Parliamentary questions

Teacher Recruitment

Jonathan O'Brien

85. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will clarify that when he says the recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill teaching posts is a matter for the individual school authority, subject to procedures agreed under section 24(3) of the Education Act 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act 2012) and that the deployment of teaching staff in the school, the range of subjects offered and ultimately the quality of teaching and learning are, in the first instance, a matter for the school management authorities he is confirming that a principal of a post-primary school and its board of management have the discretion, under the existing DES procedures, to give resource hours to a mainstream teacher instead of a resource teacher. [35603/13]

Waste Management Regulations

Jonathan O'Brien

84. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a detailed update on his Department’s development of a new domestic waste policy setting out a range of proposals to significantly revise the existing regulatory regime; and when he expects this process to conclude. [33805/13]

Regeneration Projects Status

Jonathan O'Brien

103. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an update on the delivery of housing units as part of the Limerick regeneration project. [33781/13]

Pupil-Teacher Ratio

Jonathan O'Brien

353. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the projected annual savings to be made in increasing the pupil-teacher ratio in Gaeltacht schools from September 2013 onwards. [34831/13]

Exchequer Savings

Jonathan O'Brien

354. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the projected annual savings that are to be made in cutting the Gaeltacht grant for teachers delivering the school curriculum through the medium of Irish; the teaching through Irish allowance and the island allowance. [34832/13]

Pupil-Teacher Ratio

Jonathan O'Brien

355. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide, in tabular form, the number of gaelscoileanna affected by the changes to the pupil-teacher ratio from September 2013 onwards; and if he will provide details of those schools that will lose a teaching post as a result of the change in staffing schedules. [34833/13]

Pupil-Teacher Ratio

Jonathan O'Brien

356. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views that the favourable pupil-teacher ratio for gaelscoileanna reflected the greater challenges facing small and developing gaelscoileanna implementing a full curriculum through Irish and the inequalities relating to the lack of resources and supports at these schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34834/13]

Pupil-Teacher Ratio

Jonathan O'Brien

357. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the decision to increase the pupil-teacher ratio in gaelscoileanna impedes schools in Gaeltacht areas delivering the curriculum through Irish; and his views on the concerns that some schools will require an additional 20 plus pupils to maintain their current staffing levels. [34835/13]

Gaelscoileanna Issues

Jonathan O'Brien

358. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an update on his plans to overhaul the school admissions policies and the way he intends to bring to an end the practice of Irish-medium schools prioritising the enrolment of pupils from Irish-speaking families at primary and second level. [34836/13]

School Textbooks Rental Scheme

Jonathan O'Brien

365. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the efforts being made by his Department to ensure that all resource material and relevant textbooks relating to the school curriculum at primary and post-primary level are made available to teachers and pupils. [35272/13]

Physical Education

Jonathan O'Brien

372. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will respond to concerns raised by the National Activity Planning Group that physical education will be downgraded from 180 hours to 100 hours over the three years of the junior certificate curriculum; and what are his plans for PE at post-primary level. [35372/13]

Credit Guarantee Scheme Applications

Jonathan O'Brien

43. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the target for drawing down from the mircoenterprise loan fund and the credit guarantee scheme for the coming year. [33510/13]

Credit Guarantee Scheme Application Numbers

Jonathan O'Brien

58. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the level of the value of the take-up of credit guarantees as a percentage of the maximum value of €150 million for last year; and the target drawn down of guarantees for the coming year. [33511/13]

Child Benefit Rates

Jonathan O'Brien

64. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will guarantee the current rates of child benefit as a universal payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33251/13]

Youth Guarantee

Jonathan O'Brien

113. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to the recommendation by the National Youth Council that her Department develop a strand within the youth guarantee scheme to support young persons with limited qualifications who are long-term unemployed; and her plans to act on this recommendation. [33250/13]

Special Educational Needs Staffing

Jonathan O'Brien

206. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills in a case where a post-primary school is over quota, if the principal and Board of Management of that school have the discretion to decide the way learning support and resource teaching hours are allocated; his Department's circular/policy document that school boards of management must adhere to when allocating resource hours to mainstream teachers at post-primary level; the policy at post-primary level that informs principals and boards of management how to give hours allocated to pupils with special needs to mainstream teachers instead of resource teachers; and if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a qualified resource teacher can lose his or her job as a result of the hours he or she should be teaching being given to a mainstream teacher because the school is in an over-quota position. [33071/13]

