Written Answers Nos. 687-702
687. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide, in tabular form, figures or estimates on the number of special needs assistants allocated by county in the years 2011 to 2014 and in 2015 to date. [30324/15]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that I recently announced that I had secured Government approval for an additional 610 Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts which may be made available for allocation to schools to support children with special educational needs with assessed care needs.
From the beginning of September, there will be 11,820 whole time equivalent SNA posts available in schools to support children with special educational needs with assessed care needs. This is the highest level of SNA allocation that we have ever had and builds on the increases of 365 additional SNA posts provided for in last year's budget announcement and the 390 additional SNA posts announced in December 2013. In total there has been an increase of 11.7% in SNA posts available for allocation to schools since this Government came to office.
These extra posts will ensure that the Government's policy of ensuring that every child who is assessed as needing SNA support will receive access to such support.
I wish to advise the Deputy also that the National Council for Special Education(NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating SNA support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school.
The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support and these criteria by are set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014. Details of SNA allocations which have been made to schools by the NCSE for the 2012/2013, 2013/14 and 2014/15 school years are available on the NCSE website www.ncse.ie and can be viewed on a per county basis. I will arrange to have the Deputy's question referred to the NCSE for their direct reply in respect of information sought prior to 2012/13.
688. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide estimates on the amount it would cost to restore the capitation grant for schools to pre-2008 levels. [30325/15]
View answerThe last Budget included an increase in spending on education for the first time in recent years, amounting to additional funding of €60m during 2015. That increase has provided funding for 1,700 additional teachers and SNAs to be recruited for our schools, as well as funding important reforms. However, it was not possible to secure the funding which would be required to also increase the rates of capitation paid to our schools.
The 2015 Primary Capitation rates are approx. 2.5% in excess of the rates applicable pre 2008 while the 2015 Post Primary Voluntary Sector Capitation rates are approx. 2.3% below those applicable pre 2008.
I am aware of the impact budgetary decisions taken in our economic crisis have had on capitation and related grants to our primary and second level schools.
Increasing capitation and related funding by 1% would cost approx. €3.7m. (€2.1m at Primary Level, €1.6m at Second Level).
I am determined that education will be prioritised for investment in the coming years, and I believe that increasing the staffing and funding of our schools should be priorities for such investment.
689. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide estimates on the amount it would cost to restore resource teaching hours in primary schools to pre-2008 levels. [30326/15]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that on 21st May, 2015, I announced that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) will increase its allocation of Resource Teacher Posts to schools by over 9% for the start of the coming school year. The NCSE will allocate 6,454 resource teacher posts to schools for September 2015, which is an increase of 554 posts-or 9.4% since September 2014.
Even in the constrained economic circumstances we have faced in recent years, we have been able to continue to meet the needs of children with special educational needs attending our schools.
This year we have again increased the number of Resource Teachers which will be allocated to schools, keeping pace with both demographic growth and increased demand.
The NCSE has now published details of the allocations which will be made to each individual school on the NCSE website ncse.ie. The NCSE will also have a second round allocation process to respond to late enrolments, or from diagnosed disabilities emerging after the closing date for the first allocation round, to the start of the new school year.
On publishing details of the allocations for September 2015, the NCSE noted that the number of resource teaching posts which are being allocated to schools has increased by 22% since September 2013, from 5,285 posts at that point to 6,454 posts for September 2015. It is therefore clear that not only has there not been a reduction in the overall number of resource teaching posts and hours being allocated to schools, but that there has been a very significant increase in the overall allocation to schools in recent years.
The cost of adding an additional 15% to the existing allocation, which in itself represents an increase of 22% in the allocation recent years, would be approximately an additional €71m per year.
690. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide figures on the annual cost of the Springboard Initiative. [30327/15]
View answerSpringboard which was introduced in 2011, is a specific initiative that strategically targets funding of free higher education courses in areas where there are real, identified labour market skills shortages or employment opportunities. The annual cost of Springboard since 2011 is as follows:
2011 - €8.7m
2012 - €10.1m
2013 - €18.3m
2014 - €23.6m.
691. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide guideline estimates or targets for the number of apprenticeships she expects to be provided annually under the apprenticeship system. [30328/15]
View answerAn examination of the apprenticeship data in the existing trades demonstrates there was a 40% increase in the number of apprentice registrations in 2014 compared to 2013.
The prognosis forecast for future apprenticeships registrations remains strong. The number of apprentices being registered in 2015 by employers is 17% higher than the corresponding time in 2014.
