Written Answers Nos. 1267 to 1279
1267. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 318 of 5 November 2013 and 1398 of 17 September 2014, regarding the financial pressure on parents to provide iPads (details supplied); and if she has put in place any new measures to deal with this issue. [31253/15]
View answerThe decision to use tablet devices is a matter for the Board of Management of a school. Where the introduction of new technology is planned, it is advisable that there should be consultation with members of the school community including parents. The cost and other implications must be fully considered by the Boards of Managements before a decision is made. An advice sheet on the adoption of tablets in schools is available on the PDST-Technology in Education (PDST-TIE) website. This advice sheet covers areas such as what tablets can offer a school, educational considerations, purchasing considerations and software. The new Digital Strategy for Schools which will be published shortly will address how a school plans for the integration of ICT into teaching, learning and assessment and responds to the challenges associated with new technologies.
1269. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason for refusal a special needs unit to a school (details supplied) in County Kildare; and the level of special needs a school must reach before receiving this type of assistance. [31260/15]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that I understand an application to establish a Special Needs Class was made directly to the primary school to which the Deputy refers. I understand however that this application was not proceeded with at this time due to the current accommodation arrangements of the school in question. The position is that the school building in which the primary school in question is accommodated is also hosting a new post-primary school during its start-up years. This school building is currently at capacity. It is my Department's intention to construct a new building for the post-primary school and a site has been acquired for this purpose. It will be open to the Patron to re-consider establishing a special class in the primary school in question when the new permanent post-primary school has been constructed.
1270. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to open a second level Educate Together school in Swords, County Dublin in view of the fact that there are three Educate Together primary schools operating in the locality with no second level school in their preferred ethos. [31274/15]
View answerMy Department has recently completed a nationwide demographic exercise to determine where additional post-primary school accommodation might be needed from 2017 onwards. This comprised all areas of the country, including Swords. I will announce the details of new schools to be provided arising from this exercise in due course. Where new schools are to be established, my Department runs an open patronage determination process to determine who will operate the schools. It is open to all patrons and prospective patrons to apply under this process.
1271. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason for including rental accommodation scheme and rent supplement payments as means for the purposes of assessing eligibility for Student Universal Support Ireland grants. [31277/15]
View answerStudent grant applications are means tested on gross income from all sources earned inside and outside the State within a specified reference period, with certain specified social welfare and Health Service Executive payments excluded. The Student Grant Scheme 2015 was published in April 2015. The 2015 Scheme includes a number of new income disregards such as Rent Supplement payments. The Rental Accommodation Scheme is not listed as an income disregard in the 2015 scheme.
1272. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 89 of 24 March 2014 and 268 of 15 April 2014, in which she stated that a facility (details supplied) was not an educational facility, the reason her Department paid for teaching staff at that location; and the reason this would not entitle people to redress under the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund. [31282/15]
View answerEligibility for assistance from the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund is limited to those people who received awards from the Residential Institutions Redress Board or equivalent Court awards or settlements. The Residential Institutions Redress Board was established pursuant to the provisions of the Residential Institutions Redress Act, 2002. The Schedule to that Act included 123 specified institutions and section 4 of the Act enabled the Minister for Education and Science to provide for the insertion into the Schedule of:
"any industrial school, reformatory school, orphanage, children's home, special school which was established for the purpose of providing education services to children with a physical or intellectual disability or a hospital providing medical or psychiatric services to people with a physical or mental disability or mental illness in which children were placed and resident and in respect of which a public body had a regulatory or inspection function."
Two Orders specifying additional institutions were made in November 2004 and July 2005, bringing the total number of scheduled institutions to 139. Since then, no further institutions have been added to the Schedule. I understand that requests to include the facility referred to by the Deputy were considered by my Department and refused on the basis that it did not come within the terms of section 4. The replies to the Parliamentary Questions referred to by the Deputy indicate that there were no records in my Department of any payments being issued to teaching staff at the facility.
1273. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding guidance counsellors in schools here; the numbers employed for each year since 2012; when the cuts which have been imposed will be reversed; the action she has taken as a direct result of the concerns which have been expressed to her by teachers and parents regarding mental health issues for students who cannot avail of this service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31301/15]
View answer1296. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of dedicated one-to-one guidance counsellors nationally in 2012, 2013, 2014 and to date in 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31537/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1273 and 1296 together.
