Written Answers Nos. 408-429
408. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools in each county that have been inspected by fire officials and failed safety standards following new builds and extensions, in tabular form. [38228/17]
View answerThe Department published fire safety reports for each of five school buildings constructed in 2008 where following fire safety inspection audits carried out by a consultant appointed by the Department, issues have been identified in respect of the compliance with their fire safety certificates. The five primary school buildings in question are:
|
County |
Name of School |
|
Dublin |
Powerstown ETNS, Dublin |
|
Dublin |
Belmayne Educate Together NS, Dublin |
|
Dublin |
St. Francis of Assisi, National School, Belmayne, Dublin |
|
Westmeath |
Mullingar Educate Together NS |
|
Wicklow |
Gaelscoil na gClocha Liath, Greystones |
409. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Education and Skills the changes in the school transport scheme that have been made in the past 12 months; and the engagement taken with stakeholders in the scheme. [38239/17]
View answerSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
During the 2016/17 school year almost 116,000 children, including some 12,000 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually.
The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school.
In general, children are eligible for school transport if they satisfy the distance criteria and are attending their nearest school.
There have been no changes to the eligibility criteria for school transport in the past 12 months.
The terms of the School Transport Schemes continue to be applied equitably on a national basis.
410. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason additional buses or larger buses cannot be put on for children in areas in which demand is high for concessionary students that have already paid. [38240/17]
View answerSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
During the 2016/17 school year almost 116,000 children, including some 12,000 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually.
The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school.
In general, children are eligible for school transport if they satisfy the distance criteria and are attending their nearest school.
Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis only which is subject to a number of conditions including the availability of spare seats on an existing service and payment of the annual charge.
Under the terms of the School Transport Schemes routes will not be extended or altered, additional vehicles will not be introduced, nor will larger vehicles or extra trips using existing vehicles be provided to cater for children travelling on a concessionary basis; no additional State cost will be incurred.
It is important that the terms of the School Transport Scheme are applied equitably on a national basis.
Families who have paid the annual charge but were not allocated a seat on the school bus will receive a refund from Bus Éireann.
411. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a person (details supplied) whose family has paid for a ticket for school transport is not being facilitated or an additional service offered in view of the fact that the bus ticket is paid for. [38241/17]
View answerSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
During the 2016/17 school year almost 116,000 children, including some 12,000 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million km annually.
Under the terms of the Post Primary School Transport Scheme children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 4.8 km from and are attending their nearest education centre as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann.
While it is the prerogative of parents to choose the school that they wish their children to attend, eligibility for school transport is determined by the distance that children reside from their nearest school.
Bus Éireann has advised that the child in question is not eligible for school transport as she is not attending her nearest school.
Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis only which is subject to a number of terms and conditions including the availability of spare seats on an existing service and payment of the annual charge. Under the terms of the School Transport Schemes additional vehicles will not be introduced, nor will larger vehicles or extra trips using existing vehicles be provided to cater for children travelling on a concessionary basis.
In this case, the number of applications for transport on a concessionary basis exceeded the number of spare seats available on an existing service.
The child in question was not allocated a seat during the subsequent selection process and the family have been refunded their payment.
The terms of the School Transport Schemes are applied equitably on a national basis.
412. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a person (details supplied) whose family has paid for a ticket for school transport is not being facilitated or an additional service offered in view of the fact that the bus ticket is paid for. [38242/17]
View answerSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
During the 2016/17 school year almost 116,000 children, including some 12,000 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million km annually.
Under the terms the Post Primary School Transport Scheme children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 4.8 km from and are attending their nearest education centre as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann.
Bus Éireann has advised that the child in question is not eligible for school transport as she is not attending her nearest school.
Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis only which is subject to a number of terms and conditions including the availability of spare seats on an existing service and payment of the annual charge. Under the terms of the School Transport Schemes additional vehicles will not be introduced, nor will larger vehicles or extra trips using existing vehicles be provided to cater for children travelling on a concessionary basis.
In this case, the number of applications for transport on a concessionary basis exceeded the number of spare seats available on an existing service.
The child in question was not allocated a seat during the subsequent selection process and the family have been refunded their payment.
