Wednesday, 1 Jul 2015

Written Answers No. 252-261

Student Grant Scheme Appeals

Questions (252)

Michael Ring

Question:

252. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding an appeal to the student grant appeals board in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Mayo. [26604/15]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

The student to whom the Deputy refers appealed the decision of the awarding authority to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board. The appeal was considered by the Appeals Board on 26th May 2015 and the decision issued directly to the student.

State Examinations Commission

Questions (253)

Tom Fleming

Question:

253. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding a student with dyslexia; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26633/15]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

The 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.

Special Educational Needs Staff

Questions (254, 255)

Finian McGrath

Question:

254. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on a matter (details supplied) regarding special needs assistants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26638/15]

Finian McGrath

Question:

255. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will address a matter (details supplied) regarding the National Council for Special Education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26640/15]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

I propose to take Questions Nos. 254 and 255 together.

The Deputy will be aware that 11,330 whole time equivalent Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts have been made available to the NCSE to allocate to schools to end of the current school year.

This is the highest number of SNAs that we have ever had and it has ensured that children with special educational needs can continue to participate in education and be supported in a manner appropriate to their needs.

This year, the NCSE requested all schools to submit applications for SNA support by mid March 2015. Following this deadline each application had to be assessed by the NCSE before they were in a position to advise the Minister on the quantum of SNAs that would need to be allocated to schools for the coming school year. The final advice on this was received last week, and the Minister will be seeking to confirm allocations to schools over the next ten days.

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (256)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

256. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Education and Skills the annual saving to her Department if spending on education and training was reduced by 2.5%, 5% and 10%; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26918/15]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

My Department has a budget to cover the cost of training and developing the Department's professional, administrative, technical and service grades in order to enhance the skills and knowledge of the staffing cohort to enable the Department to meet current and future challenges and promote the personal development of officials. The 2015 budget is €450,000 and a 2.5%, 5% and 10% reduction would represent an annual saving of €11,250, €22,500 and €45,000 respectively.

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (257)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

257. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Education and Skills the annual saving to her Department if spending on professional fees, including but not limited to legal, IT-related, accountancy and other advisory and consultancy fees, was reduced by 10%; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26947/15]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

The information sought is not readily available and will have to be extracted from my Department's Financial Management System and collated. The details requested will be forwarded to the Deputy on completion of this process.

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (258)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

258. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Education and Skills the annual saving to the Exchequer if the Minister's special advisers' salaries were capped at the first point of the principal officer grade, that is, €75,647; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26961/15]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

There are two Special Advisers engaged at my Department to assist me in carrying out my ministerial functions in accordance with the terms of the guidelines on Ministerial Appointments for the 31st Dáil as published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in July 2014. One Special Adviser is currently on a salary of €75,647, the first point of the Principal Officer scale, while the second is on a salary of €81,676. In the event the salaries were capped at the first point of the Principal Officer scale as suggested by the Deputy a saving of €6,029 per annum would accrue.

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (259)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

259. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Education and Skills the annual saving to her Department and the bodies under its aegis if all the fees for all State agency, non-commercial State-sponsored body and commercial semi-State body board members were reduced by 25%; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26976/15]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

The following table contains information in respect of those bodies currently under the aegis of my Department which are paid fees namely:- Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse

- Grangegorman Development Agency

- Higher Education Authority

- Residential Institutions Redress Board

- Residential Institutions Review Committee

- Skillnets Ltd- State Examinations Commission.

Details relating to the 7 non-commercial State agency boards under the aegis of the Department of Education and Skills which are paid fees.

Agency Name	Remuneration/Fees Applicable in 2015	Remuneration/Fees Applicable in 2015	Remuneration/Fees Applicable in 2015 with 25% reduction applied	Remuneration/Fees Applicable in 2015 with 25% reduction applied
	Chairperson Rate	Members Rate	Chairperson Rate	Members Rate
Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (CICA)	See Note 1	See Note 1	See Note 1	See Note 1
Grangegorman Development Agency	€8,978	€0	€6,734	€0
Higher Education Authority (HEA)	€11,970	€7,695	€8,978	€5,771
Residential Institutions Redress Board (RIRB)	See Note 2	See Note 2	See Note 2	See Note 2
Residential Institutions Review Committee (RIRC)	See Note 2	See Note 2	See Note 2	See Note 2
Skillnets Ltd	€8,978	€5,985	€6,734	€4,489
State Examinations Commission	€11,970	€7,695	€8,978	€5,771

Note 1: The Chairperson of the Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse (CICA) is a member of the Judiciary and is not paid by the CICA. The ordinary members of the Commission, who were all salaried are not currently on the payroll.

Note 2: The Chairman of the RIRB is paid an annual salary equivalent to a serving President of the Circuit Court subject to abatement to take account of his pension.

Public Procurement Contracts Expenditure

Questions (260)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

260. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a breakdown, in tabular form, of the amount of money spent by each local authority over the past five years in the procurement of goods and services that will in the future be secured by the local government operational procurement centre; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26446/15]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

My Department does not hold the information requested. The procurement of products or services by a local authority is a matter for the authority concerned.

Procurement legislation and associated guidance are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. Guidelines by the Office of Government Procurement under the aegis of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform apply to all public sector bodies, including local authorities.

Under the EU Directives on public procurement, public works, supplies and service contracts above certain thresholds must be advertised in the Official Journal of the EU and awarded on the basis of objective and non-restrictive criteria. For contracts below these thresholds, the general requirement is that they be advertised on the national public procurement website www.etenders.gov.ie or, depending on value, awarded on the basis of a competitive process of direct invitation to an adequate number of suitable suppliers.

Local authorities have been pro-active in achieving spend reduction and procurement efficiencies in the procurement area through the establishment of the Local Authority National Procurement Office at Kerry County Council. The local government sector is also working closely with the Office of Government Procurement to implement the government’s Procurement Reform Programme.

Local Authority Staff Recruitment

Questions (261)

Eric J. Byrne

Question:

261. Deputy Eric Byrne asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if there are recruitment embargoes applying to local authorities, for example, Dublin City Council, if they wish to recruit additional dog wardens or litter wardens, for example; if they are free to do so or if all local authority recruitment is embargoed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26547/15]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government

Under section 159 of the Local Government Act 2001, each Chief Executive is responsible for staffing and organisational arrangements necessary for carrying out the functions of the local authorities for which he or she is responsible. My Department works closely with Dublin City Council in relation to the Council’s overall staffing requirements. The Council’s staffing requests are examined on a case by case basis having due regard to the continued delivery of key services in the context of staffing and budgetary constraints. In considering sanction requests, public safety, maintaining key front line services, and economic issues are given precedence.

The moratorium on recruitment and the Employment Control Framework for the Public Service has been lifted but recruitment will be subject to adherence to binding 3 year pay ceilings. Staffing resources must be managed within these overall ceilings. Detailed arrangements in terms of the local authority sector are currently being worked out between my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.