Ruth Coppinger
Question:127. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to abolish the student contribution charge. [32406/15]
View answerThird Level Charges
Questions (127)
Written answers
As the Deputy will be aware the Student Contribution stands at €3,000 for the current academic year, 2015/16. It should be noted that some 50% of students who qualify for free fees funding have the Student Contribution paid on their behalf by the Exchequer under my Department's Student Grant Scheme.
An Expert Working Group chaired by Peter Cassells is currently preparing a report on future funding policy for higher education. The objective is to identify a range of approaches that, combined, will achieve a sustainable funding base to address the continual expansion of the sector while protecting the quality of education.
Residential Institutions
Questions (128)
Michael Healy-Rae
Question:128. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on a matter (details supplied) regarding persons who were institutionalised in the 1950s; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32416/15]
View answerWritten answers
On the 11th of May 1999, the Taoiseach, on behalf of the State, apologised to the victims of childhood abuse and announced a range of measures the Government intended to introduce to assist victims. In 2002, the Oireachtas enacted the Residential Institutions Redress Act in order to provide a means for making financial awards to assist people who as children were abused while resident in certain institutions in which the State had a regulatory function.
In framing the legislation, the Government was conscious that a significant number of former residents who were eligible to make an application for redress in their own right, were in ill health or elderly and that it was probable that some victims would pass away before they would get the opportunity to finalise their application to the Residential Institutions Redress Board. With this in mind and in order to avoid a situation where a person's application would fail on death, the Government decided to include Section 9 in the Redress Act. This enabled the spouse or children of a person, who was entitled to make an application but died after the 11th of May 1999 (the date of the Taoiseach's apology) to make an application.
Essentially, the legislation was applicable from the 11th of May 1999. As with every such scheme, there has to be a cut off point and the decision was taken to use the date of the Taoiseach's apology as the cut off point. It is not intended to revisit the legislation.
Student Grant Scheme Eligibility
Questions (129)
Jonathan O'Brien
Question:129. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the discussions she has held with the Department of Social Protection regarding offsetting changes to payments from the Department of Social Protection that will restrict student eligibility for Student Universal Support Ireland grants as their income will be €100 over the limit; her plans to allocate additional funding for the student assistance fund. [32424/15]
View answerWritten answers
The Deputy will be aware that my officials engage in ongoing consultations with key stakeholders such as the Department of Social Protection. These consultations with the Department of Social Protection subsequently informed decisions I made in terms of including a number of new income disregards in the 2015 Scheme. These new income disregards are no longer assessed as part of the reckonable income of applicants. They include the Exceptional Needs Payments, Household Benefits Package, Housing Assistance Payment, Jobseekers Allowance Transition (where paid to the applicant), Mortgage Interest Supplement, Rent Supplement and the Back to Work Family Dividend.
In addition to the various income disregards, the student grant scheme includes a number of gradations in income thresholds which allow students on different income levels to access grants at 100%, 75%, 50% and 25%. These gradations act as a safety net to ensure that students whose reckonable income is slightly above the threshold, can still benefit from grant support.
With regard to the Student Assistance Fund I can confirm that the HEA has commissioned an independent review of policy, guidelines and practice in relation to the Fund. Any changes to the administration of the Fund will be considered when the review is completed.
Special Educational Needs Staff
Questions (130)
Michael McGrath
Question:130. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of special needs assistants at a school (details supplied) in County Cork for the school year 2013-2014, 2014-2015 and the allocation for the 2015-2016 year; if there is currently an appeal for the allocation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32426/15]
View answerWritten answers
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating 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 which are set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014.
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.
Details of SNA allocations to schools for 2015/16, including the school referred to by the Deputy, are now available on the NCSE website www.ncse.ie.
Details of SNA allocations for 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15 are also available on the NCSE website.
The NCSE has set out details of the manner in which a school or parent may appeal the level of SNA allocation which has been made to support a child in school, to the NCSE, on its website 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.
As the consideration of appeals is an operational matter for the NCSE, I will arrange to have this element of the Deputy's question referred to the NCSE for their consideration and direct reply to the Deputy.
Schools Building Projects Status
Questions (131)
Pat Breen
Question:131. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the status of an application by a school (details supplied) in County Clare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32431/15]
View answerWritten answers
I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department has received a proposal for alternative accommodation from the school to which he refers.
In order to fully consider the accommodation issues arising, my Department's technical staff visited the school. Following this visit, the proposal is being considered further and my Department expects to be in a position to convey a decision to the school as soon as the assessment process has been concluded.
School Accommodation Provision
Questions (132)
Pat Breen
Question:132. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Education and Skills , further to Parliamentary Question No. 482 of 3 March 2015, if she will provide an update on the status of a school (details supplied) in County Clare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32434/15]
View answerWritten answers
I can confirm that my Department is in the process of acquiring a site for the school, referred to by the Deputy.
As part of this acquisition process, a technical site visit was carried out in order to assess the site concerned. In addition, my Department is also considering the long term projected pupil enrolment position of the school, in question, and in that regard my Department will be in further contact with the school authorities.
Special Educational Needs Service Provision
Questions (133)
Michael McGrath
Question:133. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills on the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004, if she will confirm if a child with special needs currently has a legal entitlement to an individual education plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32435/15]
View answerWritten answers
I wish to advise the Deputy that a number of sections of the EPSEN Act have been commenced, including those sections establishing the National Council for Special Education and those providing for the inclusive education of children.
In light of the very difficult economic situation and the significant costs involved in fully implementing the EPSEN Act, however, the previous Government deferred the full implementation of EPSEN.
The EPSEN provisions concerning a statutory entitlement to an Individual Education Plans have therefore not yet been commenced.
It is intended to bring into effect many of the good ideas contained in the EPSEN Act, on a non-statutory basis initially, through policy developments across a range of areas, in conjunction with NCSE policy advice.
At present, all schools are encouraged to use Education Plans and receive guidance and support in order to do so. My Departmental Inspectorates' advice is that the majority of schools are now using some form of individual education planning for children with special needs.