SIPTU and IMPACT, have signed up to the Haddington Road Agreement, the Department has implemented supplementary assignment arrangements for SNAs for the 2013/2014 school year. The detailed arrangements are set out in Departmental Circular 0037/2013 which issued on 1 July 2013 and which is available on the Department's website at the following address: http://www.education.ie/en/Circulars-and-Forms/Active-Circulars/cl0037_2013.pdf.
With effect from 1 May 2013 once an SNA with a minimum of one year's service is notified by his/her employer that he/she is to be made redundant then he/she shall be deemed to be a member of a Supplementary Assignment Panel for SNAs. With the exception of SNAs who have been re-employed on permanent contracts or have chosen to opt out of the panel in accordance with the terms of Paragraph 39 of the circular, all SNAs who have been made redundant since 1 May 2013 are members of the SNA Supplementary Assignment Panel.
SNAs who were made redundant prior to 1 May 2013 are free to apply for SNA positions. However, the revised rules on SNA recruitment are as set out in Departmental Circular 37/2013, the purpose of which is to facilitate those SNAs who are notified that they are to be made redundant in filling SNA vacancies which become available in other schools / ETBs. Accordingly, those SNAs who are members of the SNA Supplementary Assignment Panel are afforded preferential treatment in the filling of SNA vacancies. For the 2013/2014 school year a list of SNAs who have been deemed to be members of the Supplementary Assignment Panel will not be made or kept by the Department of Education and Skills.
Eligibility for SNA vacancies is not confined to panel members and when advertising an SNA position, a school is obliged to list any essential qualifications that are required to fill the vacancy in addition to any specific competencies and/or requirements to meet the special educational needs of the pupil(s). If an employer does not receive an application for a vacancy from an SNA who is a member of the panel or if having interviewed all such applicants, it has been established that no such applicant can meet the essential qualifications that are required to fill the vacancy in addition to all specific competencies and/or requirements to meet the special educational needs of the pupil(s) then the employer can fill its vacancy in the normal manner from all the other applicants for the vacancy. As the LRC proposals are part of a wider public-sector pay agreement that represent compromises by both employers and unions, I do not have the ability to alter the terms of that agreement.
99. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide details of grant support available in respect of special needs children of pre-school age attending early intervention units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41572/13]
View answerI presume that the Deputy is referring specifically to the early intervention classes for children with autism in mainstream and special schools. Children with autism can enrol in these early intervention classes from the age of three. There are now some 76 early intervention classes in recognised primary and special schools and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) will establish further classes where the need is identified. My Department also provides funding through the Home Tuition Scheme for children with autism who are unable to access school placements and for children from age 2.5 who are too young to enrol in an early intervention class. In addition to the general costs of operating these classes capitation grants are paid in respect of the children enrolled. Typically other grants are included in the annual grant payment to schools and as such are not capable of being separately identified as requested by the Deputy.
Separately, as the Deputy will be aware, children with special needs of pre-school age are provided for through the delivery of the free Pre-School Year in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme which was introduced in 2010. Furthermore the HSE provides for the inclusion of children with special needs in early years settings under their auspices.
100. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will consider making more special needs assistant internships available to alleviate the pressures being felt by teachers and students in classrooms (details supplied). [41575/13]
View answerThere is no scheme administered by my Department offering internships for Special Needs Assistants.
JobBridge is a scheme operated and funded by the Department of Social Protection. Recognised schools and Education and Training Boards may choose to participate in the scheme if they wish. Circular 46/2011 (National Internship scheme) sets out the scheme as it applies in schools.
An intern may be employed under the Job Bridge scheme in any type of role within the school but they cannot fill a vacant post or displace an existing employee. The maximum number of internships a school or ETB can offer at any one time is set by my Department and is dependent on their number of full time employees:1-10 employees: 1 Place; 11-20 employees: 2 Places; 21-30 employees: 3 Places; 30 + employees: 20% of your workforce to a maximum of 200 internships, whichever is the smaller.
101. Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will explain what the item return to risk for Bus Éireann means as it appears in the Bus Éireann bill for school transport posted on his website; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41579/13]
View answerI take it the Deputy is referring to the Bus Eireann Audited Accounts 2010 Explanatory Note on the Department website. The administration heading, amounting to €18.2m in 2010, covers some direct costs, indirect support costs, indirect regional costs, property and a contribution. This figure was reduced to €16.7m in 2011. A breakdown of both the 2010 and 2011 figures is available on the Committee of Public Accounts website.
The contribution element - €4.6m in 2010 and €3.5m in 2011 - provides funds for specific capital investment in School Transport services and administration for example IT to deliver future cost savings, a portion of general capital investment for example garage equipment that serves all three businesses – Commercial, PSO and School Transport, reduction of cost base through voluntary severance for schools staff (direct and support) and a return to risk associated with School Transport business. Return to risk relates to a contingency which can only be used to defray costs arising from any of the risks associated with Bus Eireann's operation and management of the School Transport Scheme. The school transport element is a €160m scheme and employs a significant number of staff, directly and indirectly.
102. Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason school transport is more expensive here than anywhere else in the western world; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41580/13]
View answerSchool Transport was the subject of a Value for Money Review carried out as part of the 2009-2011 round of Value for Money Reviews. This review, which is available on my Department's website, looked in detail at the various cost factors impacting on the provision of school transport including the scale of provision for children with special educational needs, levels of parental choice and the eligibility criteria underpinning the scheme. I should add that inter-country comparisons are difficult given variability in these factors.
103. Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason maintenance charges for buses in the school bus fleet owned by Bus Éireann are over five times higher than similar charges for maintenance in Northern Ireland; his views on whether his Department is being overcharged for maintenance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41581/13]
View answerSafety is Bus Éireann's highest priority and this is reflected in the company's vehicle maintenance process and procedures. The report of the School Transport Value for the Money Review noted, for example, that random checks of maintenance standards and audits of maintenance records including contractors' school buses and their maintenance premises, conducted on behalf of Bus Éireann by internationally recognised experts in the field of vehicle maintenance systems and safety standards, are at a higher standard than usual tests.
This investment in best practice vehicle maintenance improves the standards of all vehicles that are used to provide services under the School Transport Scheme nationally, and not only those operated directly by Bus Éireann. In addition Bus Éireann conducts thorough six-weekly preventative maintenance checks incorporating stringent safety inspections on all of its school transport vehicles, as well as other measures that are in addition to and designed to further enhance statutory vehicle safety standard requirements. This investment in best practice maintenance systems is reflected in the costs.
