Written Answers Nos. 157-162
157. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the total number of sheep returned on the sheep census for the following P246 Achill, P247 Currane; P248 Dooegs and P249 Slievemore; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17006/14]
View answerCouncil Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 requires all flock owners to count and return the total number of sheep on their holding each year. The 2013 Census date was 15 December 2013, with returns to my Department required by 31 January 2014. This closing date was subsequently extended by two weeks, to 14 February 2014. As processing of these returns remains ongoing at present, the data sought by the Deputy is not currently available. Immediately the process is concluded the data in question will be forwarded directly to the Deputy.
158. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there is anything in the new regulations for the Common Agricultural Policy programme 2014-2020 that would preclude him from including farm forestry planted before 2008 as eligible land for the purposes of the new basic payment and the new greening payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17008/14]
View answerFollowing changes to the EU Regulations as a result of the adoption of the EU Commission’s proposal on the CAP Health Check, lands which were afforested since 2009 are eligible to draw down a payment under the Single Payment Scheme at present and under the new Basic Payment Scheme, which will be implemented in 2015. In accordance with provisions of the governing EU Regulations, payment can be made if the newly afforested land meets the following requirements:
- The land to be afforested was declared on a 2008 SPS application form;
- The applicant who declared that land on a 2008 SPS application form was paid under the 2008 Single Payment Scheme;
- The land to be afforested was eligible to draw down an SPS payment in 2008;
- The afforested land meets all the requirements of the Afforestation Grant and Premium Scheme.
Therefore, it is not possible under the provisions of Regulation (EU) No 1307/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council to make payments under the Basic Payment Scheme or the greening measure to lands that were afforested before 2009.
159. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the present staffing complement, by section and grade, of the Child and Family Support Agency; the number of staff yet to be recruited in each section; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16862/14]
View answerThe Child and Family Agency, TUSLA, was established on 1 January 2014 and operational arrangements were completed in advance of this date to ensure the smooth transition of services provision, staff and service management. This included the transfer of staff from the Health Service Executive, the National Educational Welfare Board and the Family Support Agency. I am informed by the Agency that at the end of February 2014 there were 3,426.75 whole-time equivalents (WTE) employed and that there are some further staff still to transfer from the HSE. In addition to this, the Agency is presently engaged in the recruitment of a further 171 staff, the majority of which relates to social work staffing. The current staffing complement is broken down as follows:
|
Staffing by category |
WTE |
|
Social Work |
1,388.73 |
|
Social Care |
1,177.25 |
|
Psychology |
16.20 |
|
Other health professionals |
7.95 |
|
Nursing |
33.55 |
|
Management (Grade VIII + above) |
50.36 |
|
Family Support |
175.28 |
|
Catering and other support staff |
74.40 |
|
Administrative Grades (Grade III to VII) |
431.03 |
|
Education and Welfare Officer |
72.00 |
|
Total |
3,426.75 |
|
Staffing by Area |
WTE |
|
Residential Services |
934.36 |
|
Corporate Services |
184.76 |
|
Dublin Mid-Leinster |
633.78 |
|
Dublin North-East |
530.29 |
|
South |
572.07 |
|
West |
571.49 |
160. Deputy Damien English asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if an organisation's proposal (details supplied) can be included in the Pathways project under the Child and Family Agency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16886/14]
View answerThe Child and Family Agency which was established on 1 January, 2014, is in the process of consolidating its services. The provision of counselling services is currently under consideration in the context of services previously provided by the Family Support Agency and which now come under the remit of the Child and Family Agency. In this regard, the Agency intends to review and streamline existing services and at this point will not be procuring counselling services from external groups.
161. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if assistance will be given to a person (details supplied) in County Cork who is seeking to upskill but is being forced to recommence their qualifications from the beginning and is unable to do so due to financial hardship; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16959/14]
View answerPrior to the introduction of the free pre-school year under the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme in 2010 there was no qualification requirement for staff working directly with children in the childcare sector. The current requirement under the ECCE programme is that pre-school leaders must hold a major award in early childhood care and education at FETAC Level 5 or equivalent.
There is clear evidence that the level of qualification held by childcare staff has a significant impact on the quality of the service provided. Last year I announced a Pre-School Quality Agenda to address issues of quality in the pre-school sector and it was in this context that I decided to introduce a minimum qualification for all staff working directly with children across the childcare sector.
I am now introducing a requirement that all staff working directly with children in pre-school services must hold a major award in early childhood care and education at FETAC Level 5 or the equivalent, and that all pre-school leaders delivering the ECCE programme must hold a major award in early childhood care and education at FETAC Level 6 or the equivalent. These minimum qualification requirements will apply to existing pre-school services from September 2015. They will apply from September 2014 in respect of pre-school services registering with the Child and Family Agency from that date.
I have obtained a funding allocation of €3m over the years 2014/2015 in order to support childcare workers, both in the community and in the private sector, seeking to obtain the necessary qualifications. This funding will be administered by Pobal through the Learner Fund initiative, which I recently announced. Pobal will be assisted in the administration of the Fund by the local City and County Childcare Committees. The Fund will assist existing staff working directly with children in registered early years services to meet the new requirements and will be used to subsidise the cost for eligible learners to undertake accredited Level 5 and Level 6 courses provided by certain approved training providers. Training courses subsidised under this Fund are expected to commence in September 2014. Full details of the eligibility criteria and how to apply are available on the Pobal website. Information was also provided through the Childcare Committees and through voluntary childcare organisations, as well as on my Department's website.
In relation to the person referred to by the Deputy, she did not obtain an exit award at Level 5 or Level 6 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ). The completion of Stage 1 of the BA in Montessori (which was offered through the College of Commerce in association with St Nicholas Montessori) does not equate to a Major Award at Level 6. I understand that St Nicholas Montessori have applied to the NFQ for validation of a Level 6 programme based on the first two stages, not just the first stage, of their BA programme.
Any work relating to the Recognition of Prior Learning is done in the context of an application onto a programme of study. It is unlikely that the study programme undertaken by the person in question has covered the core elements of Child Development 0 – 6 years, Early Childhood Learning Theory and Practice, or Child Health and Welfare 0 – 6 years, or included a significant supervised practicum in relevant early childhood care and education settings.
I would suggest that the person concerned check with Higher Education Institutions to see if there are any progression routes open to her to allow her to meet the minimum qualification criteria which will apply to her from September 2015.
162. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Health the position regarding increased home help hours and a wheelchair in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Limerick. [16864/14]
View answerAs the Deputy's question relates to service matters I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply to the Deputy.
