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Tuesday, 8 Oct 2013

Written Answers Nos. 64-82

Student Contribution

Questions (70)

Seán Fleming

Question:

70. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will give a commitment to a timeline to reverse the increases he is making in the student registration fee, as proposed by the Union of Students in Ireland in its pre-budget submission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42234/13]

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Written answers

As the Deputy will be aware the Student Contribution stands at €2,500 for the current academic year and is payable by students who qualify under my Department's free fees schemes. I have already signalled my intention to increase the Student Contribution by €250 each year hereafter until the 2015/16 academic year when the Contribution will stand at €3,000. The full Contribution is paid by the Exchequer in respect of students who qualify under my Department's Student Grant Scheme (some 40%). The Higher Education Authority (HEA) is undertaking a study on the sustainability of the current funding system for higher education and I will be advised as this work progresses. The report will help inform decision-making as to the future funding of the sector.

Special Educational Needs Expenditure

Questions (71)

Mick Wallace

Question:

71. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to ring-fence current funding for special needs assistants in budget 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42210/13]

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Written answers

The policy of this Government is to ensure that every child who is assessed as needing SNA support will receive access to such support. The level of resources being devoted to supporting children with Special Educational Needs has been maintained at €1.3 billion. These resources have been protected despite the ongoing severe financial position. The ongoing commitment of my Government to protect frontline supports for children with special educational needs is an acknowledgment of the important role played by SNAs in ensuring that children with special needs can progress and develop and be included, where appropriate, in mainstream school settings. This level of spending has been protected despite the ongoing severe financial position. There has been no reduction in the number of SNA posts in the 2013/14 school year. As budget considerations are ongoing, I am not in a position at this point to anticipate any future budgetary or expenditure provisions.

Student Grant Scheme Reform

Questions (72, 78)

Billy Timmins

Question:

72. Deputy Billy Timmins asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to review means assessments for higher education grants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42149/13]

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Barry Cowen

Question:

78. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will give an assurance to self-employed and farming families that he has no plans to include working assets in calculation of a family's means for qualifying for a third level student maintenance grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42230/13]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 72 and 78 together. The Deputies will be aware that, following agreement in principle by the Government to broaden the current means testing arrangements for student grants by way of inclusion of the value of capital assets, I set up a dedicated implementation group to bring forward detailed proposals. I have received a draft report from the implementation group. This is currently under consideration and I will be consulting further with my cabinet colleagues.

School Closures

Questions (73, 86)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

73. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which he expects to be in a position to maintain the fabric of smaller rural and urban schools under the patronage of all churches, with particular reference to the need to ensure that such communities are not in any way marginalised arising either from demographics, location and-or socioeconomic status, and having due regard to traditional commitments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42152/13]

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Michael Moynihan

Question:

86. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans regarding small rural schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42246/13]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 73 and 86 together.

The Government is very cognisant of the important role of primary schools in the fabric of local communities. Our overall primary school enrolment has been growing rapidly in recent years and this is going to continue. In managing the resource consequences of this, it is important that decisions on school provision and organisation are based on a rigorous evaluation of requirements and needs, not just at a local level but also at both regional and national levels. A Value for Money review of Small Primary Schools has been recently presented to me. The report's contents will be carefully considered with my Government colleagues prior to its publication.

Pupil-Teacher Ratio

Questions (74, 80, 81, 84)

Seán Crowe

Question:

74. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to change pupil-teacher ratios. [42195/13]

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Éamon Ó Cuív

Question:

80. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will maintain the pupil-teacher ratio in schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42248/13]

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Mick Wallace

Question:

81. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Education and Skills if cuts in budget 2014 will mean even larger class sizes for pupils; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42211/13]

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Catherine Murphy

Question:

84. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills if an impact assessment has been carried out in relation to class sizes in the north Kildare and east Meath areas of high population growth; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the proposed increase in the pupil-teacher ratio would have severe effects on these areas at a rate beyond other areas of the country; his Department's modelling for future teacher deployment in areas where the birth rate is currently high; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42018/13]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 74, 80, 81 and 84 together.

