Written Answers Nos. 1080-1099
1080. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if the upgrade of a family support centre (details supplied) to the designation of family resource centre will be supported; the process involved in securing this designation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2563/20]
View answerTusla, the Child and Family Agency, is responsible for the administration of the Family Resource Centre (FRC) Programme. Tusla has no current plans to expand the FRC Programme in 2020.
Should a new FRC application process be established, Tusla's local Area Managers will be made aware of the process. Expressions of interest will be sought from community organisations. Tusla's criteria for such a process involves Local Area Commissioning planning in order to identify service delivery requirements based on population demographics, presenting and projected needs. Service inadequacies and gaps in service provision are also identified through Tusla’s Commissioning process.
There are nine Family Resource Centres in County Cork. Family Resource Centres closest to the Carrigaline area include centres based in Carrigtwohill, Ballincollig, Midleton and Cobh.
Tusla will continue to work with community organisations to meet the needs of vulnerable children, families and communities. Tusla is committed to using all available resources for children and families in the most efficient, equitable, proportionate and sustainable way.
During 2019 Tusla National Commissioning Office received a number of requests from community based agencies to become members of the Family Resource Centre Programme. Tusla did not expand the number of Family Resource Centres during 2019 because funding was not provided for that purpose.
An increase of €1.5 million was allocated to the Family Resource Centre Programme in 2019 to support and develop the existing network of centres. The existing FRCs were allocated a 5% increase and an additional 17 FRC based Family Support Workers were recruited; one additional worker for each Tusla Local Service Area. Tusla is currently not in a position to expand the numbers of Family Resource Centres in 2020.
The Family Resource Centres nearest to Carrigaline are located in Carrigtwohill, Ballincollig, Middleton and Cobh. Tusla will continue to work with community based family support organizations to best meet the needs of vulnerable children, families and communities.
Tusla is committed to using all available resources for children and families in the most efficient, equitable, proportionate and sustainable way. The Tusla Area Commissioning Plan will be a key factor underpinning the decision making process. The point of contact for the Cork Area Commissioning Plan is the Tusla Local Area Manager in Cork and contact details are set out below.
Mr Barry Murray, Child and Family Agency,
Ground Floor, Áras Sláinte,
Wilton Road, Cork.
Tel 021-4923503 barry.murray@tusla.ie
1081. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if the need for a second ECCE year for a child (details supplied) will be reviewed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2609/20]
View answerMy Department has no record of an application for a second preschool year in respect of the child named.
The child's parents should submit an application for an exemption from ECCE eligibility rules to my Department. The Department will consider such applications having regard to:
- the child's age. The child should not be over 6 years of age during the exemption year (as per Educational Welfare Act, 2000), and
- the ECCE allocation taken to date. If a child had had 2 full years of ECCE they will not be eligible for a third year.
An application for an exemption must be supported by a letter of recommendation from a medical specialist, not a GP or Public Health Nurse.
Specialists from whom a recommendation will be accepted include:
Speech & Language Therapist; Occupational Therapist; Senior Psychologist; Physiotherapist; Paediatrician/developmental; Neurologist; Psychiatrist; Psychotherapist; Cardiologist; Oncologist; Ophthalmologist; Otolaryngologist (ENT specialist); Gastroenterologist.
Applications for exemptions from ECCE eligibility can be made to EYqueries@dcya.gov.ie or by posting all relevant documentation to the following address:
Early Years Division,
Department of Children and Youth Affairs,
Block 1 - Floor 2, Miesian Plaza,
50-58 Baggot Street Lower,
Dublin 2,
D02 XW14.
1082. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if services in respect of the national childcare scheme and proposed changes to the funding model (details supplied) will be affected; if so, if interim emergency funding will be provided in order to maintain these vital services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2681/20]
View answerI thank the Deputy for his question. I am aware of potential challenges that some School-Age Childcare (SAC) services may face as legacy childcare schemes are phased out in favour of the National Childcare Scheme. As explained below, the policy intent of the National Childcare Scheme (NCS) followed much consideration and aims to better serve children and families in the short, medium and long term. A number of mitigations were however also put in place to help services in this transitional phase to address these challenges.
