Written Answers Nos. 310-324
310. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education the number of children with special educational needs are currently not in school in Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34128/21]
View answerEnsuring that every child has a suitable school placement is a key objective of this Department. Significant resources are allocated each year to ensure that appropriate supports are available for children with special educational needs.
It is the policy of my Department that all children with Special Educational Needs can have access to an education appropriate to their needs, preferably in school settings through the primary and post primary school network.
Such placements facilitate access to individualised education programmes which may draw from a range of appropriate educational interventions, delivered by fully qualified professional teachers, with the support of Special Needs Assistants and the appropriate school curriculum.
My Department’s policy focuses on ensuring that all students with special educational needs can have access to an education appropriate to meeting their needs and abilities.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of Special Needs Organisers (SENOs), for the development and delivery and co-ordination of education services to children with Special Educational Needs, including the establishment of special class and special school placements.
In circumstances, where the NCSE confirms that no placement is available for a child with special educational needs, my Department can provide Home Tuition grant funding towards the provision of 20 hours home tuition per week as an interim measure until the NCSE confirms that a placement is available.
It is important to note that Home tuition funding is not an alternative to a school placement, by its nature it is intended to be a short term intervention.
For this reason home tuition will not be available where a school placement has been identified by the NCSE.
Similarly, failure to enrol a child in school will not give rise to eligibility under this scheme.
I have no plans to change this approach.
Where the NCSE have identified an available school placement for a child, the local SENO will continue to be available to engage with the family and the school concerned to ensure that the child's needs are addressed.
The total number of children with special educational needs who are being supported by the Home Tuition scheme on the grounds that they do not currently have a school placement, or an early intervention class placement, is 732.
|
- |
Sanctioned |
|
SEN school aged no placement |
88 |
|
3+ (Early Intervention support) |
522 |
|
6 During year |
37 |
|
6+ |
85 |
|
Total |
732 |
311. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education the number of judicial reviews regarding suspension and expulsions of children with special educational in the past three years in Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34147/21]
View answerSection 29 of the Education Act provides for appeals against the decision of a Board of Management of a school to suspend or permanently exclude a student. The decision of the independent appeals committee may only be challenged by way of a Judicial Review. It is open to either party to an appeal to seek a Judicial Review.
The number of Judicial Reviews of section 29 appeal committee decisions in suspension and expulsion cases involving children with special educational needs in the last 3 years and to date in 2021 is as follows:
2021 - 1 expulsion case
2020 – 2 expulsion cases
2019 - 3 expulsion cases and 1 suspension case
2018 – 0 cases
312. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Education the status of the plans for the new building programme at a school (details supplied); the contacts she has had in the matter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34148/21]
View answerFollowing the recent Stage 2(a) Stakeholders Meeting, held between the Board of Management, its Design Team, the Project Manager and officials from my Department, the major school building project referred to by the Deputy has been approved to an advanced stage of architectural planning - Stage 2(b) Detailed Design, which includes the application for statutory approvals and the preparation of tender documents.
Upon receipt of the Stage 2(b) Report, it will be reviewed by my Department who will then be in contact with the Board of Management and its Design Team with regard to further progression of this project.
313. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education the number of children with special educational needs that have gone through section 29 in the past three years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34149/21]
View answerSection 7 of the Education (Admissions to Schools) Act 2018 came into operation on the 12 November 2020 and provided for the replacement of the existing Section 29 of the Education Act 1998 with a series of new sections numbered 29 to 29F. These new appeal provisions in sections 29 to 29F are designed to work alongside the wider admissions framework in the 2018 Act. In accordance with section 29B of the Education Act, 1998 the Minister also determined procedures for appeals which applied to all appeals received from 12 November 2020 onwards.
Since the commencement of the new arrangements for appeals on the 12 November 2020 to date a total of 95 appeals have been made under section 29 of the Education Act where the applicant has indicated that the child has special educational needs.
Prior to 12 November 2020 the data was not categorised in the same manner and therefore, we cannot provide data in relation to the numbers of appeals which related to children with special educational needs for previous years.
314. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education the funding allocated to the Caranua Residential Institutions Statutory Fund; the number of applications approved and paid to date; the average payment; the number of in progress applications; the number of applications that are ineligible; the number of applications appealed; the number of applications awaiting probate; and the number of applications withdrawn in tabular form. [34226/21]
View answer315. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education the funding allocated to the Caranua Residential Institutions Statutory Fund for administrative purposes including staffing, legal and premises costs. [34227/21]
View answer316. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education the other supports outside of the Caranua Residential Institutions Statutory Fund redress scheme that have been put in place to assist the former residents of the institutions including the overall spend on health, housing, educational and counselling services; and the initial allocation and final spend, respectively in tabular form. [34228/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 314 to 316, inclusive, together.
Caranua was established in 2013 with a specific purpose, which was provided for in the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board Act 2012 – to disburse the contributions provided by the religious congregations following the publication of the Ryan Report in 2009, by funding approved services to support the needs of former residents who, as children, suffered abuse in relevant institutions. As is specified in the 2012 Act, the amount of €110m, plus interest of €1.38m, was made available to Caranua, and held in a Statutory Fund managed by the NTMA.
To be eligible to apply to Caranua, applicants had to have been in receipt of an award of redress from the Residential Institutions Redress Scheme, or to have qualified for such an award had they not already received similar awards or settlements in court proceedings.
Given the finite nature of the funding available, Caranua announced in May 2018 that it would cease to accept applications from 1 August 2018. After that date, it mainly focussed on processing
applications on hand. It also undertook targeted outreach to certain groups, including survivors who were in prison.
As part of this process, Caranua engaged extensively with applicants who had not completed the application process, and established person-centred timelines for the provision of supporting documentation which would enable their applications to be progressed before Caranua was required to wind-down its operations. As the Deputy will appreciate, given the impending exhaustion of the funding available to it Caranua was not in a position to allow applications to remain open indefinitely.
Caranua finalised all outstanding applications and made all final payments in early December 2020, with the exception of a very limited number of cases which were referred back to Caranua on appeal, or where it had agreed to make staggered payments.
The specific details on applications requested by the Deputy are set out in the table below. These are, in the main, drawn from information published on Caranua’s website, www.caranua.ie.
|
Number of applications approved and paid |
57,161 |
|
Average payment |
Approximately €1,700 |
|
Number of in progress applications |
Nil |
|
Number of ineligible applications* |
5,009 |
|
Number of applications appealed |
761 |
|
Number of applications awaiting probate |
Nil |
|
Number of applications withdrawn |
3,062 |
Overall, Caranua received over 62,000 applications for funding supports from over 6,000 eligible survivors. Caranua made over 57,000 payments to survivors, totalling almost €98 million, and each applicant received an average of over €15,000 in supports. It is not possible to give an exact figure for the number of ineligible applications, but 3,062 applications were withdrawn, while a further 1,947 applications were not approved by Caranua, a total of 5,009 applications. In addition, approximately 200 individuals who applied to Caranua were determined to be ineligible for support.
With regard to appeals, section 22 of the 2012 Act provides that a decision by Caranua to not approve an application could be appealed to an Independent Appeals Officer. In total of 761 appeals were submitted to the Independent Appeals Officer. All outstanding appeals were finalised by the Independent Appeals Officer in February 2021.
With regard to administrative costs, the 2012 Act provided that all expenditure arising from Caranua’s operations must be met from the funding held in the Statutory Fund. There is no provision in the Act for Exchequer funding to be utilised to fund either supports for survivors, or the administrative costs arising.
Caranua’s audited financial statements to the end of 2020 show payments to survivors of approximately €97.8 million, while overall administrative costs had come to approximately €13.5 million. This compares favourably with comparable organisations such as Northern Ireland’s Victims and Survivors Service, which provides funding supports to those effected by the Troubles.
With regard to other supports available to survivors, the National Counselling Service, run by the HSE, is a free nationwide service, which provides face-to-face, phone, and video counselling. It provides a specific, trauma-informed, service for adults who experienced childhood abuse and neglect. This service is available to all survivors of institutional abuse.
Since 2019, the Department has engaged extensively with former residents in a Consultation Forum facilitated by external facilitators. This process led to the publication in August 2019 of “Consultations with Survivors of Institutional Abuse on Themes and Issues to be addressed by a Survivor Led Consultation Group” and a further phase of consultations which are ongoing.
