Written Answers Nos. 151 - 173
151. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Education and Skills if it is common for contract workers to wait up to four months for payment for correcting examinations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44434/14]
View answerThe State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations.
In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.
152. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 463 of 11 November 2014, if she will provide details, in tabular form by county for both primary and secondary schools for 2013, of the number of instances during the completion of whole school evaluation reports and visits to schools by inspectors where serious shortcomings in relation to school facilities were identified by the inspectors and brought to the attention of the Department's planning and building unit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44439/14]
View answerDetails of the number of instances where serious shortcomings in relation to school facilities were identified by inspectors in the course of their work, and brought to the attention of the Department's Planning and Building Unit in the period, are not readily to hand but will be compiled and provided to the Deputy as soon as possible.
153. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if there will be an allocation for a minor works grant this year in respect of a school (details supplied) in County Limerick; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44440/14]
View answerCircular Letter 0062/2013 which was published, as the Minor Works Grant for the school year 2013/2014 issued last November in the amount of €28m, states "the grant will only be paid in future years as funding permits". The focus under the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme 2012-2016 is on meeting the demand for additional school places. At this time there is no funding available within my Department's 2014 financial allocation for the payment of the 2014/2015 Minor Works Grant.
I am aware that whenever my Department is in a position to issue a Minor Works Grant (to all primary schools with permanent recognition) that it is welcomed by school communities and management bodies including the school in question as a valuable contribution towards the cost of maintaining school infrastructure.
154. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department's planning and building unit received correspondence from fire officers regarding issues of emergency access and egress in schools during the years 2011 to date in 2014; if she will provide details of the counties and locations from where correspondence was received; the actions that her Department's building unit took as a result; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44441/14]
View answerIn accordance with the provisions of the Education Act 1998, the Board of Management is the body charged with the direct governance of a school and my Department's Planning and Building Unit would generally not be involved in direct communication with Fire Officers in relation fire safety issues in school buildings.
Most school building projects require an application for a Fire Certificate as part of the statutory approvals for the project. Design teams working on behalf of the Department and their respective schools would communicate directly with the Fire Officer in the relevant local authority as a standard part of the process of architectural planning.
To assist school authorities and Design teams to meet their requirements in relation to fire safety my Department has prepared a guidance document following consultation with the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management, Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Chief Fire Officers' Association and this document is available on my Department's website.
155. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide details in tabular form by county since 2011 of the number of requests her Department's planning and building unit has received from schools to deal with asbestos related problems; the number of those schools that have had their issue successfully resolved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44445/14]
View answerDetails of Emergency Works applications requesting funding for the removal of asbestos from Primary and Post Primary, together with the outcome of these applications, is outlined in the attached table. Applications prior to the 1st January 2013 were dealt with by the Office of Public Works on behalf of my Department under the Asbestos Remediation programme.
In addition to the above when a school authority receives funding from my Department to carry out refurbishment works to their school building, they are advised of their responsibilities as Client for the project under the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Safety Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations, Statutory Instrument (S.I.) 504 of 2006.
In particular school authorities are advised that they must receive written confirmation from all Consultant(s) appointed by them to assist with the delivery of their approved project that they are aware of the contents of the School's Safety File and the School's Asbestos Register. As a result most asbestos related requests for funding are received as a result of asbestos-containing materials being highlighted as part of an already approved project and additional funding is provided as part of the overall project cost and this information is not centrally held within my Department.
Requests received for Asbestos Removal under the Departments Emergency Works Scheme since 1 January 2013
|
County |
Number of requests |
Funding approved |
Funding not approved |
|
Cavan |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Clare |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Cork |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Dublin |
4 |
4 |
|
|
Galway |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Kerry |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Kildare |
1 |
1 (deferred until Summer 2015) |
|
|
Kilkenny |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Mayo |
1 |
1 (awaiting additional information) |
|
|
Wexford |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Wicklow |
1 |
1 |
156. Deputy Olivia Mitchell asked the Minister for Education and Skills if a site has been identified for a school (details supplied) in County Dublin; and when construction will begin. [44454/14]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the project to provide a new building for the primary school to which she refers was included in my Department's 5-Year School Building Plan and listed among those to proceed to construction in 2015/2016.