The Childcare Support Act, from which the NCS stems, includes a number of policy objectives related to combatting poverty and avoiding poverty traps which were inherent in the old schemes. The NCS provides that children will have access to development or education every day for a minimum of three hours, whether it is provided through school or subsidised Early Learning and Care (ELC). This is referred to as ‘Standard Hours’, and children are eligible if at least one parent or guardian is not in work, education or training. Where both of a child’s parents or guardians are in work, education or training, or their single parent in lone parent circumstances, the child may be eligible for up to eight hours of subsidised ELC per day. This level of eligibility is referred to as ‘Enhanced Hours.’ Under Budget 2020, these will increase to four hours per day (20 per week) and nine hours per day (45 per week) respectively in September.
Enhanced Hours includes additional ‘wrap-around’ hours on top of time spent in school or accessing ECCE; time spent in school or an ECCE service is subtracted from the total. Standard Hours do not ‘wrap around’ school hours, however. Children eligible for Standard Hours will not be eligible for subsidised hours of care outside of school during term time, given that a parent/guardian is at home and the child will have already received the development or education NCS is intended to provide to all children while at school.
While there is a potential challenge for some School-Age Childcare services currently reliant on CCSP for their income, services have a number of options to consider. If a high proportion of their client-base will be eligible for Standard Hours only, they may no longer have enough children attending to be viable. Some of the parents may be incentivised to take up a training programme or some part-time work in which instance they will have access to 40/45 hours per week for a younger child or 17/22 hours for a school age child. Some geographical areas have a shortage of school-age childcare places. Services in these areas may be able to offer a service to new children. The School-Age Childcare Action Plan published in 2017 set out a range of actions to develop school-age childcare services. Subsidies available under the National Childcare Scheme are expected to create greater demand for these services and hence may compensate many services for loss of income from legacy schemes.
In addition, under Budget 2020, the existing “saver” arrangement was extended, to ensure that no one loses out in the initial transition to the new Scheme. In this Budget, additional funding was secured to extend the savers beyond August 2020. This means that persons who are registered on the CCS or TEC schemes before they close, and who retain their eligibility, will be able to remain on them indefinitely, for example, until they no longer require early learning and care or school age childcare. Officials in my Department have been made aware of some confusion on this point in the sector, so it bears emphasis that the ‘savers’ arrangement allows children registered for CCSP in November 2019 to continue accessing those subsidies for as long as they are eligible. This means that numbers of children accessing CCSP will gradually taper off rather than ceasing abruptly, giving services time to adapt.
A new funding model for all services, and with a specific focus on catering to disadvantaged children, is also under development as part of First Five. My Department is currently supporting an international Expert Group and will begin a series of consultations with national stakeholders later this month. SAC services that experience challenges arising from the phasing out of CCSP, and which find that the wider benefits of the National Childcare Scheme have not compensated for this, may well be eligible for other funding supports under this new funding model when it is launched.
Any SAC services that currently faces challenges – arising from any cause – are encouraged to access Case Management support. My Department oversees a Case Management process through which local City and County Childcare Committees (CCCs) and Pobal work together to assess and provide support to services in difficulty. All services who require support should contact their local CCC in the first instance.
1083. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the status of the affordable childcare scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2867/20]
View answerThe National Childcare Scheme (NCS), previously known as the Affordable Childcare Scheme, provides the first statutory entitlement to financial support for childcare, opened to online applications on 20th November 2019. A paper based application process will be available very shortly. The Scheme aims to:
- improve outcomes for children,
- reduce poverty,
- facilitate labour activation, and,
- tangibly reduce the cost of childcare for tens of thousands of families.
I am delighted with the very high volume of applications received so far. Over 29,700 applications, relating to over 38,800 children, have already been successfully submitted and over 33,600 awards have been communicated to parents. These cover both universal and income based subsidies. Parents must bring this award to their childcare provider and once their provider has registered the details, payments begin to flow.
