Robert Troy
Question:102. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an SNA to a person (details supplied) without delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36711/16]
View answerPreschool Services
Questions (102)
Written answers
My Department does not provide funding to pre-school services other than in early intervention classes in recognised primary schools or special schools.
Supports for childcare, including pre-school education, are provided by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The principal vehicle for the delivery of pre-school education is the free Pre-School Year in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme which was introduced in January 2010 and provides for early learning in a formal setting to children in the year before they commence primary school.
Children with disabilities have access to pre-school services under a new Access and Inclusion Model (AIM) programme of supports, which was announced in June 2016, by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.
AIM is a child-centred model, involving seven levels of progressive support, moving from the universal to the targeted, depending on the needs of the child and the pre-school.
The supports include:
- A new Inclusion Charter for the Early Years sector, alongside updated and strengthened Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Guidelines for Early Childhood Care and Education.
- In relation to the qualifications of early years practitioners, a new higher education programme for early years practitioners (LINC) which will commence from September 2016.
- A new national specialist service which is based in the Better Start National Early Years Quality Development Service will provide expert advice, mentoring and support to pre-school providers from a team of 50 specialists in early years care and education for children with disabilities.
- A new national scheme will provide specialised equipment, appliances and minor alterations which are necessary to support a child's participation in the ECCE programme.
- A new national scheme will also provide additional capitation to pre-school providers where this is critical to fund extra support in the classroom and enable a child's participation in pre-school. It is estimated that only 1 to 1.5% of children in pre-school will require, and therefore be eligible for, this scheme of additional capitation.
Details of the supports which are available under AIM can be found at www.preschoolaccess.ie which contains comprehensive information on the access and inclusion model and on how to apply for the new schemes and supports. As the child in question is attending a private pre-school through the ECCE programme, questions relating to the AIM supports should be addressed to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.
Finally, it should be noted that when the child in question is due to commence school, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which is an independent statutory agency, is responsible 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. All schools have the contact details of their local SENO. Contact details are also available on the NCSE website. The local SENO is also available to discuss any concerns that parents have about the present or future educational needs of their child.
Apprenticeship Programmes
Questions (103)
Niall Collins
Question:103. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 133 of 17 November 2016, the details of the marketing and branding campaign; when it will commence; the companies that are expected to participate; the way in which the campaign will specifically be geared toward women; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36789/16]
View answerWritten answers
I understand that the apprenticeship branding and marketing campaign which will be run by SOLAS in partnership with the Apprenticeship Council, the Higher Education Authority and Education and Training Boards, will commence in early 2017. The tender process is at an advanced stage and SOLAS expects to award the contract to the successful bidder in December. As the tender process had not yet concluded, details of the campaign are not available at this time.
Separately, SOLAS has engaged with key stakeholders including the National Women’s Council to determine how to address the lack of female participation in apprenticeship. SOLAS has commissioned research to identify barriers to female participation and on receipt of these findings will work with the National Women’s Council, the Apprenticeship Council and other key stakeholders to develop targeted content which will complement the broader apprenticeship campaign.
Question Nos. 104 and 105 answered with Question No. 100.
Question No. 106 answered with Question No. 91.
Housing Provision
Questions (107)
Bernard Durkan
Question:107. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the extent to which he and his Department expect to be in a position to offer continued scope for recovery towards resolution of the housing crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36719/16]
View answerWritten answers
Providing affordable, quality and accessible housing for people is a top priority for the Government, as outlined in the Programme for a Partnership Government.
As the Deputy will be aware, the root cause of the very challenging housing crisis lies in a chronic under-supply of housing across all tenures. At an overall level, while 25,000 new homes a year are needed to meet demand, annual output fell to as low as 8,300 in recent years.
The key objective of the Government's Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan on Housing and Homelessness, published on 19 July 2016 is to increase and accelerate housing delivery, across all tenures, to help individuals and families find homes. In relation to social housing provision, the Action Plan aims to deliver 47,000 units of social housing over the period to 2021 through construction, refurbishment, acquisitions and leasing, supported by Exchequer investment of some €5.35 billion.
The Plan also provides for early solutions to address homelessness and the unacceptable level of families in emergency accommodation, including the objective that by mid-2017, hotels will only be used for emergency accommodation in very limited circumstances.
Implementation of the Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan on Housing and Homelessness is being advanced across a number of Departments, under the oversight of the Cabinet Committee on Housing, chaired by An Taoiseach. Within my own Department, an Implementation Board of senior officials, chaired by the Secretary General, monitors progress on a fortnightly basis. In addition, project working group structures for each of the Action Plan’s five Pillars are being put in place to ensure that any operational considerations relating to the delivery of actions are identified early and resolved quickly and effectively.
