Written Replies Nos. 191 to 200
191. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views regarding meeting the second level educational and psychological needs of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare, in view of that person's special needs and the need for supervision throughout that person's education; if that person's requirements can be met locally; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32677/15]
View answerThe policy of my Department is that children with special educational needs should be included where possible and appropriate in mainstream placements with additional supports provided. In circumstances where children with special educational need require more specialised interventions, special school or special class places are also available. All State-funded Post Primary schools have been allocated additional resources to provide for children with special educational needs enrolled in school. For children for whom mainstream provision may not be appropriate, my Department has provided placement options in some 125 special schools and 1,000 special classes located around the country. Post Primary schools have a permanent allocation of additional teaching supports to provide for children whose educational psychological assessment places them in the high incidence, or less complex, disability category. Separately, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) allocates additional resource teaching hours to schools for children who have been assessed within the low incidence, or more complex, category of special need, as defined by my Department's Circular Sp Ed 02/05 and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) for children with additional care needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's established criteria for the allocation of Special Education supports and the staffing resources available to my Department. It is a matter for schools to monitor and utilise their allocation of additional teaching support to best support the needs of identified pupils, in accordance with my Department's guidance. The teaching time afforded to each individual pupil is managed by schools, taking into account each child's individual learning needs. In relation to SNA support, 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. The deployment of SNAs within schools is a matter for the individual Principal/Board of Management. Parents who have concerns regarding the manner in which the resources or facilities which have been provided to support their child's education are being applied in school should, in the first instance, raise this matter directly with their school Principal or the Board of Management of the school. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available the NCSE website www.ncse.ie.
192. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the staffing levels and the grants paid to the schools in County Tipperary from 2011 to 2015; the changes in grants and funding she anticipates for the school year 2015-2016; the projections for the schools in the 2015-2016 school year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32699/15]
View answerTeacher allocations to all schools are approved annually by my Department in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment. The criteria for the allocation of posts are communicated to school managements annually and are available on the Department website. The Statistics Section of my Department's website contains extensive data relating to schools, including teacher numbers. The most recent published information relates to the 2014/2015 school year. The final staffing position for all schools for the 2015/16 school year will ultimately not be known until later in the Autumn when the allocation and redeployment process has fully completed and all appeals to the final meeting of the Primary Staffing Appeals Board will have been considered. My Department provides capitation funding to all recognised primary schools and second level schools within the free education scheme. My Department provides capitation funding to mainstream primary schools by way of per capita grants, subject to a minimum grant equivalent to 60 pupils. Enhanced rates are payable to Special Schools and Special Classes attached to mainstream schools. The funding arrangements made by my Department for second level schools reflect the sectoral division of our second-level system. At the core of all arrangements is reliance upon capitation as the principal determinant of funding. My Department provides funding to Community and Comprehensive schools on a budget basis that is based mainly on pupil numbers, but also take into account additional factors which vary from school to school such as age of buildings, size of school etc. With regard to the ETB sector financial allocations are made to ETBs as part of a block grant. ETBs are given a high level of autonomy in the management and appropriation of this grant and each is allowed to distribute its allocations in line with its priorities and perceptions of need. My Department provides funding to voluntary secondary schools by way of per capita grants. DEIS capitation is paid based on a school's relative level of disadvantage against all other schools. Fee charging schools do not receive any capitation or related grants from my Department. Information on the funding allocated to schools in County Tipperary, as requested by the Deputy, is not readily available. My officials are currently compiling this information and it will be forwarded to the Deputy in due course.
193. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will support school leaders by increasing release time for teaching principals and paying the outstanding parity award; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32700/15]
View answerPrincipal duties in medium to large sized schools are carried out by administrative principals. Principal duties in small to medium sized schools are carried out by teaching principals. Circular 25/02 which is available on the Department website outlines the number of days that teaching principals may take as release time in a school year in order to assist them fulfilling their principal duties. Under these arrangements my Department pays for a substitute teacher to be employed by a school to facilitate administrative functions to be undertaken by the teaching principal. Under the current arrangements the number of days that principal teachers may take as release time in each school year ranges between 14 and 22 days depending on the size of the school. I am aware of the workload issue and the pressures on Principals teachers. My Department has done work at helping to ease the administrative burden on school principals. The development and introduction of the primary online database is a significant step forward in this regard. A further step forward was the recent publication of Department Circular 0033/2015 which updates and simplifies the manner in which primary schools can maintain pupil enrolment and attendance records following the introduction of the primary online database. Economic constraints and the moratorium on recruitment albeit alleviated to some extent for schools, have presented challenges within the education sector. They also provide an opportunity to review the role of the principal so that our principals are leaders of learning, and to reconfigure the middle management structure to support principals in their role, ensuring ownership of responsibility rather than tasks, thereby building expertise and supporting a career path within the profession. The Department, in consultation with the representative management bodies has commenced an exploration of the opportunities to support and thereby advance our understanding of the needs of school leaders and how they might be addressed. The parity award the Deputy refers to arises from the 2nd report of the benchmarking body (issued in December 2007). Under the Towards 2016 Review and Transitional Agreement 2008-2009, it was agreed that the increases recommended in the second report of the Public Service Benchmarking Body would be paid in a fashion set out in that Agreement. However, the pay terms contained in the Towards 2016 Review and Transitional Agreement 2008-2009 were not implemented due to the State's worsening financial circumstances. I have consulted with the Department of my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the position is that having regard to this context there are no plans to implement the recommendations set out in the second report of the Public Service Benchmarking Body as they apply to any public servant. However, paragraph 5.3 of the recent Lansdowne Road Agreement does outline that "The Parties have agreed that any outstanding adjudication findings as referred to in paragraph 1.16 of the Public Service Agreement 2010 - 2014 (Croke Park Agreement) will be reviewed jointly by the Parties prior to the expiry of this Agreement."
194. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of primary school children receiving resource hours assistance in schools in County Tipperary; the number of applications that have been received by her Department for resource hours and extra supports by schools in County Tipperary; the number of these that have been approved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32701/15]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that there are now more Resource Teachers available for allocation than ever before. As part of Budget 2015, I announced provision for an additional 480 Resource Teaching posts, to take into account increased demand and demographic growth and to ensure that children can continue to have access to additional supports in school. The total number of posts available for allocation has increased by 27% since 2012, from 5265 posts in 2012, to 6705 posts available for 2015/16. This is the highest level of resource teaching provision that we have ever had. Details of the resource teaching allocations which will be made to each school for September 2015 have been published on a per County basis by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) on its website www.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. As the processing of applications 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. Finally, I wish to advise the Deputy that the NCSE has recommended the development of a new model for delivering teaching resources to schools to support students with special needs. Through consultations, there has been broad welcome for the proposed new model from Parents, disability groups, schools and stakeholders. However, there has not been sufficient time to address all of the concerns which have been raised regarding the proposed model in advance of the 2015 school year. A pilot of the new model, as recommended by the NCSE, will take place in schools in the 2015/16 school year.
195. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the increase charged by local authorities for tenants' rent; his plans to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32494/15]
View answerUnder section 58 of the Housing Act 1966, housing authorities are responsible for determining the rent for their social housing dwellings, subject to complying with the principle s that the rent payable should be related to household income and that low-income households should pay a lower proportion of income in rent. I have no function in relation to the setting of rents by any individual authority.
Section 58 of the 1966 Act will be replaced in due course by section 31 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, which enables me to make Regulations providing for significant harmonisation of local authority rent levels nationally, while retaining some discretion for individual authorities in setting rents in their own areas. I am currently considering proposals for the implementation of section 31 of the 2009 Act on a phased basis, under which local authority rents will continue to be related to the tenant’s capacity to pay.
196. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will release a copy of the reply that the Government issued to the European Commission regarding the questions on Leader in 2014, in particular Question No. 209 relating to the population size of a local action group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32478/15]
View answerThe reply to the European Commission referred to in the question, was issued by the Department of Agriculture Food and Marine, as Managing Authority for the implementation of the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. My Department, as delegated Paying Agency for the implementation of the LEADER element of the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 contributed to that process, including the reply to question 209.