The Scheme provides the first ever statutory entitlement to financial support for childcare. To date, 3,646 childcare services have contracted to provide the NCS. Over 4,000 providers availed of training in advance of the Scheme’s launch.
"Sponsored" applications are now being processed under the Scheme, with over 100 completed sponsor applications received to date. The Childcare Support Act 2018 makes provision for referrals from sponsor bodies for children in certain disadvantaged or challenging circumstances. Where such a referral is made by a sponsor body, the child will automatically qualify for a subsidy for the number of hours considered appropriate by the sponsor, up to a maximum of 40 hours per week, without their family having to satisfy the scheme’s eligibility, income or enhanced hours requirements.
Arrangements are in place to monitor the success of the National Childcare Scheme in meeting its objectives, and the Scheme has been designed to be flexible and responsive. Section 26 of the Childcare Support Act 2018 provides for a review of the operation of the scheme to commence 12 months after the first payment of subsidies under the scheme. A report of this review will be laid before each House of the Oireachtas. The stated policy intention of section 26 of the legislation was to ensure an early review of the Scheme to identify, in a timely way, any key issues or challenges which need to be addressed rapidly. A longer-term review will also be carried out after three years.
The Scheme also has a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework in place to support both ongoing and periodic assessment of the Scheme’s success in meeting its objectives, including its objectives in supporting labour market activation and female labour market activation. It sets out the measures which policy-makers will use to monitor the Scheme on a continual basis, as well as to evaluate the Scheme at regular intervals, through a system of regular reporting by Pobal to the Department.
Information on the scheme for parents and providers is available at ncs.gov.ie
1084. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if a case (details supplied) will be reviewed; the additional supports available to help ease the strain of rental costs on this facility; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2905/20]
View answerI thank the Deputy for her question. I sympathise with the difficulties this service is currently facing. The service in question may be able to access various supports through Case Management. My Department oversees a Case Management process through which local CCCs and Pobal work together to assess and provide support to early learning and care services experiencing difficulties. This can include help with completing and interpreting analysis of staff ratios, fee setting and cash flow, as well as more specialised advice and support appropriate to individual circumstances.
Financial supports, which may also be accessed through the Case Management process, are available for community services presenting with sustainability issues and following a financial assessment by Pobal.
Pobal co-ordinate the overall case management process with the CCC administering initial, and on-going, case management assistance. All services who are seeking support should therefore contact their local CCC in the first instance where their case will be reviewed.
1085. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if the concerns of parents over increased insurance costs and the detrimental impact this could have on their childcare provider will be addressed (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2906/20]
View answerFrom 2017 to December 2019 there were two insurance underwriters offering insurance to the childcare sector in Ireland – Allianz and Ironshore. On the 6th December Ironshore notified their 1,300 clients that they would be withdrawing from the market. On 17th December, the broker who had provided the Ironshore underwriting services informed their customers that they had failed to get a new underwriter to take over their client base. This left only Allianz offering insurance to the sector.
I understand that Allianz provided quotations to almost all of Ironshore’s customers, on the same basis as existing Allianz customers. I acknowledge that for most Ironshore customers this resulted in increased insurance premiums.
I am pleased to inform the Deputy that a second insurance provider entered the market just before Christmas. Cullen Insurances, an underwriter based in Limerick, launched a new insurance product for childcare providers, underwritten by Sava Re. This returns competition to the insurance market in the childcare sector.
My Department is continuing to monitor the insurance options available to providers.
The cost of insurance will be included in future Early Years Sectoral Profiles, which are published annually by Pobal. This will enable my Department to keep insurance costs in the sector under review
1086. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of early years practitioners that participated in the Better Start CDP initiative in 2019; the number of practitioners that paid for their attendance; the rate of pay they received; and the amount spent on the initiative. [3088/20]
View answerResearch evidence indicates that an important driver of high quality in early learning and care provision is continuing professional development (CPD) for practitioners. To overcome identified challenges in accessing CPD courses, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs are currently piloting the introduction of a limited number of approved CPD courses through the Better Start Quality Development Service, delivered free to practitioners along with a payment paid to services to support practitioners' participation in the training.
