Written Answers Nos. 262-274
262. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Education if she will clarify whether procedures for the use of section 28 of the Education Act 1998 have been issued; if there are plans to issue them; and whether the lack of such procedures is hampering the fair handling of grievances that may arise in a school setting. [25586/23]
View answerThe grievance procedures provided for under Section 28 of the Education Act are being progressed through the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill. This Bill has passed all stages of Seanad Éireann and passed Second Stage in Dáil Éireann on 8th July 2021.
Officials in my Department are continuing to engage with stakeholders including the National Parents Council and the Office of the Ombudsman for Children on matters pertaining to the Bill in advance of the Bill progressing to Committee Stage in Dáil Éireann.
The Bill provides for all schools to have a Charter and for the Minister to issue guidelines, following consultation, in accordance with which every school’s Charter shall be prepared, published and implemented. The Bill sets out the key matters that the Minister must have regard to when preparing the charter guidelines.
The overall aim of the Charter Bill is to improve the level of engagement between the school community by inviting feedback, comment and observation from the school community and by further developing a listening culture in schools. One of the key concepts of the Bill is the need for a school to consult with students and their parents on individual school plans, policies and activities. This approach will help ensure that the various views of students and parents will be heard and responded to by schools on issues and policies.
In relation to grievances, the Bill is replacing the existing Section 28 of the Education Act, 1998 with a new Section 28 which, working with other provisions of the Bill, will ensure that all schools will be required to have and to implement standardised grievance procedures. The charter guidelines, which will be developed in consultation with education stakeholders, will set out the details of the grievance procedures and these will focus on dealing with complaints efficiently, effectively and, as far as possible, informally.
Schools currently have existing local grievance procedures which they follow when dealing with parental complaints.
263. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Education her views on a request from a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25601/23]
View answer281. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Education if she will respond to concerns and proposals raised by a local principal (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25885/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 263 and 281 together.
My Department provides a wide range of supports to all schools, DEIS and non-DEIS, to support the inclusion of all students and address barriers to students achieving their potential.
Supplementing the universal supports available to all schools, the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) Programme is a key policy initiative of my Department to address concentrated educational disadvantage at school level in a targeted and equitable way across the primary and post-primary sector.
In March last year, I announced the single largest expansion of the DEIS programme. This benefited 361 schools. The programme now includes over 1,200 schools and supports approximately 240,000 students. This means 1 in 4 of all students are now supported in the programme.
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.
The DEIS identification process is based on the principle of concentrated disadvantage and the proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds within a school. The DEIS identification model aimed to identify those schools with the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage or the highest proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds within a school using the school's enrolment data and national census data as represented by the Pobal HP Deprivation index which is publicly available.
Schools are identified for inclusion in the DEIS programme based on their standardised disadvantage score. Schools with the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage are included in the DEIS programme, with those urban primary schools having the very highest levels of disadvantage being assigned to Urban Band 1.
A detailed paper on the refined DEIS identification model is available on gov.ie at www.gov.ie/en/publication/a3c9e-extension-of-deis-to-further-schools/#how-schools-were-selected-for-inclusion-in-deis
In accordance with Circular 0019/22 schools that were not satisfied with the outcome following the application of the DEIS identification model to their school enrolment data were provided with the opportunity to have that outcome reviewed.
St Oliver's National School benefited as a new additional school to the DEIS programme and was categorised as Urban Band 2. Having been informed of this in March 2022 St Oliver's appealed seeking Urban band 1 status. Unfortunately the appeal from St Oliver's NS was unsuccessful as they did not meet the necessary criteria.
The DEIS appeals process was applied fairly across all appellants, the window for appeals has now closed and the results are final. My Department will continue to support schools to deliver high quality, inclusive teaching and learning to students and young learners.
The extension of the DEIS programme to new schools is just one component of work in my vision for an inclusive education system which supports all learners to achieve their potential. While the DEIS programme supports those schools with the highest levels of concentrated educational disadvantage, I also recognise that there are students at risk of educational disadvantage in all schools. Since June 2020, and over the past three budgets, I have secured funding to provide measures to support children in this regard. As part of Budget 2023, I announced over €50 million to provide free books to primary school pupils within the free education scheme from next September. I have also further improved the staffing schedule for all primary schools to 23:1, the lowest it has ever been.
Following the National Census 2022 held in April 2022 it is envisaged that an updated HP Deprivation Index will be generated by Pobal and will be available in Q3 of 2023. My Department will engage with Pobal in relation to this process. The updated HP Deprivation Index, when available, will be considered by my Department to help inform future resource allocation to tackle educational disadvantage.