Officials from my Department have been working very closely with officials from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to secure a suitable site for the school. I can confirm that a suitable site has been identified and the site acquisition process is at an advanced stage. However, as I am sure the Deputy will appreciate, there are sensitivities associated with land acquisitions which limits the information which can be provided. At this time I am not in a position to provide further information in relation to the site acquisition.
Once the acquisition of the site is finalised, my Department will be in a position to progress the project through the architectural planning process.
157. Deputy Brian Walsh asked the Minister for Education and Skills when payment of a minor works grant will issue in respect of a school (details supplied) in County Galway; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44477/14]
View answerCircular Letter 0062/2013 which was published, as the Minor Works Grant for the school year 2013/2014 issued last November in the amount of €28m, states "the grant will only be paid in future years as funding permits". The focus under the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme 2012-2016 is on meeting the demand for additional school places. At this time there is no funding available within my Department's 2014 financial allocation for the payment of the 2014/2015 Minor Works Grant.
I am aware that whenever my Department is in a position to issue a Minor Works Grant (to all primary schools with permanent recognition) that it is welcomed by school communities and management bodies including the school in question as a valuable contribution towards the cost of maintaining school infrastructure.
158. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Education and Skills if it is the case that her Department is imposing catchment areas on Educate Together schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44488/14]
View answerNew schools are set up to meet identified demographic needs in specific geographic areas. For that reason, the criteria for the recognition of new schools specifies that a patron must confirm willingness to enrol children from the area for which the Department has identified the need. This is to ensure that children for whom the school was set up can have access to a school place and that they will not be displaced by pupils from outside the area.
All patron bodies are subject to the same criteria for the establishment of new schools.
159. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education and Skills if a school (details supplied) in County Kerry will be permitted and enabled to carry out the full planned expansion now in one phase rather than partially in two phases; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44492/14]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware the school referred to was approved a devolved grant in June 2014 to provide an additional two mainstream classrooms.
The school in question reverted to my Department in late October seeking an increase in funding for additional mainstream classroom accommodation. In that regard, my Department has sought additional information from the school and when this is received, the matter will be considered further. Officials from my Department will be in direct contact with the school authorities when a decision has been reached.
160. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will implement measures to reverse the adverse changes that were made in relation to guidance counsellor positions in schools in recent years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44515/14]
View answer161. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she acknowledges that changes to the status of school guidance counsellor positions are now resulting in costly consequences, such as increased university drop out rates and other social problems; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44516/14]
View answer163. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will implement measures to reverse the adverse changes that were made in relation to guidance counsellor positions in schools in recent years; her views on these changes now resulting in costly consequences, such as increased university drop out rates and other social problems; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44521/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 160, 161 and 163 together.
There is no scope to reverse this budget measure.
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. 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).
Guidance and counselling are a whole-school responsibility, with guidance counsellors playing their part within an overall team approach. The representative organisations for school principals and school management have developed a framework that assists schools on how best to manage the provision of guidance from within their staffing allocation. Wherever possible, group work and class-based activity should be used to maximise the amount of time available for those pupils who are most in need of one-to-one support.
In February my Department published a guide to developing student support teams in post-primary schools. This is an important resource for schools in promoting and protecting students' well-being and an aid to establishing a team or reviewing an existing team.
Guidance counsellors have two distinct functions. The first is general career guidance and guidance on the educational opportunities a child or young person might pursue, while the second involves support for students' well-being. The principal and leadership of a school have the best knowledge and experience to determine how exactly guidance resources and teaching resources should be allocated.
162. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will review the difficulties caused by the changes to teaching structures in schools affecting assistant teaching positions; her views on these changes limiting principals' freedom to delegate, stifling promotion opportunities and making it more difficult to find suitable candidates for principal or deputy principal positions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44517/14]
View answerWhen the moratorium on the filling of posts of responsibility was introduced in 2009, the Government exempted Principal and Deputy Principal posts in all primary and post-primary schools. These posts continue to be replaced in the normal manner. The impact of the moratorium was therefore limited to the Assistant Principal and Special Duties posts of responsibility.
