Written Replies Nos. 460 to 487
460. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of an application for a special needs transport grant in respect of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25672/16]
View answerSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
During the 2015/16 school year in the region of 114,000 children, including some 10,000 children with special educational needs, were transported in approximately 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country, covering over 100 million kilometres annually.
In general, children with special educational needs are eligible for school transport if they are attending the nearest recognised mainstream or special school that is or can be resourced, to meet their special educational needs under Department of Education and Skills' criteria.
Eligibility is determined following consultation with the National Council for Special Education through its network of Special Education Needs Organisers (SENO).
The School Transport Section of my Department has not received an application for school transport for the child in question.
461. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education and Skills if persons (details supplied) in County Kerry who failed to secure a seat on the school transport bus service will be permitted to use the Bus Éireann public bus service with their school bus tickets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25681/16]
View answerSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
During the 2015/16 school year in the region of 114,000 children, including some 10,000 children with special educational needs, were transported in approximately 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country, covering over 100 million kilometres annually.
Under the terms of my Department's Post Primary School Transport Scheme children are eligible for school transport where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest education centre as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.
Bus Éireann which operates the School Transport Scheme has advised that the children referred to by the Deputy are not attending their nearest post primary school and are therefore not eligible for school transport.
In general children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis subject to a number of terms and conditions that are detailed in the scheme. The availability of concessionary transport may vary from year to year and is not available on public scheduled services.
While it is the prerogative of parents to send their children to the school of their choice, eligibility for school transport at post primary level is to the nearest education centre/school.
462. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Education and Skills if there is financial assistance available to a person (details supplied). [25710/16]
View answerIf the person to whom the Deputy refers is ineligible for a SUSI grant, then there are some other options which could be pursued.
Students in third level institutions experiencing exceptional financial need can apply for support under the Student Assistance Fund. This Fund assists students, in a sensitive and compassionate manner, who might otherwise be unable to continue their third level studies due to their financial circumstances. Details of this fund are available from the Access Office in Trinity College.
Also, tax relief at the standard rate of tax may be claimed in respect of tuition fees paid for approved courses at approved colleges of higher education, including approved postgraduate courses in EU Member States and in non-EU countries. Further information on this tax relief is available from the Revenue Commissioners on www.revenue.ie.
463. Deputy Jim Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills if consideration will be given to providing non-union teachers the opportunity to opt into the Lansdowne Road Agreement in the context of any disputes or divisions that may take place in the foreseeable future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25738/16]
View answerAs is the norm with public service collective agreements, the Lansdowne Road Agreement was negotiated with trade unions which are recognised as representing staff in the public service (including teachers). It is normal practice in the public service that the decision of the trade union recognised as holding representative rights for a particular grade or sector will determine the position for all relevant staff in that grade/sector. This context does not allow for acceptance or rejection of collective agreements by staff on an individual basis.
Accordingly, there is no proposal at this time to treat teachers separately based on the fact that they are not a member of a trade union.
464. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of exam papers which have been sent by a person (details supplied) to be rechecked; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25749/16]
View answerThe State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations.
In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.
465. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills the employer responsible for persons who are employed as cooks in schools and paid by the board of management; if these employees are subject to the public service pension levy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25758/16]
View answerThe general position is that persons employed and paid by the Board of Management of a school are employees of the school and their conditions of employment are a matter for the school.The public service pension-related deduction applies to public servants working in public service bodies who contribute to a pension scheme, or who receive a payment in lieu of such a contribution.Employees who do not contribute to a public service pension scheme are not subject to the public service pension-related deduction.
If the Deputy wishes to provide me with some more specifics on the case to which he refers I can arrange for my Department officials to contact him re same.
466. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Education and Skills when the next phase of development for Lusk Community College is expected to be completed; the details on the facilities which will be delivered as part of this next phase of development; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25759/16]
View answerThe Major Building Project for Lusk Community College is at an advanced stage of architectural planning Stage 2(b) - Detailed Design, which involves planning permission, fire certificate and disability access certificate and the completion of tender documents. All statutory approvals have been secured.
