Wednesday, 27 Apr 2022

Special Educational Needs

Questions (99, 100)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

99. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Education the steps that are being taken to address the lack of secondary school places in Dublin 12 for students with autism. [21296/22]

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Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

100. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Education the number of secondary schools in Dublin 12 that can cater for students on the autism spectrum; and the number that are unable to cater for same. [21297/22]

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Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Education

I propose to take Questions Nos. 99 and 100 together.

Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government.

This year, my Department will spend in excess of €2 Billion, or over 25% of the Department’s budget on providing a wide range of schemes and supports for children with special educational needs.

This includes additional teaching and care supports.

As a result, the number of special education teachers, special needs assistants and special class and school places are at unprecedented levels.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs nationwide.

Over the last two years, my Department and the NCSE have worked closely on a more streamlined and joined up planning process which has ensured a targeted approach to meet demand for special needs placements ahead of each new school-year.

I am satisfied that this more joined up approach is delivering. Through this intensive intervention, we have seen an additional 300 special classes (primary and post-primary), providing 1,800 new places, opened nationwide for the 2021/22 school-year. Budget 2022 also provides for the creation of 287 additional special classes for the 2022/2023 school year. These additional classes will provide over 1,700 new places from September next.

I also acknowledge that notwithstanding the extent of this investment, there are some parts of the country where increases in population and other issues have led to concerns regarding a shortage of school places.

The NCSE has well established structures in place for engaging with schools and parents and seeks to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all children who have been identified as needing special class placements.

The NCSE is currently engaging in a process of establishing new classes for the 2022/2023 school year and beyond. Both my Department and the NCSE are always grateful to schools who express a willingness to open a special class to meet the educational needs of students in their local communities. It is of course open to any school to engage with the NCSE to establish a special class.

There are Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) located across the country and they have a specific remit in helping and supporting parents in accessing the education necessary for their children, including in identifying suitable school placements.

The Deputy may be aware that Minister Foley and I recently announced the establishment of a new special school in Cork together with an update on the expansion of existing special class and special school capacity in Cork and Dublin.

In line with the demographics and as part of forward planning, it is envisaged that special classes will be required at most, if not all, post-primary schools.

A range of measures to meet additional SEN capacity demands have already been put in place including the utilisation of spare capacity in existing schools and delivery of additional SEN capacity within the scope of existing building projects. Additionally, it is general practice to include a SEN Base in the accommodation brief for new school buildings, unless exceptional local circumstances indicate that it will not be required. The extent of provision made at these schools is informed by the level of demand in the area as well as the size of the school.

My Department, together with the NCSE, is monitoring the availability of places for students with special educational needs throughout the country as a priority issue and will continue to work with relevant stakeholders to ensure a supply of placements coming on stream to meet emerging demand.

I want to reassure the Deputy that my Department will continue to support the NCSE and schools through the provision of the necessary funding and capital investment to ensure all children and young people are successful in accessing an education.

Question No. 100 answered with Question No. 99.

Special Educational Needs

Questions (101)

Bríd Smith

Question:

101. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the demand for school places for autistic children in the Dublin 12 area; her views on the lack of places in local schools (details supplied); her plans to provide and or increase places for autistic children in local schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21312/22]

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Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Education

Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government.

This year, my Department will spend in excess of €2 Billion, or over 25% of the Department’s budget on providing additional teaching and care supports for children with special educational needs.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs nationwide.

It is open to any school to make an application to the NCSE for the establishment of a specialised provision and where sanctioned, a range of supports, including capital funding, is made available to the school.

Parents seeking special class placements for their children are advised to contact NCSE locally so that their needs can be taken into account for planning purposes.

The NCSE through their network of SENOs (Special Educational Needs Organisers) are currently engaged in a process of establishing new classes for the 2022/2023 school year and beyond. They are looking at local information in relation to projected demand for future special class places.