The meetings are facilitated by professionally qualified facilitators who are funded by my Department. Matters relating to survivors of institutional abuse identified by survivors, and which are set out in the August 2019 report, continue to be discussed by the Group. I met with the Group in December 2020 to hear about the various issues which had been identified by the Group.
It is expected this consultation process will be concluded shortly. Their findings will be further considered by the inter-departmental group and their conclusions will inform the consideration of proposals to Government in this context.
317. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of providing the WALK PEER employment support service model in all 26 counties. [33980/21]
View answerThe Ability Programme is a pre-activation programme for young people with disabilities. The funding for this programme will amount to around €16 million over a three-year period and is being provided jointly under the EU's ESF Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning (PEIL) Operational Programme 2014-2020 and the Irish Exchequer. The programme will support over 2,600 young people with disabilities between 15 and 29 years of age. Pobal has been contracted by my Department to manage the programme.
The aim of the Ability Programme is to help bring young people with disabilities who are not work-ready closer to the labour market through engagement in training and personal development activities, which would be followed by an incremental exposure to work. The programme is being delivered by 27 community and voluntary groups from around the country, selected on foot of a competitive process. The projects being funded have been designed to assist young people in their transition from school to further education and employment.
The WALK PEER organisation is funded as a stand-alone project under the Ability Programme and not as a programme in its own right. The project aims to support 200 young people with special educational needs aged 15-24 years within 3 special schools’ settings to develop their employment aspirations, identify their career goals and to experience work in the open labour market. Total Ability funding of €640,848 has been awarded to WALK PEER over the course of the 3-year programme.
If the WALK PEER project was to be replicated on the same scale to an additional 25 counties, based on a simple scale up calculation, this would require additional funding in excess of €5m per year.
It should be noted that Walkinstown Green Social Enterprises Limited, which is wholly owned by WALK Ltd, was also awarded €430,175 under the Ability Programme to fund the WALK REAL Project, bringing the total combined amount of funding to WALK Ltd to €1,071,023 over the course of the Ability Programme.
I hope this clarifies the issue for the Deputy.
318. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Social Protection if the back to education allowance can be made available in a case (details supplied) in which the person is in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment has a level 9 qualification since 2018 and cannot secure employment with that qualification; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34002/21]
View answerThe back to education allowance scheme (BTEA) provides people with a second chance education that will improve their prospects of securing employment. It enables eligible people to pursue approved education courses and to continue to receive income support for the duration of a course of study, subject to meeting certain conditions.
The BTEA is not intended to be an alternative form of funding for people entering or re-entering the third level education system or to provide a basis for a long-duration participation in extended education. The Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) grant represents the primary support for persons pursuing education.
In limited cases post-graduate courses can be supported under the BTEA. This support can be approved where the applicant intends to undertake studies leading to a Higher Diploma (H.Dip) in any discipline or the Professional Masters in Education. Additionally BTEA support may be awarded for a Master’s degree based solely on life experience where the applicant holds no other third level qualification. The level 9 Msc in business economics referred to by the Deputy is not covered under the BTEA.
I trust this clarifies the position.
319. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Social Protection when a person (details supplied) in County Cork will receive a decision on their contributory pension application. [34039/21]
View answerThe person concerned reached pension age on 24 June 2021. Under current eligibility conditions, an applicant must have 520 full-rate paid contributions in order to qualify for State pension (contributory) - 520 full-rate contributions equates to 10 years of full-rate insurable employment.
The person has a contribution record of 312 paid full-rate social insurance contributions, which falls short of the required 520 paid full-rate contributions. Modified contributions can be combined with full-rate contributions and credits to give an entitlement to a mixed insurance pro- rata State pension (contributory), provided the applicant has 260 full-rate contributions.
As the person concerned has modified contributions, having worked in the HSE during the period 1981/82 to 2012 their entitlement to a mixed insurance pro rata State pension (contributory) was examined. They have been awarded this payment at 20.33% of the standard rate State pension (contributory). The decision letter issued to them on 21 June 2021.
In order to assess a potential entitlement to an EU pro rata state pension (contributory) based on Irish and UK contributions, my Department will request a copy of their UK social insurance record.
