Tuesday, 30 May 2023

Written Answers Nos. 327-339

Schools Refurbishment

Questions (327)

Sorca Clarke

Question:

327. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education when the refurbishment works at a school (details supplied) are expected to be completed; and the estimated cost for these works. [26340/23]

Written answers

Minister for Education

The Large scale capital project referred to by the Deputy is at Architectural Planning Stage 4 - Construction. Works commenced on site in August 2022 with an estimated project completion date of Q4 2024.

Schools Refurbishment

Questions (328)

Sorca Clarke

Question:

328. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education when the refurbishment works at a school (details supplied) will be completed; and the estimated cost for these works. [26341/23]

Written answers

Minister for Education

The large scale capital project referred to by the Deputy is at Architectural Planning Stage 4 - Construction. Works commenced on site in January 2022 with an estimated project completion date of Q1 2024.

Schools Refurbishment

Questions (329)

Sorca Clarke

Question:

329. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education when refurbishment works at a school (details supplied) will move to detailed design stage. [26342/23]

Written answers

Minister for Education

The project to which the Deputy refers has been devolved to the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) for delivery. This school is in the bundle referred to as ‘Project Dargle’.This project has progressed through the early stages of the architectural planning process and the statutory planning application was submitted to Wicklow County Council in Q1 2023. Once the statutory planning permission has been obtained, the Design Team will be responsible for developing the project such that it can be approved to progress to tender and construction stages in due course.

At this early stage, it is not possible to provide a timeline for the project; the NDFA will be engaging directly with the school authorities to keep them informed of progress.

Schools Refurbishment

Questions (330)

Sorca Clarke

Question:

330. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education when refurbishment works at a school (details supplied) will be completed; and the estimated cost for these works. [26343/23]

Written answers

Minister for Education

The large scale capital project referred to by the Deputy is at Architectural Planning Stage 4 - Construction. Works commenced on site in May 2022 with an estimated completion date of Q3 2023.

Schools Refurbishment

Questions (331)

Sorca Clarke

Question:

331. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education when refurbishment works at a school (details supplied) will be completed; and the estimated cost for these works. [26344/23]

Written answers

Minister for Education

The Letter of Acceptance (LOA) for the major school building project referred to by the Deputy issued to the preferred tenderer on 31 May 2022 commencing the school building contract.

Works are progressing well on site and the school building is due for completion in Q4 2023.

There are no refurbishment works planned for the school's current accommodation under the Design and Build contract.

Departmental Schemes

Questions (332, 333)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

332. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the number of participants in the basic income for the arts scheme who have dropped out since accepting a place on the scheme; and the number of participants forced to drop out as a result of the impact on their social protection payments. [25650/23]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

333. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the number of participants in the basic income for the arts scheme control group who have dropped out since accepting a place on the scheme; and the number of participants in the control group forced to drop out as a result of the impact on their social protection payments. [25651/23]

Written answers

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media

I propose to take Questions Nos. 332 and 333 together.

The Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) pilot was a key priority for me as Minister with responsibility for arts and culture. I must emphasise that I have no statutory function in relation to social welfare payments, this is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Social Protection.

When a participant (recipient or control group participant) wishes to withdraw from their place on the scheme, the Department does not make giving a reason mandatory. The question asked on the ‘Decline Offer Form’ is: If you wish, please explain your reason(s) for declining your offer of the BIA grant. This is helpful from a research point of view as it will record the reasons applicants declined the BIA Pilot payment.’

Having begun with 2000 recipients there are currently 1996 people receiving the BIA payment. To date no recipients who have withdrawn from the Basic Income for the Arts Pilot Research Scheme withdrew as a result of impact on social protection payments.

The Control Group started with 997 participants and there are currently 992 participants on the Control Group. To date no Control Group members have withdrawn from the Basic Income for the Arts Pilot Scheme stating that this is as a result of impact on their social protection payments.

Question No. 333 answered with Question No. 332.

Disability Services

Questions (334)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

334. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she fulfilled her commitments given to a campaign (details supplied) in a meeting in September 2022 to write to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Minister for Social Protection and the Minister of State with special responsibility for disabilities; the dates on which she wrote to the relevant Ministers; if she has received a reply from each Minister; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25756/23]

Written answers

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media

I wish to advise the Deputy that many of the issues raised by the campaign group referred to by the Deputy are beyond the remit of my Department. I have written to the Minister for Social Protection and the Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth in September 2022, bringing the matters raised to their attention.

Departmental Schemes

Questions (335)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

335. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the frequency with which her Department has contacted participants on the basic income for the arts scheme since its commencement; and if direct communication with participants relates to gathering research exclusively or also to notify participants with information relating to artistic opportunities and events. [25760/23]

Written answers

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media

The Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) pilot was a key priority for me as Minister with responsibility for arts and culture.