The local SENOs remain available to assist and advise parents of children with special educational needs. Parents may contact SENOs directly using the contact details available at: www.ncse.ie/regional-services-contact-list

As the Deputy's question refers to the engagement with specific schools in the area referenced, I will arrange to have the details referred to the NCSE for their attention and direct reply.

Schools Building Projects

Questions (102)

Thomas Pringle

Question:

102. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Education if plans are in place for the development of a school (details supplied) in County Donegal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21323/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Education

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the building project for the school to which he refers has now been devolved for delivery to Donegal Education and Training Board (DETB).

The Service Level Agreement (SLA) has been issued to DETB. The next step is for the ETB to procure a Design Team for the project to design the buildings, obtain the necessary statutory planning permissions, and move the project onward to tender and construction in due course.

As the project is at an early stage in the delivery process, it is not possible at this time to give a date for its completion. Please be assured that the ETB will be engaging directly with the school authority to keep it informed of progress.

Special Educational Needs

Questions (103)

Niall Collins

Question:

103. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Education the visiting teacher availability from September 2022 for a student (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21394/22]

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Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Education

The National Council for Special Education Visiting Teachers, are qualified teachers with particular skills and knowledge of the development and education of children with varying degrees of hearing loss and/or visual impairment. They offer longitudinal support to children, their families and schools, from the time of referral through to the end of post primary education

The management of visiting teachers transferred from the Department of Education to the National Council for Special Education. The Department of Education provides the funding for visiting teachers for children who are deaf/hard of hearing or blind/visually impaired.

Each visiting teacher is responsible for a particular region and is allocated a caseload of students. The visiting teacher supports children/young people, parents, guardians, teachers and other professionals involved with the child. The frequency and nature of support takes into account a range of factors based on the individual’s needs.

The NCSE Visiting Teachers are currently comprised of some who are permanent employees of the NCSE, and some who are teachers seconded to the NCSE from schools. Secondments are limited to a period of 5 years, except where a derogation is granted by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

Where Visiting Teachers have reached secondment limits, the NCSE will replace them with staff who are suitably qualified and experienced to provide the same service levels to children and their families. The Department works closely with the NCSE to maintain and enhance the role of the Visiting Teachers across all of their regions.

Schools Building Projects

Questions (104)

John Lahart

Question:

104. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Education if he will report on the new post-primary schools for Ballycullen and Citywest, Dublin; if a school (details supplied) will be vacating the site of another school before September 2022 for its new location at Ballycullen; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21402/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Education

The permanent school building projects for the schools referred to by the Deputy are being delivered under my Department's Design and Build programme. This delivery programme uses a professional external Project Manager to progress the projects through the relevant stages of architectural planning, tender and construction.

The first post-primary school referred to by the Deputy is currently located in suitable interim accommodation at the Firhouse Community College site, pending delivery of interim accommodation on the school’s permanent site.

Work has commenced on site to deliver the interim accommodation on the permanent site and the school will re-locate to this accommodation for the 2022/2023 school year.

The permanent accommodation plans continue to be progressed while taking account of the interim accommodation. A pre-planning meeting with the local authority has taken place and developed design work is ongoing. Until such time as planning permission is secured for the permanent accommodation it is not possible to provide a timeline for its delivery. My Department will continue to keep the patron body and the school informed of developments.

The second post-primary school referred to by the Deputy opened in interim accommodation in the Citywest Campus in 2020, with additional interim accommodation provided to cater for the 2021/22 school year.

The final grant of planning permission for the project was received in March 2021. My Department’s Project Manager together with their Design Team are engaged in the preparation of tender documentation for the project. My Department is considering the timeline for the progression to tender of a number of Design & Build projects, including the permanent accommodation for this school and will advise the school's patron body further as soon as possible.

Pending delivery of the permanent building project, my Department will continue to address the interim accommodation needs of the school in conjunction with the school’s patron body.

