Adjournment Debate

School Staffing

Deputy Catherine Murphy

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for affording me the opportunity to raise this serious matter on behalf of some of the weakest people in society. While the issue relates to people in my constituency, the consequences of this decision go beyond St. Raphael's special school in Celbridge, County Kildare.

This Friday, a total of 4.5 special needs assistants will be made redundant from the school. An appeal has been made by the school to the National Council for Special Education but that appeal has been rejected. The school has been informed that this decision is final, yet children who commenced in the school last September have not yet been seen by a special needs assistant and they will be deeply affected by the redundancies. Some of the children have been categorised as having profound disabilities. It is said that a society is judged by how it treats its weakest members. These children have varying care needs. They also have educational needs. We take our ability to communicate for granted, but these children and their parents know what it is like for that skill to be absent.

Not everyone is born with the same range of skills and talents. Some of the children who have been affected by the cuts are non-verbal. Some are making good progress since they commenced in St. Raphael's. One parent told me that prior to going to the school, the only responses her child could make was to scream or to cry. Now that child can identify a glass of water or a food item, and this has made a profound difference to the lives of the whole family.

I ask that a proper independent appeals mechanism be put in place with parental input as a right. They did not have an input into the appeal made by the school. Article 42 of the Constitution states the family is the primary and natural educator of the child, yet there is no provision for the family to be involved in the appeals process. This is a grievance which concerns people.

This is an issue of natural justice. These children have not been assessed and this is wrong. I ask that at the very least, until the special educational needs organiser can assess these children and their needs, the decision on redundancies would be deferred.

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn)

I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this issue as it gives me an opportunity to clarify the position on the matter raised by her which is of considerable importance, especially for those directly involved.

The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is responsible, through its network of local special educational needs organisers, SENOs, for allocating resource teachers and special needs assistants, SNAs, to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support.

St. Raphael's special school is a designated school for children with moderate general learning disability, although the school also caters for some pupils who have severe levels of learning disability. I understand the school has 53 pupils enrolled and has 11 teachers, including a principal, and 20 special needs assistants. This results in an overall staffing to pupil ratio of one staff member per 1.7 pupils in the school, nearly one to one.

The nature of the disabilities of the children attending this school means they have significant education and care needs. This is reflected in the high level of staffing and SNA support which has been allocated to the school. The NCSE has advised my Department that it considers this level of staffing to be sufficient to meet the special educational and care needs of all the 53 pupils enrolled in the school, including the five pupils specifically referred to by the Deputy.

I also wish to advise the Deputy that the NCSE has issued a circular to all schools advising of the SNA allocation process for the 2011-12 school year. A key feature of the amended scheme will be to provide for an annual allocation of SNA support to eligible schools. The NCSE will consider applications for additional SNA support in the context of this process for the 2011-12 school year. Schools will engage with the NCSE in this regard ahead of the next school year and the NCSE will review the SNA staffing requirements for schools, taking into account all the students who will be attending school from September next and any new students the school intends to enrol. As such, the overall SNA allocation for St. Raphael's special school will be reviewed for the coming school year in this context. It is open to schools to contact their local special educational needs organiser should they have any queries in this regard.

The reduction in a number of SNA posts in St. Raphael's special school during the present school year relates to a nationwide review of all schools' SNA allocation which has been carried out by the NCSE in recent years. My Department requested the NCSE to review all SNA posts nationally to ensure that SNA posts were allocated to schools in line with the care needs of the pupils and that any excess posts would be withdrawn. The purpose of the review was to ensure that the criteria governing the allocation of such posts were properly met.

It is important to understand that SNA allocations are not permanent. The level of SNA support allocated to a school is increased or decreased as pupils who qualify for SNA support enrol or leave a school. They are also decreased where a child's care needs may have diminished overtime. In other words success may result in the SNA support being deemed to be no longer required.

The programme for Government clearly states that education will be a priority for the Government and that we will endeavour to protect and enhance the educational experience of children, young people and students. To that end, we will endeavour to protect front-line services in education. However, the fiscal position is extremely difficult and the country is effectively in receivership. It is necessary to ensure that educational services are delivered within the resources available. I intend to prioritise and support special educational services, though I cannot revisit the previous Government's decision to place a cap on the number of posts available under the special needs assistant scheme. It should be noted however, that there are 10,575 posts available nationally under the SNA scheme to provide support for eligible children. This should be seen in comparison with 10,543 SNA posts in place at the end of December 2010 and 10,342 posts at the end of 2009.

