Written Answers Nos. 584-595
584. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Education and Skills the details of the Acts currently in force for which she has lead responsibility and that have parts or sections yet to be formally commenced, including the purpose of same, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46282/15]
View answerThe information that the Deputy has requested is set out in the following table.
|
Act |
Sections yet to be commenced |
Details |
|
Teaching Council Act 2001 |
Sections 7(2), 39, 41-47, 60, |
The provisions which are not yet commenced relate to two areas, fitness to teach and continuing professional development |
|
Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2007 |
Sections 1,2,4, 6-8. |
Section 1 relates to definitions. Section 2 relates to a textual amendment of a definition contained in the Education Act 1998. Section 4 relates to factors which a Section 29 Committee must consider in hearing and determining appeals relating to expulsions and suspensions. Section 6 relates to powers of the NEWB in taking appeals under Section 29 of the 1998 Education Act. Section 7 deals with the transfer of ownership of the Crawford Municipal Art Gallery. Section 8 is the standard expenses provision. |
|
Student Support Act 2011 |
Sections 8(3) and 16(5) |
Section 8(3) deals with part-time approved courses and Section 16(5) deals with the inclusion of part-time courses in the student grant scheme. |
|
Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012 |
Section 43 |
Section 43 relates to the setting up of a special account for moneys received under Section 42 of the Act in relation to relevant costs. |
|
Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 |
Sections 3-13, 14(1)(b), 14(1)(d), 14(1)(e), 14(1)(f), 15-18, 38 and 39 |
The sections of the EPSEN Act that have not yet been commenced are those mainly concerned with the assessment of need process, preparation and review of individual education plans and the associated appeals provisions in relation to these areas. A small number of sections refer to interaction between the NCSE and the health services. |
|
Teaching Council (Amendment) Act 2015 |
Complete Act |
The purpose of the Act is to underpin, in statute, the central role of the Teaching Council in the vetting of teachers and to allow, on a statutory basis, the Teaching Council to implement fitness to teach provisions. It is intended to commence these provisions as soon as possible. Certain provisions of the Act are designed to act in tandem with the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012 so these provisions will be commenced when that Act is amended and commenced. |
585. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the annual budget for the National Centre for Technology in Education in each of the years 2009 to date. [46294/15]
View answerIn 2012, the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) merged with the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) and is now known as the Professional Development Service for Teachers (Technology in Education) - PDST-TIE.
My Department has provided in excess of €25m to the PDST-TIE (formally NCTE) since 2009. Funding for the years in question is set out as follows:
2009 - €5,449,000;
2010 - €5,120,000;
2011 - €3,828,326;
2012 - €3,076,670;
2013 - €2,760,000;
2014 - €2,611,571;
and 2015 - €2,411,250.
PDST-TIE also receives EU funding for its work in relation to European projects such as the Safer Internet Project and the EU Folio (ePortfolios).
There are significant additional expenditures incurred by my Department on the provision of broadband services and payment of equipment grants to schools. The recently published Digital Strategy for Schools sets out a clear vision for the role of ICT in teaching, learning and assessment and the PDST-TIE will have a key role in supporting teachers and schools in this regard over the next five years.
586. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of a roll-out of modern languages in the primary school curriculum pilot project. [46295/15]
View answerThe Modern Languages in Primary Schools Initiative (MLPSI) was introduced into 550 primary schools in September 1998. It involved the introduction of Italian, Spanish, German and French for 5th and 6th classes. The MLPSI was a pilot scheme with an annual budget of approximately €2.5m.
The decision to end the MLPSI was taken in the context of a very challenging budgetary environment where difficult decisions had to be taken. There are no plans to revisit this decision.
A 2008 Report by the NCCA recommended against a further expansion of the MLPSI, citing issues of curriculum overload and difficulties relating to the replicability of the model across the system.
587. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of a roll-out of partial immersion programmes for the Irish language, where 50% of subjects are taught through Irish to 20% of primary schools, not including Gaelscoileanna. [46296/15]
View answerGuidance on the use of CLIL (content and language integrated learning) will be included in the materials being developed by the NCCA to support the implementation of the new Primary language curriculum for infants to second classes. This will be introduced to primary schools from September 2016. In fact, the new curriculum for language was launched on line at www.ncca.ie last Tuesday.
A comprehensive continuing professional development programme is in place to support the implementation of the new primary language curriculum. Teachers will, as part of this professional development, receive advice on the use of different methodologies to teach Irish and to use Irish as the medium of instruction.
588. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will designate physical education as a subject for the leaving certificate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46297/15]
View answerAs part of the revised Junior Cycle, a short course has been prepared by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in Physical Education, and has been available for schools since September 2014.
A draft Senior Cycle P.E. framework has been designed by the NCCA to provide schools with a framework within which they can design a P.E. programme for those students who do not choose to take P.E. as part of their Leaving Certificate. Schools will be given the flexibility in selecting which activities their students will study, including aquatics.
A new Leaving Certificate P.E. syllabus is currently being developed by the NCCA as a full subject which will be available for certification as a Leaving Certificate subject in a manner similar to other subjects, such as Maths and Irish.
589. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of removing the moratorium on posts of responsibility for middle management posts in schools. [46298/15]
View answerThere are limited alleviation arrangements in place for schools that are acutely affected by the impact of the moratorium at Assistant Principal level. These arrangements are mainly focused at post-primary level. However, it is fair to say that before the moratorium, notwithstanding the fact that one out of every two teachers held a management allowance the workload issue and the pressures on Principals and Deputy Principals existed. Simply lifting the moratorium as extra funding becomes available in future years is not the best way of improving how school leadership is distributed in our schools. School leaders have a key role to play in determining the shape of our schools and student outcomes. Leading on curricular change and change management are key challenges for every school leader. The challenge for schools and the Department is therefore to build a leadership partnership that is fit for 21st century Ireland and school context.
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. Earlier this month, I formally launched the newly established Centre for School Leadership (CSL). The Centre's responsibilities will cover the continuum of professional development for school leaders, from pre-appointment training and induction of newly appointed principals, to continuing professional development throughout careers. The Centre is operating on a partnership basis between the Department of Education and Skills, the Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN) and the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD). The partnership will have many benefits for the profession in terms of the quality of training programmes, coordination of provision, and increased accessibility.
As part of the 2,260 additional teaching posts announced in Budget 2016, 250 of these posts are being provided to second level schools to enable Deputy Principals to be freed up from teaching time and be more fully available to assist the school principal with the leadership of the school. Up to now only schools with at least with over 500 students received an allocation to free up the Deputy Principal. With effect from 01 September 2016 second level schools with over 400 students will receive an allocation that will bring those schools in line with the schools that have over 500 pupils where the Deputy Principal is fully freed up. A pro rata allocation of additional hours to support school leadership will also be provided to the schools with 400 or fewer students enrolled. At primary level Budget 2016 provides for additional release days for teaching principals to range between 15 and 25 days depending on the size of the school and effective from the start of the 2016/17 school year.
590. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of rolling out a new primary school farm safety course modelled on the Road Safety Authority safety campaign. [46306/15]
View answerThere are no plans at the moment to include the topic of farm safety in the primary school curriculum.
Education and information about farm safety is provided by the Health and Safety Authority who have a specific area on their website (www.hsa.ie) that aims to promote safe practice in agriculture and forestry.
591. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she is aware of the accommodation situation facing a school (details supplied) in County Cork for the 2016-2017 school year; the steps she is taking to ensure that adequate accommodation of the appropriate standard will be in place in good time; if the forward planning section of her Department will liaise with the school with regard to the available options; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46335/15]
View answerMy Department officials have been progressing the accommodation requirements of the school to which the Deputy refers on an ongoing basis. The school is located in rented pre-fab accommodation on land rented by the Department for this purpose in Douglas, Cork. Many factors impact on the delivery of suitable school accommodation, including the availability of suitable options in an appropriate location, planning requirements and technical requirements. In this regard, my officials have been, and continue to be, in contact with the relevant parties, including the school authorities, in relation to the school's accommodation needs. The main avenue for interaction in such matters is with the school management body, in this case Educate Together.
My Department officials are exploring options for temporary accommodation for the growing school for September 2016 and beyond and have indicated to the school authorities that if the school have proposals in this regard, that these will be given due consideration by my Department, when received.
592. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of implementing a living wage of €11.50 for all employees directly employed by or in agencies funded by her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46404/15]
View answerThe data requested by the Deputy is not collected or collated by my Department. There are over 3,700 individual employers in the education and training sector and it would require a disproportionate amount of time and administrative resources to gather the data sought by the Deputy.
593. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the current balance in the Dormant Accounts Fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45975/15]
View answerUnder the Dormant Accounts legislation, balances on dormant accounts with banks, building societies and An Post and the net encashment value of certain life assurance policies are paid into the Dormant Accounts Fund, which is managed by the National Treasury Management Agency. The primary purpose of the legislation is to reunite the original account holders with their moneys, including all interest due. In addition, the legislation provides that disbursements from the fund may be made for charitable purposes or for purposes of community benefit.
Since its establishment in April 2003 to the end of 30 November 2015, the transfers to the Dormant Accounts Fund have totalled some €834.88m, which includes interest earned of approximately €41.68m. Funds reclaimed in that period by account holders amounted to around €312.13m. €303.9m of disbursements have been approved, with €256.13m already expended by a large number of community groups and organisations under a range of measures administered by Pobal, on behalf of a number of Government Departments and agencies. The net value of uncommitted funds available under the Dormant Accounts Fund is currently €142.8m. Further data in relation to the Dormant Accounts Fund are available on my Department’s website at http://www.environ.ie/en/Community/DormantAccounts.
594. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when the water conservation grant will be paid in 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45978/15]
View answerThe Water Conservation Grant is a key element of the Government's drive to promote conservation and more sustainable use of water services in the home. Regulations will be made in due course under Section 5 of the Water Services Act 2014 to set down the particulars of the 2016 grant scheme including the application process and eligibility criteria. It is intended that payment of the grant to eligible applicants will be made in the first half of 2016.
595. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government to outline in detail the moneys transferred to date or committed to Irish Water as investments on behalf of the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45982/15]
View answer597. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the level of equity capital he expects to have to provide Irish Water to meet its requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45984/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 595 and 597 together.
Irish 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 capital contribution agreed by Government for 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.
In addition, the Government has provided €399m in operating subvention to Irish Water in 2015 and will provide up to €479m in 2016. This subvention is in respect of the child allowance of 21,000 litres per child per annum, a product subsidy and the capping of domestic water charges at the rates set out in the Water Services Act 2014.
Finally, provision has been made for the issue of working capital loans in 2015 and 2016 to cover cash flow requirements arising from time lags between billing and payment. This amounts to €96m in 2015 with provision for up to €58m in 2016.
