Written Answers Nos. 201-218
201. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills when funding will be made available for ongoing maintenance and replacement of computer equipment in the design and communication graphics rooms in schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53920/13]
View answer202. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the computer stock provided to implement the T4 subjects no longer have the capacity to operate the revised software designed to deliver the curriculum; when he plans to put a grant-aided purchasing framework in place to provide for the replacement of this computer stock in schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53921/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 201 and 202 together.
My Department is aware of the issues in relation to T4 subject equipment. The availability of funding to meet particular school needs is considered in the light of overall priorities and is subject to the availability of resources. I will keep the question of the provision of funding for this purpose under review. Steps have been taken to ensure that schools receive value for money when purchasing T4 CAD PCs and Notebooks. In this regard, schools may purchase off the Department of Finance's framework for PCs and notebooks and to facilitate this the Professional Development Service for Teachers - Technology in Education have put in place a drawdown agreement for PCs and notebooks with all the necessary specifications for T4 subjects.
203. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 139 of 12 November 2013, with regard to the 46 academic staff in question, if he can outline for each institution what was the position and expertise required for the hired role; the reason given for rehiring retired staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53923/13]
View answer206. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 139 of 26 November 2013, with regard to the 46 academic staff in question, the salary rate for each position that was filled; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53926/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 203 and 206 together.
The information sought by the Deputy is not readily available in my Department. Officials of my Department have asked the Higher Education Authority for details which will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.
204. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason the framework for architectural services for large school project contracts includes a provision that applicant architecture practices must have completed three projects in the past five years of a value greater than €2.5 million; the specific reasons for this condition which limits the pool of applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53924/13]
View answer205. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Education and Skills the action or measures his Department has taken or put in place to ensure that new, existing and struggling architecture practices may apply for all tendered school projects, including the large school project contracts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53925/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 204 and 205 together. My Department is currently conducting a tender exercise to put in place a Framework Panel for Consultancy Services for large school building projects. These Frameworks will replace the existing Frameworks which were put in place in 2012 and which expire in April 2014. The panels will provide the basis for Architectural, Engineering and Quantity Surveying firms to tender for major school building projects throughout 2014 and 2015. Separate panels will be in place for category 2(b) projects (construction value between €2.5m and €5m) and category 3 projects (construction value greater than €5m). In order to qualify for inclusion on a Framework Panel firms must satisfy certain minimum criteria which essentially demonstrate the firm's capacity to provide the required service as part of a design team on a major school building project. One of the minimum criteria is the need to have completed at least 3 major projects of a similar scale and complexity in the last 5 years. For category 3 projects, one of the three completed projects is required to be a school building project. This particular requirement does not apply to category 2(b) projects. The minimum threshold of €2.5 million for the three completed projects applies only to the category 3 framework. This means that in order to qualify to tender for projects valued in excess of €5 million a firm must show that it has successfully completed three building projects each with a value of at least €2.5 million in the previous 5 years. The minimum value for each of the three completed projects to qualify for the category 2(b) framework is €1 million. There is therefore ample opportunity for smaller firms to compete for category 2(b) projects and if, successful, to demonstrate their capacity to compete for category 3 projects in the future. These minimum criteria are based on the current Suitability Assessment Questionnaire for Principle Service Provider to be assessed under a Restricted Procedure published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (QC1 v2.0 16/07/2013). However, in cognisance of the downturn in the construction industry, my Department has chosen to extend the period for which completed projects are eligible for inclusion from a three year period (which applied for the 2012 Frameworks) to a period of five years for the new Frameworks. It is important to understand that this refers to completion dates for projects and that all firms completing such projects in the last 5 years would, by necessity, have been working on the design phases of such projects for anywhere up to three years before the completion date. While the three projects must have been completed in the last 5 years this, in effect, gives firms an eight year window to provide three examples of large scale building projects which they have worked on in order to satisfy this condition. It is also worth noting that the number of applications for the 2014 panels has exceeded the level of interest expressed back in 2012. The evaluation process of the applicants is ongoing and the Framework will be operational by its target date of April 2014. Finally, it should be noted that the appointment of design teams on school building projects of a value less than €2.5 million will generally not be tendered to the above Frameworks but will be conducted by open tender on the Governments e-tenders web-site.
207. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of one, two, three, four and five teacher Gaelscoileanna in non-Gaeltacht areas by county at the end of September 2011, 2012 and 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53928/13]
View answer208. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of one, two, three, four and five teacher minority faith schools in each county at the end of September 2011, 2012 and 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53929/13]
View answer209. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of one, two, three, four and five teacher schools in each county at the end of September 2011, 2012 and 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53930/13]
View answer210. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of one, two, three, four and five teacher Gaelscoileanna in Gaeltacht areas in each county at the end of September 2011, 2012 and 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53931/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 207 to 210, inclusive, together.
