Written Answers Nos.120-130
120. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will expedite a grant application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50340/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraOfficials in my Department have confirmed with SUSI, the new centralised grant awarding authority, that on review further supporting documentation is needed from the student referred to by the Deputy and this is being requested from the student. When the documentation is returned to SUSI the student will be notified directly of the outcome.
121. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding student grants in respect of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50348/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe student grant scheme includes provision for grants to eligible students pursuing full-time undergraduate courses of at least two years duration in publicly-funded institutions in other EU member states. However, the student grant scheme does not extend to postgraduate study outside of Ireland.
I have no plans to change the current arrangements. Any such proposal would have to be considered in light of existing resources and other competing demands in the education sector.
The student to which the Deputy refers may be eligible for tax relief on their tuition fees. Details on this relief are available at www.revenue.ie.
122. Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked the Minister for Education and Skills when a determination will be made regarding a grant application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50404/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraOfficials in my Department have confirmed with SUSI, the new centralised grant awarding authority, that in the case of the student referred to by the Deputy a grant has been awarded and an award letter issued on 7th November, 2012.
123. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide in tabular form the number of places available at pre-school, primary school and post-primary school levels in County Donegal for children diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50418/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra124. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide in tabular form of the total number of special needs assistant hours allocated to children in County Donegal who have been diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50419/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 123 and 124 together.
I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports, including the allocation of Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to schools and the establishment of special classes in various geographical areas, as required.
The NCSE operates within my Department's established criteria for the allocation of Special Education supports and the staffing resources available to my Department. I wish to advise the Deputy that SNAs are not allocated to individual pupils. The NCSE allocates a quantum of SNA support for each school annually taking into account the care needs of all of the qualifying children enrolled in the school, and on the basis of the assessed care needs of the children, rather than solely by reference to a pupils' disability categorisation. SNAs should then be deployed by schools in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled in the school for whom SNA support has been allocated. It is a matter for schools to allocate support as required, and on the basis of individual need, which allows schools flexibility in how the SNA support is utilised.
As such, the specific information requested by the Deputy in relation to the number of SNA hours allocated to children with autism in Co. Donegal is not quantifiable, as the level of SNA support provided per pupil is not designated on the basis of disability categorisation, nor is there a set limited allocation of hours per pupils, once an allocation has been made to a school, and where care needs can vary over time.
I can advise the Deputy, however, that all schools have been advised by the NCSE of their SNA staffing allocations for the current school year. Details of the SNA allocations which have been made to each school, including schools in County Donegal, are available at www.ncse.ie and are detailed on a per County basis.
In addition, in relation to the availability of placements, I wish to explain that my Department strives to ensure that a continuum of special education provision is available as required for children with special educational needs. In line with this approach the policy is to promote a child-centred approach to education of all children with special educational needs including those with autism. As each child with autism is unique they should have access to a range of different approaches to meet their individual needs. Children with autism present with a wide range of needs. Some children are capable of being fully integrated into mainstream schools without additional teaching or care supports. Others are able to attend mainstream schools but need additional teaching and/or care assistance. Many are best enrolled in autism-specific classes where more intensive and supportive interventions are required. Some may move from one setting to another as they get older and differing needs/strengths/abilities emerge.
The Deputy will be aware that the establishment of a network of autism-specific special classes in schools across the country to cater for children with autism has been a key educational priority in recent years. In excess of 540 special classes for children with autism have been approved around the country at primary and post primary level, including many in special schools. Twenty five such special classes are provided in Donegal. Thirteen new special schools for children with autism were also granted official recognition in 2010. However, as children with autism may also attend mainstream classes in primary and post primary schools, there are not a set number of places specifically designated for children with autism in Co. Donegal.
125. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to require all schools in receipt of capitation funding to implement targeted energy efficiency programmes to cut wasteful usage of lighting, heating and electronic equipment, considering that existing voluntary and piecemeal projects show the potential to save 15%–40% of schools’ energy costs within two years at most, using models and guidance provided by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland which are unknown to most schools; his views on whether such energy efficiencies could save up to €15 million a year of the €200 million cost of capitation funding, thereby making cuts that do not hurt in place of cuts to vital educational services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50425/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraFor the past 15 years the Planning and Building Unit of my Department have been using a process called the DART approach to develop sustainability and energy efficiency in educational buildings. This acronym focuses on four key areas, namely; Design, Awareness, Research and Technology. The policy is informed by the Building Unit Professional and Technical staff, driven by its technical guidance documents and updated by continued energy research and development.
It has been demonstrated that all School's designed and built in line with the above policy and the technical guidance documents can have an energy performance that is more than twice as efficient as international best practice.
Under my Department's Summer Works Scheme in excess of €182 million has been spent since 2009 on improvements to mechanical and electrical installations, toilets, windows and roofs in both primary and post-primary schools across the country which is contributing to the energy efficiency of these buildings. In addition €15 million has been spent under my Department's 2009 Energy Efficiency Scheme and further €7.4 million under the 2010 Water Conversation Scheme. In total in excess of €204 million has been provided to school to assist with energy efficiency and conversion since 2009 which represents 16% of the total overall capital spend on school building since 2009.
My Department in conjunction with Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has developed an "Energy in Education" website (www.energyineducation.ie) which I launched recently. The website is designed to help school boards of management, principals, teachers, administrators, caretaking staff, pupils and parents to improve energy use practices and to reduce school operating costs along with helping to protect the environment for future generations.
126. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a person (details supplied) in County Wexford did not receive a higher education grant from Student Universal Support Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50444/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter for the relevant grant awarding authority.
Where a grant application is refused, the reason for the refusal is given by the grant awarding authority. An applicant may appeal that decision to the appeals officer in the relevant awarding authority.