Research findings on the impact of this pilot on the individuals and their practices, the sector and ecology of the arts in Ireland will form part of the pilot and this scheme has the potential to change the landscape of the arts in Ireland and how we fund it.

Following the application and assessment process the first offers were made to participants on 8 September 2022. In order to administer this scheme we have corresponded with our participants regularly. To date a total of 28 emails have been issued to all participants. These included the initial emails offering a place on the pilot, email reminders regarding tax treatment and tax clearance, emails listing upcoming payment dates for BIA recipients, notification and reminder of BIA survey, invitation to an online welcome and research team survey information session held in March 2023 and links and information on the Minding Creative Minds/Safe to Create programmes being supported by my Department.

Of course there is also an administration requirement to run the scheme and this often requires additional individual contacts for instance, regarding bank closures in Ireland, account details, and other queries as they arise for individual participants.

Departmental Schemes

Questions (336)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

336. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she will publish the questions being asked of participants as part of the research for the pilot basic income for the arts scheme. [25761/23]

Written answers

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media

Implementing the Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) pilot was a key priority for me, and I look forward to seeing the data that arises out of the pilot in due course.

The BIA pilot has been implemented as a randomised control trial which consists of two groups of randomly selected people. 2,000 recipients were selected to receive a payment of €325 per week, while a further 1,000 Control Group members were also selected to participate in the research. Analysis of the results will involve a comparison of averages between the two groups, across a very broad range of possible impact areas.

The research programme that accompanies the pilot is examining, over a three-year period, the impact of a basic income style payment on artists and creative arts workers. As such, evaluation will be continuous and ongoing, with the main element of the programme comprising a longitudinal study which is seeing participants surveyed every six months. An initial pre-intervention baseline survey was opened to participant in October 2022 for responses, and the first post-intervention survey is currently open for responses from participants and due to close tomorrow (31 May). These surveys will continue every six months for the duration of the pilot.

Once the data from this survey has been analysed, a comprehensive report assessing the impact of the scheme will be produced by the Basic Income for the Arts Research Team. This team is comprised of a group of economists and policy analysts who are all members of IGEES (the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service).

I anticipate that the first of a series of reports on the pilot will begin to be published during the summer. It is my intention that this report will provide significant analysis and insights in relation to the impact of the scheme to date, and that the survey questions will be published as part of, or along side of, this initial report.

Disability Services

Questions (337, 338)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

337. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if her Department intends to establish a disability consultative committee; and if so, when a committee is expected to be established. [25795/23]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

338. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media when her Department last met with the disability stakeholder group; the progress that has occurred since that meeting; and if her Department has successfully implemented the actions set out in the National Disability Inclusion Strategy. [25796/23]

Written answers

Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media

I propose to take Questions Nos. 337 and 338 together.

The National Disability Inclusion Strategy 2017 - 2022 (NDIS) was conducted under the remit of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY). DCEDIY administered the National Disability Inclusion Strategy Steering Group (NDISSG) which oversaw and reported on the progress of Departmental Strategy actions. The Strategy Steering Group composed of representatives of all Government Departments and also representatives of the Disability Stakeholders Group (DSG). The DSG is managed and coordinated by the National Disability Authority (NDA) and is composed of representatives of a number of Disability groups.

Under the National Disability Inclusion Strategy (NDIS), it was recommended that all Government Departments establish a Disability Consultative Committee (DCC), to which the Deputy refers, within their own governance structure. The purpose of the DCCs was to collaborate with Government Departments on the implementation of the Strategy. In accordance with that recommendation, I can confirm that my Department had a well established DCC in place during the course of the Strategy until its conclusion at the end of 2022.

With regard to the Disability Stakeholder Group (DSG), I understand representatives of that group attended meetings of the Strategy Steering group and officials of my Department also attended those meetings and reported on my Department’s progress on the actions set out in the Strategy. The final meeting of the Strategy Steering Group took place in December 2022 as the Strategy came to its conclusion. I am pleased to advise that my Department’s reports to the Strategy Steering Group, which included DSG representatives, showed good progress on all actions.

My Department awaits and will support any future development of any revised or new National Disability Inclusion Strategy (NDIS) and any consequential recommendations. In the meantime, my Department continues to action measures to support disability matters across the various Sectors under my remit and will continue to engage with Stakeholders accordingly.

Question No. 338 answered with Question No. 337.

Sports Funding

Questions (339)

Thomas Gould

Question:

339. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the funding schemes available through Sport Ireland in 2023; and the amount allocated to each scheme. [25810/23]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media

Sport Ireland, which is funded by my Department, is the statutory body with responsibility for the development of sport, increasing participation at all levels and raising standards, including the allocation of funding under its various programmes.

I have referred the Deputy's question to Sport Ireland for direct reply in relation to the funding schemes available through Sport Ireland in 2023. I would ask the Deputy to inform my office if a reply is not received within 10 days.

A referred reply was forwarded to the Deputy under Standing Order 51