The terms of the School Transport Schemes are applied equitably on a national basis.
413. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason persons (details supplied) whose family has paid for a ticket for school transport are not being facilitated or an additional service offered in view of the fact that the bus ticket is paid for. [38243/17]
View answerSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
During the 2016/17 school year almost 116,000 children, including some 12,000 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million km annually.
Under the terms of the Primary School Transport Scheme Children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 3.2 km from and are attending their nearest national school as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann.
Bus Éireann has advised that the family in question are not eligible for school transport as they do not meet the distance criteria.
Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis only which is subject to a number of terms and conditions including the availability of spare seats on an existing service and payment of the annual charge. Under the terms of the School Transport Schemes additional vehicles will not be introduced, nor will larger vehicles or extra trips using existing vehicles be provided to cater for children travelling on a concessionary basis.
In this case, the number of applications for transport on a concessionary basis exceeded the number of spare seats available on an existing service.
The family in question were not allocated seats during the subsequent selection process and they have been refunded their payment.
The terms of the School Transport Schemes are applied equitably on a national basis.
414. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason persons (details supplied) whose family has paid for a ticket for school transport are not being facilitated or an additional service offered in view of the fact that the bus ticket is paid for. [38244/17]
View answerSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
During the 2016/17 school year almost 116,000 children, including some 12,000 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million km annually.
Under the terms of the Primary School Transport Scheme children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 3.2 km from and are attending their nearest national school as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann.
Bus Éireann has advised that the family in question are not eligible for school transport as they do not meet the distance criterion.
Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis only which is subject to a number of terms and conditions including the availability of spare seats on an existing service and payment of the annual charge. Under the terms of the School Transport Schemes additional vehicles will not be introduced, nor will larger vehicles or extra trips using existing vehicles be provided to cater for children travelling on a concessionary basis.
In this case, the number of applications for transport on a concessionary basis exceeded the number of spare seats available on an existing service.
The family in question were not allocated seats during the subsequent selection process and they have been refunded their payment.
The terms of the School Transport Schemes are applied equitably on a national basis.
415. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 337 of 13 July 2017, the amount of the 2017 budget allocation made available for apprenticeship training that has been expended to date in 2017. [38291/17]
View answerAt the end of August 2017 €65.55 million has been paid from the National Training Fund and the Exchequer for apprenticeship training.
416. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Education and Skills if days worked in a primary school by a person (details supplied) while employed and paid directly by the board of management can be counted towards a teacher's service, thus enabling them to move to a higher point of the pay scale; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38294/17]
View answerThe criteria for the award of Incremental Credit to recognised Primary teachers are set out in circulars 10/2001 and 29/2010 and were agreed under the auspices of the Teacher Conciliation Council.
No application has been received to date in respect of the person referred to by the Deputy. An award for incremental credit may only be considered on foot of an application to my Department. She will need to complete in full the application form and have her previous employer(s) forward it to Incremental Credit Unit, Department Education & Skills, Cornamaddy, Athlone, Co. Westmeath, N37 X659. Application forms are available on my Department's web page.
417. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Education and Skills the annual percentage of non-commercial State-sponsored bodies' staff under the remit of his Department that were women in each of the years 2010 to 2016 and to date in 2017, in tabular form. [38361/17]
View answer418. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Education and Skills the annual percentage of public service staff that were women under the remit of his Department in each of the years 2010 to 2016 and to date in 2017, in tabular form. [38384/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 417 and 418 together.
The information on gender breakdown sought by the Deputy in regard to public service staff in non-commercial State Bodies is not collated by the Department or Bodies and it would be a significant administrative undertaking to collate the data sought for the years in question.
For the Deputy's information, in addition to the provision of Statutory financial information, each Government Department/Office's annual Appropriation Accounts set out a range of information in notes to the annual accounts. The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General publishes the Appropriation Accounts annually by September 30th in line with statutory requirements.
Details in regard to the employee numbers relating to my Department and its associated State Bodies are published annually in the notes to the Appropriation Accounts.
The Appropriation Accounts for years prior to 2016 are available for download at the following address: http://audgen.gov.ie/documents/annualreports. The 2016 Appropriation Accounts will be published by the Comptroller by end September 2017.
419. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the extension for a school (details supplied); the stage it is at; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38396/17]
View answerThe school to which the Deputy refers was included in my Department's 6 Year Construction Programme (2016-2021).
Arrangements are being made to finalise the project brief for the school concerned with the aim of progressing the project into architectural planning.
420. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools included in the most recent fire safety audits commissioned by his Department; if it included both primary and secondary schools; if he will provide a list of the schools in breach of existing fire regulations and the breaches involved; if the parents, teachers and school boards of management have been informed of the fire regulation breaches; and the new measures he plans to introduce in view of this fire safety review and its outcome. [38399/17]
View answerMy Department published fire safety reports for each of five school buildings constructed in 2008 where issues have been identified in respect of the compliance with their fire safety certificates.
The five primary school buildings in question are:
Powerstown ETNS, Dublin (Temp - Replaced in August 2016)
Gaelscoil na gClocha Liath, Greystones (Permanent – extended 2016)
Mullingar Educate Together NS (Permanent – being extended)
Belmayne Educate Together NS, Dublin (Temp - to be replaced in 2018)
St. Francis of Assisi, National School, Belmayne, Dublin (Temp - to be replaced in 2018)
In summary, the findings of the Fire Safety reports indicated issues of insufficient compliance with some requirements of the fire safety certificates in relation to fire retardation in those buildings. The reports found that while the designs which underpinned the Fire Safety Certificates required that the buildings would provide 60 minutes of retardation to facilitate evacuation, the actual quality of construction indicated a level of retardation less than this.
It is important to note – this is not a finding that the buildings are dangerous; it is a finding that the buildings do not comply with the detailed requirements of the Fire Safety Certificates.
The full recommendations and conclusions are outlined in the Fire Safety Reports for the five school buildings, which are available on the Department’s website at https://www.education.ie/en/School-Design/Building-Works/.
My Department has forwarded a copy of the relevant Fire Safety Report to each School/BoM for their information.
My Department will commission fire safety audits of a representative sample of up to 25 schools built over the past 20 years. This audit is a proactive, extra precaution prompted by recent concerns over the fire safety of public buildings both in this country and the UK. Regarding the list of schools to be examined, this sample has not yet been chosen but will comprise a representative sample of school types and locations and methods of construction over the past 20 years, including WBS and other contractors. The schools to be audited are not restricted to schools built under the Departments “Design & Build” programme but will be representative of all methods of construction. It should be noted that the selection of a school to be audited under this initiative in no way means that the Department has concern about that particular school.
421. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Skills the building companies involved in building new schools that have been found to have breaches of fire regulations in the most recent fire safety audits commissioned by his Department; and if he will list the schools involved. [38400/17]
View answerThe Department published fire safety reports for each of five school buildings constructed in 2008 where issues have been identified in respect of the compliance with their fire safety certificates.
The school buildings in question are:
Powerstown ETNS, Dublin, (Temp - Replaced in August 2016)
Gaelscoil na gClocha Liath, Greystones (Permanent – extended 2016)
Mullingar Educate Together NS (Permanent – being extended)
Belmayne Educate Together NS, Dublin (Temp - to be replaced in 2018)
St. Francis of Assisi, National School, Belmayne, Dublin (Temp - to be replaced in 2018)
The buildings were all constructed by Western Building System Ltd. (WBS) under the Department's Rapid – Design & Build programme in 2008.
422. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Education and Skills if an adult can be kept as a dependant ad infinitum under SUSI (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38412/17]
View answerFor student grant purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances either as students dependent on parents or a legal guardian, or as independent mature students.
For a dependent student, the reckonable income for grant purposes includes both his/her own income and that of his/her parents/legal guardians.
A student may be assessed as an independent mature student if he or she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st January of the year of first entry to an approved course, or of re-entry following a break in studies of at least three years, and is not ordinarily resident with his/her parents from the previous October. Otherwise he or she would continue to be assessed on the basis of parental income.
An applicant's class is defined at his/her first point of entry to an approved higher or further education course and this will continue to apply for the duration of his/her studies.
