Thursday, 15 Feb 2018

Written Answers Nos. 277-285

Commuter Coach Parking

Questions (277)

John Brassil

Question:

277. Deputy John Brassil asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the changes that have been made to facilitate coach parking in Dublin near a location (details supplied); if consultation was made with coach businesses when plans for changes were drawn up; the provisions in place to accommodate overnight and weekend parking of coaches; the provisions or alternative parking being made to accommodate coaches elsewhere in view of the fact that the site has been reduced by one third; and if he will reverse the implementation of charges to businesses using the site in view of the fact contracts signed with international businesses and the coach providers prior to this did not take into account these unforeseen outlays and the cost impact on smaller businesses will be significant. [8051/18]

Written answers

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport

The provision of the North Wall Coach Park is a matter for the National Transport Authority, NTA, which has statutory responsibility for the development of public transport infrastructure in the greater Dublin area, GDA.

The purpose of providing a new coach park at North Wall was, in part, to address the issue of on-street parking of coaches in the city centre, particularly with regard to the Luas cross-city works and route.

I am advised that further to an application process, a grant of permission with a number of conditions was issued by An Bord Pleanala in May 2016 in which the NTA obtained five year temporary planning permission allowing operation of the coach park from 7 a.m. to 7p.m. Monday to Friday, with occasional use only up to 12.00 a.m. (midnight) and on weekends for special events.

With regards to other facilities for overnight coach parking, this is a matter for the relevant local authority in the first instance.

In light of their responsibility in this matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the National Transport Authority for a direct response.  Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.

A referred reply was forwarded to the Deputy under Standing Order 42A.

Family Resource Centres

Questions (278)

Robert Troy

Question:

278. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the reason there is a difference of up to €30,000 in annual funding for an existing FRC and a new FRC (details supplied). [7836/18]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, administers the family resource centre programme.  I was pleased to announce that, under Budget 2018, additional resources of €3 million were secured to support the work of existing family resource centres, and to facilitate the expansion of the family resource centre programme. Over €2 million was also provided to existing family resource centres in late 2017 for the completion of small works.

Tusla will support the inclusion of 11 new centres to the family resource centre programme in 2018. Decisions by Tusla in relation to the funding of individual centres will have regard to the location, size and catchment area of each centre. It is important to emphasise that the 2018 funding levels will include start up funding for new centres.

The centre to which the Deputy refers will receive over €110,000 in operational funding from Tusla in 2018, an increase over the 2017 allocation of over €94,000.  The centre also received  once off funding from Tusla in 2017 of €31,000 for minor works on its premises.

Tusla is committed to using all available resources for children and families in the most efficient, equitable, proportionate and sustainable way.

Tusla will continue to work with family resource centres throughout the country and will consider service needs and funding resources for centres where appropriate.

Youth Services

Questions (279)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

279. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to increase capacity in the local intervention schemes to engage hard-to-reach young persons; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8041/18]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

My Department administers a range of funding schemes and programmes to support the provision of youth services to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. The funding schemes support national and local youth work involving approximately 1,400 youth work staff working in youth services and communities throughout the country.

I am pleased to confirm that I have allocated an extra €1.5 million in current funding to support the provision of youth services in 2018. This will bring the total youth funding spend by my Department to €58.95 million. The additional funding will be used for programmes that target disadvantaged young people and to assist national youth organisations in their work to support local voluntary youth services.

In 2017, an amount of €525,425 was allocated for the projects and services under Kildare Youth Services, which operates under Youth Work Ireland. My Department provides funding to Kildare Youth Services under the Special Projects for Youth Scheme in respect of six local youth projects in Athy, Naas, Leixlip, Newbridge, the Curragh and Kildare town and a Youth Information Centre in Naas.  My Department has commenced a process with national organisations and local services to identify service development needs for 2018 and in order to finalise the 2018 allocations.

Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, provides financial support towards the running costs of  Family Resource Centres, FRCs, nationwide. There are currently two FRCs in County Kildare, Newbridge FRC and the Curragh FRC, which are in receipt of funding.  Activities for young people in these centres include youth clubs, homework clubs, and summer camps. Tusla plans to expand the FRC Programme in 2018 and additional funding will also be provided to existing FRCs this year.

Tusla also operates the School Completion, SCP, Programme. Details of the programme and associated resources in County Kildare are set out in the following table. Any consideration of increased resources will be in line with Tusla's assessment of needs of these areas and available resources.

School Completion Programme

SCP Name	SCP Funding Allocation 2017/18	No. schools in the SCP	DEIS Status	Total Enrolment for Schools in Cluster	SCP Project Staff	No. Priority Target Students	No. Risk Target Students	No. Students  Universal Interventions
Canals Cluster SCP (North Kildare	€119,978.18	4 x Post-primary school	All DEIS	2,599	1 x SCP Coordinator 3 x Part-time Attendance Monitor 1 x Part-time Project Worker	60	220	400
Newbridge SCP	€183,935.91	1 x Post-primary 5 x Primary	3 x DEIS 3 x non-DEIS	2,393	I x SCP Coordinator 2 x Part-time Project Workers	133	30	400
Curragh Kildare SCP	€159,971.48	2 x Post-primary 3 x Primary	4 x DEIS 1 x non-DEIS	2,216	I x SCP Coordinator 2 x Part-time Project Workers	80	110	214
Athy SCP	€127,529.61	1 x Post-primary 2 x Primary	All DEIS	1,612	1 x SCP Coordinator 2 x Part-time Project Workers	75	342	417

Social Workers Register

Questions (280)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

280. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of social workers employed by county, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8042/18]

Written answers

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs

The information required by the Deputy is not readily available. My officials have requested the information from Tusla and I will forward the reply to the Deputy once I have been furnished with it.