SOLAS has forecast an annual incremental and systematic growth in apprentice registrations over the coming years. The forecast apprentice registrations expected to occur from 2015 to 2018 are as follows:
|
Year |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
|
Numbers |
2956 |
3390 |
4219 |
5089 |
In addition, I have recently received the report of the Apprenticeship Council on the outcome of their call for proposals for the development of new apprenticeships. The Council have recommended that 25 of the proposals be prioritised for development and I am considering this recommendation with a view to approving proposals for development.
692. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to provide grant aid to primary schools to develop playgrounds where such facilities are lacking; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30333/15]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that in November 2014, I announced the allocation of more than €28 million to primary schools under the Minor Works Grant Scheme. This will allow schools to carry out improvement works to school buildings and grounds. It is open to schools to prioritise the works they wish to undertake within the terms of the scheme. The works to which the Deputy refers could be considered by schools in this context.
It is also open to schools to apply for funding under any future Summer Works Schemes (SWS) for the works in question. The purpose of the SWS is to devolve funding to individual school authorities to facilitate schools carrying out small and medium scale improvement works that will upgrade existing school facilities.
693. Deputy Brian Walsh asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the provision of special needs assistants for a school (details supplied) for the new school term commencing in September 2015, given that two new classes are starting; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30337/15]
View answerI 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 resource teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to schools to support children with special educational needs.
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. Once allocated, the deployment of SNAs within schools is then 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. All schools were asked to apply for SNA support for the 2015/16 school year by 18th March 2015. The NCSE also continued to accept applications after this date in recognition that enrolments may not have been completed or where assessments were not completed. The NCSE has now published details of SNA allocations for schools for September 2015 on its website.
The NCSE has confirmed to my Department that the SNA allocation for the school in question for the 2015/16 school year provides a sufficient level of support to cater for the care needs of all qualifying children in the context of the applications received for 2015/16. Details of the manner in which a school or parent may appeal the level of SNA or resource teaching allocation which has been made to support a child in school, to the NCSE, is set out at www.ncse.ie.
All schools have the contact details of their local SENO, while 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.
694. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills when a meeting will take place between her Department and representatives of a school (details supplied) in County Laois to discuss its need for a new premises; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30365/15]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that discussions are ongoing between my Department and the Patron of the school, in question, in respect of the school's long term requirements.
The Deputy may be aware that the school submitted a proposal through their Patron to relocate the school within the Portlaoise area to meet its long term needs. My Department has scheduled a technical site visit to examine the proposed alternative location and further to that visit my Department will be in a position to consider the matter further.
My Department is also in contact directly with the school concerned in relation to meeting its immediate accommodation needs for September 2015.
695. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the criteria by which special needs assistants are allocated; and specifically how her Department can guarantee the reasonable safety of a child who is allocated only a shared assistant, despite having been diagnosed with multiple problems, including profound global developmental delay, epilepsy with frequent severe seizures, and a high risk of sudden infant death syndrome; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30368/15]
View answerI 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 resource teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to schools to support children with special educational needs.
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. The Circular sets out that SNA allocations are not made to individual children, but are made to schools to support the care needs of children with assessed special educational needs. The deployment of SNAs within schools is then 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 parent be dissatisfied with the manner in which the resources or facilities which have been provided to support their child's education are being applied in school, they should raise this matter directly with their school Principal or the Board of Management of the school. All schools were asked to apply for SNA support for the 2015/16 school year by 18th March 2015. The NCSE also continued to accept applications after this date in recognition that enrolments may not have been completed or where assessments were not completed. The NCSE has now published details of SNA allocations for schools for September 2015 on its website.
All schools have the contact details of their local SENO, while 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.
696. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the provisions made for providing essential educational resources for children with profound developmental issues to prepare them to enter national school, given that they do not qualify under the July provision programme until after their first year of national school, despite their developmental difficulties having been defined by the Department through the programme to require extra educational assistance outside the school year, and how to access such resources in a timely fashion, when children are still being assessed or, in many cases, waiting months or years for assessments to be provided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30369/15]
View answerThe Deputy may be aware that the State supports early intervention for children with special educational needs through providing funding to a number of crèche/pre-school settings including: early Intervention settings in mainstream and special schools; early Intervention settings in HSE funded service providers; private pre-school settings supported by the Early Childhood Care & Education Scheme (ECCE); private pre-school settings supported by HSE grant aid or HSE funded Pre-School Assistant; Home Tuition Scheme for children aged between 3 and 4 years of age with a diagnosis of autism where a placement in an early intervention setting is not available.