I am advised by the Department of Agriculture Food and Marine that the correspondence referred to by the Deputy has been made publicly available by the European Commission. The extract following is the material that was provided to the European Commission in respect of question 209.
"Ireland is currently reconfiguring the way in which local and rural development interventions are implemented in sub-regional areas with a view to ensuring that local government is positioned to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of such interventions in the context of broader and more strategic considerations of the needs of the area concerned. In this context and coupled with the need to ensure sufficient budgetary resources to LAGs to facilitate full and effective implementation of local development strategies, and to ensure administrative efficiency Ireland is proposing to limit the number of LAGS to 28 to mirror Irish local government administrative areas. This will allow for more efficient and effective systems of oversight, coordination and support by both local government and the managing authority to ensure that the impact of all funding available to the sub-regional area is maximised.
Most of the 28 areas outlined have total populations below 150,000. However, there are a small number of areas where the populations (excluding the cities) may breach the 150,000 limit. In order to maintain the integrity of the LAG selection process it will not be possible to be specific on which areas may result in an LDS population of over 150,000 as the populations in need of Rural Development/LEADER support will be determined through the LDS design process. While it is envisaged that no area will have populations above approximately 170,000, there is some potential for areas with populations above the 150,000 population limit outlined in the regulation and therefore Ireland is requesting a derogation from this upper population limit to take account of population levels in some rural areas, to ensure territorial coherence of the LAG area, and to support Irelands increased emphasis on more effective, coordinated systems of local and rural development at a sub-regional level."
197. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide, by local authority, the amount of funding provided to each local authority to refurbish social housing voids in 2015, as well as figures detailing the number of voids that have been refurbished to date in 2015. [32483/15]
View answerI announced funding totalling €20.184 million in May 2015 to support all local authorities to deliver an initial 2015 target of returning 1,104 vacant social housing units back to productive use. Details of those allocations are set out in table following, in respect of which claims for over 500 units have been made to date to my Department. Additional units will have been completed but not claimed as yet.
A further target of 1,140 additional vacant units to be remediated has also been notified to local authorities. This additional tranche of targets will facilitate local authorities to make further significant progress in tackling their backlog of vacant units and allow them to maximise the use of their social housing units for those on the waiting lists.
|
Local Authority |
Allocation (May 2015) |
No of Vacant Units approved for return to use |
|
|
1 |
Carlow |
€128,000 |
16 |
|
2 |
Cavan |
€184,688 |
10 |
|
3 |
Clare |
€382,000 |
24 |
|
4 |
Cork City |
€3,657,649 |
122 |
|
5 |
Cork County |
€1,406,879 |
71 |
|
6 |
Donegal |
€386,782 |
43 |
|
7 |
Dublin City |
€4,378,150 |
234 |
|
8 |
D.L.R |
€88,683 |
3 |
|
9 |
Fingal |
€968,000 |
68 |
|
10 |
Galway City |
€218,000 |
19 |
|
11 |
Galway County |
€498,000 |
25 |
|
12 |
Kerry |
€905,230 |
53 |
|
13 |
Kildare |
€517,000 |
22 |
|
14 |
Kilkenny |
€195,000 |
7 |
|
15 |
Laois |
€43,870 |
9 |
|
16 |
Leitrim |
€163,000 |
7 |
|
17 |
Limerick |
€385,500 |
36 |
|
18 |
Longford |
€282,350 |
10 |
|
19 |
Louth |
€225,615 |
9 |
|
20 |
Mayo |
€375,500 |
34 |
|
21 |
Meath |
€755,000 |
33 |
|
22 |
Monaghan |
€296,754 |
13 |
|
23 |
Offaly |
€320,000 |
12 |
|
24 |
Roscommon |
€160,187 |
18 |
|
25 |
Sligo |
€229,038 |
15 |
|
26 |
South Dublin |
€534,545 |
39 |
|
27 |
Tipperary |
€953,882 |
61 |
|
28 |
Waterford |
€466,312 |
27 |
|
29 |
Westmeath |
€297,602 |
31 |
|
30 |
Wexford |
€219,000 |
9 |
|
31 |
Wicklow |
€671,226 |
24 |
|
TOTALS |
€20,183,878 |
1,104 |
198. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding applications under the planning permission process and the National Roads Authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32498/15]
View answerThe decision as to whether to grant planning permission in any particular case is a matter for the relevant planning authority, in the first instance, and for An Bord Pleanála in the event of an appeal. In making decisions on planning applications, planning authorities and the Board must consider the proper planning and sustainable development of the area, having regard to the provisions of their development plan, any submissions or observations received, and relevant Ministerial or Government policies, including current guidelines issued by my Department under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. In January 2012 my Department published the Spatial Planning and National Roads Guidelines for Planning Authorities. Planning authorities and An Bord Pleanála are required to have regard to them in the performance of their functions.