It is considered that with equitable and careful management and distribution of these resources there should be sufficient posts to provide access to SNA support for all children who require such care support to attend school in accordance with my Department's criteria.

My Department and I will be glad to consider any suggestions from school management or parent representative organisations as to how the allocation of SNA resources can best be managed within the context of the overall limit on SNA numbers that has been established. In this regard I am committed to making whatever improvements are possible to the resource allocation system. I thank the Deputy once again for raising this matter.

School Enrolments

Deputy David Stanton

I thank the office of the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise the matter this evening and I also thank the Minister for coming in to respond. I live in Midleton in east Cork. The county development plan some years ago envisaged the reopening of the rail link to east Cork and led to a major increase in housing for people living in the area. The census figures for 2002 and 2007 show population increases of almost 26% in the Midleton area alone over those five years. This has led to a huge demand for school places, with 1,500 extra primary school pupils in just three years. While that is a major issue in itself, this evening I want to focus on post-primary provision, which is urgent and serious.

The Department of Education and Skills analysis of primary school enrolment in 2009 showed significant differences between the numbers in sixth class and junior infants at some schools. In 21 schools there are double the number of pupils in junior infants that there are in sixth class. The projections show that this increase will necessitate as many as 64 new primary classrooms by 2015 and as many as 77 by 2020. However, at second level the schools are full as we speak. The Department's figures indicate that 394 additional second level places will be needed by 2015, which is almost 400 places in just four years' time. I know officials in the Department are linking up with schools at the moment and doing their very best to address the situation but I want to encourage the Minister and his officials to redouble their efforts because as of now parents are extremely worried. They can see the trend in the numbers and know the schools are full. They are concerned that in a few years' time pupils will be put on waiting lists and will have nowhere to go. One solution would be to allow the Christian Brothers secondary school in Midleton to expand. St. Mary's, the girls' secondary school is also seeking an increase in accommodation as it is very caught for space.

In the long term Carrigtwohill needs a new coeducational second level school and I understand the VEC is investigating that option. I encourage the Minister to support that proposal. Cobh is under pressure and Glanmire had a waiting list last year. Fermoy is under pressure, and Midleton and Carrigtwohill are full as we speak. We need to start looking further down the road and a medium-term solution would be a new second level school in Carrigtwohill. St. Aloysius girls' school in the town is very successful, but has a waiting list of approximately 120. I ask the Minister to make this a priority. Some 400 extra places will be needed in four years time and those pupils will have nowhere to go. I spoke to one of the principals today and he advised me that his school had 562 pupils in September 2010. By September 2016, he projects having 844 and the school is full as we speak. This matter is urgent and we know how long it takes to plan and develop new buildings and extensions.

I hope the Minister has something positive to say — I know he will. I commend the officials who I know are working hard on the matter at the moment.

Deputy Ruairí Quinn

I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to address the provision of second level school places in Midleton and the east Cork area. I have a script and I will give it to the Deputy, but let me talk to him frankly.

We have a serious crisis in education. There is a population cohort coming through our primary school system that is now beginning to manifest itself in the second level area. I would love the Deputy's support to identify areas of need. I was in the Cork East constituency just before the general election. I met people in Midleton and elsewhere to discuss the problems. I would be most willing to entertain any creative ideas the Deputy has. It is a real problem. In 2008 we had the highest birth rate since 1898 when families were much larger. Those youngsters who started to impact in the primary school system are now coming into first year and parents who can do the sums recognise exactly what the impact will be. I would like to sit down with the Deputy and perhaps the other Deputies in the Cork East constituency. For all sorts of reasons that the Deputy knows better than I do, because of the geography and location there is much greater growth on the east end of the Cork city area than there is on the west.

I will make sure the Deputy gets the text of the prepared reply, but it is in official Civil Service-ese. I would much sooner talk to him as one colleague to another to see how we can get more with less and how can we with small amounts of money expand some of the existing schools. However, new schools are needed. The Department estimates that 12 post-primary schools will be needed nationwide between now and 2016 each with 800 to 1,000 pupils. We have never been faced with those kinds of numbers and we have no model school design framework, which is something we will need to do. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter and he should feel free to come back to me on it.