The payment made to services for participation may be used by the service provider either to pay staff directly, to compensate them for time spent outside working hours in attending training, or to pay for relief staff to provide cover when practitioners taking part in training are given time-off in lieu or take part in training during working hours.
The three CPD courses that are included in this pilot are:
- Hanen, which teaches participants practical strategies for encouraging children’s development of language skills in the context of everyday activities. It is an 18 hours course delivered over 3 days.
- Lámh, which is a manual sign system used by children and adults with intellectual disability and communication needs in Ireland. This course is 6 hours long.
- Aistear and Play, which forms part of the National Síolta Aistear Initiative and aims to support practitioners’ understanding and use of the Aistear curriculum framework and the Aistear Síolta Practice Guide, to improve the quality of early childhood curriculum implementation for children from birth to six years. This course is 12.5 hours long.
The number of practitioners who completed the training courses in 2019 is set out in the table. As all the training programmes in the payment pilot were available free of charge to participants, none of the practitioners paid for their attendance.
Total Number of Payments issued in 2019 – 1534
|
Hanen |
593 |
|
Lámh |
334 |
|
Aistear and Play |
615 |
|
Total |
1542 |
The total spent on the initiatives including the full costs of the National Síolta Aistear Initiative (which include both delivery of training by Better Start, and training coordinated by Better Start and delivered by other organisations, including City/County Childcare Committees, as well as support costs), the cost of delivering the Hanen and Lámh training, and the CPD payment pilot, was €702,300 in 2019.
An evaluation of the payment pilot is under way, both to inform decisions on further roll-out and to inform the Workforce Development Plan currently being developed.
1087. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the factors that determine the geographic allocation of social workers by Tusla; and the number of social workers working in each Tusla local area office. [3218/20]
View answerThe Deputy is referring to an operational matter for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. I have therefore referred the matter to Tusla, and asked that a direct response be provided to the Deputy.
1088. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the factors that determine the allocation of educational welfare officers to a school geographical area; and the number of educational welfare officers assigned per school geographical area. [3219/20]
View answerThe Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) has provided my department with the table attached below identifying the five different regions and number of Education Welfare Officers (EWO) in each region.
|
Region 1 Southern Area: Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Tipperary. |
Region 2 South County Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, Waterford, Wexford, Carlow, Kilkenny. |
Region 3 North Dublin City, South Dublin City, Clondalkin and Lucan |
Region 4 West/North-West: Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Donegal, Leitrim, Roscommon, Longford, Offaly, Laois, Westmeath. |
Region 5 Fingal, Louth, Meath, Cavan, Monaghan |
|
Number of EWOs |
Number of EWOs |
Number of EWOs |
Number of EWOs |
Number of EWOs |
|
19 |
24 |
16 |
24 |
15 |
The aims and objectives of this statutory service are to ensure that every child either attends school regularly or otherwise receives a minimum education; to ensure and secure every child’s entitlement to education. Educational Welfare Officers work with families and children in a child-centred way to overcome barriers to their school attendance, participation and retention; and work closely with schools, educational support services and other agencies to support school attendance and resolve attendance problems for the benefit of children and families.
Where a school principal has a concern in relation to a pupil’s school attendance and where the school has made all local efforts to resolve the problem and the school still remains concerned about the student’s attendance a referral can be made to the Educational Welfare
Service ( EWS).
When referrals are received by the EWS team they are screened by a Senior Educational Welfare Officer. Referrals are then placed in priority order and are assigned to the EWO team accordingly.
PQ 3219/20, for answer 05/03/2020, Written from - Róisín Shortall
To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the factors that determine the allocation of educational welfare officers to a school geographical area; and the number of educational welfare officers assigned per school geographical area.