I hope this clarifies the position for the Deputy.
320. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will review the 3 July 2017 ruling on community employment schemes that directly affects participants who are over 55 years of age who will see their time allowed on schemes reduced from six to three years based on a number of grounds (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34059/21]
View answerMy Department provides a range of employment and training programmes and is committed to delivering and supporting a range of assistive and targeted measures to increase employment, training and apprenticeship opportunities for the long-term unemployed.
Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a temporary, fixed term basis.
As the Deputy is aware, a number of changes were introduced to the eligibility criteria for CE in 2017 to broaden access to the CE programme to a greater number of people on the Live Register and to standardise the conditions around the length of time a person can remain on CE.
In general, the qualifying age for CE for was reduced from 25 to 21 years. Participation on CE prior to the year 2007 has been disregarded as part of these changes, which makes it easier for previous CE participants who had exhausted their CE entitlement to re-qualify.
Included in these changes was the duration participants can remain on CE. In general, CE placements for new entrants aged between 21 and 55 years are for 1 year. CE participants who are working towards a Quality and Qualifications Ireland or QQI major award can seek to extend their participation on CE by up to 2 years to enable them to reach the required standard of qualification. CE participants aged 55 years or older can remain on CE for a maximum of 3 consecutive years. A person may re-qualify for CE after a twelve-month break once they satisfy the qualifying conditions. An overall lifetime limit of six years applies to all CE participants (seven years for those on a disability payment).
The Youth Employment Support Scheme was introduced on 1 October 2018 as a further support to those aged 18-24. It is a work experience placement programme targeted at young jobseekers who are long-term unemployed or face barriers to employment. The young person will be place with an employer for an initial period of 6 months with a view to securing full-time employment following placement. The programme aims to provide jobseekers with the opportunity to learn basic work and social skills in a supportive environment while on a work placement.
The introduction of the Youth Employment Support Scheme has not removed the possibility of the younger cohort of unemployed people participating on CE; it has provided another option to those that require an alternative route back to employment.
I acknowledge that the challenges caused by the Covid-19 public health restrictions introduced over the course of the last 16 months, has impacted CE schemes, referrals to CE schemes and the services they provide. I met with a number of CE and Tús schemes earlier this month and we had a very constructive exchange of views on the very real challenges facing these employment support schemes, as the economy and society begins to recover from the pandemic over the coming months.
The Minister for Social Protection, Minister Humphreys and I recently announced that the current CE and Tús participants' contract extension date will be further extended until 29th October 2021. This will bring to over 11,000 the number of CE and Tús participants benefitting from various contract extensions going back to October 2020. There will be further transitional arrangements for the cohort of CE and Tús participants whose contracts are due to come to an end from the start of November 2021 to February 2022.
The conclusion of CE and Tús participant contracts after the 29th October 2021 will be undertaken on a coordinated and phased basis over a number of months up to February. This approach will support the recruitment of new participants while also ensuring the ongoing delivery of important community services.
With the successful continuing roll-out of the vaccine programme and in accordance with the phased re-opening of the economy by Government, my priority and the priority of the Department is to get all CE schemes back up and running so that they can fully re-commence activities, providing work experience and training opportunities to long term unemployment participants and delivering vital services to local communities. To support this, referrals to CE schemes will increase further as the economy continues to open up.
CE sponsoring authorities are also encouraged by my Department to continue to promote the benefits of CE in their local communities. They can advertise their vacancies on www.jobsireland.ie, the Department’s online job advertising and recruitment service for job candidates and employers, including CE sponsors.
Jobseekers are advised to register their interest through this website or by contacting a case officer in their local Intreo Centre who will determine their eligibility for the CE scheme. The facility to register interest in CE schemes was introduced on the website in August 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is important to note that there are currently 19,398 participants on CE and 42% of these CE participants are 55 years of age and over. Placements on CE are temporary and are subject to time limits to safeguard the availability of opportunities for employment on CE schemes for other candidates. My Department supports the provision of public employment services with a priority on activation and the progression of participants on CE from the Live Register into full-time employment.
I will continue to support and improve the programme for the benefit of the CE participants and the valuable contribution being made to local communities through the provision of services.
321. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons employed in the local employment service and job clubs. [34072/21]
View answerFor 2021, my Department contracted for the provision of Local Employment Services with 22 different contractors.
These contractors employ approximately 307 full time equivalent posts to deliver the service.
My Department has also contracted for the provision of Jobs Clubs with 37 different contractors
These contractors employ 81 full-time equivalent posts to deliver the service.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
322. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of applications received for rent supplement in 2018, 2019, 2020 and to date in 2021; the corresponding number approved and rejected for each year; the number of these applications approved on the grounds of domestic abuse; the cost of paying rent supplement in each of the years 2018 to 2020 and to date in 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34076/21]
View answerRent supplement continues to play a key role in supporting families and individuals in private rented accommodation, with the scheme supporting 18,851 active recipients at the end of May 2021.
The scheme provides short-term income support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. The scheme ensures that those who were renting, but whose circumstances have changed due to temporary loss of employment or income, can continue to meet their rental commitments.
Since the introduction of HAP, rent supplement continues to revert to its original role of providing short-term support to those who have become temporarily unemployed and require income support to meet their tenancy cost whilst they seek alternative employment. The following statistics have been provided:
- Tabular statement 1 - The number of rent supplement applications received in: 2018; 2019; and from January to November 2020.
- Tabular statement 2 - The number of victims of domestic violence who have availed of rent supplement support in 2020; and for the five months ending May 2021.
- Tabular statement 3 - The total expenditure for the scheme for the years: 2018; 2019; 2020; and for the five months ending May 2021.
Statistics on the number of rent supplement applications received in the period from November 2020 to date are not available.
Table 1 - Number of Rent Supplement Applications Awarded and Disallowed
|
Year |
Awarded |
Disallowed |
|
2018 |
4,183 |
344 |
|
2019 |
3,176 |
329 |
|
2020 Jan - Nov |
12,613 |
1,598 |
Table 2 - Number of Victims of Domestic Violence who Availed of the DVRS Protocol
|
Year |
Domestic Violence Recipients |
|
Total Cases Supported - end December 2020 |
46 |
|
New Cases Supported - 5 Months Ending May 2021 |
55 |
Table 3 - Rent Supplement Expenditure Figures
|
Year |
Rent Supplement Expenditure |
|
2018 |
€175.0m |
|
2019 |
€125.2m |
|
2020 |
€133.1m |
|
5 Months Ending May 2021 |
€59.6m |
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
323. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection if she plans to legislate to provide for annual increases in the State pension to be benchmarked at 34% of earnings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34077/21]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the Pensions Commission was established in November 2020 to examine sustainability and eligibility issues with the State Pension and the Social Insurance Fund, in fulfilment of a Programme for Government commitment. These issues will be considered from a perspective of fiscal and social sustainability, and intergenerational fairness. Details on the Commission's work, including agendas, minutes and presentations made to the Commission, are available on its website, PensionsCommission.gov.ie.
The terms of reference proposed the Commission "Review previous analyses of the State Pension arrangements and recommendations for changes including those set out in the National Pensions Framework 2010, the OECD Review of Pensions in Ireland 2013 and the Roadmap for Pensions Reform 2018-2023.
The 34% benchmark figure mentioned by the Deputy was included in the said Roadmap for Pensions Reform and analysis of same is to be included in the Commission's report.
The Commission is due to provide its report to Government in the near future. The Government has committed to take action on its recommendations within 6 months of receiving them.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
324. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Social Protection the status of plans for the next actuarial review of the social insurance fund. [34078/21]
View answerThe Minister for Social Protection is legally required to have an Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund undertaken at five yearly intervals.
The purpose of the review is to determine the extent to which the Fund may be expected, in the long term, to meet the demands in respect of payment of benefits and other payments. The review takes account of the adequacy or otherwise of contributions to support benefits and other payments as well as other matters relevant to the current and future financial condition of the Fund.
Preparation for the next Actuarial Review of the Social Insurance Fund in respect of the year ending 31 December 2020 is under way. The Actuarial Review is expected to be completed in 2022 and a copy will be laid before each House of the Oireachtas within six months of its completion in accordance with the statutory requirement to do so.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