Tax Code

Deputy Joe McHugh

I thank the office of the Ceann Comhairle for facilitating this motion today and I thank the Minister, Deputy Bruton for coming to the House to take it.

Rebalancing the Northern Ireland Economy was published by the British Treasury in line with the British Conservative Party general election promise to shift the emphasis of the Northern Ireland economy from the public sector to the private sector. It sets out proposals for fundamental economic reform. Its big-ticket item is the suggestion that Northern Ireland be designated as a distinct economic enterprise zone within the UK thus facilitating a 12.5% corporation tax for Northern Ireland. This would be a deviation by 13.5% from the UK corporation tax rate of 26% from April 2011 to 2014, which is a reduction of 1%. It also proposes tax credits for research and development, annual investment allowances, training credits and a national insurance holiday. It has been well received at Stormont. The Northern Ireland First Minister, Peter Robinson, MLA, said "It is not in the interests of Northern Ireland to be dependent on the [British] Exchequer for further new growth within our own economy". Sinn Féin's response has been very muted to say the least.

It is a consultation paper that invites submissions within the next three months. The paper has potentially enormous implications for enterprise, employment and trade on this island and in this 26-county State. It is a two-sided coin; the sovereign governments must decide if they want Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to compete against each other or if they want Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to compete together. If the governments chose to compete together the proposal to bring Northern Ireland corporation tax in line with our rate makes sense and is an advancement. If this is to happen, a common enterprise platform requires a common cost base and a common approach to enterprise support by State agencies. Invest Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment offer more attractive grant assistance packages to investors than the packages offered by IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland. Electricity costs, wage costs, transport costs and indirect taxation are lower in Northern Ireland.

The British Treasury document that is the subject of this debate does not address these matters. If Northern Ireland retains its low-cost base and its attractive grant assistance packages the Republic of Ireland and not just the Border region will suffer. Where does the Government go from here? The Treasury document proposes to overcome the EU Azores ruling barriers to regionalise taxation rates by designating Northern Ireland as an economic enterprise zone.

In July 2010 the Fine Gael Border forum proposed that the Dublin and Stormont Governments should agree on a spatial definition of a cross Border area. Fine Gael proposed that the North-South Ministerial Council should then develop a dedicated technical structure within its own budget and facilitate the development of an integrated plan for regional investment.

The all-Ireland framework document written by former Minister, Mr. Dermot Ahern and former Secretary of State Mr. Peter Hain, MP, in November 2006 supplements Strand II of the Good Friday Agreement. The Hain-Ahern document notes that taxation is an important factor in economic competitiveness and declares that companies should be encouraged to redesign logistical strategies and treat Ireland as one commercial zone rather than two separate entities.

If that bilateral agreement and Strand III of the Good Friday Agreement have any meaning, the Government must engage fully and assertively with the British Treasury on these proposals. The programme for Government sets out the new Government's ambitious agenda for the Border region and for the all-Ireland economy. We need the Cabinet's Government economic management council on which the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister, Deputy Noonan and the Minister, Deputy Howlin, sit to discuss these matters and have a robust debate in the House on this issue.

The fundamental question I am asking tonight is how we compete with the proposed changes in Northern Ireland and put our agenda forward. We have to anticipate these changes which seem to be coming and set IDA Ireland up in such a way that we start looking at things differently and treating the economic challenges we have in the South. The Border area is a pertinent challenge in itself. We have to consider the possibility of having our own consultation document within the Border area.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation (Deputy Richard Bruton)

Deputy McHugh went a good deal further in his statement than the content of the joint consultation paper issued by the British Treasury. There is an unduly defensive approach to the idea of Northern Ireland developing a stronger private sector and a fear that it will be an entirely negative story. The truth is that a stronger growing economy North and South would create mutual gains. We have to consider this issue in a more positive manner than simply asking how we can defend ourselves from a more competitive Northern economy, in terms of tax and other policy instruments.