The second phase of the project provides for a new build to cater for an additional 650 pupils, a Special Needs Unit, a PE Hall with fitness suite and changing facilities and ancillary accommodation including a school library.
The Stage 2(b) report was recently submitted to my Department for review. Once the review is completed my Department will revert to the Design Team and ETB with regard to further progression of the project.
467. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Education and Skills if an immediate decision will be made by the curriculum and policy section of his Department on the case of a person (details supplied); and the action he will take to deal with this request within the coming days rather than the end of October 2016 as was suggested to the person's parents. [25777/16]
View answerA decision on this case has been issued by my Department in recent days.
468. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills when a person (details supplied) will be paid by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25790/16]
View answerThe teacher referred to by the Deputy obtained conditional registration for the post primary sector from the 12th July 2016. She will be paid at the qualified rate during the period of her conditional registration. If she obtains full registration for the post primary sector she will continue to be paid at the qualified rate.
During the period referred to by the Deputy she was paid at the unqualified rate which was correct as she was registered for the Further Education sector.
469. Deputy Catherine Martin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a school (details supplied) has recently been informed that funding is not available to commence its building project even though the previous Minister confirmed that building would commence in 2016; the reason this project has been delayed relative to other projects that were given a similar commitment by the previous Minister; when building at the school will commence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25830/16]
View answerThe major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of architectural planning - Stage 2b - Detailed Design, which includes the applications for Planning Permission, Fire Cert and Disability Access Cert and the preparation of Tender Documents. All statutory approvals have been granted.
However, on January 1st 2016 there were 66 major projects under construction. Since the start of this year a total of 50 more major projects have been progressed to construction or are currently authorised to complete the tender process with a view to starting on site before the end of this year. That represents a total of 116 major projects either under construction or progressing to construction in 2016. These projects were authorised to proceed under previous Minister O'Sullivan, and this means that the existing contractual commitments for 2016 now fully account for the funding which was allocated for 2016 by the previous Minister and carry a significant contractual commitment into 2017.
This project is on the 2016-21 Construction Programme and my Department is fully committed to progressing the project to construction.
My Department officials will continue to closely monitor expenditure on existing contractual commitments over the coming months and, as funding allows, other projects, including the project for the school in question, will be considered for progression through the tender process with a view to starting on site as soon as possible.
470. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of an application by a person (details supplied) for a special needs assistant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25846/16]
View answerThe National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which is an independent statutory agency, is responsible, through its network of Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports, including SNA support. The NCSE allocates SNA support to schools in accordance with the criteria set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014, which is available on my Department's website at www.education.ie, in order that students who have care needs can access SNA support as and when it is needed.
Responsibility for deciding on the quantum of educational supports and resources to be allocated to schools to support individual pupils rests with the NCSE.
The local SENO is available to discuss any concerns that parents have about the present or future educational needs of their child. All schools have the contact details of their local SENO. Contact details are also available on the NCSE website at www.ncse.ie.
As the Deputy's question relates to an individual child, the matter has been referred to the NCSE for direct reply.
471. Deputy Jim Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 665 of 14 April 2016, if he will provide a final response. [25848/16]
View answerI regret the delay in providing a response to the Deputy's question regarding the amount of moneys spent by each of the third level universities on legal cases involving staff for each of the past five years. The Higher Education Authority has now collated the information requested which is detailed in the following tables.
|
Name of university: |
University College Dublin |
Amount spent on legal cases involving staff |
|
Year |
€ |
|
|
2014/15 |
€236,859 |
|
|
2013/14 |
€ 77,176 |
|
|
2012/13 |
€ 12,331 |
|
|
2011/12 |
€ 56,418 |
|
|
2010/11 |
€ 70,971 |
Please note that figures may include fees to other professionals such as barristers, expert witnesses. All costs include VAT.
|
Name of university: |
University College Cork |
Amount spent on legal cases involving staff |
|
Year |
€'000 |
|
|
2014/15 |
619.4K |
|
|
2013/14 |
91.5K |
|
|
2012/13 |
95.8K |
|
|
2011/12 |
170.6K |
|
|
2010/11 |
511.6K |
|
Name of university: |
NUI Galway |
Amount spent on legal cases involving staff |
|
Year |
€ |
|
|
2014/15 |
€121,515 |
|
|
2013/14 |
€ 34,955 |
|
|
2012/13 |
€ 40,980 |
|
|
2011/12 |
€ 29,143 |
|
|
2010/11 |
€ 40,221 |
Assumptions:
1. Postings reported are only those transactions posted to Agresso codes Legal Fees, Professional Fees, Consultancy Fees.