Please see below the TESS response to the above PQ,
Tusla Educational Welfare Service is divided into 5 regions as follows,
|
Region 1 |
Region 2 |
Region 3 |
Region 4 |
Region 5 |
|
Southern Area: Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Tipperary, |
South County Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, Waterford, Wexford, Carlow, Kilkenny. |
North Dublin City, South Dublin City, Clondalkin and Lucan |
West/North-West: Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Donegal, Leitrim, Roscommon, Longford, Offaly, Laois, Westmeath. |
Fingal, Louth, Meath, Cavan, Monaghan |
There are currently the following number of Educational Welfare Officers (EWOs) in each region,
|
Region 1 |
Region 2 |
Region 3 |
Region 4 |
Region 5 |
|
Number of EWOs |
Number of EWOs |
Number of EWOs |
Number of EWOs |
Number of EWOs |
|
19 |
24 |
16 |
24 |
15 |
The aims and objectives of this statutory service are to ensure that every child either attends school regularly or otherwise receives a minimum education; to ensure and secure every child’s entitlement to education. Educational Welfare Officers work with families and children in a child-centred way to overcome barriers to their school attendance, participation and retention; and work closely with schools, educational support services and other agencies to support school attendance and resolve attendance problems for the benefit of children and families.
Where a school principal has a concern in relation to a pupil’s school attendance and where the school has made all local efforts to resolve the problem and the school still remains concerned about the student’s attendance a referral can be made to EWS. The school will be asked to document interventions already made in line with their School Attendance Strategies. DEIS schools will also be asked to document the additional interventions made by HSCL and SCP.
When referrals are received by the EWS team they are screened by a Senior Educational Welfare Officer. If a referral is incomplete the referral will be returned to the school seeking further information. All completed referrals are placed in priority order and are assigned to the EWO team accordingly. At any stage a principal can follow up with the EWS to ascertain the status of a referral.
The Regional Manager for each area assigns EWOs to schools based on the number of referrals received for an area. This is done a regular basis to maximise delivery of service and to effectively use resources.
1089. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of adults and children that accessed Tusla funded domestic violence refuge accommodation to date in 2020; the average length of time families spent in such accommodation; and the number of beds available on any given night in 2020. [3266/20]
View answerTusla, the Child and Family Agency provides funding and coordination supports to some 59 organisations that deliver a range of services for victims of domestic, sexual and gender based violence throughout the country.
With regard to statistics relating to the use of Tusla-funded emergency domestic violence accommodation, Tusla has advised that data is collected retrospectively. The Department's understanding is that data for 2020 is not yet available.
I have requested Tusla to respond directly to the Deputy with regard to any further information required on this matter.
1090. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the current position of public consultation on the draft childminding action plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3330/20]
View answerThe Draft Childminding Action Plan sets out a phased approach to achieving Government commitments in First 5,the Whole-of-Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and Families. The Draft Childminding Action Plan is firmly based on the 2018 report of the Working Group on Reforms and Supports for the Childminding Sector ('Pathway to a Quality Support and Assurance System for Childminding'), which was chaired by Childminding Ireland and included a number of representatives from the early learning and care sector.
Childminding is of huge importance to children, to parents, to our economy, and to our society. Until now, however, it has not received the support it deserves in terms of public funding or our system of quality assurance or regulation. The Draft Action Plan aims to recognise the valuable work that childminders do and to ensure they can access the supports they need. The Draft Action Plan sets out positive reform proposals to bring childminding into the mainstream of regulation, funding and support.
I am very aware of the unique nature of a childminding service; that is why I established the expert group and called for the development of a bespoke plan for childminders. The Draft Childminding Action Plan makes clear that the intention is to develop regulations that are specific and appropriate to childminding, and to develop customised training and resources to support the quality of childminding provision, including through the development of staffed local networks to provide professional development and peer support. The new regulation and inspection process for childminders is yet to be developed, but the Draft Childminding Action Plan stresses the importance of regulation and inspection being proportionate and appropriate to the home and family setting in which childminders work.