Disadvantaged Status

Questions (105)

Charles Flanagan

Question:

105. Deputy Charles Flanagan asked the Minister for Education the circumstance under which a school (details supplied) in County Offaly failed to be included on the recent list of schools receiving DEIS status; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21455/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Education

I recently announced that from next September the DEIS programme will be extended to an additional 310 schools. 37 schools will also benefit from additional supports following reclassification. Schools were identified for inclusion in the programme through the refined DEIS identification model which is an objective, statistics based model. Schools were not required to apply for inclusion in the DEIS programme and the model has been applied fairly and equally to all schools.

My Department is committed to ensuring that all schools are treated equally and fairly in the manner in which they have been identified for inclusion in the DEIS programme. Schools who were not satisfied with the outcome following the application of the DEIS identification model to their school enrolment data will now have the opportunity to have that outcome reviewed.

Circular 0019/2022 outlining the details of this appeals process was published recently by my Department and is available at www.gov.ie/en/circular/7e7ca-deis-identification-2022-appeals-process-for-schools/.

My Department notified all schools of the appeals process on 30th March 2022. Schools have until 5pm on Friday April 29th to submit an appeal.

Social Welfare Benefits

Questions (106)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

106. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Social Protection the progress to date in the determination of an invalidity pension application in the case of a person (details supplied); when the application process will be concluded; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21324/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

To date no application for invalidity pension has been received from the person concerned.

I can confirm that my Department received an application for disability allowance (DA) from this person on 30 March 2022.

On 22 April 2022 the person concerned was requested to supply supporting documentation required by the deciding officer in order to make a decision on his eligibility. On receipt of this information a decision will be made on his DA application and the person concerned will be notified of the outcome.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Citizens Information Services

Questions (107)

Chris Andrews

Question:

107. Deputy Chris Andrews asked the Minister for Social Protection if the citizens information centre in Rathmines, Dublin 6 is due to be closed; and, if so, the proposed future changes to the role of citizens information centres across the State. [21341/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Social Protection

The Citizens Information Board (CIB), under the aegis of the Department of Social Protection, is the statutory body with responsibility for the Citizens Information Service. The CIB funds and supports eight regional Citizens Information Services (CIS) companies. Each CIS is a limited company overseen by a regional manager and board of directors. Each company is responsible for all matters and decisions relating to its staff and operations.

Dublin South CIS have confirmed the Citizen Information Centre in Rathmines will cease at the end of May 2022, as the landlord has sold the premises. Dublin South CIS is currently reviewing alternative options for premises in the general area to ensure services continue to be accessible.

Staff from Rathmines will work out of offices in the Liberties and the Carmelite Centre until such time as a permanent alternative in the general area can be procured, renovated and opened.

Dublin South CIS is committed to delivering face to face services, where a member of the public can walk into their local office and receive information, advice and advocacy services. Within a 3km zone of Rathmines, people can continue to access citizens information services at the following locations:

- Liberties CIC, 90 Meath St, Dublin 8: Contact by phone or email Mon, Tues, Thur, Fri 9.30am – 4.30pm, appointments will be offered as required.

- Dublin 12 & 6W CIC, 8 Sundrive Road, Dublin 12: Open Monday - Friday 9:30am - 4:30pm for reception, phone and email. Appointments will be offered as required., reopening on 5th May 2022.

- Carmelite CIC, 56 Aungier St, Dublin 2, Open Monday – Wednesday 10 am – 12 noon for reception, phone and email. Appointments will be offered as required.

During the COVID period, the Rathmines CIC office was closed for public health reasons. Dublin South CIS implemented a number of measures to ensure an ongoing service was provided to all citizens including telephone / email / letter contact. These measures will continue after May 2022 to accommodate service users impacted by the closure.

In addition, the Citizens Information Phone Service (CIPS) is a nationwide service with extended opening hours. It can be reached on 0818 07 4000, Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm.

With regard to future changes, there are no plans in place to change the role of Citizens Information Services nationally. It is envisioned that CIS will continue to provide essential information and advice to the citizens of Ireland in the most effective manner possible.

Citizens Information Services

Questions (108)

Jim O'Callaghan

Question:

108. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Social Protection if the citizens information centre in Rathmines will be relocated; if so, the location; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21393/22]