Up until September 2012, an ex-quota allocation was provided for guidance in addition to the standard teacher allocation to post primary schools. This resource was allocated in accordance with pupil enrolment. 42% of second-level schools at the time were allocated at least 22 hours per week in respect of guidance (22 hours being the equivalent of one teaching post) while the remainder of the schools were allocated between 8 and 17 hours of guidance per week. Since September 2012 at post primary level guidance provision is organised by school management from within the staffing schedule allocation. Guidance is a whole school activity and schools have autonomy on how best to prioritise their available resources to meet the requirements in relation to guidance and the provision of an appropriate range of subjects to students. This operates at local school level and therefore the detailed information requested by the Deputies is not available centrally within my Department. The net reduction in guidance provision as a consequence of this budget measure was of the order of 500 posts. The annual budget saving from this measure is over €30 million. This gives an indication of the cost involved if this budget measure was not in place. The Department helped shelter the impact for DEIS post-primary schools by improving their standard staffing allocations. The representative organisations for School Principals and school management developed a framework that assists schools on how best to manage the provision of guidance from within their staffing allocation. This approach puts a greater emphasis on group-work and class-based activity at senior cycle and maximises the amount of time available for those pupils that need one to one support. There are also a range of other supports available to promote and support the wellbeing of students. NEPS psychologists are available to offer their advice and support to schools in establishing and developing School Support Teams. The extension of the NEPS service to all mainstream schools since September 2013 also puts it in a good position to provide advice to the Teams in regard to students with particular difficulties and on onward referral or liaison with other community based services that also have a role in providing service to schools. Student Support Teams in Post-Primary Schools (DES 2014) is a NEPS booklet to promote the well-being of pupils in post-primary schools. Wellbeing Guidelines for Post-Primary and for Primary Schools have been produced by my Department in conjunction with the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive. The guidelines are informed by consultation with key Education and Health partners and by the findings of current research. They provide practical guidance to schools on how they can promote mental health and well-being in an integrated school-wide way and they also provide evidence-based advice on how to support young people who may be at risk of suicidal behaviour. The Guidelines build on the significant work already taking place in schools, including through the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum, the whole-school guidance plan, the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) continuum of support model and the HSE, Health Promoting Schools Process. Information is also provided on how to access support from the SPHE Support Service and other external agencies and support services. It should also be noted that the proposals on the reform of the junior cycle envisage a new subject on "wellbeing" being studied by all pupils. I have no plans to return to a situation where there would be a separate allocation for guidance in schools. If economic recovery continues I hope the Government will be in a position to improve the standard staffing allocation to schools. However, I believe that it is desirable to give schools discretion on how to use those increased resources. Enhancing supports for schools, including guidance, are among a number of issues raised in discussion with me as priorities within the school sector. The last Budget included an increase in spending on education for the first time in recent years, amounting to additional funding of €60 million during 2015. I am determined that education should be prioritised for investment as our economy recovers and I will be seeking to agree a set of priorities for such increased investment into the future.
1275. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide a response to matters (details supplied) raised by persons who have taken cases having been victims of abuse in schools here. [31343/15]
View answer1276. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she is aware that since a ruling on the case of a person (details supplied) the State Solicitor has rejected cases similar to theirs; and the reason this has happened. [31344/15]
View answer1277. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of settlements offered by the State to cases coming within the terms of the European Court of Human Rights decision in a case (details supplied); the number of cases currently being considered by the State Claims Agency where there was a prior complaint about a teacher concerned; and the number of cases previously being pursued that were originally dropped. [31345/15]
View answerI propose to take questions Nos. 1275 to 1277, inclusive, together. In its response to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment, the Government agreed in December 2014 that out of court settlements be offered in those extant cases of school child sexual abuse being brought against the State where the cases come within the terms of the ECtHR judgment and satisfy the Statute of Limitations. In this regard, the State Claims Agency (SCA) has made settlement offers in 7 of the 35 cases and has written to the other 28 litigants advising that the circumstances do not appear to come within the parameters of the judgement and inviting them to revert with any contrary evidence. Where a litigant does not accept the offer in settlement of his/her case or where the SCA is not satisfied that the case comes within the terms of the judgment, the case will proceed before the domestic Courts.
Subsequently, in July of this year, the Government approved proposals to offer ex-gratia payments up to a maximum of €84,000 to those who initiated legal proceedings in cases of school child sexual abuse against the State but who subsequently discontinued their claims against the State where, similarly, the circumstances of the claims come within the terms of the ECtHR judgment and where the claims were not statute barred prior to the proceedings being discontinued. It is not possible to assess at this stage how many cases in this category will satisfy these criteria. Persons who believe that their cases come within the criteria can contact the SCA and provide supporting evidence. Where there is a disagreement between the SCA and the individual as to whether their circumstances come within the terms of the ECtHR judgment, provision will be made for the application to be reviewed by an independent assessor.In cases where settlements are agreed, the State will pay, in addition to the settlement amount, such reasonable costs as agreed by the SCA. In the context of settling abuse victim compensation claims, the SCA has advised that it is not its practice to seek to impose a confidentiality clause on Plaintiffs in abuse related cases. In offering these settlements, the State will not be covering the liabilities of the perpetrators, school managers or patrons or other co-defendants.
To be eligible for the above settlement or payment arrangements, cases must involve sexual abuse of a school child by a primary or second level school employee in respect of whom there was a prior complaint of sexual abuse to a school authority (including an authority of a school in which the teacher had previously taught), prior to the issue of the Department of Education guidelines to primary and post-primary schools in 1991 and 1992 respectively. This rationale has been adopted as it is the basis of the ECtHR judgment.
1279. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of school bus services that were due to be withdrawn this year and where the decision was reversed due to the fact that adequate formal notice was not provided in relation to the withdrawal of the service for the year 2015 to 2016; the schools in question, providing the name and full postal address of each school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31365/15]
View answerUnder the terms of my Department's Primary and Post Primary School Transport Scheme a minimum number of 10 eligible children residing in a distinct locality, as determined by Bus Éireann, are required before consideration may be given to the establishment or retention of school transport services, provided this can be done within reasonable cost limits. The Deputy will be aware that an Island service which had fallen below this minimum number requirement was retained for the 2015/16 school year as it was felt that families did not receive sufficient notice regarding this withdrawal; Bus Éireann has confirmed that this was the only service retained on this basis.