Rebuilding Ireland contains a clear commitment to reporting regular progress, particularly through quarterly progress reports. The First Quarterly Progress Report on the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness - Rebuilding Ireland (in respect of Quarter 3 commitments and actions), which was published on 1 November and can be accessed at http://rebuildingireland.ie/First-Progress-Report.pdf, sets out the progress on the implementation of the relevant actions.
Further progress reports will follow on a quarterly basis, with the next due to be published in January 2017. Each Quarterly Report will focus on the actions due to be progressed or completed in the preceding quarter.
Library Services
Questions (108, 109, 110, 111, 112)
Gerry Adams
Question:108. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the rationale for the proposed roll-out of staffless libraries. [36585/16]
View answerGerry Adams
Question:109. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will provide, by county, the libraries proposed for staffless libraries. [36586/16]
View answerGerry Adams
Question:110. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the consultation that has taken place with communities and library staff and existing services in advance of plans for staffless libraries roll-out; and the outcome of any such consultations. [36587/16]
View answerGerry Adams
Question:111. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to concerns that the proposed staffless libraries roll-out may negatively impact on persons with a disability; his plans to address these concerns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36588/16]
View answerGerry Adams
Question:112. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will provide a breakdown for the proposed costs per county in rolling out staffless libraries, in tabular form. [36589/16]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 108 to 112, inclusive, together.
‘My Open Library ’ is an initiative under Opportunities for All, the national public library strategy 2013-2017 and is part of a strategy to address customer demand. It allows library members the freedom and flexibility to use the library at times that suit them. It provides additional opening hours from 8am to 10pm, seven days-per-week, ensuring access to library services for users who cannot avail of them during regular staffed hours.
It is planned to extend the ‘My Open Library’ pilot to a further 23 branches from January 2017, following a successful initial trial in Tullamore, Banagher and Tubbercurry libraries from November 2014. My ‘Open Library’ does not impact on the number of staffed hours, with staff continuing to provide professional services during normal staffed hours. The pilot libraries are fully accessible in compliance with statutory accessibility requirements for public buildings. The ‘My Open Library’ service does not impact on this accessibility. The aim of the extended pilot is to gather further learning, improving elements that need further development and developing a model that may be rolled-out on a mainstream basis in the longer term.
The provision and management of library services is a matter for each local authority in its capacity as library authority under the Local Government Act 2001, and this includes delivery of the ‘My Open Library’ service. Accordingly, consultation with library staff and library users regarding the implementation of My Open Library is a matter for each local authority. My Department has no direct role in these matters.
The library branches operating the service, the indicative cost of each and the indicative Department contributions are detailed in the following table.
|
County |
Library Branch |
Indicative Cost |
Indicative Department Contribution |
|
Carlow |
Mhuine Bheag |
€36,000 |
€27,000 |
|
Cavan |
Johnstown, Cavan |
€85,000 |
€63,750* |
|
Clare |
Ennis |
€79,138 |
€59,355 |
|
Donegal |
Buncrana |
€80,070 |
€60,054* |
|
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown |
Deansgrange |
€27,200 |
€20,400 |
|
Galway |
Oranmore |
€82,550 |
€61,915 |
|
Galway |
Ballinasloe |
€24,400 |
€18,300 |
|
Kilkenny |
Castlecomer |
€70,681 |
€53,010 |
|
Laois |
Portarlington |
€41,550 |
€31,165 |
|
Limerick |
Cappamore |
€50,000 |
€37,500 |
|
Longford |
Ballymahon |
€31,610 |
€23,710 |
|
Louth |
Ardee |
€252,650 |
€189,490 |
|
Mayo |
Swinford |
€46,500 |
€34,875 |
|
Mayo |
Ballina |
€81,000 |
€60,750 |
|
Meath |
Trim |
€80,800 |
€60,600 |
|
Monaghan |
Carickmacross |
€64,100 |
€48,075 |
|
Offaly |
Ferbane |
€73,750 |
€55,315 |
|
Offaly |
Edenderry |
€67,150 |
€50,365 |
|
Tipperary |
Nenagh |
€79,335 |
€59,500* |
|
Waterford |
Dungarvan |
€58,500 |
€43,875 |
|
Westmeath |
Moate |
€43,536 |
€32,650 |
|
Wexford |
Gorey |
€40,430 |
€30,325 |
|
Wicklow |
Arklow |
€25,400 |
€19,050 |
* The indicative amounts for Johnstown, Buncrana and Nenagh are VAT inclusive. All other allocations are net of VAT; however, the Department’s contribution will cover the VAT element.