2. Figures reported for the period from 2010-June 2013 (prior to the implementation of a Legal Services Tender) may not be a full record as a small number of invoices were not possible.
3. Figures were compiled on the basis of an assessment of legal invoices and invoices related to staff matters were extracted.
4. Figures provided on a calendar year basis.
|
Name of university: |
Maynooth |
Amount spent on legal cases involving staff |
|
Year |
€ |
|
|
2014/15 |
€ 82,069 |
|
|
2013/14 |
€121,479 |
|
|
2012/13 |
€178,550 |
|
|
2011/12 |
€111,954 |
|
|
2010/11 |
€ 73,606 |
|
Name of university: |
Trinity College Dublin |
Amount spent on legal cases involving staff |
|
Year |
€ |
|
|
2014/15 |
€34,860 |
|
|
2013/14 |
€25,889 |
|
|
2012/13 |
€24,772 |
|
|
2011/12 |
€22,376 |
|
|
2010/11 |
€18,905 |
The above figures are inclusive of VAT. The University also pays a yearly retainer fee to IBEC for professional HR advice and representation at WRC hearings.
|
Name of university: |
University of Limerick |
Amount spent on legal cases involving staff |
|
Year |
€ |
|
|
2014/15 |
€99,372 |
|
|
2013/14 |
€44,338 |
|
|
2012/13 |
€21,127 |
|
|
2011/12 |
€58,171 |
|
|
2010/11 |
€44,400 |
Amounts exclude VAT.
|
Name of university: |
Dublin City University |
Amount spent on legal cases involving staff |
|
Year |
€ |
|
|
2014/15 |
€62,752 |
|
|
2013/14 |
€28,756 |
|
|
2012/13 |
€35,697 |
|
|
2011/12 |
€17,500 |
|
|
2010/11 |
€13,998 |
The above figures are inclusive of VAT. The University also pays a yearly retainer fee to IBEC for professional HR advice and representation at WRC hearings.
472. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to replace retiring technical officers in the National University of Ireland, Galway (details supplied). [25863/16]
View answerMy Department allocates recurrent funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to the HEA-designated higher education institutions, including the university referred to by the Deputy. The HEA allocates this funding to the institutions and the internal disbursement of funding is then a matter for the individual institution. Universities are autonomous bodies as set out in the Universities Act 1997 and are responsible for their own day to day affairs, including the allocation of all of their income (both public and private).
As the Deputy will be aware, 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. Under this Framework the re-employment of retired staff should only occur in very limited exceptional circumstances and in these cases the salaries offered may not exceed 20% of the full-time salary of the post of the individual at the time of their retirement, adjusted to reflect the application of Government pay policy in the period since their date of retirement – including in particular the application of salary adjustments imposed under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Act 2009.
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 pay ceilings and ongoing compliance with Workforce Planning requirements. In light of this announcement a new Delegated Sanction Agreement for the higher education sector will be put in place shortly.
473. Deputy Jim Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills the efforts his Department and agencies under its remit have made to use Eircode when communicating with households via An Post; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25869/16]
View answerIn general, business units in my Department engage with the school community and in this context, Eircodes have been appended to post-primary school addresses on the Department's central database. Work is currently ongoing to add the Eircodes to primary school addresses. My Department was represented on the interdepartmental group established to implement the postcode system and has contributed to the process as appropriate. Eircodes are included in Department addresses and letterheads.
In order to minimise costs and disruption to the everyday work of the Department, any development work needed to support Eircodes will continue to be scheduled along with other changes to our systems.
The information sought by the Deputy regarding Eircode usage in the State Agencies under the remit of my Department is not collected. The Department has sought the relevant details from each of the Agencies and will endeavour to provide the information as soon as possible.
474. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will review the SUSI application process whereby an applicant who is 26 years of age also needs to provide details of his or her parents' finances, despite living independently from them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25885/16]
View answerFor student grant purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances, either as students dependent on parents/legal guardian or as independent mature students. A student may be assessed as an independent student if he/she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st of January of the year of first entry to an approved course or on re-entry to an approved course following a break in studies of at least three years, and is not ordinarily resident with his/her parents from the previous 1 October. Otherwise he/she would continue to be assessed on the basis of his/her parents' income.
When considering whether a student meets the conditions to be assessed independently of his or her parents, grant awarding authorities are obliged to satisfy themselves beyond doubt that an acceptable degree of proof of independent living in the relevant period has been submitted by the grant applicant. Confirmation that a student is living separately from his/her parents is, of itself, not sufficient to establish independent status. This is necessary in order to ensure that scarce public resources are targeted at those students most genuinely in need of financial support.
If an individual applicant considers that she/he has been unjustly refused a student grant, she/he may appeal, in the first instance, to SUSI. Where an individual applicant has had an appeal turned down in writing by SUSI and remains of the view that the scheme has not been interpreted correctly in his/her case, an appeal form outlining the position may be submitted by the applicant to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board.
475. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the exceptional circumstances that pertain to persons (details supplied) with regard to a concessionary bus ticket; if a review of the concessionary bus ticket scheme has taken place; if so, the conclusions of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25899/16]
View answerSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
During the 2015/16 school year in the region of 114,000 children, including some 10,000 children with special educational needs, were transported in approximately 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country, covering over 100 million kilometres annually.
Under the terms of my Department's Post Primary School Transport Scheme children are eligible for school transport where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest school as determined by my Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.
Bus Éireann have advised that the child in question was incorrectly categorized as ineligible for school transport. This error has since been rectified and the child in question has been issued with a ticket.
The Programme for Government commits to review the concessionary charges and rules element of the School Transport Scheme and this review is currently underway.
476. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education and Skills if a site meeting involving departmental officials took place at a school (details supplied) in County Mayo; if so, the outcome of the meeting; when the major project for this school will be scheduled to commence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25901/16]
View answerThe school building project referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of architectural planning and my Department is fully committed to progressing the project to construction. All statutory approvals have been obtained and the Stage 2b submission has been approved by my Department.
However, on January 1st 2016 there were 66 major projects under construction. Since the start of this year a total of 50 more major projects have been progressed to construction or are currently authorised to complete the tender process with a view to starting on site before the end of this year. That represents a total of 116 major projects either under construction or progressing to commence construction in 2016. These projects were authorised to proceed under previous Minister O'Sullivan, and this means that the existing contractual commitments for 2016 now fully account for the funding which was allocated for 2016 by the previous Minister and carry a significant contractual commitment into 2017.
My Department officials will continue to closely monitor expenditure on existing contractual commitments over the coming months and, as funding allows, other projects, including the project for the school in question, will be considered for progression through the tender process with a view to starting on site as soon as possible.
The Board of Management and their Design Team have also been advised that arising from recent changes to the Public Works Contracts (PWCs), some further work will be required in relation to the tender documents to bring them into line with the changes to the Contracts which were introduced earlier this year.
A request for a meeting with my Department officials has been received from the school authority and my Department is currently liaising with the school to agree a suitable date for this meeting.
477. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education and Skills the way in which his Department’s budget for 2016 for the major school building projects list was allocated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25902/16]
View answerIn January 2016, my Department had a capital allocation for the school sector of €427 million.
The priority within the allocation is for the provision of permanent school places and these are provided through the delivery of Large Scale Projects and the Additional Accommodation Programme.
Over 85% of the 2016 allocation has been assigned to Large Scale Projects and the Additional Accommodation Scheme. The remaining funds in the allocation for 2016 are accounted for under other provisions including Summer Works, Emergency Works and Site Acquisitions.
On January 1st 2016 there were 66 major projects under construction. Since the start of this year a total of 50 more major projects have been progressed to construction or are currently authorised to complete the tender process with a view to starting on site before the end of this year. That represents a total of 116 major projects either under construction or progressing to commence construction in 2016.
478. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools constructed in the past ten years that have sought funding from his Department to carry out structural repair works (details supplied); if funding was subsequently approved; the total costs of such repairs in each of the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25903/16]
View answer485. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education and Skills the schools that have sought funding for structural repairs, including details of the repairs required in each of the past five years, in tabular form; the year the specific schools were constructed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25942/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 478 and 485 together.
As the Deputy may be aware, all primary and post primary schools may apply for funding to address a range of capital works, including structural repair works under my Department's capital schemes, including the Major Projects scheme, Additional Accommodation scheme, Summer Works scheme and Emergency Works scheme.
In view of the extent of the number of applications received from schools under each of those schemes, my Department does not maintain information specifically relating to structural repair works. The level of information requested by the Deputy would require an inordinate amount of administrative time to identify and compile. However, if the Deputy has a query in relation to any particular school, I would be happy to have my officials obtain the relevant details and communicate them to the Deputy.
479. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason teachers are allowed to count their lunch breaks as part of their working day and special needs assistants are not; and his views on whether this is a form of discrimination against SNAs. [25906/16]
View answerBreak entitlements for employees are set out in Section 12 of the Organisation of Working Time of Working Time Act, 1997: Section 12 (1) - "An employer shall not require an employee to work for a period of more than 4 hours and 30 minutes without allowing him or her a break of at least 15 minutes."Section 12 (2) – "An employer shall not require an employee to work for a period of more than 6 hours without allowing him or her a break of at least 30 minutes; such a break may include the break referred to in subsection (1)"These break entitlements apply equally to all employees.
It is a matter for the school/ETB as the employer to ensure that they comply with the relevant legislation in terms of break entitlements for staff in their employment.
480. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills when a school project (details supplied) will be advanced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25908/16]
View answerThe building project for the school to which the Deputy refers was recently approved to progress to the advanced stage of the architectural planning process, Stage 2(b) - Detailed Design Stage, which includes the applications for planning permission, fire cert and disability access cert and the preparation of Tender Documents.
Once all statutory approvals have been secured, and subject to no further issues arising, the Design team will submit the stage 2(b) report to the Department for review and the Department will revert to the school with regard to the further progression of the project following consideration of that report.
481. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of a school project (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25913/16]
View answerThe building project for the school to which the Deputy refers was recently approved to progress to the advanced stage of the architectural planning process, Stage 2(b) - Detailed Design, which includes the applications for planning permission, fire cert and disability access cert and the preparation of tender documents.
The design team, in liaison with officials from the relevant local authority, has identified a potential solution to the drainage requirements at the proposed site for the new school building. The Department is currently liaising with the relevant parties in order to secure the consents necessary to effect this solution. When agreements have been reached the planning application will then be submitted to the Local Authority.
482. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the commitment given three months ago, in reply to Parliamentary Question Number 96 of 15 June 2016, to liaise with a school (details supplied) regarding sufficient resource rooms to accommodate its current resource teacher allocation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25917/16]
View answerI can confirm to the Deputy that my Department has since liaised with the school in question regarding the matter to which he refers. The school indicated that it expects to be in a position to provide the clarifications sought by the Department shortly.
483. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will reassess an application for a second new classroom by a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25919/16]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, my Department recently approved funding for the construction of one mainstream classroom at the school in question to facilitate a new teacher appointment from September 2016.
The school also applied for funding to replace a prefab currently in use. Whilst it is my Department's intention, in accordance with the six year Programme for Government 2016-2021, to replace school prefabs with permanent accommodation, the prefab in question was purchased by the school in 2012 with a grant provided by my Department. At the time of grant sanction, the school was given the option to build a permanent classroom or purchase a prefab, and opted to purchase a prefab. As the prefab is less than 4-years old, my Department is not in a position to consider replacing it at this time. The school has been advised accordingly.
484. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the supports available in class and in school generally and through the National Council for Special Education for a child who was first diagnosed with dyslexia while in secondary school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25935/16]
View answerAll Post Primary schools have been allocated additional teaching resources for pupils with high incidence special educational needs, including Specific Learning Disability (SLD), of which dyslexia is one such SLD.
