Written Answers Nos. 545-561
545. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the provision of transport for a person (details supplied) in Dublin 15 attending a special needs school in Rathfarnham, Dublin 16. [2777/15]
View answerBus Éireann which operates the School Transport Schemes, on behalf of my Department, has advised the family that a service will be available for the child in question within the next few days. The family may claim the Special Transport Grant for the period in which they provided transport.
546. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if Student Universal Support Ireland disregards mortgage interest supplement when assessing entitlement to grants. [2788/15]
View answerAssessment of means under my Department's student grant scheme is based on gross income from all sources of the applicant and his/her parent(s)/legal guardian. Where applicable, certain social welfare and health service executive payments are considered exempt. It is necessary, therefore, that information regarding all income is accounted for when completing the grant application form. The list of payments, known for the purposes of the Student Grant Scheme 2012 as income disregards, does not extend to mortgage interest supplement.
547. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if Student Universal Support Ireland disregards exceptional needs payments when assessing entitlement to grants. [2789/15]
View answerAssessment of means under my Department's student grant scheme is based on gross income from all sources of the applicant and his/her parent(s)/legal guardian, where applicable, with certain social welfare and health service executive payments being exempt. It is necessary, therefore, that information regarding all income is accounted for when completing the grant application form. Certain exceptional needs payments made by the Department of Social Protection, such as the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, Bereavement Grant or payments for funeral expenses, may be excluded in calculating reckonable income.
548. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to reinstate the qualification allowances for post-primary teachers or to otherwise redress the inequality that exists between long-standing teachers and new entrants. [2797/15]
View answerDue to worsening economic circumstances, the Government reduced the salaries and allowances payable to all new entrants to public service grades (including teachers) by 10% with effect from 1 January 2011 and required that such new entrants would start on the first point of the applicable salary scale. Subsequently, arising from the public service-wide review of allowances and premium payments, the Government decided to withdraw or modify allowances for new beneficiary public servants with effect from 1 February 2012. As part of this, certain allowances were withdrawn for new beneficiary teachers, including qualification allowances. However, the Government partially compensated for this by deciding that new entrant teachers would henceforth commence on a new salary scale which had a starting point higher than the starting point of the old scale. Under the Public Service Stability Agreement 2013 – 2016 (Haddington Road Agreement), revised pay scales for post-1 January 2011 and post-1 February 2012 entrants to teaching were agreed and implemented with effect from 1 July 2013. The Haddington Road Agreement further provided that the salary imbalance between those who entered the public service since 2011 and those who entered before that date would be addressed. In that regard, my Department implemented a further revised incremental salary scale for teachers who entered teaching between 1 January 2011 and 31 January 2012 with effect from 1 November 2013. Allowances payable to post-1 January 2011 entrants and such allowances as remain payable to post-1 February 2012 entrants were restored to pre-2011 levels as part of this measure.
549. Deputy Derek Keating asked the Minister for Education and Skills the progress made on funding for a school extension in respect of a school (details supplied) in County Dublin; if she will prioritise this outstanding issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2843/15]
View answerThe major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning. The project has been authorised to proceed to Stage 2B of Architectural Planning, which includes the applications for Planning Permission, Fire Cert and Disability Access Cert and the preparation of Tender Documents.
It is not possible to progress all projects within the Department's building programme to construction concurrently due to competing demands on the Department's capital budget. However, school building projects, including this project, which have not been included in the five year construction programme or included in the most recent announced list of projects, but which were previously initiated, will continue to be progressed to final planning stages in anticipation of the possibility of further funds being available to the Department in the future.
550. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Education and Skills when the appointments will be made on foot of a submission (details supplied) in view of the delay causing problems for the classes involved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2855/15]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that my Government recently committed, as part of the budget announcements made last year, to provide for 365 new Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts to support children with special educational needs in schools in 2015, bringing the total number of SNAs available for allocation in 2015 to 11,330 posts. This is the highest level of SNA allocation that we have ever had, and will ensure that children with special educational needs can continue to participate in education and be supported in a manner appropriate to their needs. I also wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating a quantum of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school. Where children have significant care needs to the extent that they need additional support to be able to attend school, the NCSE may make an allocation of SNA support to the school to assist that child. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support. The criteria by which SNA support is allocated to pupils is set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014. All schools were asked to apply to the NCSE for SNA support for the 2014/15 school year by 26 March 2014. The NCSE published details of their allocations for SNA support for the 2014/15 school year in June 2014. The NCSE completed a second round allocations for SNA provision for the 2014/15 school year in October 2014, details of which are available on the NCSE website, www.ncse.ie. Details of the SNA allocations which have been made to each school is available on the NCSE website. The deployment of SNAs within schools is a matter for the individual Principal/Board of Management. SNAs should be deployed by the school in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled in the school for whom SNA support has been allocated. It is a matter for schools to allocate support as required, and on the basis of individual need, which allows schools flexibility in how the SNA support is utilised.