The budget for education, including the number of teaching posts that we can afford to fund in schools is a matter that I will have to consider with my colleagues in Cabinet in the context of the forthcoming budget. The decisions in relation to such matters will be announced at budget time. A particular challenge in the education sector is on ensuring we have school places and teachers for the thousands of additional pupils entering our schools each year. The Government will endeavour to protect frontline education services as best as possible. However, the context for any discussion about PTR and class sizes is the requirement to bring our overall public expenditure into line with what we can afford as a country. The challenge will be to ensure that the resources that can be provided are used to maximum effect to achieve the best possible outcome for pupils.

Schools Guidance Counsellors

Questions (75)

Seamus Kirk

Question:

75. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide figures on the reductions secondary schools have made in guidance counselling hours as a result of his removal of the ex quota allocation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42238/13]

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Written answers

I have already acknowledged to the House that bringing guidance within quota is challenging for schools. However, the alternative was to adjust the PTR staffing allocations. Guidance is a whole school activity and schools have autonomy on how best to prioritise their available resources to meet the requirements in relation to guidance and the provision of an appropriate range of subjects to students. This operates at local school level.

The representative organisations for School Principals and school management developed a framework that assists schools on how best to manage the provision of guidance from within their staffing allocation. This approach puts a greater emphasis on group-work and class-based activity at senior cycle and maximises the amount of time available for those pupils that need one to one support. The budget decision sheltered the impact for all DEIS post-primary schools by improving their standard staffing allocations – a fact which is often overlooked in this debate.

Student Grant Scheme Appeals

Questions (76)

Martin Ferris

Question:

76. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the case of a person (details supplied) whose application for a grant has been turned down despite the fact the family's net income would place them well below the threshold, leaving the individual in question unable to attend their post-leaving certificate course in Cavan Institute of Technology because of the costs involved. [42193/13]

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Written answers

Student grant applications are means tested on gross income from all sources earned inside and outside the State within a specified reference period. The assessment of income from the same starting point is deemed to be fair and reasonable because this approach eliminates any distortion which might arise from different spending decisions in different households. In the interest of equity, I have no plans to change this arrangement. I understand that the independent Student Grant Appeals Board dealt with an appeal from the student referred to by the Deputy on 24th September 2013 and upheld the original decision of the awarding authority. The student was notified of this decision on 25th September 2013.

Question No. 77 answered with Question No. 62.
Question No. 78 answered with Question No. 72.

Student Universal Support Ireland Administration

Questions (79)

John McGuinness

Question:

79. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he is satisfied that Student Universal Support Ireland will fulfil its obligations on time this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42245/13]

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Written answers

I understand from the City of Dublin Education and Training Board that in preparation for the 2013/2014 academic year, the grants administration process has undergone significant development to enhance its effectiveness and deal with the difficulties experienced last year. Student Universal Support Ireland has implemented a number of initiatives recommended by an independent review of the process. These include direct information sharing with Government bodies and other agencies including the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Social Protection and the CAO. I understand that these links have significantly reduced the number of documents required from students in processing grant applications and that SUSI is now some months ahead of its processing position at this time last year. The grant renewals process has also been very successful to date. I am assured by CDETB that SUSI is continuing to develop and improve its services and will deliver a much-improved service to students in 2013.

Questions Nos. 80 and 81 answered with Question No. 74.

Student Grant Scheme Eligibility

Questions (82)

Seán Crowe

Question:

82. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Skills the criteria by which Student Universal Support Ireland assesses an independent or dependent mature adult when applying for a student maintenance grant; his plans to address concerns raised in relation to this issue (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42194/13]

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Written answers

For student grants purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances 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 or she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st of January of the year of first entry to an approved course or of re-entry following a break in studies of at least three years and is not ordinarily resident with his/her parents from the previous October. Otherwise he or she would continue to be assessed on the basis of parental income. I have no plans at present to change the eligibility arrangements in respect of students under the age of 23 who apply for a student grant.

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