It is a matter for individual schools to use their professional judgment to identify pupils who will receive this support and to use the resources available to the school to intervene at the appropriate level with such pupils. Schools are supported in this regard by the National Educational Psychological Services.
Schools are not required to apply directly to my Department for learning support for SLDs such as dyslexia. Schools should 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 decided and managed by schools, taking into account each child's individual learning needs.
My Department's Circular 70/2014 provides guidelines for post primary schools in relation to the utilisation of additional teaching resources which have been allocated to them for pupils with special educational needs.
As the allocation of support for pupils with SLDs is managed locally by schools, a parent who feels that their child requires additional learning support in school should raise this matter directly with their school Principal in the first instance, or with the Board of Management of the school.
In policy advice provided to my Department in 2013, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) advised that the current system for allocating resource hours to schools to support pupils with specific disabilities is potentially inequitable. This is because the current system fails to take account of the individual needs of the children concerned.
The NCSE recommended that a new model would be developed through which resources would be provided to schools on the basis of profiled needs of each school. My Department has developed the recommended new model and a pilot of the new model was implemented over the 2015/2016 school year in 47 schools.
The pilot has now been completed and a report of a review of the outcomes of the pilot is being finalised. Following consideration of this report, decisions will be taken as to the timeframe for the introduction of the proposed new model. In the meantime there are no plans to extend the list of disability categories for which resource teaching hours will be allocated. Specific Learning Disability currently is not a disability category included in the list of low incidence disabilities which are eligible for the allocation of resource teaching hours to individual students.
SENOs also make recommendations to my Department where assistive technology is required. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in making recommendations for support in the form of Assistive Technology, which is set out in my Department's Circular 0010/2013.
Further supports which are provided to support pupils with Dyslexia include an information resource pack on Dyslexia which has been made available to all primary and post-primary schools as well as provision for continuing professional development for teachers with additional training needs in the area of Dyslexia through the Special Education Support Service (SESS).
486. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education and Skills his Department’s regulations on overcrowding in schools, with particular reference to best practice regarding pupil numbers per building size; if he is satisfied that a school (details supplied) built to accommodate 200 pupils can safely continue to accommodate 400 pupils according to current health and safety regulations, fire safety regulations and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25987/16]
View answerThe building project for the school to which the Deputy refers is at an advanced stage of architectural planning. All statutory approvals have been obtained and the Stage 2b submission has been approved by my Department.
Arising from significant changes to the Public Works Contract (PWC) introduced earlier this year, the Board of Management and their Design Team have been advised of the need to carry out further work in relation to the tender documents to bring them into line with those changes. When this work is complete, my Department will be in further contact with the school. The progression of the project will be considered thereafter in the context of the funding available. The project, when completed, will provide much improved accommodation for the school and address deficiencies in the existing building, including those to which the Deputy refers.
In the meantime, my Department has provided additional temporary accommodation to the school to address its accommodation needs pending the delivery of the building project.
487. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills his position on a matter (details supplied) regarding the Lansdowne Road Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25999/16]
View answerDepartment Circular 0045/2016 sets out the arrangements for the application of the Lansdowne Road Agreement in respect of post-primary teachers.
The Lansdowne Road Agreement as set out in Section 2 of the Circular applies to teachers employed in Education and Training Board schools and centres, apart from Designated Community Colleges. The LRA also applies to teachers in Designated Community Colleges who are TUI members, as such schools are dual-union schools with both TUI and ASTI representing teachers. The Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts 2013 and 2015 as set out in Section 3 of the Circular applies to all other teachers employed in Designated Community Colleges.
As is the norm with public service collective agreements, the Lansdowne Road Agreement was negotiated with trade unions which are recognised as representing staff in the public service (including teachers). It is normal industrial relations practice in the public service that the decision of the trade union recognised as holding representative rights for a particular grade or sector will determine the position for all relevant staff in that grade/sector, and to do otherwise may not be seen as appropriate in an industrial relations context. This context does not allow for acceptance or rejection of collective agreements by staff on an individual basis.
Accordingly, there is no proposal at this time to treat teachers separately based on the fact that they are not a member of a trade union.
