Written Answers Nos. 435-50
435. Deputy Pat Rabbitte asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will use the vacated building at the former St. Peter’s primary school, Greenhills, Dublin 12 for education purposes; if discussions have taken place with the Dublin Archdiocesan authorities regarding this; when such discussions will be completed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2219/16]
View answerMy Department officials and representatives of the Dublin Archdiocese and of the local parish have agreed that the property to which the Deputy refers will be made available to the Department for educational use. My officials are continuing to work closely with the Archdiocesan authorities on the practicalities of the property issues involved and work is well advanced in this regard.
437. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the primary schools wholly housed in temporary accommodation, including the duration for which they have been in temporary accommodation, by county, in tabular form; the year in which these schools received full recognition from her Department; the patron of each school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2233/16]
View answer438. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the primary schools that have moved from wholly temporary to permanent accommodation in tabular form, by county, since January 2000; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2234/16]
View answer442. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of rental for primary schools wholly housed in temporary accommodation by school, by county, since January 2011 in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2290/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 437, 438 and 442 together.
The information sought is being compiled, and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.
439. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Education and Skills the planned address of the new premises for the Shellybanks Educate Together national school in Dublin 4. [2235/16]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, this school opened in temporary accommodation in 2014 and a permanent site is being acquired.
With regard to permanent accommodation, due to the commercially sensitive nature of land acquisitions generally it is not possible to give an indication of site location or other information at this time.
441. Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Education and Skills why a school bus ticket was withdrawn from a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2244/16]
View answerThe child referred to by the Deputy is eligible for school transport under the terms of my Department's Post Primary School Transport Scheme.
The closing date for receipt of payments for school transport was 31st July 2015. Bus Éireann has advised that payment details for this child were only submitted in September 2015 and at that time the service was operating to capacity. They have also advised that this child was not issued with a ticket.
Children for whom late payments are received cannot be guaranteed a seat on a school transport service.
443. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education and Skills if autism spectrum disorder units are being approved for schools where there are no students with autism enrolled; the names of these schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2326/16]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware my Department provides for a range of placement options and supports for schools which have enrolled pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in order to ensure that, wherever a child is enrolled, they will have access to an appropriate education.
Children with ASD may be enrolled in a mainstream school and can attend all mainstream classes. In such cases these children will receive additional teaching support through the learning support and/or the resource teacher and, where appropriate, will receive access to Special Needs Assistance and assistive technology if required.
In respect of children with ASD who cannot be accommodated in mainstream education, they may be enrolled in special classes or special schools where more intensive and supportive interventions are provided. Progress in developing this network has been significant and in addition to the special school placements there are over 1,000 special classes throughout the country at primary and post primary level, of which 762 are for children with Autism. Each special class for autism has a 6:1 pupil teacher ratio at primary level, and 6:1.5 at post primary level.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for allocating resource teachers and special needs assistants to schools to support students with special educational needs, including autism. It is also the role of the NCSE to make appropriate arrangements to establish special classes in schools in various geographical areas as required and where an identified need for such classes exists. In this regard, where schools indicate that they will open a special class, the SENO will sanction the establishment of this class. However, the NCSE will only allocate staffing resources once pupils are enrolled in the class, in accordance with my Department's policy.
SENOs will be engaging with schools for 2016/17 school year in order to plan for, and to open, new special classes, in order to ensure there are sufficient placements available to meet demand in an area. A full list of special classes is available on the NCSE website www.ncse.ie.
The NCSE has recently submitted their Policy Advice on Educational Provision for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. In developing this policy advice, the NCSE has consulted widely with parents, professionals and other stakeholders and interested parties while also conducting research. The policy advice is currently under consideration in my Department.
My officials will consider and report to me on any recommendations in the report which relate to the issues raised by the Deputy.
444. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of trainees who have participated in the SOLAS Safe Pass training programme in each of the years 2006 to 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2350/16]
View answer445. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of accredited SOLAS Safe Pass tutors; the number of candidates who applied for accreditation in each of the years 2006 to 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2351/16]
View answer446. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of candidates who applied to be accredited as SOLAS Safe Pass tutors; the number who were accredited in each of the years 2006 to 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2352/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 444 to 446, inclusive, together.
This is an operational matter for SOLAS who manage the Safe Pass programme. I have asked SOLAS to contact the Deputy directly to provide the information.
447. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills under the Civil Service reform programme, the number of clerical officers who have been promoted to higher executive officer and the number of executive officers who have been promoted to assistant principal officer in her Department through internal competitions after the significant change in eligibility rules; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2574/16]
View answerFollowing the changes to eligibility requirements for promotion of staff in the Civil Service, which arose following the implementation of new cross streaming arrangements recommended in a Report of the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA), the Department of Education and Skills has promoted one Clerical Officer (CO) to the position of Higher Executive Officer (HEO) and one Executive Officer (EO) to the position of Assistant Principal Officer (APO).
448. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will allocate additional funds for the provision of social housing across the country, and in County Wexford alone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2005/16]
View answerThe national targets in respect of social housing have been set out in the Government’s Social Housing Strategy 2020, along with details of the financial resources to deliver those targets. The Strategy provides a comprehensive response to the need for social housing and targets the provision of over 110,000 social housing units to 2020, through the delivery of 35,000 new social housing units and meeting the housing needs of some 75,000 households through the Housing Assistance Payment and Rental Accommodation Scheme. In line with the prioritisation of funding for social housing, the overall Exchequer provision for Housing has increased by almost €145 million in 2016, so that the combined capital and current housing allocation is almost €821 million across a range of housing programmes. In addition, local authorities will fund a range of housing services from their own resources to the value of over €112 million, bringing the total Housing provision in 2016 to €933 million. This year will also see continued expansion in social housing provision under the Social Housing Strategy, with over 17,000 new homes to be delivered this year under a range of social housing initiatives.
Targets and provisional funding allocations for delivery under my Department’s main capital and current programmes were issued to all local authorities, including Wexford County Council, in April 2015. The targets are for the period out to 2017 and the available funding is being invested in a combination of building, buying and leasing schemes by the local authorities designed to accommodate 25% of those currently on the housing waiting lists. Wexford County has a target of 677 units, supported by €25.4m of investment, broken down as follows:
|
- |
Local Authority Housing/ AHB delivery via Capital Assistant Scheme / Return of vacant properties |
Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme |
Social Housing Current Expenditure Programme |
Rental Accommodation Scheme |
Rental Accommodation Scheme |
|
Period |
2015-17 |
2015 |
2016/7 |
2015 |
2016/7 |
|
Social Housing Units |
114 |
89 |
251 |
110 |
113 |
The detailed implementation of the programmes and projects to deliver on these targets is a matter for each individual local authority, but I am confident that good progress is being made in their achievement. To date I have announced new social housing construction projects to the value of approximately half a billion euros, including 54 new units for Wexford at a cost estimate of €7.3 million, and I will be making further announcements shortly. Details of the projects I have already announced are available on my Department’s website at the following links: http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,41340,en.htm
http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/News/MainBody,42225,en.htm
Given the time-lag between approval and delivery in terms of construction projects, a successful programme to remediate vacant social housing units, as well as the acquisition by local authorities of properties through turn-key developments and other purchases, have been important parts of social housing delivery to date. I was determined that local authorities would have the opportunity to maximise the number of vacant units brought back into productive use and so, in 2015, I funded the remediation of some 2,700 units nationally.
I am confident that by utilising all delivery mechanisms available to them, local authorities will continue to deliver new social housing across all programmes in 2016.
449. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the status of the recently reduced road tax for the haulage industry; if he will extend this to all commercial haulage vehicles whose carrying capacity is under seven tonnes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2247/16]
View answerMotor tax for goods vehicles is based on the unladen weight of the vehicle. Reductions in motor tax for goods vehicles announced in Budget 2016 took effect for licences taken out with a commencement date on or after 1 January 2016. While the top band was reduced from €5,195 to €900, tapering reductions applied to the lower weight bands, with the exception of the two lowest bands, which already carry a relatively favourable rate of tax.
The reductions that applied to vehicles with an unladen weight of 7,000kg (7 tonnes) or less are as follows:
|
Unladen weight (kg) |
2015 annual rate of tax (€) |
2016 annual rate of tax (€) |
Reduction (€) |
|
6,001 to 7,000 |
1,019 |
500 |
519 |
|
5,001 to 6,000 |
753 |
500 |
253 |
|
4,001 to 5,000 |
543 |
500 |
43 |
|
3,001 to 4,000 |
420 |
420 |
- |
|
3,000kg or less |
333 |
333 |
- |
450. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will address a matter (details supplied) regarding the wording of referendums; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1845/16]
View answerI refer to the reply to Question No. 1514 of 22 September 2015 which sets out the position in this matter.