These guidelines, issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, are aimed at ensuring that roads planning and policy, and development planning and management processes, are appropriately and effectively aligned; and encouraging a collaborative approach and early engagement between planning authorities and the National Roads Authority (NRA) so that transport and land use planning considerations are taken into account at the early stages of both development plan and development management processes. This is to ensure that future development at locations on, or in the vicinity of, national roads is guided to the most suitable location and that work on Ireland’s national roads network is planned for and managed in a complementary and integrated manner.
Section 2.6 of the Guidelines outlines that, in exceptional circumstances with regard to the normal limitations on the provision of access for new developments to national routes, planning authorities may identify stretches of national roads where a less restrictive approach may be applied, but only as part of the process of reviewing or varying the relevant development plan and having consulted and had regard to the advice of the NRA in line with the approach set out in the Guidelines.
It is a matter for the relevant planning authority to consider the implementation of Section 2.6 of the Guidelines in respect of sections of relevant national roads and in the context of its statutory development plan.
199. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to conduct a publicity campaign to encourage new citizens who are currently registered as British, other European Union or non-European Union on the electoral register, to change their citizenship status; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32519/15]
View answerIn law, the preparation of the Register of Electors is a matter for each local authority as a registration authority. It is their duty to ensure, as far as possible and with the cooperation of the public, the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the Register. The draft register is published on 1 November each year and is generally available for examination at post offices, Garda stations and local authority offices and on-line at www.checktheregister.ie up to 25 November. The public are invited through a national poster campaign and through national and local advertising to check the draft during this period to make sure that they are correctly registered and to bring errors or omissions in the draft to the attention of the local authority.
A person who becomes an Irish citizen is entitled under the Electoral Act 1992 to be registered as a Dáil, Presidential or European elector in a constituency if he or she has reached the age of 18 and was on the qualifying date – 1 September in the year prior to the register coming into force – an Irish citizen ordinarily resident in that constituency. In this regard, it might also be noted that the Government’s Legislation Programme Autumn Session 2015, published on 22 September 2015, provides in Section A – Bills expected to be published in the current Dáil session – for the publication of an Electoral Amendment Bill providing for amendment of the electoral Acts, including a provision that persons who become Irish citizens after the qualifying date for the register of electors may apply for entry in the supplement to the register of electors.
200. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when the new incremental tenant purchase scheme for existing local authority dwellings will be in operation; the details of the scheme; the way it will affect existing local authority dwellings; when regulations outlining the new scheme will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32525/15]
View answerPart 3 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 provides for a new scheme for the tenant purchase of existing local authority houses along incremental purchase lines, similar to the schemes currently operating for local authority apartments and certain new local authority houses. The Government’s Social Housing Strategy 2020 includes a commitment to make the Regulations necessary for the scheme’s introduction, setting out the full details involved. The new scheme will commence at the earliest possible date following the making of the Regulations which are at an advanced stage of consideration and are expected to be finalised very shortly.
The scheme will operate along the lines of the incremental purchase model schemes currently operating, which involve discounts for purchasers linked to household income. The discount will be applied to the purchase price of the house to be determined by the local authority in accordance with the method to be prescribed in Regulations.
Full details of the scheme will be set out in the Regulations.