The alleviation arrangements are set out in Circular 0004/2014 which provide a floor by which schools acutely affected at AP level by the impact of the moratorium can fill their AP vacancies as they arise to the level of the thresholds set out in that circular. It continues to be a matter for each individual school authority to re-organise and prioritise the appropriate duties for post of responsibility holders in the context of implementing the moratorium.
School leaders have a key role to play in determining the shape of our schools and student outcomes. Leading on curricular change and change management are key challenges for every school leader. The challenge for schools and the Department is therefore to build a leadership partnership that is fit for 21st century Ireland and school context.
Economic constraints and the moratorium on recruitment, albeit alleviated to some extent for schools, have presented challenges within the education sector. They also provide an opportunity to review the role of the principal so that our principals are leaders of learning, and to reconfigure the middle management structure to support principals in their role, ensuring ownership of responsibility rather than tasks, thereby building expertise and supporting a career path within the profession.
The Department, in consultation with the representative bodies, the IPPN and NAPD has commenced an exploration of the opportunities to support and thereby advance our understanding of the needs of school leaders and how they might be addressed.
164. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Education and Skills when the enhanced redundancy recommendation by the Labour Court in April 2013 (LRC 20530) will be granted to the co-ordinator and assistant co-ordinator of the FÁS funded scheme based in County Limerick; if they will be granted the full amount recommended by the Labour Court; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44531/14]
View answerLocal Training Initiatives are managed and operated by local groups and the staff are employed by these groups. Responsibility for funding Local Training Initiatives has recently moved from SOLAS to the each of the Education and Training Boards.
The Department has issued a sanction to fund enhanced redundancy for former employees of Local Training Initiatives where appropriate. I understand that the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board is in the process of making such arrangements in this particular case.
165. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Education and Skills the ministerial transport costs for the years 2010 to 2013, inclusive, for each Minister and Minister of State in her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44888/14]
View answerThe cost of ministerial transport in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 is €101,974, €158,723, €198,184 and €212,210 respectively. These figures include the salary of the civilian drivers for the Minister and Minister of State, the subsistence costs incurred by the drivers and the amount of travel and subsistence paid to the Minister and the Minister of State.
Cabinet Ministers with the exception of An Taoiseach, An Tánaiste and the Minister for Justice now provide their own car and are assigned 2 civilian drivers similar to the practice for a Minister of State. As a result of this there are 4 civilian drivers at my Department since 2011.
All Cabinet ministers in the last Government were provided with a state car and drivers who were members of An Garda Síochána. The current Government on taking office decided to dispense with this practice due to its prohibitive cost, so while the cost incurred to this Department for Ministerial transport has increased primarily due to the employment of 2 additional Civilian Drivers, the overall cost of providing transport for Cabinet Ministers has been reduced considerably.
166. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he has health concerns regarding mobile phone masts being located close to homes or schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44468/14]
View answer167. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he has health concerns regarding pylons being located close to homes or schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44469/14]
View answer172. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the legislation and the provisions that ensure that mobile phone masts are not located close to homes or schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44471/14]
View answer173. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the legislation and the provisions that ensure that pylons are not located close to homes or schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44472/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 166, 167, 172 and 173 together.
The issue of the potential health effects of electromagnetic fields was the subject of an Expert Group Report commissioned by the Government and published in March 2007. This report, entitled Health Effects of Electromagnetic Fields, which considered issues such as digital signals, microwaves and mobile phone masts, is available for download on my Department’s website at: http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/Environment/EnvironmentalRadiation/.
The Expert Group reported that the majority scientific opinion was that no adverse short- or long-term effects have been demonstrated from exposure to electromagnetic fields at levels below the limits recommended by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). Extensive international research on the issue continues to be co-ordinated through bodies such as the World Health Organisation.
A substantial volume of research on this issue is being carried out internationally by bodies with responsibilities for monitoring the health effects of electromagnetic fields, including the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR). This Committee recently published a Preliminary Opinion on Potential Health Effects of Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields, updating its previous opinions from 2009 and taking account of the many studies undertaken in the intervening years. The Report can be found at the following weblink: (http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientificcommittees/emerging/docs/scenihro041.pdf).
