Parliamentary questions

Student Grant Scheme Eligibility

Jonathan O'Brien

34. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to anomalies within the Student Universal Support Ireland procedures for assessing independent students; and her plans to reform this. [37920/14]

Site Acquisitions

Jonathan O'Brien

168. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if a site survey was carried out by an architect or other person contracted by or employed by or connected to her Department, on the Dominican site where a school (details supplied) is located; if a report based on this survey was produced; if she will make the report available to parents of students attending this school. [38376/14]

Higher Education Institutions

Jonathan O'Brien

477. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to the fact that many students with disabilities access university and third level colleges via FETAC courses; if her further attention has been drawn to the fact that they must achieve a high standard in their FETAC course in order to do this; if her further attention has been drawn to the fact that they may not access university using DARE having secured FETAC qualifications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37942/14]

School Curriculum

Jonathan O'Brien

490. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to have farm safety issues incorporated into appropriate parts of the primary school curriculum. [38068/14]

Residential Institutions

Jonathan O'Brien

497. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of consultants contracted to undertake work for Caranua; the names and details of these consultants; if she appointed any consultants to Caranua and their details; the value of their contracts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38105/14]

Residential Institutions

Jonathan O'Brien

498. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the advocacy or representative groups of survivors of residential institutional abuse that have requested to meet her since she took office; the groups she has met to date; if she will meet any others; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38106/14]

Capitation Grants

Jonathan O'Brien

161. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of not reducing the capitation grant to primary and post-primary schools by a further 1% as proposed in budget 2012, to be implemented this year. [37316/14]

Capitation Grants

Jonathan O'Brien

162. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of not reducing the capitation rates for VTOS, YouthReach, BTEI, PLC and adult literacy by a further 1% as proposed in budget 2012, to be implemented this year. [37317/14]

Third Level Charges

Jonathan O'Brien

163. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of not increasing the higher education student contribution by €250 to €3,000. [37318/14]

Special Educational Needs Expenditure

Jonathan O'Brien

164. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of full implementation of the EPSEN Act. [37319/14]

Special Educational Needs Data

Jonathan O'Brien

165. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of pupils within the education system who are entitled to special needs assistants in schools; and the number of SNAs that are allocated to them. [37320/14]

Special Educational Needs Expenditure

Jonathan O'Brien

166. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of reinstating the five hours of special needs assistant support received by children with special needs from the cut rate of three hours and 45 minutes; and the number of extra SNAs that would be needed in order to implement a policy of five hours of support. [37321/14]

Special Educational Needs Expenditure

Jonathan O'Brien

167. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children accessing resource hours in schools; and the number of extra resource teachers that would be needed to ensure that all children accessing resource hours received the maximum of five hours of resource support. [37322/14]

Social Welfare Fraud Investigations

Jonathan O'Brien

151. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the circulars governing the use of investigating social media accounts of persons for social welfare fraud within her Department; and the number of times social media profiles were investigated in the past four years. [36765/14]

Social Welfare Fraud Investigations

Jonathan O'Brien

152. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if her staff are allowed set up social media profiles in order to access information when investigating social welfare fraud or if there are specific accounts used for this purpose; and the number of times this has occurred. [36766/14]

Social Welfare Fraud Investigations

Jonathan O'Brien

153. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if her Department has purchased services from companies that allow it to view social media profiles of persons or services from app companies that allow it to view the same information; the amount of money spent on these contracts; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36767/14]

Social Welfare Fraud Investigations

Jonathan O'Brien

154. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of control reviews undertaken last year using social media accounts; the outcome of each review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36768/14]

National Positive Ageing Strategy Implementation

Jonathan O'Brien

473. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the National Positive Ageing Strategy launched on 25 April 2013 with a guarantee that an implementation plan would follow within six months; the date on which the implementation plan will be completed; the date on which the implementation plan will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37167/14]

Teaching Qualifications

Jonathan O'Brien

502. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position for teachers who wish to register with the Teaching Council and the requirement to have completed 300 teaching hours before registration; if any of these hours may be voluntary, undertaken for the purposes of qualifying for registration; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36769/14]

