Written Answers Nos. 761-775
761. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Education and Skills why a person (details supplied) in Dublin 7 has been refused an exemption from learning Irish; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46664/15]
View answerWhile the study of Irish is compulsory at both primary and post-primary there are a limited number of specific circumstances whereby an exemption from this requirement may be granted.
The granting of exemptions is governed by Departmental circulars, 12/96 for primary and M10/94 at post-primary. Under these circulars the authority to grant exemptions within the terms of the circulars has been delegated to school management.
If a school is uncertain as to whether a pupil's circumstances fall within the criteria of the relevant circular or where a school's decision to refuse an application for an exemption is queried, it is open to either the school or the parent/guardian to seek advice from my Department as to the application of the criteria for an exemption to a particular case. Officials from my Department will contact the Deputy with the details of how a request for advice in respect of the Irish exemption circulars may be processed.
762. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the procedure that applies to a private bus contractor serving three schools in the midlands who is using a bus in which some of the seat belts do not work, in which there is mould on the windows and in which mice are running around freely while the bus is transferring pupils to and from school (details supplied). [46684/15]
View answerBuses provide services to carry schoolchildren both under the Department of Education & Skills School Transport Scheme and also in a private capacity hired by, for example, parents of schoolchildren or schools.
Every school bus is required to be tested under the Road Safety Authority's (RSA) Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness Test (CVRT), which is the primary annual vehicle safety inspection. All Bus Éireann buses and those owned by operators contracted by Bus Éireann are required to have a valid annual roadworthiness test certificate in order to be used to provide school transport services. It would appear from the details supplied that the service in question is a private service operating outside the Scheme over which my Department and Bus Éireann has no remit.
763. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will address a matter (details supplied) regarding capitation grants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46686/15]
View answerThe funding arrangements made by my Department for post primary 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 such as the one referred to by the Deputy 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 condition of buildings, size of school etc.
My Department provides funding to voluntary secondary schools such as the one referred to by the Deputy by way of per capita grants.
The Deputy may wish to note that Circular 48/2009 clarifies issues relating to the allocation of funding to voluntary secondary schools. The circular states that capitation funding provided for general running costs and funding provided for caretaking and secretarial services may be regarded as a common grant which the Board of Management can allocate according to its own priorities.
764. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Question No. 537 of 15 December 2015, if she will be meeting with organisations that advocate a secular education system such as Secular Schools Ireland and with organisations that advocate an end to the patronage system when consulting regarding changes to rule 68 and section 7(3)(c) of the Equal Status Act 2000; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46713/15]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, I am currently engaged in a series of meetings with the different education partners involved in implementing the recommendations of the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism. The key objective of these meetings is to make further progress on the recommendations of the Forum which include a recommendation that the Rules for National Schools be reviewed and updated, in particular, Rule 68. I met with the Education and Training Boards, Educate Together and with representatives of the Catholic Church in December. I will be meeting with An Foras Pátrúnachta, and Gaelscoileanna Teoranta in January. Following those meetings I will outline a number of actions to advance the recommendations which arose from the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism, and these actions will include the immediate repeal of rule 68. Regarding section 7(3)(c) of the Equal Status Act, 2000, which permits schools in which the objective is to provide education that promotes certain religious values to admit a student of a particular religion in preference to others, I have made clear my view that this provision must be amended. All schools should be required to prioritise local children, regardless of their religion, while building in protection for the small number of minority faith schools which serve dispersed communities. This is a matter that needs to be addressed as a priority for the next Government.
765. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of annual subscriptions to external membership bodies and groups her Department has, including the cost and details. [46759/15]
View answerThe tabular statement contains the information requested by the Deputy. The tabular statement gives details of the Professional Bodies, the number of staff concerned and the cost of subscriptions in 2015.