The public consultation process on the Draft Action Plan took place between August and November 2019. It was widely publicised on social media, through National Voluntary Organisations (including Childminding Ireland) and City/County Childcare Committees. The consultation process was carefully designed to ensure strong participation by childminders. In particular, a series of 32 focus groups were organised around the country by the local City and County Childcare Committees, with the help of the new team of regional Childminding Development Officers that I have put in place. The focus groups were organised in evenings to make it easier for childminders to take part.
In addition to the focus groups in the evenings, an Open Policy Debate took place in the daytime to facilitate participation by other stakeholders. There was also an online survey and a call for submissions. The online survey had 467 respondents, of whom 57% were childminders.
A report on the consultation process is being finalised for publication. Revisions to the Draft Plan are currently being made in response to the consultation findings.
1091. Deputy Joe O'Brien asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the childcare providers that her Department provided with a one-off payment to assist with insurance costs by county; the amount provided per provider; and the actual amount of such an insurance bill in tabular form. [3342/20]
View answerMy Department has not provided any payments to providers of early learning and care services to assist with insurance costs.
I did make a Programme Support Payment in December in recognition of the administrative burdens faced by the childcare providers by the need for most to renew their Tusla registration, the introducing of the National Childcare Scheme and the need for many providers to seek an alternative insurance provider, following the withdrawal of an underwriter who provided insurance to a quarter of services. I introduced Programme Support Payments in 2017 in recognition of the time spent by childcare providers on administrative tasks, continuous professional development and other non-contact tasks.
My Department does not have information on the insurance premiums for each provider, as this is commercially sensitive information.
1092. Deputy Joe O'Brien asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if her attention has been drawn to the situation of a Montessori facility (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3459/20]
View answerFrom 2017 to December 2019 there were two insurance underwriters offering insurance to the childcare sector in Ireland – Allianz and Ironshore. On the 6th December Ironshore notified their 1,300 clients that they would be withdrawing from the market. On 17th December, the broker who had provided the Ironshore underwriting services informed their customers that they had failed to get a new underwriter to take over their client base. This left only Allianz offering insurance to the sector.
I understand that Allianz provided quotations to almost all of Ironshore’s customers, on the same basis as existing Allianz customers. I acknowledge that for most Ironshore customers this resulted in increased insurance premiums.
I am pleased to inform the Deputy that a second insurance provider entered the market just before Christmas. Cullen Insurances, an underwriter based in Limerick, launched a new insurance product for childcare providers, underwritten by Sava Re. This returns competition to the insurance market in the childcare sector.
My Department is continuing to monitor the insurance options available to providers.
The cost of insurance will be included in future Early Years Sectoral Profiles, which are published annually by Pobal. This will enable my Department to keep insurance costs in the sector under review.
My Department oversees a case management system through which Pobal and local Childcare Committees offer assistance to services experiencing financial or governance difficulties
1093. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the reason a Tusla centre (details supplied) was closed; the alternative arrangements put in place for those in need of its services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3669/20]
View answerCommissioning of services is an operational matter for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. I have requested that Tusla respond to the Deputy directly on this matter.
The Slainte centre accommodates 7 staff currently from Tusla Dublin North PPFS (Partnership Prevention and Family Support Team)
This team offers the following services
1 Meitheal
2 Family Support
3 Parenting Programmes ( Parent Ur Teen/ Non Violent Response)
4 Homeless hub
5 Cookery Programmes for children/adults
6 Direct work with children/young people
7 Family Access
The Slainte Centre is a Prefab, based on the grounds of Ladyswell Senior School in Darndale. It is at the latter part of the grounds and is situated in an isolated spot which backs on to Marigold Housing Estate in Darndale, Dublin 17. The centre is owned and rented from Our Lady’s School Board.
While the centre is currently closed, the staff team are located in Coolock Health Centre and are continuing to provide a service to families in the Dublin 5, 13 and 17 areas.