Youthreach Programme Funding

Jonathan O'Brien

510. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the funding allocated in 2013 and 2014 for Youthreach projects; the number of Youthreach projects in operation in 2013 and 2014; the number of students in Youthreach programmes in 2013 and 2014; the agreed or preferred funding allocation from her Department per capita for each Youthreach project in 2013 and 2014; the agreed or preferred allocation from her Department to be held by the education and training board for administration of the individual Youthreach projects; and if she will provide a comparison for 2013 and 2014 of the total and actual spend per student in a Youthreach course compared to the total and per capita funding for a student in comparable secondary school. [36845/14]

School Staffing

Jonathan O'Brien

511. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will review the decision to remove one mainstream class teacher from a school (details supplied) in County Galway on the basis that it is short one pupil for the 86 pupil cut-off point this year; if her attention has been drawn to this decision that will mean students being taught in multi-grade classes and a number of classrooms lying idle; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36868/14]

School Accommodation

Jonathan O'Brien

533. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 463 of 23 September 2014, the date on which she expects the primary school in Craddockstown to be in an actual school rather than prefabs; the stage the process of moving the school out of prefabs is at; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37031/14]

Special Educational Needs Staffing

Jonathan O'Brien

534. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of special needs assistants who have been made redundant in each year since 2008; the number of special needs assistants employed during each of those years; the number of children each of those SNAs was working with; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37087/14]

Rail Services

Jonathan O'Brien

210. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will urge Irish Rail to introduce train tickets for part-time workers that would reduce the cost of their travel and ensure they are not paying for fares for the days they do not commute; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35978/14]

Minor Works Scheme Restoration

Jonathan O'Brien

434. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to reinstate the minor works grant scheme; if her attention has been drawn to the negative impacts for many schools as a result of its loss. [35279/14]

Teacher Training Provision

Jonathan O'Brien

449. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on the financial pressure being placed on students due to the increased amount of time they must spend in the Gaeltacht in order to qualify as a teacher; and her plans to address this. [35548/14]

Teacher Training Provision

Jonathan O'Brien

450. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the guidelines setting out the standards that the Gaeltacht programme for students undertaking primary education degrees must adhere to; the avenues open to students if they feel that the programmes to which they are sent are not meeting the standards. [35549/14]

School Accommodation

Jonathan O'Brien

463. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the provision of a new school in Naas, County Kildare; if her attention has been drawn to the fact a brand new school is lying empty in Craddockstown; if her attention has been further drawn to the fact that the Education and Training Board has a primary school with 220 children in prefabs, of which 30 are located in the adjacent Gaelscoil as there is no room for them at the moment; if her attention has also been drawn to the fact that the prefabs are nine years old and have many leaks and problems with the lighting and electrics, and also have black mould problems and rats; if her attention has been further drawn to the fact that there are only two toilets to serve 100 children; the reason children have not been moved to the new school; the amount of money that was spent on these prefabs in the past nine years and the company from which they were leased; and her plans to rectify this. [35804/14]

Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board

Jonathan O'Brien

464. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on the excessive delays in the operations of Caranua; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that citizens have lost places on education courses due to the inability of Caranua to process their appeals in a timely manner; if her attention has been further drawn to the fact that a person (details supplied) lost a place on a course due to Caranua's failure to process an appeal and the person has now lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman regarding same; her plans to put guidelines in place to ensure that appeals and cases are processed in a timely manner; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35806/14]

School Placement

Jonathan O'Brien

468. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills her policy on twins in primary schools remaining in the same class or being separated. [35866/14]

School Fees

Jonathan O'Brien

469. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the recourse open to a parent who paid a fee for books to a non-fee-paying primary school at the beginning of September and then subsequently removed the children from that school and put them in another but received no refund for the fees paid and no books; if the school is obliged to refund this money; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35867/14]

Mortgage to Rent Scheme Application Numbers

Jonathan O'Brien

523. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide details in tabular form, by county and year, of the number of applications for the mortgage-to-rent scheme which were unsuccessful because of the occupancy conditions attached to the scheme in respect of the size of dwelling and number of persons residing in the property; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35868/14]