The Deputy may also be aware that the July Provision programme is available to all special schools and mainstream primary schools with special classes catering for children with autism that choose to extend their education services through the month of July. My Department also provides July Provision for pupils with a severe/profound general learning disability. Where school based provision is not feasible, including at post primary level, home based provision may be grant aided.
With regard to the issue of assessments for children I can inform the Deputy that all primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA), full details of which are on the Department's website. Where a NEPS psychologist is not assigned to a school, authorities therein may access psychological assessments through SCPA. Under this scheme schools can have an assessment carried out by a member of the panel of private psychologists approved by NEPS, and NEPS will pay the psychologist the fees for this assessment directly.
It is the responsibility of the school Principal in the first instance to identify and prioritise pupils for assessment under the process described above.
697. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Education and Skills the total number of teachers employed full-time at primary and at secondary level in County Donegal, in tabular form, for the years 2007 to 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30372/15]
View answerThe information that is available in relation to the number of teachers in primary schools on a county basis as provided by the managerial authorities of the schools is published in the Statistics Section of my Department's website. The link to access the information is at www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/Data-on-Individual-Schools/.
Statistics on a county basis are not compiled for the number of teachers in the second level sector but the information available in relation to the overall numbers is available on the website.
698. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a contract of indefinite duration employee (details supplied) of the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board is unable to apply for a delivering equality of opportunity in schools, DEIS, post which has become a core subject having been informed he does not have the academic qualifications, despite having taught the subject to the students of the LCETB since November 2001, holding full membership of the Teaching Council and holding a contract; the reason the employee with such experience cannot be considered eligible for a DEIS permanent post, which would improve this teacher's income and standing within the educational establishment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30377/15]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware the Education and Training Boards (ETBs) are statutory bodies with their own corporate status established under the Education and Training Boards Act 2013.
Section 24 of the Education Act 1998, as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act 2012, provides that the appointment, suspension and dismissal of teachers are the responsibility of boards of management of recognised schools or, where the employer is a person other than a board, by that person. An example of the latter would be an Education and Training Board. Circular Letter 31/2011 issued by my Department to Managerial Authorities of schools states that each employer shall ensure that each person proposed for appointment to a teaching post for which salary grant is being sought must be registered with the Teaching Council and have qualifications appropriate to the sector and suitable to the post for which he/she is to be employed.
699. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on correspondence regarding a meeting with a group (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30385/15]
View answerThe correspondence referenced by the Deputy was received in my Department and a reply has issued to the sender, setting out the background and context of the matter. As the Deputy will appreciate, given the number of requests for my attention it is not possible to accede to a meeting in all cases.
In relation to the substantive issues raised, as previously outlined to the Deputy, the agreement to put in place Deeds of Variation for Charging Leases or Declarations of Trust dates back to the 1990s. At that time there were negotiations on the reconstitution of Boards of Management of primary schools. It was agreed that patrons would no longer nominate a majority of the members of a Board of Management. In return, it was agreed Deeds of Variation would be put in place to vary the Charging Leases/Declarations of Trust. There have been ongoing discussions with the relevant patron bodies in relation to the wording of the Deeds of Variation and the Department has been working with the Attorney General in relation to the matter.
The commitment given by the school patrons in 1997 to cede majority representation on Boards of Management was implemented. Hence the engagement by officials in the Department in the interim in relation to agreeing a form of words for the Deeds of Variation represents a recognition of the original commitment given to the school patrons at that time. With regard to admission policies, irrespective of property arrangements, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998. The enrolment policy must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants.
The objective of the recently published Education (Admission to Schools) Bill is to provide an over-arching framework to ensure that how schools decide on who is enrolled and who is refused a place in schools is more structured, fair and transparent.
Existing equality legislation, which outlaws discrimination in relation to the admission of a student, makes provision for exemptions to apply in the case of single sex schools and in the case of schools where the objective is to provide education in an environment that promotes certain religious values.
The Bill does not propose changes to the existing equality legislation. The Bill, while including provision for single sex schools and denominational schools to reflect in their admission policy the exemptions applicable to such schools under equality legislation, requires schools to explicitly state in the school's admission policy that it will not discriminate against an applicant for admission on the grounds of disability, special educational needs, sexual orientation, family status, membership of the traveller community, race, civil status, gender or religion.
The Bill provides for schools to publish an enrolment policy which will include details of the school's arrangements for students who do not want to attend religious instruction.