Special Educational Needs Staffing

Jonathan O'Brien

207. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills in view of his decision to maintain the level of resource hours to those allocated in 2012/2013 the reason a college (details supplied) in Dublin 1 is receiving less resource hours for the new academic year starting in September 2013. [33072/13]

Child Poverty

Jonathan O'Brien

24. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will set out and provide details on the process for the selection of the sites, programmes, interventions, and supports to be provided under the new area based approach to the child poverty initiative in 2013. [32593/13]

Child Protection Issues

Jonathan O'Brien

57. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the measures she will take to address the deficiencies in social work provision in Health Service Executive North Lee area; her plans to implement the recommendations arising from the Ombudsman for Children's Investigation of April 2013; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32594/13]

Back to School Costs

Jonathan O'Brien

2. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to implement the recommendations of the Oireachtas Select Committee on Education who have proposed that pupils should not be obliged to wear crested uniforms and schools should end the practice of using work plans and if he will present a timetable for when these measures will be implemented. [32342/13]

School Staffing

Jonathan O'Brien

7. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of resource teachers that will lose their jobs or have their teaching hours reduced in the 2013/14 academic year; if he will confirm that principals and school boards of management have the flexibility to employ mainstream teachers without full-time timetables into roles that should be filled by specially trained resource teachers. [32206/13]

Departmental Expenditure

Jonathan O'Brien

52. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will respond to the findings contained in the Education at a Glance 2013 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development which shows the proportion of public expenditure on education in Ireland fell from 13.7% to 9.7% in the decade between 2000 and 2010; and if the failure of the Government to ring-fence funding for education will prevent the building of a knowledge-based economy. [32205/13]

School Staffing

Jonathan O'Brien

97. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide in tabular form the number of release days from full-time teaching duties afforded by his Department to teaching principals; his plans to increase these; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32393/13]

School Management

Jonathan O'Brien

98. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the training that was provided for members of boards of management at primary and post-primary level; the funding his Department provided for this training; the evaluation of this training that has been undertaken by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32394/13]

Pupil-Teacher Ratio

Jonathan O'Brien

99. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to reduce the average class size in primary schools in Ireland, which according to OECD Education at a Glance 2013 is the second highest of EU countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32395/13]

School Staffing

Jonathan O'Brien

100. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will list in tabular form the number of assistant principal posts and special duties posts in primary schools in March 2009; the number of assistant principal posts and special duties posts in primary schools in September 2009; the number of assistant principal posts and special duties posts in primary schools in September 2010; the number of assistant principal posts and special duties posts in primary schools in September 2011; the number of assistant principal posts and special duties posts in primary schools in September 2012; the number of assistant principal posts and special duties posts in post-primary schools in March 2009; and the number of assistant principal posts and special duties posts in post-primary schools in September 2009. [32396/13]

School Staffing

Jonathan O'Brien

101. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will list in tabular form the number of assistant principal posts and special duties posts in post-primary schools; the number of assistant principal posts and special duties posts in post-primary schools in September 2011; and the number of assistant principal posts and special duties posts in post-primary schools in September 2012. [32397/13]

School Staffing

Jonathan O'Brien

102. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will list in tabular form the number of Assistant Principal posts returned to primary schools and post primary schools each year as a result of the limited alleviation introduced for schools acutely affected by the impact of the moratorium. [32398/13]

School Staffing

Jonathan O'Brien

103. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will instruct his Department to carry out a review of the workload of principal teachers with particular emphasis on the role of teaching principals in view of reports that increasing workload pressure, responsibility and accountability is leading to a general negativity about the role of school leadership. [32399/13]

School Staffing

Jonathan O'Brien

104. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of primary principals between the age of 21 and 30; the number of primary principals between the age of 31 and 40; the number of primary principals between the age of 41 and 50; the number of primary principals between the age of 51 and 60; and the number of primary principals older than 60. [32400/13]

Special Educational Needs Services Provision

Jonathan O'Brien

105. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of section 29 appeals against suspension in post-primary schools that were taken by parents of children with special needs; the number of section 29 appeals against expulsion in post-primary schools that were taken by parents of children with special needs; the number of section 29 appeals against suspension in primary schools that were taken by parents of children with special needs; and the number of section 29 appeals against expulsion in primary schools that were taken by parents of children with special needs. [32401/13]