The findings of this research are being monitored by the WHO’s EMF Project; it is expected that a report will issue from the WHO in 2015. My Department, via its Air Quality & Environmental Radiation Policy Section, continue to monitor this and other scientific evidence as it is made available and will consider any policy implications in this context.
My Department recently commissioned a study on international developments in non-ionising radiation (NIR) and electromagnetic fields (EMF) research since publication of the 2007 Report. The study is also examining how the issue of NIR/EMF is dealt with in other jurisdictions and is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The results of this study will be used by a Steering Committee, convened and chaired by my Department, to consider and make specific proposals relating to the future management of these matters including, inter alia, any consequent legislative amendments and provisions.
168. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the steps taken by his Department to ensure that material dumped without permission in the River Corrib at the Old Dock on Long Walk, Galway city is removed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44406/14]
View answerMy role, as Minister, is to provide the legislative and policy framework under which both local authority and EPA enforcement action against illegal dumping is initiated. Enforcement action against illegal waste activity is a matter for the local authorities and the Office of Environmental Enforcement (OEE) of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As Minister, I am specifically precluded under section 60 (3) of the Waste Management Act 1996, from exercising any power or control in relation to the performance by the Agency or a local authority, in particular circumstances, of a statutory function vested in it.
169. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 164 of 12 November 2014 if he will respond to the specific nature of the question put to him which involved the removal of water meters and not meter boxes (details supplied); if he will specify the costs involved in this removal operation; if his attention has been drawn to the situation in the Mullinahone/Drangan area, County Tipperary; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44432/14]
View answerIrish Water is responsible for the water meter installation programme. I understand that Irish Water is committed to reusing previously installed meter boxes where possible. Irish Water’s contractors examine each case of a pre-existing meter box to establish if existing meter boxes can be reused. To date, in excess of 50,000 meter boxes have been reused nationwide. However, in this instance it was not possible to reuse the pre-existing boxes as they were flooded with water and therefore were unsuitable to have a meter installed.
Since assuming responsibility for the public water and waste water infrastructure Irish Water require that all meter boxes installed on the network be sealed to prevent this issue from arising.
The occurrence of pre-existing domestic water meters is rare as domestic water users have not been metered or billed for their usage outside of Group Water Schemes and some mixed use premises. The domestic meters being installed by Irish Water have to be compatible with the meter reading and billing systems technology of Irish Water. However, in the case being stated here, this issue of the removal of water meters did not arise as there were no meters installed in the pre-existing meter boxes.
170. Deputy Billy Timmins asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he has received an application from Wicklow County Council seeking permission to purchase housing stock for public use in Arklow in view of the fact there is a difficulty with new build; the position regarding the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44461/14]
View answerMy Department has not received a specific proposal from Wicklow County Council relating to housing stock in Arklow. However, the funding that is provided by my Department to local authorities for social housing on an ongoing basis supports both the development of new social housing units and the acquisition of units based on the priorities set by the local authority.
It is a matter for each local authority, as the housing authority for its area, to identify the social housing need and to respond as required and my Department continues to work with all local authorities regarding their work on social housing developments and acquisitions. Looking forward, Budget 2015 has seen the provision of capital funding for social housing provision increased by €180 million. This will see an acceleration of local authority direct build and acquisition of properties. The targets for housing units to be delivered through this increased funding is 946 units through local authorities and 440 through approved housing bodies.
171. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the legislation and the provisions that ensure wind turbines are not located close to homes or schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44470/14]
View answerSection 5.6 of the current 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines advises planning authorities that there should be at least a 500 metre distance from the nearest wind turbine to any noise sensitive property. Such properties would include homes and schools.
The 2006 Guidelines - which are currently the subject of a focused review and will be finalised as soon as possible - were issued to planning authorities under Section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. Planning authorities, and, where applicable, An Bord Pleanála must have regard to guidelines issued under Section 28 in the performance of their functions under the Planning Acts.