Where the appeals officer decides to reject the appeal, the applicant may appeal this decision to my Department or the independent appeals board, as appropriate. No appeal has been received in my Department to date in this case.
127. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of bodies that have been abolished or amalgamated by his Department out of the list of bodies listed in the public service reform document of 17 November 2011; the savings or cost of this in 2012; the projected savings or cost of this programme in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50537/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Public Service Reform the following were identified for rationalisation:-
- The merger of the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology & Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Science into consolidated single council under HEA;
- The amalgamation of Further Education and Training Awards (FETAC), Higher Education and Training Award Council (HETAC) and National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI) into one body the QQI;
- The reduction of the number of VEC's from 33 to 16.
The Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology and Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences were merged in March 2012 to form the Irish Research Council (IRC). The IRC has been established as a sub-board of the HEA. As a result of the merger it is expected that a there will be a saving of some €100,000 in 2012 and 2013.
Under the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act 2012, the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI), the Higher Education Training Awards Council (HETAC) and the Further Education Training Awards Council (FETAC) were amalgamated into a new agency, the Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) on the 6th November, 2012.
Major savings had already been achieved through the administrative preparations for amalgamation through non-replacement of staff retiring or leaving, the consolidation of the CEO role and streamlining of operations across the existing bodies. The 2012 current allocation for the bodies was €7.7 million, compared to an outturn of over €13 million in 2008. Staffing in NQAI, HETAC and FETAC has reduced from 110 to 80 over the same period. As well as the more general savings arising from organisational efficiencies, specific savings relating to accommodation and staffing arise from the amalgamation. The amalgamating agencies were located in four separate locations and this has been reduced to two. This has realised annual rent savings of approximately €400,000 in a full year. In addition, the reduction in the number of CEOs has resulted in savings of approximately €250,000 per year from 2011 onwards. It is estimated that the costs arising from the amalgamation in 2012 will be approximately €1.8 million, split evenly between accommodation costs and the integration of ICT infrastructure. However, it should be noted that this has been managed in the context of reduced Exchequer allocations since 2008.
In June of 2011, I announced that the Government had approved a revised reconfiguration of the Vocational Education Committees system. The Government decision confirmed that the number of VECs would be reduced to 16 but involves different mergers to those announced by the previous Government.
It is expected, pending passage of the legislation through the Oireachtas, that the Education and Training Boards will be established in early 2013. Consequently, there are no direct savings for 2012. Depending on the date of establishment in 2013, full year savings are estimated at €2.1 million.
128. Deputy Paudie Coffey asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he intends to review the practice of primary schools only submitting accounts to his Department on request; if he will now make it madatory to reduce the risk of misappropriation of funds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50560/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra129. Deputy Paudie Coffey asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of primary schools that have been requested to submit their annual accounts to his Department for the year 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and to date in 2012, if he will provide this information in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50561/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 128 and 129 together.
Every primary school is, in accordance with section 18 of the Education Act 1998, required to keep all proper and usual accounts and records of all monies received by it or expenditure of such monies incurred by it and must ensure that in each year all such accounts are properly audited or certified in accordance with best accounting practice. The Act further requires that such accounts shall be made available by the school for inspection by the Minister and by parents of students in the school, in so far as those accounts relate to monies provided in accordance with Section 12 of the Act.
The Boards of Management of all primary schools are also required to comply with the provisions of my Department's "The Constitution of Boards and Rules of Procedure 2011" booklet. This booklet sets out very clearly the specific responsibilities and duties of the Board in relation to school finances, accounting practice and the role and duties of the treasurer appointed by the Board. Among the specific control measures to safeguard against fraud or misappropriation of school funds, the booklet requires that:-
- All expenditure by or on behalf of the Board of Management must be approved by the Board;
- The Board must satisfy itself that proper internal controls are in place for all financial transactions;
- The Treasurer must retain vouchers of expenditure for inspection and audit by the school's accountant and by officials of the Department;
- The Treasurer must present at each Board meeting an up-to-date statement of the school accounts giving details of income and expenditure since the previous meeting;
- A total account of the Board's income and expenditure must be prepared at the end of each school year and must be properly audited or certified in accordance with best accounting practice. This account should be made available for inspection to the school community including parents, the Patron, Trustees and the Minister.
During the periods referred to by the Deputy, my Department has, on occasion and for various purposes, sought school accounts from specific primary schools. However, the records of this process are not recorded centrally within my Department so it is not possible to provide the type of detail requested by the Deputy. I have no plans to make the type of changes suggested by the Deputy nor does my Department have capacity for detailed analysis of school accounts for every school. I believe that it is better that the main focus of accountability for how primary schools operate and use their resources is dealt with at local school level via the Board of Management and local school community.
130. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of promotions made in his Department to principal officer higher scale, principal officer standard scale, assistant principal officer higher scale, assistant principal officer standard scale, higher executive officer scale, executive office scale and staff officer scale; the total for all of his Department; if he will provide a breakdown for for 2009, 2010, 2011 and to date in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50974/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has had no promotions to Principal Officer Standard Scale, Assistant Principal Officer Higher Scale, Assistant Principal Officer Standard Scale, Higher Executive Officer Standard Scale, Executive Officer Standard Scale, or Staff Officer Standard Scale in any of the years 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Two Principal Officers Standard Scale were assigned to the Principal Officer Higher Scale in 2009 and two were assigned to the Higher Scale in 2010. One Higher Executive Officer Standard Scale was assigned to the Higher Executive Officer Higher Scale in 2009 and two were assigned to the Higher Scale in 2010. Three (2.3 whole time equivalent) Executive Officers Standard Scale were assigned to the Executive Officer Higher Scale in 2009.