Job Creation

Questions (281)

Robert Troy

Question:

281. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development his plans to increase employment opportunities in rural areas. [7825/18]

Written answers

Minister for Rural and Community Development

The action plan for rural development includes a range of measures which will support enterprise growth and job creation in rural areas.  These measures will be delivered across a range of Government Departments, State agencies and other organisations over the period to 2020. 

The relevant measures in the Action Plan are aimed at:

-  growing an attracting enterprises and jobs,

-  supporting growth in specific sectors such as agrifood, tourism and renewable energy,

-  ensuring rural communities have the necessary skills to meet the needs of the labour market, and

-  supporting job seekers in rural areas.

The Government has set a target of supporting the delivery of 135,000 extra jobs outside of Dublin by 2020.    

The latest labour market data published by the Central Statistics Office, for Quarter 3 2017, show that employment increased in almost all regions of the country year-on-year.   

All regions saw increases in IDA employment in 2017, with over 50% of the 19,851 new jobs created last year being located outside of Dublin.  Two-thirds, 65%, of the 19,332 new jobs created by Enterprise Ireland companies in 2017 were outside of Dublin.

My own Department also contributes to job creation in rural areas through programmes such the town and village renewal scheme, the rural recreation scheme and LEADER.  LEADER is a multi-annual programme which has a budget of €250 million over the period to 2020 and has a job creation target of 3,100 over the lifetime of the programme. 

LEADER Programmes Funding

Questions (282)

James Browne

Question:

282. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the amount approved for projects in County Wexford under the Leader programme in each of the years 2014 to 2020 by local action group; the amount paid out for projects to date in 2018 by local action group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7856/18]

Written answers

Minister for Rural and Community Development

LEADER is a multi-annual programme covering the period 2014-2020, with a total budget of €250 million over that period. €220 million of this funding has been allocated to the local action groups throughout the country which deliver the LEADER programme. The remaining €30 million is available for schemes which will be delivered at a national level.

LEADER funding is delivered through local action groups in each of the 28 LEADER sub-regional areas around the country. The local action group in County Wexford is Wexford local community development committee, LCDC, with Wexford local development company as the implementing partner.

The funding agreement for delivery of the LEADER Programme in the Wexford area was signed on 27 July 2016, with funding of approximately €9.8 million approved over the lifetime of the programme. The allocation for each LEADER sub-regional area is provided for the duration of the programme, rather than on an annual basis, to provide greater flexibility to the Local Action Groups in managing their resources.

As of 14 February 2018, 45 projects with a value of over €1.4 million had been approved for funding by the local action group in Wexford. I understand that a further six projects, requesting over €245,000 in funding, are at various stages in the approval process. There have been no payments made to date in the Wexford sub-regional area in respect of project applications. However, funding will be drawn down as projects are implemented and payment claims submitted.

School Meals Programme

Questions (283)

Noel Rock

Question:

283. Deputy Noel Rock asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if funding will be restored to three schools (details supplied) in Dublin 11 that have lost funding for their breakfast clubs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7871/18]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Funding towards school meals is being provided in over 1,550 schools and other organisations, supporting up to 247,000 children at a cost of some €54 million in 2018, representing an increase of €6.5 million over the previous year.

Funding for breakfast clubs is being provided to the three schools referred to by the Deputy. Funding is based on the previous year’s pupil enrolment figures as provided by the Department of Education and Skills. Any adjustments in funding arise from reported changes in pupil enrolment numbers. There is a particular focus on the provision of breakfast clubs within the programme which provide very positive outcomes for vulnerable children in terms of their energy levels, punctuality and school attendance.

In previous years, one of the schools received both breakfast and lunch funding for 30 pre-school children that attend the school for 2.5 hours a day under the early start programme. These children are eligible for one meal per day and funding for a breakfast was approved for the current school year as the children attend the morning session and are not in attendance for lunch. The Department will work with the school to ensure that these pre-school children receive breakfast. A breakfast and lunch club continues to be provided to the primary school children that attend the school for the full day.

If any of the schools concerned have an issue with their funding they can contact officials in my Department to discuss.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Social Insurance Fund

Questions (284)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

284. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the way in which a person (details supplied) can make restitution through the redundancy and insolvency section of her Department arising from their previous business which is wound up; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7959/18]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

As previously outlined in the replies to the Deputy’s previous Written Questions Nos. 701 on 19 December 2017 and 253 on 20 October 2017, it is the employer’s responsibility to pay statutory redundancy and other wage related entitlements to all eligible employees. In the event that an employer is unable to pay these entitlements due to financial difficulties, the Department may step in to make a payment from the social insurance fund, as part of the redundancy and insolvency payments schemes and a debt is immediately raised against that employer.

The Department is obliged to make every effort to recover the debt owed by the person in question to the social insurance fund. They should engage with the Department’s employer debt management unit to discuss their financial situation and capacity to repay their debt by an instalment plan. They can contact the unit on [phone] or at [e-mail].

Child Benefit Appeals

Questions (285)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

285. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when child benefit will be facilitated in the case of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7829/18]

Written answers

Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection

Child benefit is in payment to the person concerned and has been paid from the date of claim to date, including February 2018. A review of her child benefit claim was undertaken in January; that review has now concluded and the Department is satisfied that the person concerned retains her entitlement to the benefit.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.