The next phase of work will consider all schools, within and outside the DEIS programme and explore the overall allocation of resources to schools to tackle educational disadvantage. Part of this programme of work will involve consultation with relevant stakeholders over the coming months.
Following the publication of the Department of Justice Scoping Report on Community Safety and Wellbeing in Drogheda (Geiran Report) in March 2021, my Department assigned additional resources on a temporary basis to three primary schools in Drogheda for whom the report had recommended. St Oliver N.S was not referenced in the report as having these same requirements. The report recommended support for these three schools ‘Due to the unique position and situation obtaining in St. Brigid’s and St. Patrick’s NS, St. Joseph’s CBS, and Presentation NS’ . The supports provided to the listed three schools are outside of the DEIS programme and are part of a cross-Government approach as recommended in the report.
264. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Education if she will ensure the 21 education centres in Ireland publish their annual and audited accounts on their websites, from this point forward; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25606/23]
View answerEducation Support Centres are independent statutory bodies recognised under Section 37 of the Education Act (1998). Each Education Support Centre is responsible for preparing annual audited financial statements and submitting these to my Department. In accordance with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies each Education Support Centre should publish an annual report and audited financial statements each year, having first presented them to members at the AGM. All Education Support Centres are aware of their obligations in relation to the publishing of their financial statements and my Department will engage with the Centres in this regard.
265. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Education if she will provide an update on the development of a new school (details supplied); if she will provide details on the timeline for completion of the school; the facilities that will be available at the new school development; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25611/23]
View answerThe major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is being delivered under my Department's ADAPT Programme. This is a joint building project with St Mary’s Special School to provide 2 new schools for pupils with special educational needs on a greenfield site, and is included in my Department’s Construction Programme which is being delivered under the National Development Plan.
This project has recently completed Stage 2a – Developed Design, where the design team develop the design and accurately cost plan the agreed design option to a stage where the project is fully cost planned and can be prepared to lodge for statutory approvals.
The Design Team have lodged the application for planning permission and are proceeding to progress with detailed design and preparation of tender documents as part of Stage 2(b) of Architectural Planning.
Until all statutory approvals have been secured, it is not possible to provide an estimated start on site date.
Upon receipt, review and approval of the Stage 2(b) submission, my Department will then update the schools, design team and project manager as to the further progression of the project.
266. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Education if she will provide an update on a new school building project (details supplied); if she will provide an estimated timeframe from construction to completion; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25612/23]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, a major building project for the school to which he refers is included on the Department's school building programme and is currently at project brief stage.
There are standard procedures to be followed in relation to the progression of a building project, which involve finalising the project brief, the appointment of a Design Team, preliminary design, detailed design, planning permission and then ultimately proceeding to tender and construction. It is not therefore possible at this stage to provide an estimated timeframe for this project.
My Department will continue to engage directly with the school authority as part of this process.
267. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Education when the funding for the free schoolbooks scheme will be distributed to primary schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25655/23]
View answerEarlier this year I announced the establishment of Ireland’s first national primary school book scheme. More than 558,000 pupils enrolled in approximately 3,230 primary schools, including over 130 special schools, will benefit from this new measure. It delivers on the Programme for Government commitment to extend the free school book pilot, which ran in over 100 DEIS primary schools over the last 3 years, as resources permit.
At a minimum the scheme will provide free schoolbooks, workbooks and copybooks for all children and young people in recognised primary schools and special schools from September 2023 and will eliminate the cost of school schoolbooks, workbooks and copybooks for parents of children and young people enrolled in these schools.
My Department engaged with all relevant stakeholders as to how the scheme will operate. These included: primary school management bodies, unions, the National Parents Council Primary, representatives of booksellers and schoolbook publishers, IBEC, Retail Ireland, the Small Firms Association, Barnardos and the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. My Department also engaged with a number of schools, including some of the primary schools participating in the DEIS pilot free book scheme, to learn of their first-hand experience of operating a book rental scheme.
Detailed guidance for primary schools on the scheme was published and issued to all recognised primary schools and special schools in March 2023.
The primary school book grant funding for the 2023/24 academic year was paid directly to to all recognised primary and special schools on the 26th April 2023 in order implement the scheme in time for the start of the 2023/24 school year.
The scheme will seek to ensure that value for money is achieved, and that schools will be supported to implement the scheme in a way that has the best learning outcomes for pupils. It is important to note that schools will continue to have autonomy to choose and purchase books that meet curricular requirements.
268. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Education if she will provide a detailed timeline for a project (details supplied), including an estimated completion date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25660/23]
View answerThe project for the school to which the deputy refers is devolved for delivery to Kildare & Wicklow Education & Training Board (KWETB).
The Brief for this project is to provide an extension to the existing school, the demolition of a section of the building and the refurbishment of some of the existing buildings.
