Written Answers Nos. 119-131
119. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the contingency plan in place to build, own and operate a State-owned national digital radio services network upon the cessation of the eight to ten year contract with a company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45037/17]
View answerMy Department is currently engaged in a procurement process to establish a Single Supplier Framework Agreement for the provision of Nationwide Narrowband Secure Managed Digital Radio Network Services under a public procurement tender competition using the Competitive Procedure with Negotiation.
120. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of a submission made by a person (details supplied) seeking consideration by the OPW of a specific site the person wished to offer for the new regional Garda headquarters in Sligo; the reason the person in question has had no reply; if a specific site is the subject of ongoing procurement processes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45055/17]
View answerThe OPW continues to progress the procurement of a suitable site for the new Garda Station in question. I can confirm that the site referred to by the Deputy is on the list of sites under consideration. All parties that made submissions will be informed of the decision once a site for the new Station has been procured.
121. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the purpose and origin of the State property miscellaneous deposits account; the balance in the account; the areas from which the deposits are derived; the reason it is not reflected through the general government fund and not brought before the Houses of the Oireachtas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45082/17]
View answer122. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the reason there is no register in place to record each property accrual to the State in circumstances (details supplied); the reason there is no process within Government Departments to record assets accruing in this manner; the nature, number, value and location of such assets which have accrued to the State in this manner, in tabular form; if not, the process being established to rectify this anomaly; the Department which has responsibility for same; the timeframe envisaged for its completion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45083/17]
View answer123. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the accounts not presented to Dáil Éireann or reflected in the general Government fund in view of the existence of the State property miscellaneous deposit account; the balance of each account; the person or body that manages these accounts; the areas from which moneys within these accounts are derived; the purposes the funds are used for; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45084/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 121 to 123, inclusive, together.
The primary purpose of Section 28 of the State Property Act 1954 is to ensure that there is no gap in legal ownership of the assets of a dissolved company. Once a company is dissolved, its assets vest in the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The vesting is automatic and does not require any intervention from the Minister.
The balance of the State Property Miscellaneous Deposits Account, which accepts amounts relating to dissolved companies, is €13,944,274. The account is audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
The money entering this account is classified as a financial transaction, thus there is no beneficial impact to the General Government Balance under the European System of Accounts 2010. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is responsible for the official reporting of Ireland’s General Government Balance, General Government Debt and other Government Finance Statistics.
The interest acquired by the Minister is described as a defeasible interest as it may be defeated by restoration of the company. Neither company nor property law require comprehensive and fully up-to-date asset records to be lodged with the Company Registration Office and the Property Registration Authority. Consequently, the only persons with a complete view of the assets held by a company at the time of its dissolution are the directors and officers of the company. As a result, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform only becomes aware that assets have vested in him by virtue of the State Property Act 1954 once he has been notified by an interested party seeking to have the property waived or by another person that has an issue with the property. In the circumstances it is not possible to provide the table suggested by the Deputy.
124. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills the guidelines in place in respect of substitution or replacement cover for local authority members who are also primary and post-primary school teachers in view of the fact that his Department's circulars state they are entitled to ten days leave per school year for local authority duties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44621/17]
View answerWhere a teacher in a primary or post primary school is an elected member of a local authority, paid absence of up to ten school days in a school year may be availed of in order to attend council meetings, but only where such meetings are held during school opening hours. Prior approval must be obtained from the Board of Management of the School, who, in approving such leave, must take into consideration the welfare and educational needs of the students. Substitute cover is not provided by my Department for such absences.
125. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to review the remote area grant for school children living in remote areas of the country in order to increase the payment rates and bring them in line with transport costs (details supplied). [44652/17]
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.
In general, children are eligible for school transport if they meet the distance criteria and are attending their nearest school.
Children who are eligible for school transport but for whom no transport service is available may, following an application for transport within the prescribed time limits, receive a Remote Area Grant towards the cost of private transport arrangements. The grant is calculated on the distance that children reside from their school and the number of days attended; the rate of grant varies from about €200 to €900 per annum.
This grant is also payable for eligible children who may have to travel 3.2 kilometres or more to or from a designated pick up/set down point.
This grant is payable annually at a fixed daily rate, to each eligible family, regardless of the number of children from the same family, travelling to a particular school.
The Remote Area Grant is not intended to cover the actual cost of providing transport and in this regard, there are no plans to review the current rates applicable.
126. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of teaching principals in DEIS schools in the Limerick city and county catchment area; the supports and resources that are available to free them up to attend external meetings such as child protection case conferences or Meitheal meetings in which their contribution is vital to enhancing an inter agency response to a vulnerable child; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44854/17]
View answerThe number of teaching principals in DEIS schools in the Limerick city and county area is four.
Budget 2018 is building on measures in previous budgets to enhance school leadership. This Budget has made €0.4 million available to fund additional release days for teaching principals in primary schools, which allows them to undertake administrative, leadership and management functions within the school.
In relation to child protection conferences, substitute costs where necessary, are met by my Department in respect of teachers who attend such a conference during school hours.
Circular 12/2016, which is available on the Department website, outlines the number of days that teaching principals may take as release time in a school year in order to assist them fulfilling their principal duties.
127. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to staff replacement issues regrading primary schools in Dublin 15; if he has received correspondence from principals of primary schools in Dublin 15 highlighting these issues; the reason primary schools are finding it difficult to replace teachers for short and long term cover in Dublin 15; the steps he will take to resolve these issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44562/17]
View answerIn overall terms, my Department has no evidence of a recent or current shortage of primary teachers. As the Deputy is aware, we increased the number of primary school teaching posts by 1093 in 2016/17 and schools have filled those positions. For the current school year, we increased the number of posts by 1160 and the process for filling these positions is almost complete. I am, however, aware that some schools have experienced difficulty in recruiting adequately qualified substitute teachers, and I am committed to examining all possible means of addressing this issue. I have received correspondence from principals of primary schools in Dublin 15 concerning this issue.
The final report of the Technical Working Group on teacher supply, ‘Striking the Balance’ was published on 9 June 2017. The report focusses on the development of a model of primary teacher supply, while outlining the work which will be required to establish a sustainable long term model of post primary teacher supply. In considering the model of teacher supply at primary level the report took account of many variables, including the number of additional teachers required to cover for teacher absences, such as illness, maternity leave, career break or secondment.
The report sets out an approach to planning the work necessary to develop a model for achieving a better balance between teacher supply and demand in the medium to long term. Officials of my Department are now considering how the development of a model can be progressed, from within available resources.
The Deputy will be aware that, in conjunction with the publication of the report, I announced a number of measures to increase the pool of teachers available to schools, in particular to fill short term vacancies. With regard to these measures, my Department informed all teachers retiring in 2017 that in order to remain eligible for employment in a state funded teaching post for a period of more than five consecutive days or to supervise the State examinations, a teacher must maintain his/her registration with the Teaching Council. In that regard, the Teaching Council also reminds teachers, through the renewal of registration process and where a teacher indicates that he or she is considering leaving the register, that if they wish to continue to work as a teacher following retirement in substitute and other positions they should maintain registration.
The Deputy should note also that my Department has increased to 90 days the limit on the number of days a primary teacher who is on career break can be employed in a school year. The matter of the employment of B Ed and PME students in limited circumstances on a short term basis is still under consideration in my Department.
128. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the fact that broadband is being rolled out in an area and that a school (details supplied) is not benefitting from this roll-out. [44572/17]
View answerUnder the Schools Broadband Access Programme the Department provides for the supply of internet connectivity for recognised primary and post primary schools. All post-primary schools and some special schools are now included in the 100Mbps programme.
Under the current programme the Department continually reviews the availability of services and upgrades schools where the opportunity arises, in line with contractual and budgetary requirements. A recent drawdown from the Framework of Providers of Broadband Services saw some 1,100 primary schools awarded download speeds of 30Mbps or greater (the baseline download speed required under the National Broadband Plan). Some 900 of those schools have now been connected with the balance to be in place by the end of 2017.
Significant improvement has been made in recent years with the number of primary schools on broadband speeds of greater than 30mbs having increased from less than 100 in 2012 to over 1000 by the end of 2017.
The policy of this Department is to offer the best quality connectivity to all schools in line with the technical solutions available in the market and financial constraints. Broadband capacity can vary due to geographical location and local infrastructure, and thus impact on the service that can be provided.
The need to improve broadband connectivity to primary schools is recognised in the Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020, and as noted access to high speed broadband is one of the indicators identified in the Digital Strategy Action Plan. An interdepartmental working group has been established to determine how best to address broadband connectivity to primary schools in collaboration with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, in the context of the National Broadband Plan and the Intervention Strategy, and proposed industry provision.
In the case of the school referred to be the Deputy, the Schools Broadband Service Desk and the current Service Provider have reviewed the service provided, and they advise that the school is on the best broadband solution available at present.
According to the latest National Broadband Plan Mapping, the school in question is in an amber area, that is, an area that is not considered commercial by operators. This area will be covered under the State Intervention of the National Broadband Plan. Under the National Broadband Plan, the government has committed to intervening to ensure high speed broadband is available in parts of the country where commercial providers alone will not provide the essential services. This commitment to intervene will ensure that no school is left behind.
129. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will review a school transport application by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44585/17]
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.
Under the terms of the Department's Post Primary School Transport Scheme children are generally eligible for school transport where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest school.
The child in question is not attending her nearest school and is therefore not eligible for school transport under the terms of the scheme.
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.
Only children who are eligible for school transport and who hold valid medical cards (GMS Scheme) are exempt from paying the annual charge.
The terms of the Post Primary School Transport Scheme are applied equitably on a national basis.
The case referred to by the Deputy in the details supplied was also the subject of an appeal to the School Transport Appeals Board and the decision not to allow school transport eligibility to the school referred to by the Deputy was upheld.
The Board has informed the family directly of their determination on the matter.
130. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Education and Skills the location or body a person (details supplied) can apply to in order to set up construction apprenticeships; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44598/17]
View answerEducation and Training Boards, on behalf of SOLAS, approve employers to take on apprentices. I have asked SOLAS to contact the Deputy directly to outline the arrangements for becoming an approved employer.
131. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason for the delay in the development of a building project by a school (details supplied); and the timeframe regarding same. [44654/17]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, a building project for the school referred to is included in the 6 Year Capital Programme (2016-2021).
My Department is currently finalising the project brief and once this process is complete, my Department will be in further contact with the school. The project will be progressed into the architectural planning process without delay when the brief has been finalised.