Membership details
|
Professional body/institution |
No of staff to whom payment relates |
Total Cost |
|
|
Reimbursement of Professional Memberships |
Note 1 |
||
|
Association of Chartered Certified Accountants |
1 |
€284.12 |
|
|
Certified Public Accountants Institute |
2 |
€1,088.00 |
|
|
Chartered Accountants Ireland |
1 |
€565.00 |
|
|
Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors |
1 |
€211.20 |
|
|
Chartered Institute of Management Accountants |
2 |
€714.07 |
|
|
Engineers Ireland |
2 |
€285.00 |
|
|
Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland |
4 |
€1,800.00 |
|
|
Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland |
5 |
€2,135.00 |
|
|
Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development |
1 |
€186.22 |
|
|
Psychological Society of Ireland (P.S.I.) |
117 |
€27,378.00 |
Note 2 |
|
Corporate Memberships |
|||
|
Legal Island Ltd |
6 |
€474.00 |
Note 3 |
|
Standing International Conference of Inspectorates (SICI) |
n/a |
€3,000.00 |
|
|
Irish Payroll Association |
n/a |
€1,476.00 |
|
|
EBSCO International |
n/a |
€22,574.19 |
Note 4 |
|
Institute of Public Administration - Governance Forum |
n/a |
€4,000.00 |
|
|
Total |
€66,170.80 |
Notes:
1. Department of Finance Circular 27/2001 provides for the reimbursement to staff by Departments of professional membership fees. The policy of this Department is that staff may apply for a reimbursement in respect of one professional body only providing the membership is necessary for the performance of an officer's official duties. e.g., where there is a legal requirement that the officer be on the register of a professional body or association or that the membership of the body forms part of the officer’s employment contract.
2. The payment to PSI is a professional membership payment on behalf of 117 NEPS Psychologists. The single group payment enables the Department to avail of a 10% discount on the total cost of the individual memberships and significantly reduces the number of individual reimbursement payments issuing to staff from the unit.
3. Subscriptions are made to Legal Island which provides regular updates in relation to employment law for officials in Human Resources.
4. The payment to EBSCO allows staff access to an electronic database of specialist journals and articles for use by the professional staff of the Inspectorate (Education Research Complete) and NEPS (Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection) and is necessary for their work. The payment relates to a 2 year subscription which runs from 01/12/2015 to 31/11/2017.
766. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of annual subscriptions to newspapers or magazines her Department has, including the cost and details. [46760/15]
View answerInformation in respect of payments made by my Department for the purchase of newspapers or magazines have been extracted from the Department's Financial Management System (FMS). Total expenditure in 2015 was €8,959.58.
The details of publications purchased are in the table.
LIST OF CURRENT PUBLICATIONS
|
DAILY |
WEEKLY |
BI WEEKLY |
|
IRISH TIMES X 5 |
ECONOMIST X 7 |
PHOENIX X 2 |
|
IRISH INDEPENDENT X 4 |
TIMES ED SUPPLEMENT X 3 |
|
|
IRISH EXAMINER X 4 |
||
|
DAILY STAR X 1 |
||
|
SUN X 1 |
||
|
DAILY MIRROR X 1 |
||
|
DAILY MAIL X 1 |
||
|
HERALD X 1 |
767. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Education and Skills the annual cost to her Department of advertisements placed on its behalf in newspapers and magazines, and on television, radio and social media. [46761/15]
View answerInformation in respect of the cost in 2015 for advertisements placed in newspapers, magazines, television, radio and social media by my Department have been extracted from my Department's Financial Management System (FMS). The total spend in 2015 was €100,178
768. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of funding for a school (details supplied) in Dublin 9; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46794/15]
View answerMy Department provides funding by way of per capita grants to all voluntary secondary schools within the Free Education Scheme.
The school referred to by the Deputy is a voluntary secondary school within the Free Education Scheme and receives funding on the same basis as other voluntary secondary schools.
The Deputy may wish to note that Circular 48/2009 clarifies issues relating to the allocation of funding to voluntary secondary schools. The circular states that capitation funding provided for general running costs and funding provided for caretaking and secretarial services may be regarded as a common grant which the Board of Management can allocate according to its own priorities.
769. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the impact of the changes to the primary school transport scheme on Newcestown Central School (details supplied) in County Cork is fair; if she will intervene to resolve the difficulties; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46799/15]
View answerChanges to my Department's Primary School Transport Scheme were announced in December 2010 by the then Government as part of measures contained in Budget 2011 and derived from recommendations contained in the Value for Money review of the scheme.
The changes announced covered the uniform application of the distance eligibility criterion, the cessation of the Closed/Central School Rule (CSR), an increase from seven to ten in the minimum number of eligible children required to establish or retain a service and the introduction of charges for eligible primary children. Children who hold valid medical cards (GMS scheme) are exempt from paying a charge. The charge currently applied for primary school transport for both eligible and concessionary tickets is €100 per child per annum, or a family maximum of €220. These changes to school transport provision are applied uniformly and equitably on a national basis.
770. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Education and Skills why qualifications from other countries are not recognised here (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46819/15]
View answerQuality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) is the state agency with statutory responsibility for maintaining the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ). The NFQ is a system of ten levels which aims to make the qualifications system in Ireland easier to understand. QQI also hosts the Irish centre of the European Network of Information Centres/National Academic Recognition Information Centre (ENIC-NARIC). This service comprises a network of centres that offers advice and information on the recognition of foreign qualifications from various countries in Ireland. Further details are available at: www.qualrec.ie.
With regard to the qualifications required for entry into the regulated electrician profession in Ireland, I wish to inform the Deputy that the RECI (Register of Electrical Contractors of Ireland) and the ECSSA (Electrical Contractors Safety and Standards Association) are the relevant competent authorities with responsibility for setting and advising on these qualifications.
771. Deputy Shane Ross asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the employment control framework for higher education for the period 2010 to 2014 remains in force; the conditions governing it and how these were agreed; when it will lapse; if higher education institutions are required to continue to adhere to the senior-junior staff ratios as per the framework; the procedures available to deviate from these; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46836/15]
View answer772. Deputy Shane Ross asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she or other bodies have the power to impose sanctions on higher education institutions that breach the agreement for the period 2010 to 2014; what those sanctions are; if they have been levied, on whom, and in what amount and nature; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46837/15]
View answer773. Deputy Shane Ross asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the employment control framework for higher education for the period 2010 to 2014 required only maintenance of ratios between lecturer and professorial staff for academic staff and those below that level, and for those above €70,000 salary for others, or if it also mandated, as some higher education institutions have interpreted, that the framework also required maintenance of ratios within these broad categories; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46838/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 771 to 773, inclusive, together.
Since the introduction of the moratorium on public sector recruitment, an Employment Control Framework (ECF) has been in place for the higher education sector which provides institutions with considerable flexibility to fill vacancies, through recruitment or promotions on the basis of meeting an overall ceiling of posts. The current ECF, agreed for the period 2010 to 2014, remains in place. It should be noted that the higher education sector has met, and indeed exceeded, all the required reductions in core funded posts since the introduction of the ECF.
In Budget 2015, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform announced that the existing ECFs and associated moratoriums would be lifted and replaced with a system of delegated sanction for recruiting and promoting up to Principal Officer level, subject to adherence by Departments to binding 3 year pay ceilings and ongoing compliance with Workforce Planning requirements. In light of this announcement a new ECF for the higher education sector will be put in place shortly.
In line with Government policy, any requests for exceptions to the Moratorium that are not covered by the ECF must be sanctioned by my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform prior to the awarding or renewal of the employment contract.
A condition of the current Framework is that the reductions in the number of core staff should be achieved in a balanced manner across the grading structure and should not be concentrated at the lower grade levels, i.e. the framework should not result in 'grade-drift' within institutions. Promotions are permitted under the ECF subject to compliance with the Framework and to the maintenance of appropriate balance between grades, both academic and administrative/professional/technical.
774. Deputy Anthony Lawlor asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she appreciates the practical difficulties which arise when the number of hours required by pupils for special needs assistant support is greater than the number of hours allocated to a school, and that the sharing of hours by one special needs assistant between children who are often in different classes can prove counterproductive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46872/15]
View answerSpecial Needs Assistants (SNAs) are allocated to schools to assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs. Such support is provided in order to facilitate the attendance of those pupils at school and also to minimise disruption to class or teaching time for the pupils concerned, or for their peers, and with a view to developing their independent living skills.
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 is set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014.
The deployment of SNAs within schools, once allocated, 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.
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.
775. Deputy John Halligan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the allocation of secondary school places and the relationship schools have with their feeder schools, particularly in relation to a school (details supplied) County Waterford; if the system used by schools is fair and equitable; if schools are obliged to follow recommendations from her Department or if they are within their rights to create and follow their own individual enrolment procedure; if many students are being placed in very difficult positions having to travel great distances to avail of secondary placements; if a country-wide enrolment procedure will be adopted that will ensure the right placement for all students; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46874/15]
View answerI am aware of the concerns raised by the Deputy in this case. My Department has been in contact with the school concerned regarding arrangements for a meeting to discuss this and related issues.