In April 2023, following a departmental review, the project was increased to 1000 pupil school plus 6 SEN classes. With this increased schedule of accommodation the design team and KWETB will be issuing revised plans to incorporate the increase, and this will allow design team to update drawings and progress the planning pack. The Department anticipates that the planning application will be submitted in Q3 2023.
At this stage it is not possible to provide an accurate timeline for completion of the project; KWETB will be engaging directly with the school authority to keep it informed of progress.
269. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Education if she will provide further information on a project (details supplied), including a detailed timeline and estimated completion date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25661/23]
View answerI am pleased to advise the Deputy that approval under the Additional School Accommodation scheme has issued to the school in question for the provision of six general classrooms under my Department's Devolved SEN Reconfiguration and Modular Accommodation programme.
The project is being delivered under the Department’s Devolved SEN Reconfiguration and Modular Accommodation programme. This approach supports accelerated delivery of the accommodation and maximises assistance to the school for this brief, the project will be delivered from the Department’s Procurement Frameworks. A Project Management company is appointed, from the Department’s Framework, to design and tender the project. This consultant will lead the project through the various stages of planning process and construction.
The School Authority has overall responsibility for delivery of the project, a recent meeting was held with the School Authority and Department officials to discuss the project brief and timeline for delivery which is focussed on the next academic year.
270. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Education if she will provide an update on the future of a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25675/23]
View answerThe purpose of the Home Tuition Grant Scheme is to provide funding towards the provision of a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of specific reasons, are unable to attend school. The terms of this scheme are set out in circular 46/2022 which is available on the Government of Ireland website at www.gov.ie/en/circular/22b2a-home-tuition-grant-scheme-20222023-special-education-component/
Payments to group providers of home tuition, such as the facility concerned, are made directly to the provider on a monthly basis in arrears in accordance with my Department’s policy in this regard. Claim forms are to be submitted to my Department at the end of the month in which tuition has been provided and every effort is made to process these claims as soon as possible after the claim form is received from the facility. However, delays may be experienced from time to time if forms are incomplete or not submitted promptly by the provider. I am pleased to inform the deputy that all claims submitted by the school in question in respect of home tuition, including the most recently submitted, have been processed and there are no payments outstanding.
271. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Education the number of applications made for school transport for the 2023/2024 school year, broken down by county, and deemed eligible and non-eligible, in tabular form. [25686/23]
View answerThe School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year, over 149,000 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. The total cost of the scheme in 2022 was €338.9m.
There has been an increase of 21% tickets issued to eligible students and 38% tickets issued on a concessionary basis in the current 2022/23 school year compared to the 2021/22 school year. In addition, school transport scheme services are being provided in the current school year for over 5,200 children who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine.
Bus Éireann have advised that the below table outlines the number of new mainstream applications received for the 2023/24 school year. The source data is accurate as of 29/05/2023.
2023/24 School Year
|
County of School |
No. of New Mainstream Eligible Applications |
No. of New Mainstream Concessionary Applications |
Grand Total |
|
Carlow |
491 |
356 |
847 |
|
Cavan |
694 |
565 |
1259 |
|
Clare |
873 |
494 |
1367 |
|
Cork |
3341 |
2745 |
6086 |
|
Donegal |
1694 |
1061 |
2755 |
|
Dublin |
662 |
802 |
1464 |
|
Galway |
2180 |
1660 |
3840 |
|
Kerry |
1109 |
811 |
1920 |
|
Kildare |
1170 |
1277 |
2447 |
|
Kilkenny |
631 |
747 |
1378 |
|
Laois |
413 |
658 |
1071 |
|
Leitrim |
356 |
288 |
644 |
|
Limerick |
1547 |
750 |
2297 |
|
Longford |
372 |
332 |
704 |
|
Louth |
1169 |
661 |
1830 |
|
Mayo |
1047 |
672 |
1719 |
|
Meath |
1018 |
1363 |
2381 |
|
Monaghan |
757 |
446 |
1203 |
|
Offaly |
439 |
519 |
958 |
|
Roscommon |
350 |
423 |
773 |
|
Sligo |
438 |
447 |
885 |
|
Tipperary |
1204 |
924 |
2128 |
|
Waterford |
580 |
400 |
980 |
|
Westmeath |
618 |
621 |
1239 |
|
Wexford |
1173 |
948 |
2121 |
|
Wicklow |
684 |
551 |
1235 |
|
Grand Total |
25010 |
20521 |
45531 |
272. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Education the status of the school transport review group; and if changes will be implemented for the forthcoming school transport year. [25687/23]
View answerThe School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year, over 149,000 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. There has been an increase of 21% tickets issued to eligible students and 38% tickets issued on a concessionary basis in the current 2022/23 school year compared to the 2021/22 school year.