Should a school wish to make an application for additional SNA support for a child who was not previously considered for SNA support, or who is due to enrol to a school, they may do so to the NCSE. Schools who wish to appeal the level of SNA allocation which has been made to them may do so via the appeals process which is set out at www.ncse.ie. All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie. As the Deputy's question relates to the consideration of an the SNA allocation by the NCSE to an individual, I have referred this question to the NCSE for their consideration and direct reply to the Deputy.
551. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will confirm that the local community development committees are not legally obliged, under the Local Government Reform Act 2014, to submit an expression of interest and prepare a local development strategy, in order to become the local action groups for the delivery of Leader 2014 to 2020. [2440/15]
View answer552. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if it is his policy to direct the local community development committees, through the local authorities, to submit expressions of interest and prepare local development strategies to become the local action group, thereby displacing the community-based local action groups. [2441/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 551 and 552 together.
A key purpose of Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) is to coordinate, manage and oversee the implementation of local and community development programmes. It is the intention of Government that, in delivering on the mandate to bring improved coherence to local and community development, LCDCs actively pursue involvement in these programmes.
While the Local Government Act 2001 does not explicitly oblige LCDCs to submit an expression of interest or to prepare a local development strategy under the LEADER programme, a decision by an LCDC not to do so would be contrary to their intended role. The Act does oblige them to have regard to Government policies and objectives in the performance of their functions. Accordingly, as it unquestionably remains Government policy that each LCDC will apply under the new LEADER programme, they are required to do so.
The regulatory framework for the LEADER elements of the RDP requires an open and transparent selection process to ensure that the strategies and local action groups chosen are best placed to maximise the impact of the LEADER funding in each area. Strategies chosen will have undergone a rigorous independent selection process and will be selected based on open and transparent criteria. It is possible therefore that, in some cases, current Local Action Groups may not be chosen to deliver the LEADER elements of the RDP.
I recognise the benefits to the new programme for local development companies, and other community groups, to be active partners in the development and implementation of LEADER strategies. I will continue to encourage discussions at local level with a view to encouraging LCDCs, Local Development Companies and other interested entities in agreeing a single, coherent approach in each area. Where agreement is reached, and the LCDC is successful in the LEADER strategy selection process and is the designated local action group for their area, I would envisage that the existing local development companies will be key implementers of LEADER strategies.
While it is the Government’s preference for a single, coherent LEADER strategy in each designated area, my Department will fully adhere to EU regulatory requirements and manage a fully open and transparent selection process that does not preclude the emergence, or funding, of multiple LEADER strategies in a single area.
553. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide in tabular form the number of seized dogs or dogs otherwise in the care of local authorities by county for the past three years; and the number of these dogs that were successfully rehomed. [2230/15]
View answer554. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if measures are being considered to publish the registers of seized dogs as per section 14 of the Control of Dogs Act 1986 held by local authorities online or in a form easily accessible to the public; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2231/15]
View answer555. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the measures put in place by his Department to ensure that dogs in the care of local authorities are adequately cared for with appropriate accommodation and veterinary care, including those put into the care of outsourced companies or institutions by local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2232/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 553 to 555, inclusive, together.
Each year, my Department publishes statistics in respect of a range of dog control responsibilities of local authorities, including the statistics sought in the Questions under reply. Information up to 2013 is available on the Publications page of my Department’s website at http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/DogControl/.
My Department will shortly be compiling local authority statistics in respect of 201 4. Once received and verified, they will be published. Animal health and welfare policy is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, the provisions of which apply to all animals including those in dog pounds.
556. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the statutory requirements that are made of An Bord Pleanála to publish or otherwise make available appeal documentation submitted by parties to the appeal and other observers while the appeal is ongoing; and his plans to update these requirements. [2305/15]
View answerWhere a planning appeal is made to An Bord Pleanála, the Board is required, under section 129 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, to give a copy of the appeal to the relevant planning authority and to each other party to the appeal as soon as possible after receipt of the appeal.