1094. Deputy Joe O'Brien asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the reason for discontinuing the funding for a service (details supplied) for the Fingal area. [3340/20]
View answerThe organisation that operates the service referred to in the Deputy's question is a social enterprise, currently supported under the Community Services Programme, or CSP. The Department currently provides CSP funding in excess of €1 million to the organisation in question, annually, supporting the cost of employing of 32 full-time equivalent (FTEs) positions in the organisation and the delivery of a number of transport services.
The organsation in question operates community based accessible transport services for individuals and groups. While this Department provides support to the organisation, through the CSP, it has no role in the internal operations of the organisation or in determining the specific services to be delivered by it. These are matters solely for the management and board of organisation concerned.
That said, I am advised that the service in question is a joint initiative between the organisation concerned and the HSE, who part fund the service. I understand that the HSE confirmed, on the 21st February 2020, its intention to continue to support the joint initiative and the organisation concerned has commenced taking bookings for the service.
1095. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of an application submitted by Donegal County Council (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2786/20]
View answerI can confirm that the application referred to by the Deputy was received by my Department under the 2019 Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS). The scheme operates on the basis of a competitive process, and the assessment criteria for projects are included in the scheme documentation.
Over 280 applications were received under the 2019 scheme and the level of funding sought far exceeded the available budget. Unfortunately, it was not possible to fund all of the proposals received and the application in question was not amongst the successful projects on this occasion.
Details of successful applications under the 2019 ORIS programme are available on the Gov.ie website at https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/90a66b-approved-funding-for-outdoor-recreation-projects/.
1096. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the local improvement scheme allocations to local authorities throughout the country; if he will allocate more funding to clear backlogs of over 10 years in some cases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2880/20]
View answerThe Local Improvement Scheme, or LIS, is a programme for improvement works on small private or non-public roads in rural areas which are not under the normal maintenance of the Local Authorities. The scheme is funded by my Department and is administered through the Local Authorities.
As the Deputy will be aware, there was no dedicated funding available for this scheme for a number of years due to constraints on public expenditure. However, I was very conscious of the underlying demand for the scheme in rural areas throughout the country and I re-launched the scheme in 2017.
Since then, over €48 million has been allocated to the Local Authorities to deliver the scheme. This resulted in over 2,000 road projects being approved for works.
In 2019, I allocated €10 million to the LIS from my Department's Vote. It is intended that the scheme will be funded again this year, and a budget of €10 million has been secured for this purpose in 2020. The 2020 scheme will be announced in due course and the level of funding to be provided to each Local Authority will be confirmed at that stage.
1097. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the status of the CLÁR scheme throughout the country; if a cohort of rural schools excluded from the scheme can be included to avail of funding for safety measures at their schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2881/20]
View answerCLÁR is a targeted capital investment programme for rural areas which have experienced significant levels of depopulation, based on Census of Population data.
The programme was originally launched in October 2001 but was closed for applications in 2010. I re-opened the programme in 2016 and, since then, over 1,400 projects have been approved for CLÁR funding of almost €33 million. The programme has supported a range of measures in eligible CLÁR areas, including supports for safety measures in and around schools and other community facilities.
While funding can only be provided to projects in designated CLÁR areas, it is open to Local Authorities and schools themselves which are not in designated CLÁR areas to implement similar measures, in conjunction with the National Roads Authority (NRA) and/or the Department of Education and Skills where approptiate, and subject to any considerations that may be required from the point of view of budgets, etc.
A full review of the CLÁR programme has been initiated by my Department which will examine the most recent changes in population patterns throughout the country on the basis of 2016 Census data. The review will also consider whether any factors other than depopulation should be taken into account in determining CLÁR areas in the future.
Details of all projects which have been approved for funding to date under CLÁR are available on the Gov.ie website at https://www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/91ba52-clar/.
1098. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development when funding will be allocated to Kerry County Council under the local improvement scheme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3456/20]
View answerThe Local Improvement Scheme, or LIS, is a programme for improvement works on small private or non-public roads in rural areas which are not under the normal maintenance of the Local Authorities. The scheme is funded by my Department and is administered through the Local Authorities.