The Equal Status Act, 2000 provides that an educational establishment does not discriminate where the establishment is a school providing primary or post-primary education to students and the objective of the school is to provide education in an environment which promotes certain religious values, it admits persons of a particular religious denomination in preference to others or it refuses to admit as a student a person who is not of that denomination and, in the case of a refusal, it is proved that the refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school.
700. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to add weather forecasts from weather stations in Northern Ireland to all of Met Éireann's weather reports (details supplied). [29698/15]
View answerAll of Met Éireann’s general forecasts cover the entire island of Ireland. Furthermore the regional forecasts as published on www.met.ie and on the Met Éireann weather app relate to each of the four historic provinces of Ireland. Weather reports are only supplied from the Met Éireann stations in the Republic of Ireland. There are no current plans to publish weather reports from Northern Ireland on the Met Éireann website – these are available through the website of the UK Met Office.
701. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the amount of equity capital that has been provided by the State to Irish Water in 2015 to date; the planned further equity investments in 2015 and 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29791/15]
View answerIrish Water's costs are funded through a mix of revenue from the domestic and non-domestic sector, third party finance (including bank lending and capital markets facilities) and State support which may be in the form of both equity and subvention. The main aspects of the Irish Water funding model are set out in a detailed fact sheet published on my Department’s website.
In July 2014, a capital contribution of €185m was provided to Irish Water and a further €54m was provided through the issue of a Convertible Loan Note to the Minister for Finance in November 2014. The equity investment agreed by Government in Irish Water in 2015 and 2016 is €406m. This financing is intended to support increased investment in public water services infrastructure by Irish Water. €222m in respect of 2015 was provided to Irish Water in December 2014 and the remaining €184m is due to be provided in 2016.
702. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will report on the Government's position on and aims for the conference of parties on climate change under the auspices of the United Nations to be held in Paris in France at the end of 2015; if he will report on preparations made by his Department in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29938/15]
View answerThe 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will take place in Paris from 30 November to 11 December. The meeting is charged with agreeing “a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention applicable to all Parties”. Ireland strongly supports an ambitious, legally-binding global agreement with broad participation. In its 2014 National Policy Position, Ireland recognises global climate change as one of the key global challenges of this century and that failure to address it effectively will result in major adverse impacts that will affect all countries. Ireland is taking steps domestically to enhance its policy framework for both mitigation and adaptation, including through the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill, currently before the Oireachtas, and through interdepartmental work on improving policy coherence on climate issues.
The 2015 agreement should provide an enabling platform for all Parties to pursue low-carbon climate resilient sustainable development, taking account of national circumstances and changes in those circumstances over time, and which puts us on a collective pathway to keeping the average global temperature increase to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Ireland will be working as part of the EU, including through an EU climate diplomacy initiative, to ensure that the Paris outcome is as ambitious and robust as possible. In particular this will require all Parties to present ambitious intended contributions to the new agreement – so far 45 countries have put forward their intended nationally determined contributions, covering approximately 60% of global emissions. This includes the INDC of the EU and its Member States, which commits to an at least 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions on 1990 levels by 2030; a reaffirmation of the shared long term goal of collective action to keep the global temperature increase below 2 degrees Celsius and setting an ambitious and shared direction of travel to send a strong signal for action to all actors across society, including non-state actors, civil society and the private sector; a mechanism or process to ensure that global ambition will be raised over time; a robust transparency and accountability framework that will enable tracking of progress and ensuring all Parties live up to their commitments.
As part of this framework, the rules relating to accounting of the land-use sector, including forestry, will be of particular interest to Ireland. Globally, the agriculture and land-use sectors have an important role to play in the transition to a safe and sustainable, low-carbon future. It will be crucial that the sector is included in the agreement in a holistic way and that high-level principles framing the process of developing detailed rules in subsequent years are set out.
In preparing for COP21, so far this year there have been two formal negotiating sessions and there will be two further sessions before the Paris COP. At the UNFCCC, Ireland participates as part of the EU. This engagement is through a national delegation, led by my Department and made up of officials from a range of Government departments and agencies. My Department coordinates participation by the wider delegation in on-going work in this area through a number of EU Expert Groups which focus on areas of mitigation (including land issues), climate science, adaptation, climate finance and technology transfer, along with groups discussing the strategic overview and negotiation tactics. The delegation has been active in all negotiations to date under the UNFCCC and specific preparations for COP21 have been underway at EU level for some time.
At Ministerial level, the Environment Council will meet to discuss the negotiations at its informal meeting next week and Environment Council conclusions are expected in September.