The planning authority concerned, pursuant to article 68 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, is in turn required to make a copy of the appeal available for inspection, or purchase at a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, to the general public as soon as possible at the offices of the authority until the appeal is withdrawn or is dismissed or determined by the Board.
Furthermore, article 69 of the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 provides that where a copy of an appeal is sent to a planning authority by the Board, the planning authority shall, as soon as possible after receipt of the copy of the appeal, notify in writing any person who made a submission or observation during the determination of the original planning application of the receipt of an appeal by the Board. A notice issued under this article shall –
(a) specify the reference number of the Board in respect of the appeal,
(b) specify the date on which the appeal was received by the Board,
(c) state that a copy of the appeal shall be available for inspection, or purchase for a fee not exceeding the reasonable cost of making a copy, and
(d) state that further submissions or observations in relation to the appeal may be made in writing to the Board by the parties involved in the determination of the original planning application within a period of 4 weeks on payment of the appropriated fee.
Section 146(5) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 provides that within 3 days following the making of a decision on any matter falling to be decided by it in performance of a function under the Act, the documents relating to the matter—
(a) shall be made available by the Board for inspection at the offices of the Board by members of the public, and
(b) may be made available by the Board for such inspection—
(i) at any other place, or
(ii) by electronic means,
as the Board considers appropriate.
There is accordingly a requirement to make the appeal generally available as soon as possible after it is received. However, the requirement to make other documentation generally available - including submissions or observations received during the appeal process – does not arise until after the appeal has been decided by the Board.
While the provisions in the Act and Regulations in relation to the planning application and appeals processes are generally kept under review, I have no plans at present to amend the provisions referred to.
557. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if the local authority library services are to be merged between counties and his plans for same; the stage at which the plans are; and the discussions that have taken place with councillors and their representative body. [2448/15]
View answerThe report Managing the Delivery of Effective Library Services, which issued to all local authorities in October 2014, contains detailed arrangements for the planning and implementation of new structures in order to establish stronger, more effective and efficient public libraries and deliver better library services to local communities and citizens, in line with Government policy on public sector reform. Local authorities were requested to submit proposals for the implementation of the new library structures and the other provisions arising. The initiative is the outcome of a considered and thorough review of the library service and in-depth consultation with stakeholders, which established the need for scale in the management of a modern library service. The increased capacity resulting from the new structures will increase the scope for developing and enhancing services to the public, providing a broader range of services to the same high standard across the country.
This initiative has been carefully planned to maintain the local library service branding and identity. The frontline service will continue to be locally focused and people-centred, with opportunities for enhanced individual and community support services and engagement. The report identifies the strong staffing structure necessary to deliver these services and provides the commitment to implement this across the country.
Local ownership and decision-making will be maintained through ensuring that the role of the elected members remains unchanged and that local representatives continue to approve policies, priorities and budgets for their library services.
The development of this initiative commenced before the formation of the Association of Irish Local Government, and it is a matter for each local authority to consult with their own elected members.
558. Deputy Jerry Buttimer asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount spent by his Department on special advisers for each of the past four years; the way this compares with the four years from 2007 to 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2505/15]
View answerThe information requested is set out in the Tables.
Special Adviser Costs 2011 – 2014
|
Year |
Salary Costs * |
Travel & Subsistence Costs |
Redundancy & Severance Costs |
|
2011 |
€194,963.58 |
€1,111.44 |
€145,519.55 |
|
2012 |
€339,348.15 |
€5,572.92 |
€0.00 |
|
2013 |
€393,867.71 |
€10,915.17 |
€0.00 |
|
2014 |
€356,385.98 |
€3,915.01 |
€127,232.39 |
|
Total |
€1,284,565.42 |
€21,514.54 |
€272,751.94 |
* Includes Employers PRSI
The Redundancy and Severance costs in 2011 and 2014 arose from the change of Government in 2011 and (changes in Ministerial responsibilities) in 2014.