School Funding

Jonathan O'Brien

106. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the financial support being provided to each of the managerial bodies at primary and post-primary level in each of the past five years. [32402/13]

Departmental Funding

Jonathan O'Brien

107. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the financial support being provided to the National Parents Council Primary and the National Parents Council Post Primary in each of the past five years. [32403/13]

School Staffing

Jonathan O'Brien

108. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will list in tabular form the number of release days from full-time teaching duties afforded by his Department to teaching principals; his plans to increase these; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32404/13]

Bank Charges

Jonathan O'Brien

74. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Finance his views on the recent increase in bank charges by AIB; and if he has had any contact with the bank regarding this increase. [31884/13]

State Banking Sector

Jonathan O'Brien

137. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Finance if he intends to sell his shares in AIB and Bank of Ireland in the next 12 months; and if he will outline his strategy in disposing of his shares in the pillar banks. [31870/13]

Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance Scheme

Jonathan O'Brien

461. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of families and children who will receive the back to school clothing and footwear allowance automatically in 2013; the amount of money her Department has allocated for this scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31999/13]

Public Transport Initiatives

Jonathan O'Brien

18. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to work with LUAS to allow for passengers to bring their bikes on board at off-peak times and to generally encourage accommodation of cyclists on public transport. [31038/13]

Sports Funding

Jonathan O'Brien

20. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide a breakdown of the way the €43.798 million allocated to the Irish Sports Council in 2013 is to be spent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30948/13]

Teaching Qualifications

Jonathan O'Brien

127. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if schools have the discretion to allocate resource hours to teachers who have no specialised training for teaching children with special educational needs; and if he will clarify the regulations that relate to the supports provided to children with special needs in a mainstream school setting. [31359/13]

Teaching Qualifications

Jonathan O'Brien

128. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills in a case where a school is over quota, if the principal and board of management of that school have the discretion to decide the way in which resource hours are allocated; if it is his view that teachers who have not received specialised training can provide the type of tuition and duty of care that is necessary for children with special needs in a mainstream school setting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31360/13]

Teaching Qualifications

Jonathan O'Brien

129. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason schools are expected to go through the process of applying for an allocation of resource hours which can then be allocated to non-qualified resource teaching staff. [31361/13]

Children in Armed Conflict

Jonathan O'Brien

32. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the recently released annual report of the UN Secretary General on children and armed conflict, which provides information regarding grave violations committed against children in 22 country situations; his views regarding the high number of persistent perpetrators named in the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30763/13]

Overseas Development Aid Issues

Jonathan O'Brien

41. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will outline the topics that were discussed at the Conference on Education and Development in Brussels, attended by Minister of State, Deputy Joe Costello; and if he will use his position to advocate for education to be a central theme in discussions on the post-2015 global development framework. [30782/13]

Hospitals Policy

Jonathan O'Brien

98. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Health the opportunity that will be provided for stakeholders to engage in the process of consultation provided for in the Higgins Report on Hospital Groups; the timeframe and proposed structure of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30412/13]

Obesity Strategy

Jonathan O'Brien

123. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Health his plans for the introduction of a national strategy for a childhood obesity prevention and intervention service; if he has engaged directly or, if not, will engage with the anchors/providers of the W82GO childhood obesity treatment programme at Temple Street Children’s Hospital, Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30413/13]

Teacher Recruitment

Jonathan O'Brien

248. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if in the case of a two teacher school, principal plus one, the second teacher is entitled to a deputy principal allowance and or special duties post; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30189/13]

Schools Building Projects Status

Jonathan O'Brien

251. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills when construction work will begin on a permanent school building for a school (details supplied) in Dublin 18; and the projected deadline for the completion of the new building. [30209/13]

Special Educational Needs Services Provision

Jonathan O'Brien

302. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will confirm that policy decisions regarding the science of applied behaviour analysis for the treatment of autism have been made without consultations with professional bodies representing this science; the circumstances under which it is considered appropriate not to engage with representatives of a professional discipline that has an extensive database of findings showing it to have substantial success in the treatment of autism; and the steps he will take to correct the misinformation on applied behaviour analysis that has led to the closure of schools that functioned as ABA schools. [30838/13]

Special Educational Needs Services Provision

Jonathan O'Brien

303. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to consult with those states in the United States of America that have mandated insurance companies to pay for the treatment of autism that is based on applied behaviour analysis. [30839/13]