Written Answers Nos. 182 to 197.
182. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 92 of 12 December 2013, if he will issue a written response to the points raised with him in correspondence (details supplied) of 30 August 2013. [55244/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that officials at my Department have been in correspondence with the Directors of the facility referred to in this question, and recently issued a letter to them in relation to the issues raised. Officials in the Special Education Section of my Department also met with the Directors of the facility at the end of November 2013, to discuss inter alia the issues raised in the correspondence referred to. Officials are of the view that this meeting addressed the issues raised in the correspondence but have advised the Directors that they are welcome to revert should any issue remain outstanding.
183. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the extent of training in the bachelor of education courses for primary school teachers in the area of autism; if he is satisfied the teachers are sufficiently trained to teach autistic children in main stream primary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55265/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Deputy will be aware of this Government's ongoing commitment to ensuring that all children with special educational needs can have access to an education appropriate to their needs. I am satisfied that current arrangements are adequate to ensure that teachers receive the necessary initial education and have access to quality continious professional development programmes during their career so that they are in a position to meet the needs of students. In relation to initial teacher education, while special education has long been a feature of initial teacher education (ITE) programmes, the Teaching Council, the body with statutory authority and responsibility for the registration of teachers, requires the reconceptualised and extended Bachelor of Education programmes which commenced in 2012, to address a number of specific elements including differentiation, Inclusive Education including Special Education and literacy and numeracy. The learning outcomes of these revised programmes require the graduate teacher to be able to conduct a systematic, holistic assessment of learner needs, to apply knowledge of the individual potential of students, their disposition towards learning and their backgrounds, identities and learning styles to their teaching, to set clear, challenging and achievable expectations for pupils, to evaluate learner progress, to act as an advocate for students, referring students for educational support as required and participating in the provision of that support, amongst other relevant outcomes. Student teachers may also have access to additional elective courses with content focusing on special education. All primary teachers are qualified to teach in any primary or special school classroom. Teachers have access, through the Special Education Support Service, to continuing professional development in a range of autism specific interventions, including Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA), the Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH) and the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). My Department also funds a number of Post-Graduate Programmes for teachers involved in Learning Support and Special Education. These programmes are specifically designed to assist all schools and educational services in meeting the needs of students requiring learning support and the teaching of students with special educational needs. Since 2007, some 2,000 teachers have completed these programmes. I have requested the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to prepare Policy Advice on the Educational Provision for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The NCSE has commissioned research which will not be finalised until mid to late 2014 and I expect that this research will inform much of the work in preparing the policy advice. Accordingly, it is not expected that the report will be finalised until early 2015.
184. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the hardship caused to families as a result of the fact that the remote area grant is not paid until the end of the school year; if his further attention has been drawn to the fact that this late payment may impact on the ability of strained families to pay for fuel to drive their children to school every day, if he will review this system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55295/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraAn eligible child for whom no school transport service is available may, following an application for transport within the prescribed time limits, receive a Remote Area Grant towards the cost of private transport arrangements. The grant amount, which is distance related and based on school attendance records, ranges from some €200 to €930 per annum per family. Given the volume of grants to be processed and paid it is not feasible to make more frequent payments of this grant.
185. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will make funding available to those schools who currently operate a book rental scheme but cannot afford to replace and update the schemes which they are currently using despite them being out of date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55304/13]
Amharc ar fhreagra186. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will make funding available to those schools who currently operate a book rental scheme for one subject in order that they can establish the book rental scheme for all their subjects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55305/13]
Amharc ar fhreagra195. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will ensure the recently annouced book rental grant moneys are released to those schools who have taken the initiative and set up a partial book rental scheme of their own, (details supplied) in County Longford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55457/13]
Amharc ar fhreagra218. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will consider the case of a school (details supplied) in County Wexford, which took the initiative to establish a book rental scheme six years ago but will not be able to avail of the planned €15 million investment in book rental schemes even though the scheme needs an infusion of money every year in order to replace older books, purchase newer editions and increase the overall number of books available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1034/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 185, 186, 195 and 218 together.
The Deputies will be aware from Budget 2014 that additional funding has been provided which will involve an investment of €15m to support the establishment of book rental schemes in primary schools that do not currently operate them. The Department will provide €5m in seed capital per annum over a three year period to such schools.
It is my aim to ensure that every primary school in the country has a book rental scheme. Therefore, I am targeting schools with no schemes initially as to include all primary schools would mean that the funding would be so diluted that it would have little impact. However, should more funds become available I would like to extend the grants to others. The Department will be contacting primary schools that do not currently operate a book rental scheme to advise them of the application process. Following receipt of applications from these schools it will be possible to determine whether any residual funding may be made available to other schools. I can confirm to the Deputies that the Department will continue to provide a book grant to all primary schools. This grant, which provided €7m to primary schools in 2013, can be utilised for the purposes of updating or expanding a school's existing book rental scheme.
187. Deputy Peter Mathews asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 82 of 10 October 2013, if he will instruct the Higher Education Authority to provide the information sought; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55310/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraI refer to the Deputy's request for information on the number of research articles from Irish higher education institutions published in journals that appear in the Public Library of Science (PLOS) and on the Beall's list, and the amount of fees paid for same. The HEA has consulted with institutions and the following data has been gathered. I set out in the tables details of PLOS papers per Irish higher education institution published in 2011 and 2012. Please note that the number of citations for recent years (i.e. 2012) is usually lower than that for earlier years as it takes time for citations to accrue. This is reflected in the tables. Information on the PLOS pricing model is also set out. The PLOS publication pricing has many variables and may be discounted or waived in certain cases. For example, published authors are entitled to institutional membership discounts. In addition papers published by Irish higher education institutions would have multiple authors, including international collaborators, with publishing costs being shared. This, along with the multiplicity of associated research funders, some of whom pay publication costs, makes it impossible to determine the cost to individual Irish institutions with any degree of accuracy. Unfortunately, the information in relation to Beall's list is not readily available and would involve a substantial amount of staff resources within each higher education institution to ascertain whether any articles appeared on such a list.