Security of the Elderly

Jonathan O'Brien

193. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that many older persons have received notification that they are now liable to pay VAT on all personal security alarms, placing an immediate 23% increase on the cost of these alarms which are no longer subsidised through the telephone allowance; if these personal alarms given under the seniors alert scheme, could be classified as eligible for a refund of VAT as a necessary aid for communication and mobility considering these devices are vital for their continued mobility, safety and ability to remain at home. [33056/14]

Research and Development Funding

Jonathan O'Brien

376. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the percentage of GDP spent on research and development during each of the past four years. [33707/14]

Closed Circuit Television Systems Provision

Jonathan O'Brien

572. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of CCTV cameras currently in operation throughout the State. [33236/14]

Property Services Regulatory Authority Remit

Jonathan O'Brien

588. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the average length of time for processing complaints made to the Property Services Regulatory Authority. [33499/14]

Child and Family Agency Staff

Jonathan O'Brien

714. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of personnel who are employed by the newly established Child and Family Agency; the number of these positions that have been filled by public advertisement; the number that were filled internally by appointment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32976/14]

Child and Family Agency Remit

Jonathan O'Brien

728. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the position regarding the work of the Child and Family Agency to support parents to adopt positive parenting practices with the aim of eliminating corporal punishment here; the number of positive parenting programmes that are being provided to this aim throughout the State through family resource centres or other agencies; if an audit has been carried out or other data collected on the quality, effectiveness and accessibility of positive parenting programmes around the State; and the manner in which information on positive parenting programmes is being disseminated to parents to encourage uptake. [33590/14]

Departmental Programmes

Jonathan O'Brien

736. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of parents who have engaged in positive parenting programmes each year since their introduction; the costs charged to parents for participating in these programmes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33676/14]

Schools Building Projects Status

Jonathan O'Brien

1263. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the situation with a school (details supplied) in County Cork which was granted funding for a new school in 2011; if her Department has had contact with the parents' action group; if the site has been selected and the location of same; the sites under consideration and their locations; the date on which the site selection process will end; the timeline for the process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33370/14]

Special Educational Needs Staffing

Jonathan O'Brien

1264. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to the disproportionate reductions in special needs assistant posts in County Sligo; if she has any concern that these positions are being replaced by JobBridge internships; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33371/14]

Trade Agreements

Jonathan O'Brien

1265. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she has had any discussions with the Department for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation regarding the inclusion of education in the proposed transatlantic trade and investment partnership; if she has concerns regarding the negative impact that inclusion of education within this sphere would have on educational institutions here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33372/14]

Teacher Recruitment

Jonathan O'Brien

1267. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of retired teachers employed as substitute teachers in primary schools during the school years 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. [33379/14]

School Accommodation Provision

Jonathan O'Brien

1271. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to the situation regarding the building of new school premises for a school (details supplied) in County Cork; the extent to which her Department is monitoring the construction project; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33414/14]

Pupil-Teacher Ratio

Jonathan O'Brien

1273. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the cost to the State to ensure a pupil-teacher ratio of 15:1 in all primary schools for children aged nine and under, and 20:1 for children above that age category in primary school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33514/14]

Student Universal Support Ireland Expenditure

Jonathan O'Brien

1274. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the total amounts in Student Universal Support Ireland grants issued to students during each of the past five years; the number of students who received grants during each of those years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33515/14]

State Examinations

Jonathan O'Brien

1275. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the level of funds allocated for reform of State exams; if she will provide a breakdown of the way these funds will be managed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33516/14]

Third Level Fees

Jonathan O'Brien

1276. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the cost to the State for funding registration fees for students in September 2013. [33517/14]

Third Level Fees

Jonathan O'Brien

1277. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the projected cost if the State had funded all registration fees for students in higher level institutions in September 2013. [33518/14]

School Funding

Jonathan O'Brien

1278. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department has conducted any research on payment of voluntary contributions by parents to schools during the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33519/14]