Special Adviser Costs 2007 – 2010
|
Year |
Salary Costs* |
Travel & Subsistence Costs |
Redundancy & Severance Costs |
|
2007 |
€327,976.78 |
€11,859.46 |
€3,816.00 |
|
2008 |
€489,699.56 |
€6,253.22 |
€0.00 |
|
2009 |
€501,657.59 |
€6,932.78 |
€0.00 |
|
2010 |
€478,500.36 |
€3,582.39 |
€0.00 |
|
Total |
€1,797,834.29 |
€28,627.85 |
€3,816.00 |
* Includes Employers PRSI
559. Deputy Jerry Buttimer asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount spent by his Department on ministerial drivers and associated travel expenses for each of the past four years; the way this compares with similar expenditure for the four years from 2007 to 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2521/15]
View answerIn line with Government policy, I do not have the use of a State car. My Department employs two civilian drivers for driving duties in my own car, in line with approved arrangements. The same arrangements were in place for my predecessor and the salary, redundancy and severance payments and subsistence payments of his drivers, together with the mileage costs paid to him are included in the Table, in addition to the relevant costs in respect of my drivers since my appointment as Minister.
The Table also includes similar costs, including the costs of two drivers, for former Ministers of State during the period 2007 to 2014.
Transport costs under the previous scheme of Garda drivers and State cars for Ministers from 2007 to 2011 are a matter for the Department of Justice and Equality.
|
- |
Salary - € |
Employer PRSI - € |
Subsistence - € |
Redundancy - € |
Ministerial Mileage - € |
Tolls and insurance - € |
Total - € |
|
2007 |
105,099.97 |
11,221.75 |
40,269.10 |
0 |
65,588.29 |
3,427.20 |
225,606.31 |
|
2008 |
155,487.60 |
16,322.94 |
50,338.77 |
25,393.18 |
111,085.93 |
525.32 |
359,153.74 |
|
2009 |
121,009.41 |
11,252.35 |
36,912.12 |
0 |
51,011.97 |
839.80 |
221,025.65 |
|
2010 |
76,696.40 |
7,755.88 |
22,460.69 |
0 |
24,060.46 |
650.00 |
131,623.43 |
|
2011 |
101,180.27 |
30,069.68 |
15,177.36 |
31,613.31 |
31,324.35 |
787.69 |
210,152.66 |
|
2012 |
142,148.41 |
14,582.43 |
28,928.05 |
0 |
33,741.73 |
1,060.00 |
220,460.62 |
|
2013 |
143,156.79 |
14,602.81 |
25,423.38 |
0 |
31,100.10 |
900.00 |
215,183.08 |
|
2014 |
142,903.75 |
14,365.02 |
30,083.91 |
26,427.83 |
39,818.33 |
965.95 |
254,564.79 |
560. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if there is a self-monitoring system in place to detect noise and shadow flicker from wind turbines. [2545/15]
View answerPlanning authorities must have regard to the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines, which were issued under Sections 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended), when making decisions on applications for wind energy developments. Chapter 7 of the Guidelines lists matters that may be appropriately dealt with by the inclusion of conditions on a planning permission for wind energy development. These include noise and shadow flicker.
As is the case with planning conditions attaching to all types of planning permissions, it is the responsibility of the planning applicant to comply with the relevant conditions attaching to a permission. Planning authorities have statutory powers under Part VIII of the Planning and Development Act 2000 (as amended) to take enforcement action – including on receipt of complaints from the public - where planning conditions are not being complied with.
561. Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the funding available for work currently being carried out by Longford Women's Link under the LCDP or under SICAP in respect of which contact has been made with his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2576/15]
View answerMy Department’s Local and Community Development Programme (LCDP) superseded the Local Development Social Inclusion and the Community Development Programmes in 2010. LCDP is the largest social inclusion intervention of its kind in the State. The current Programme officially ended at the end of 2013 having operated for four years with funding of €281 million over that period. It is being implemented on a transitional basis until March 2015, pending the roll out of the new Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) in April 2015.
In accordance with the Public Spending Code, legal advice, good practice internationally and in order to ensure the optimum delivery of the services to clients, SICAP is subject to a public procurement process, which is currently underway. The closing date for receipt of tenders was noon on 19 December 2014 and the tenders received are currently being evaluated and tenderers will be informed of the outcome by mid February.
It should be noted that the procurement process for SICAP was open to Local Development Companies, other not-for-profit community groups, commercial firms and national organisations that can provide the services to be tendered for to deliver the new Programme. In Stage one, joint applications were encouraged and organisations of varying sizes (for example smaller organisations working in consortia with larger organisations) were invited to submit joint applications. Contracts for SICAP will be determined pending the outcome of that process.
All groups who received LCDP funding in 2014 are being funded through LCDP interim arrangements until 31 March next, pending the outcome of the SICAP competitive process. The funding level agreed for the group referred to by the Deputy is a matter for the Longford Local Development Company, being the local development company which currently provides LCDP funding to Longford Women’s Link under an annual contract.