While it is not possible to appeal an applicant’s class during the course of his/her studies, an applicant may be assessed or re-assessed by the awarding authority in the event of a change of circumstances relating to the following:
- Permanent change in reckonable income;
- Number of dependent children residing in the household;
- Commencement of an approved course;
- Normal residence;
- Nationality or immigration status;
- Change of course or institution.
If an individual applicant considers that she/he has been unjustly refused a student grant on the grounds of his/her initial classification as an independent or dependent student, 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 outlining the position may be submitted by the applicant to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board at www.studentgrantappeals.ie within the required timeframe.
423. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills when the autistic unit will open for students in a school (details supplied). [38422/17]
View answerThe ASD unit referred to by the Deputy is part of a larger multi school project. This school project is currently at Stage 2A - Developed Sketch Design.
An initial Stage 2A stakeholders meeting was held on this project last November and a number of issues with the proposal were highlighted to the Board of Management and Design Team. A revised Stage 2A submission was requested to be submitted. This revised submission is still awaited.
The Design Team has informed my Department that the revised Stage 2A submission is nearing completion and it is anticipated this will, in the next number of weeks, be sent to the Department for review.
424. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education and Skills the supports available to deaf parents of hearing children who study through the medium of Irish in order to assist them at home with their studies; if supports are available from the home tuition department for these families in these circumstances and the application requirements for same; and his views on whether, in circumstances in which supports may not exist for deaf parents of hearing children who study through Irish, both children and parents are being impacted negatively and are at a disadvantage. [38435/17]
View answerIn keeping with the Irish Constitution, which states that parents have primary responsibility for educating their child, parents can choose what school to send their child to, including choosing to educate their child through the medium of Irish.
My Department does not provide supports for parents of children who study through the medium of Irish in order to assist them at home with their studies, including parents who are deaf.
The Irish Sign Language (ISL) tuition scheme operated by my Department provides funding for a weekly tuition service whereby a tutor visits the home of a hearing impaired pre-school or school-going child to provide training in ISL for the child, their sibling(s) and parent(s)/guardian(s). This service is available from the time of diagnosis until the child completes their post primary education. This service is not intended for parents who are deaf of hearing children.
425. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Education and Skills the progress that has been made in securing permanent accommodation for a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38503/17]
View answerKildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board is continuing to examine the options for accommodation for the school referred to by the Deputy which will involve consideration of the timing and availability of appropriate infrastructure in the area.
My Department will continue to work closely with Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board and An Foras Pátrúnachta in relation to the provision of appropriate accommodation for the establishment of the school.
426. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Education and Skills when tenders will be invited for a project (details supplied) in view of the fact that planning permission was granted for a school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38504/17]
View answerThe building project at the school referred to by the Deputy will provide a new 3 storey Primary School comprising 24 Classrooms and also includes a Special Needs Unit.
The project is currently at Stage 2B - Detailed Design of Architectural Planning, which includes applications for all statutory consents including Planning Permission, Disability Access Certificate and Fire Safety Certificate and the preparation of tender documentation. Planning Permission was granted on 1st August 2017.
The design team are currently working on completing Stage 2B of the architectural planning process. When complete the stage 2(b) report will be submitted to my Department. When this submission has been received and reviewed my Department will then be in further contact with the school authorities as regards the progression of the project to tender and construction stages.
This project is included in my Department's 6 year School Building Programme announced in November 2015.
427. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Education and Skills when tenders will be invited for the project for a school (details supplied) in view of the fact that planning permission was granted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38505/17]
View answerThe initial grant of planning was received on 27th July and the final decision is awaited. When received the project will then proceed to tender stage. It is expected that the tenders will issue in quarter 4 and that construction will commence in early 2018.
428. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department has completed the schedule of accommodation requirements for the extension to a school (details supplied); if so, the details of the accommodation requirements agreed; if not, when the schedule will be completed; when a design team will be appointed for the project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38506/17]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that a building project for the school in question is included in my Department's 6 Year Construction Programme.
Preparatory work has been initiated to advance the project and my Department will continue to liaise directly with the school authority concerned in the context of progressing the project through the architectural planning process.