As the Deputy will be aware, there was no dedicated funding available for this scheme for a number of years due to constraints on public expenditure. However, I was very conscious of the underlying demand for the scheme in rural areas throughout the country and I re-launched the scheme in 2017.
Since then, over €48 million has been allocated to the Local Authorities to deliver the scheme. This resulted in over 2,000 road projects being approved for works, including €2.9 million for 125 projects in Kerry.
In 2019, I allocated €10 million to the LIS from my Department's Vote. It is intended that the scheme will be funded again this year, and a budget of €10 million has been secured for this purpose in 2020. The 2020 scheme will be announced in due course and the level of funding to be provided to each Local Authority, including in County Kerry, will be confirmed at that stage.
1099. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the capital provided to his Department in the estimates for 2019 by subhead; the provisional out-turn for 2019; the prepayments involved in circumstances in which certification has not been received confirming the completion of work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3474/20]
View answerThe Further Revised Estimates for 2019 in respect of the Department of Rural and Community Development provided for gross capital expenditure of €138 million. These resources were fully utilised, with capital expenditure for the year of €137.9 million. The 2019 capital allocations and estimated provisional outturn by subhead are presented in the table below. The provisional capital outturn will be confirmed in the Department's annual Appropriation Account which will be submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General for audit in March 2020, with final account published in September 2020.
Together with the full capital spend achieved in 2018, this investment in rural Ireland and our communities is delivering benefits right across the country and is supporting the objectives of Project Ireland 2040.
The level of capital prepayments made in 2019 is currently being collated by the Department as part of the preparation of the Department's Appropriation Account. A figure will be finalised at the end of this month on completion of the draft Appropriation Account, with the final audited figure published in September 2020.
With regard to prepayments, these are sometimes required to aid delivery of large scale capital projects where a level of advanced funding is needed to bring projects from procurement to construction phase. This assists lead partners to deliver projects which would have significant project financing costs. Prepayments are made only in limited circumstances, in line with the sanction in place for the Department, and with appropriate controls as set out in the relevant guidance and circulars.
At this stage it is estimated that for 2019, 17% of capital expenditure relates to prepayments. This value would include payments for some element of works completed by year end but not yet certified. The majority of prepayments will be accounted for by advances to large capital projects funded under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and the Library Development and Archive Service.
Capital Expenditure 2019
|
|
REV 2019 |
Provisional 2019 Outturn |
|
V42 – GROSS (€’000s) |
138,000 |
137,863 |
|
|
|
|
|
A - REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT & REGIONAL AFFAIRS |
122,882 |
122,549 |
|
A.2 - ADMINISTRATION - NON PAY |
182 |
82 |
|
A.4 - NATIONAL RURAL DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES |
15,000 |
18,986 |
|
A.5 - LEADER - RURAL ECONOMY SUB PROGRAMME |
30,000 |
45,188 |
|
A.7 - TOWN AND VILLAGE REGENERATION |
15,000 |
12,999 |
|
A.8 – REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT |
700 |
380 |
|
A.9. - LOCAL IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES |
10,000 |
13,629 |
|
A10 - RURAL REGENERATION& DEVELOPMENT FUND |
52,000 |
31,285 |
|
B - COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT |
15,118 |
15,315 |
|
B.2 - ADMINISTRATION - NON PAY |
151 |
58 |
|
B.3 –SUPPORTS FOR COMMUNITY & VOLUNTARY SECTOR |
1 |
- |
|
B.6- SUPPORTS FOR DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITES |
1,767 |
1,902 |
|
B.7- DORMANT ACCOUNT MEASURES |
2,500 |
2,656 |
|
B.8- PROGRAMME FOR PEACE AND RECONCILIATION |
650 |
650 |
|
B.10 - LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT AND ARCHIVE SERVICE |
6,049 |
6,049 |
|
B.11 - COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT PROGRAMME |
4,000 |
4,000 |