That is at the heart of our programme for Government, in terms of how we can improve and develop our sectors. As the Deputy knows, the programme contains proposals to improve our tax mix and to reduce our rate of VAT and PRSI to strengthen the hands of companies competing at home and abroad. We have to be conscious that there is now a deliberate policy of developing a stronger domestic set of policy instruments in Northern Ireland which will have an impact. Competition is good for trade. We have to be aware of the issue but our overall strategy is to see the common development of the North and South.

Many of our efforts concern how the two Governments have co-operated under the Good Friday Agreement on a win-win basis. I agree that we need to monitor this matter closely and that there are areas where we are uncompetitive. There is a continual debate about the flow North and South. We have to be conscious in framing our excise policy, VAT policy and so on of the potential for an impact on those who are living in Border areas and are vulnerable to swings from the currency and tax mix.

The view of the Deputy is one upon which I will reflect. We need to attune our strategy to a changed environment. It is a more positive opportunity than one about which I would be defensive. There are mutual gains in a stronger Northern economy with a stronger private sector where we can build mutual strengths. We need a sector which is growing strongly on our doorstep because our recovery will be export led. The more activity being developed by independent and strong economic policies in Northern Ireland, the better for all of us.

I welcome that the Deputy raised this issue. It is good that it was flagged. I may not have been briefed enough to respond to all of the issues he raised. I will reflect on what he said and respond in a fuller way directly to some of the issues which are not addressed in the reply provided to me.

Air Services

Deputy Tom Fleming

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to bring the issue of Kerry Airport before the House. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, for being present to address it.

Continuation of the reductions in Kerry to Dublin flights is impacting severely on tourism and business in County Kerry and on jobs as Kerry Airport. Will the Minister bring forward to a more immediate date the public service obligation contract which was originally scheduled for July?

A new Ryanair schedule will see a further reduction in flights to and from Kerry and Dublin. We were contacted on this during the weekend. The schedule to be introduced in April will see just one return flight to Kerry each day and varying times on different days. The new schedule is likely to have a significant effect on business travellers using the route as it will no longer be possible to make a return flight to and from Kerry within one working day.

Under a public service obligation contract, Ryanair had provided three daily return services on the Kerry to Dublin route. Last November Ryanair pulled out of the public service obligation contract and reduced the service to one flight from Kerry to Dublin on weekday mornings and a return flight from Dublin to Kerry each evening. Ryanair blamed the decision on rising costs and the then Government's refusal to increase the public service obligation subsidy. Under a new schedule to come into effect next week just one Ryanair flight from Dublin to Kerry each day and the same plane will then make a return flight directly back to Dublin.

The current 9.25 a.m. weekday service from Kerry to Dublin will be replaced by a 1.55 p.m. service on Monday, 4 p.m. on Tuesdays, 11.40 a.m. on Wednesday and 4.25 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, with no return option possible until the following day. As the Minister of State knows, the economy of County Kerry is hugely dependent on Kerry Airport and unless the situation is addressed in the immediate future the effects of peripherality on the county will be further exacerbated.

Kerry will be further disadvantaged in these tough economic times. The advancement of the commencement date of the public service obligation contract is of paramount importance and I appeal to the Minister of State to deal with this issue as a matter of urgency.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport (Deputy Michael Ring)

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Varadkar, who is unable to be here as he is travelling to Brussels to attend a Transport Council meeting.

I am acutely aware of the implications for County Kerry of the reduction in the level of service on the Kerry-Dublin route resulting from Ryanair's decision to withdraw from the PSO contract. My Department is in the final stages of consultations with Kerry Airport on the specification for a new PSO air service on the Kerry-Dublin route. Discussions with the European Commission are also ongoing. The next step in the process is the submission of necessary PSO and tender notifications to the Commission for approval and publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. In line with EU guidelines, the process of renewal of a PSO contract takes a minimum of six months from the date the notices appear in the official journal. My Department is making every effort to expedite the completion of the necessary documentation and transmission to the Commission.

Speaking on my tourism portfolio, I know how important this service is to County Kerry. The Department is making every effort to have the matter resolved as quickly as possible. I intend to be in the Deputy's constituency on 12 April and know this important issue will be raised with me. The Department and I will make every effort to try to resolve it as quickly as possible. I again thank the Deputy for raising it.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.25 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 31 March 2011.

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Wednesday, 30 Mar 2011