Pyrite Remediation Programme
Questions (113)
Louise O'Reilly
Question:113. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of dwellings since the establishment of the pyrite remediation scheme which had a damage condition rating of 2, when their building condition assessments were first completed; the number of estates which have dwellings with a damage condition rating of 2; if he will provide a breakdown of all estates here with dwellings with damage condition rating of 2; the number of houses in each estate with this in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36602/16]
View answerWritten answers
The Pyrite Resolution Act 2013 provides the statutory framework for the establishment of the Pyrite Resolution Board and for the making of a pyrite remediation scheme to be implemented by the Board with support from the Housing Agency. The pyrite remediation scheme is a scheme of “last resort” and is limited in its application and scope to dwellings which have significant damage attributable to pyritic heave.
The full conditions for eligibility under the scheme are set out in the scheme which is available on the Board’s website (www.pyriteboard.ie). The scheme is applicable to dwellings which are subject to significant damage attributable to pyritic heave established in accordance with I.S. 398-1:2013 - Reactive pyrite in sub-floor hardcore material – Part 1: Testing and categorisation protocol. In this regard, it is a condition of eligibility under the scheme that an application to the Board must be accompanied by a Building Condition Assessment with a Damage Condition Rating of 2.
The latest figures available from the Pyrite Resolution Board indicate that 1,409 applications have been received under the pyrite remediation scheme, of which: -
- 182 are at the initial application and validation stage,
- 95 are at the follow-on assessment and verification stage,
- 1,064 have been approved for inclusion in the scheme, and
- 68 have been closed.
My Department understands that all 1,064 applications that have been approved for inclusion in the scheme were accompanied by Building Condition Assessments which had Damage Condition Ratings of 2.
While my Department does receive regular reports from the Pyrite Resolution Board in relation to the implementation of the pyrite remediation scheme, the information sought in relation to a breakdown of the estates with dwellings which have Damage Condition Ratings of 2 and the number of dwellings in each such estate is not provided to my Department under the agreed reporting arrangements.
Regeneration Projects
Questions (114)
Joan Collins
Question:114. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the amount a project (details supplied) has been granted by Limerick regeneration in 2016. [36608/16]
View answerWritten answers
I understand that the project in question has been approved for funding of €36,500 under the Limerick Regeneration 2016 Social Intervention Fund. The evaluation and selection of projects under this Fund are a matter for Limerick City and County Council together with the Social Intervention Grants Assessment Committee, which was established to evaluate funding proposals.
Departmental Agencies Staff Data
Questions (115, 123)
Dara Calleary
Question:115. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of vacancies on boards or agencies within his Department's remit that currently exist; the number that have been filled since 8 May 2016; the number of these that were filled through the Public Appointments Service; the timeline for filling remaining vacancies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36646/16]
View answerDara Calleary
Question:123. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of vacancies on State boards in his Department; the number filled since he took office; the number filled through the Public Appointments Service; the timelines to fill vacancies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36837/16]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 115 and 123 together.
Details in relation to the membership of State Boards including the dates of appointment and mechanisms of appointment of members under the aegis of my Department are available on the Department’s website at the following link: http://www.housing.gov.ie/corporate/transparency-data/appointments-state-boards/appointments-declg-state-boards.
The following table details the current vacancies on these Boards:
|
BOARD |
NO. OF VACANCIES |
CURRENT POSITION |
|
Housing Finance Agency |
2 Members |
The Board is to be replaced by end of 2016 and vacancies are currently advertised on the Public Appointments Service (PAS) website with a closing date of 25 November 2016. |
|
Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency |
1 Member |
Nominee of the County and City Management Association |
|
Irish Water Safety |
5 Members |
Positions were advertised via the PAS on 14/10/2016 with closing date for receipt of submission of 4/11/2016. The PAS nomination process is ongoing. |
|
Pobal |
7 Members |
The recommended candidates from the PAS process are currently under consideration. |
All appointments are made in accordance with the appropriate legislation governing appointments to each body. In the case of certain appointments to State Boards, statutory selection procedures must be followed or nominations must be sought from independent nominating panels before appointments are made by the Minister or the Government, as appropriate. In addition, in the case of a number of Boards, not all of the appointments to the body concerned are made by the Minister, and in some situations appointments are made by the Minister with the consent of another Minister. Appointments to An Bord Pleanála are of a full-time executive nature and are governed by statutory processes. A “unitary board structure” is in place for Ervia and its subsidiaries, Irish Water and Gas Networks Ireland. An overarching non-executive board has overall responsibility and accountability for the performance of the Ervia Group. The boards of the two principal Ervia subsidiaries, Irish Water and Gas Networks Ireland, are executive-only boards.
The Public Appointments Service portal www.stateboards.ie offers a single dedicated point of contact to all Government Departments, as a support to the existing State board appointment procedures. This service provides a mechanism for Departments to advertise board vacancies and it gives prospective candidates an opportunity to register their general interest in a position on a state Board and to be alerted to upcoming vacancies.
In general, PAS is notified six months in advance for anticipated vacancies. This allows sufficient time to publicise vacancies, arrange interviews and submit a short list of nominees.