In addition, school transport scheme services are being provided in the current school year for over 5,200 children who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine.
The total cost of the scheme in 2022 was €338.9m.
The School Transport Scheme is an important service for families and children.
The purpose of the Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school.
A review of the School Transport Scheme is underway. The review is being conducted with a view to examining the current scheme, its broader effectiveness and sustainability, and to ensure that it serves students and their families adequately.
Significant consultation has been undertaken as part of this review. A public survey was administered for parents/guardians and students who use the service and those who do not use the service but who would like to. A broad array of stakeholders including schools, special education interest groups, industry representatives and other Government Departments were all consulted as part of this review.
Phase 1 of the review examined the impact of eligibility criteria on mainstream pupils who were eligible for transport to their nearest school but attending their next nearest school. The report was completed in June 2021.
Following consideration of this Phase 1 report, for the 2021/2022 school year, the provision of temporary alleviation measures was approved for transport for post-primary students who are otherwise eligible for school transport, but were attending their second nearest school and had applied and paid on time. These measures have been continued for the current 2022/2023 school year, and will again continue in the 2023/2024 school year pending completion of the review.
For the 2023/2024 school year, these measures mean that transport will be provided for post-primary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school and are attending their second nearest school and, who applied for school transport by the 28th April 2023 and pay for a ticket/enter medical card details by the 9th June 2023.
Phase 2 of the review was completed late last year and phase 3 will be completed shortly. This final report will include recommendations on the future operation of the Department’s School Transport Scheme. Once approved by Government, it is planned that the review will be published.
For the 2023/2024 school year, it remains that children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school, and at post primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.
Children who are eligible for school transport and who have completed the application process on time are accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation.
Children who are not eligible for school transport, but who completed the application process on time, are considered for spare seats that may exist after eligible children have been facilitated; such seats are referred to as concessionary seats.
273. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education if she will confirm with reference to the newly established Irish sign language supports, how many in-class support vacancies have been advertised; how many posts have been filled; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25688/23]
View answerI would like to thank the Deputy for the question and would like to advise the following:
Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government.
For 2023, the spend by my Department on special education will be substantially increased by over 10% on last year, meaning that for 2023 my Department will spend over €2.6 billion on special education.
This level of educational funding and support is unprecedented and represents in excess of 27% of the Department’s total allocation for 2023.
The Department of Education has long provided a range of supports for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, either in mainstream classes, 24 special classes or through the 2 established schools for Deaf children.
The Irish Sign Language (ISL) Tuition Scheme provides funding for a weekly tuition service. Tutors visit the home of a deaf or hard of hearing pre-school child or school-going pupil to provide training in ISL for the child, their siblings, their grandparent(s) and parents or guardian.
There is longstanding existing provision in place, which provides a dedicated special needs assistant with ISL competency to support students in mainstream settings access to the curriculum and engage in school activities.
On 14th November 2022 a new enhanced scheme of ISL provision was announced.
A national advertising campaign commenced in January 2023, by the NCSE, to recruited for the role of ISL-SCS on a nationwide basis. This campaign is currently at interview stage, following which a panel will be created and the ISL SCS will be assigned to individual students who meet the criteria for phase 1 of the new scheme
274. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education if she will confirm with reference to the newly established “advisor roles”, how many vacancies have been advertised and how many posts have been filled; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25690/23]
View answerI would like to thank the Deputy for the question and would like to advise the following:
Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government.
For 2023, the spend by my Department on special education will be substantially increased by over 10% on last year, meaning that for 2023 my Department will spend over €2.6 billion on special education.
This level of educational funding and support is unprecedented and represents in excess of 27% of the Department’s total allocation for 2023.
The Department of Education has long provided a range of supports for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, either in mainstream classes, 24 special classes or through the 2 established schools for Deaf children.
The Irish Sign Language (ISL) Tuition Scheme provides funding for a weekly tuition service. Tutors visit the home of a deaf or hard of hearing pre-school child or school-going pupil to provide training in ISL for the child, their siblings, their grandparent(s) and parents or guardian.
There is longstanding existing provision in place, which provides a dedicated special needs assistant with ISL competency to support students in mainstream settings access to the curriculum and engage in school activities.
On 14th November 2022 a new enhanced scheme of ISL provision was announced.
I would like to advise the Deputy that the NCSE undertook an initial advertising campaign for the ISL Advisor role in the 2022 in the south of the country and no suitable candidate was appointed following the campaign.
A national advertising campaign will commence shortly (following the conclusion of the ISL-SCS campaign) by the NCSE for the role of ISL Advisor on a nationwide basis.