The information requested is provided in the National School Annual Census Return. Results from the Census for the current school year (2013/2014) are not yet available. The attached tables show a list of schools with five or less mainstream class teachers in 2011/12 and 2012/13. It also shows the number of full and part –time non mainstream class teachers based in the school. The tables can be sorted by county, ethos, Irish classification and Gaeltacht status.5 Teachers or less 2011 - 2012
211. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide in tabular form the total number of junior infants admitted to schools in September 2013 (details supplied); the total still on the admissions list when applications were complete in September 2013, that is those who enrolled that the schools were unable to accommodate; and the total applicants, to date, for junior infants for September 2014. [53933/13]
View answerIt is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998. In this regard a Board of Management may find it necessary to restrict enrolment to children from a particular area or a particular age group or on the basis of some other criterion. The criteria to be applied by schools in such circumstances are a matter for the schools themselves. This selection process and the enrolment policy on which it is based must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants. Enrolment is dealt with at local school level and my Department therefore does not hold data centrally in relation to school admission applications. My Department's Statistics Section publishes statistical information each September in relation to teacher and pupil numbers in all primary schools. This also includes a breakdown by class group of the number of pupils in each primary school. The last published data relates to the 2012/13 school year. The data relating to all primary schools for the 2013/14 school year is due for publication in September 2014.
212. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 65 of 13 November 2013, if he will ensure that priority be given to those schools who did not apply in previous years or were unsuccessful in their applications in previous years; if he will confirm that those who, because of the failure of the website on the deadline day for applications, were unable to complete the form online and sent hard copies of their applications will not be penalised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53939/13]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that commensurate with the level of funding available for the Scheme in question, applications are currently being assessed on a top down basis in accordance with the prioritisation criteria outlined in the governing Circular Letter for the Scheme. This Circular Letter (59/2013) is available on my Department's website www.education.ie. It is my intention to publish a list of successful applicants in the Spring. I understand that there was a technical problem with the online application system for approximately one hour on the last day for submitting applications. I wish to confirm that no school will be penalised because of this disruption.
213. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding resource hours in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Mayo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53940/13]
View answerI wish to inform the Deputy that all schools were advised to apply to the NCSE for resource teaching and SNA support for the 2013/14 school year by 15th March, 2013. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) published details of all of their allocations for resource teaching and SNA support for the 2013/2014 school year in June of this year. In order to meet any late demand for resource teaching and SNA support arising between 15th March, 2013 and the start of the school year, the NCSE requested all schools to submit outstanding applications for resource teaching and SNA support to the NCSE by 20th September, 2013. The NCSE has also now published details of the additional SNA allocations which have been made to schools since the initial allocations were made to schools in June. The NCSE published details of these revised allocations on 21st October, 2013. These details are now available on the NCSE website, www.ncse.ie, and detail the allocations made for each school on a per county basis. The NCSE has placed full details of their appeal process in respect of SNA and Resource Teaching Allocations on their website. All primary schools also receive an allocation for resource teaching and learning support under the General Allocation Model to assist to provide pupils with high incidence special educational needs, including mild general learning difficulty and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). As the Deputy's question refers to an application for resource teaching hours to the NCSE for an individual child I have referred this question to the NCSE for their consideration and direct reply to the Deputy.
214. Deputy Nicky McFadden asked the Minister for Education and Skills the measures undertaken by his Department to develop and improve the ICT skills of students at primary and secondary level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53944/13]
View answerSince 1998, the national ICT in Schools programme has focused on building capacity across the schools system for integrating ICT into teaching and learning and developing pupils' digital literacy, The ICT in Schools programme must address new policy challenges and opportunities arising from major developments in curricular reform, digital publishing, digital content dissemination tools generally, cloud services, portable computing and student devices, and the deployment of high speed broadband at post-primary level. In relation to curricular reform the new junior cycle in post-primary schools outlines eight key skills required for successful learning by students across the curriculum and for learning beyond school. The key skills in the Framework for Junior Cycle all include as elements the use of digital technology. One of the Statements of Learning in the Framework provides for the use by students of technology and digital media tools to learn, communicate, work and think collaboratively and creatively. As new specifications for the Junior Cycle are being prepared, the use of ICT will become integrated across learning areas. In addition, new short courses in Digital Media literacy and in Programming and Coding will be available to schools from September 2014. A draft of it will be available shortly from the NCCA for consultation. The first step in developing a new strategy for the use of ICT in teaching and learning is the completion of an ICT census in schools. The census results are currently being analysed and the results will provide a sound research base which will in turn inform key policy decisions relating to integrating ICT in teaching and learning over the next three to five years. In the past the ICT census of schools focussed on the level of infrastructure in schools. The current census addresses a broad range of themes including:
- The impact of ICT in teaching and learning and assessment
-School-wide planning for integration of ICT in teaching and learning
-Continuing ICT related Professional Development (CPD) for teachers
-Curriculum-relevant digital content and software resources
-exploring views on the opportunities presented by integration of ICT in teaching, learning and assessment,
-Obstacles to ICT integration and how they could be overcome In addition there will be an extensive consultation process with stakeholders and the wider public. As part of this process, the ICT industry will be consulted in relation to technological developments. Feedback from this process and the results of the school census will provide a sound research base to inform policy decisions on the further integration of ICT in teaching and learning over the next five years.
216. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 43 of 4 December 2013, if he will instruct the City of Dublin and County of Dublin Education and Training Boards to provide the information sought. [53973/13]
View answerCity of Dublin Education and Training Board (ETB) has informed my Department that 44 Youthreach Resource Persons were appointed by the ETB since 2005. 41 of these started at Point 1 on the Youthreach Resource Persons payscale, 2 started at Point 2 of the scale and 1 started at point 3 of the scale.
217. Deputy Kevin Humphreys asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will outline what offices relevant to his Department are located or have been decentralised outside of Dublin; if he will provide the total number of staff in his Department and the number of staff based outside County Dublin as of 2013; the annual cost incurred in 2012 and 2013, respectively, for decentralised staff travelling to meetings in Dublin; the number of times staff travelled to individual meetings in Dublin in each of those years; the costs those staff will be reimbursed; if his Department has procedures or mechanisms in place such as video conferencing to reduce the cost of travelling for each unit based outside Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53992/13]
View answerMy Department and a number of its Agencies were part of the original Decentralisation Programme announced in Budget 2004 as follows:
|
Department/Agencies |
Location |
Number |
|
Department HQ |
Mullingar |
300 |
|
Department Staff |
Athlone |
100 |
|
Higher Education Authority |
Athlone |
45 |
|
NEWB & NCCA |
Portarlington |
70 |
|
NQAI/HETAC/FETAC |
Edenderry |
75 |
|
FÁS |
BIRR |
250 |
|
TOTAL |
840 |
The Athlone phase of the Decentralisation Programme for Department Staff was completed in Summer 2008 when 88 posts transferred from Dublin to new accommodation on the existing Department's campus in Cornamaddy (The Department already had approximately 350 staff working in it's Athlone office). As part of this phase of the Department's decentralisation, a number of posts transferred from the Tullamore office to Athlone which freed up space in Tullamore to transfer parts of the Higher Education Division from Dublin to Tullamore.
In April 2010 it was announced that decentralisation of the Department's HQ to Mullingar would not proceed on affordability grounds. The same is the case for the Agencies listed above. This Department comprises 3 main locations: Dublin, Athlone and Tullamore. In addition there is a small presence of staff in 40 regional locations outside of Dublin. As of end of September 2013, the Department has a staff of 1,296 people, 920 of whom work outside Dublin.
The information requested by the Deputy in relation to each staff member travelling to individual meetings in Dublin is not readily available and would involve an inordinate amount of administrative time to compile. However I can inform the Deputy that domestic travel costs for the Department have reduced significantly in recent years. Since 2007 the costs have been reduced by approximately 40% as set out as follows.
Year 2007: €3.13m
Year 2008: €3.06m
Year 2012: €1.96m
Year to date 2013: €1.71m
My Department's policy specifies that all travel should be by the shortest practicable routes and by the cheapest practicable mode of transport. Officers are encouraged to use public transport whenever practicable, with private transport to be used only in limited circumstances.
In terms of measures to reduce the necessity of travel, videoconferencing facilities have been in place in my Department's offices for a number of years, enabling staff in two or more locations communicate by simultaneous video and audio transmissions. In addition during 2013, my Department rolled out unified communications software across the three main offices in Dublin, Athlone and Tullamore and a number of regional/local offices, with plans to extend to other such offices in 2014. This software facilitates desktop video conferencing and desktop sharing, enabling colleagues in different locations work on the same document. These technologies reduce the time and cost associated with business travel and enable a more efficient way of working. It is however inevitable that senior officials in particular would be required to attend meetings away from their base such as Interdepartmental meetings, Ministerial meetings etc.
218. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills when an application for additional school accommodation will be provided to a school (details supplied) in County Offaly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54009/13]
View answerThe application from the school, referred to by the Deputy, is being considered by my Department, which has been in contact with the school concerned seeking additional information. Once a response has been received, my Department will then be in a position to assess the application further.