PLOS Pricing criteria (source: http://www.plos.org/publish/pricing-policy/publication-fees/ ). To provide open access, PLOS journals use a business model in which expenses — including those of peer review, journal production, and online hosting and archiving — are recovered in part by charging a publication fee to the authors or research sponsors for each article they publish. Prices are as follows:
- PLOS Biology US$2900
- PLOS Medicine US$2900
- PLOS Computational Biology US$2250
- PLOS Genetics US$2250
- PLOS Pathogens US$2250
- PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases US$2250
- PLOS ONE US$1350
PLOS is committed to the widest possible global participation in open access publishing. To determine the appropriate fee, we use a country-based pricing model, which is based on the country that provides 50% or more of the primary funding for the research that is being submitted. Research articles funded by Upper Middle and High Income Countries incur our standard publication fees. Corresponding authors who are affiliated with one of our Institutional Members are eligible for a discount on this fee. Such authors will be informed of the discount applicable after submission of their manuscript.
Fees for Low and Lower Middle Income Countries are calculated according to the PLOS Global Participation Initiative for manuscripts submitted after 9am Pacific Time on September 4, 2012 (this program is not retroactive).
- Group One: Countries from this list will not be charged for publishing
- Group Two: Countries from this list will be charged a flat $500
Our fee waiver policy, whereby PLOS offers to waive or further reduce the payment required of authors who cannot pay the full amount charged for publication, remains in effect. Editors and reviewers have no access to whether authors are able to pay; decisions to publish are only based on editorial criteria.
Number of PLOS papers per Irish HEI published in 2011
|
Institution |
No. of PLOS papers |
No. of Times Cited |
Impact (Average Cites per Document) |
h-index |
Journal Actual/Expected Citations |
Category Actual/Expected Citations (1 = expected citations) |
|
TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN |
36 |
341 |
9.47 |
9 |
2.50 |
3.12 |
|
TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN SCHOOL OF DENTAL SCIENCES |
1 |
23 |
23.00 |
1 |
2.81 |
5.54 |
|
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN |
37 |
204 |
5.51 |
8 |
1.88 |
2.20 |
|
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK |
12 |
118 |
9.83 |
7 |
2.56 |
3.69 |
|
NUI GALWAY |
8 |
44 |
5.50 |
4 |
1.11 |
1.80 |
|
ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IRELAND |
8 |
43 |
5.38 |
5 |
1.85 |
2.12 |
|
WATERFORD INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY |
2 |
26 |
13.00 |
2 |
7.08 |
8.00 |
|
NUI GALWAY |
1 |
26 |
26.00 |
1 |
3.18 |
6.27 |
|
DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY |
3 |
22 |
7.33 |
3 |
2.03 |
3.42 |
|
NUI MAYNOOTH |
3 |
14 |
4.67 |
2 |
2.02 |
2.28 |
|
UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK |
1 |
2 |
2.00 |
1 |
0.61 |
0.84 |
|
DUBLIN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY |
1 |
0 |
0.00 |
0 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
Number of PLOS papers per Irish HEI published in 2012
|
Institution |
No. of PLOS papers |
No. of Times Cited |
Impact (Average Cites per Document) |
h-index |
Journal Actual/ Expected Citations |
Category Actual/Expected Citations (1 = expected citations) |
|
TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN |
53 |
109 |
2.06 |
5 |
5.41 |
4.67 |
|
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN |
48 |
84 |
1.75 |
5 |
4.67 |
4.39 |
|
UCD CONWAY INSTITUTE OF BIOMOLECULAR & BIOMEDIICAL SCIENCES |
1 |
0 |
0.00 |
0 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
|
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK |
39 |
159 |
4.08 |
7 |
9.03 |
8.17 |
|
NUI GALWAY |
16 |
23 |
1.44 |
3 |
2.76 |
2.90 |
|
ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IRELAND |
9 |
28 |
3.11 |
3 |
7.11 |
5.83 |
|
DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY |
8 |
16 |
2.00 |
2 |
6.08 |
4.10 |
|
WATERFORD INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY |
4 |
11 |
2.75 |
2 |
6.88 |
6.25 |
|
NUI MAYNOOTH |
4 |
6 |
1.50 |
2 |
3.75 |
3.53 |
|
UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK |
4 |
1 |
0.25 |
1 |
0.83 |
0.76 |
|
DUBLIN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY |
1 |
16 |
16.00 |
1 |
40.00 |
36.36 |
|
CORK INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY |
1 |
3 |
3.00 |
1 |
7.50 |
5.00 |
|
GALWAY MAYO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY |
1 |
0 |
0.00 |
0 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
188. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Education and Skills when a resolution will be found between the Health Service Executive and his Department as to who is responsible for providing a person (details supplied) in County Cork with an iPad to help the person communicate and assist with their education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55333/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that my Department provides funding to schools towards the cost of assistive technology for pupils in Primary, Post Primary and Special schools for personal computers and specialist software for educational purposes under the Assistive Technology scheme, as set out in my Department's Circular 0010/2013. However, the scheme does not normally provide for communication devices which have a general application outside of school and which are normally provided for by the Health Service Executive (HSE) through its Aids and Appliances scheme. Funding under the Aids and Appliances scheme is dispersed by local HSE services to local community care clinics or voluntary agencies. Information in relation funding under the Aids & Appliances Scheme is available from local Health Centres. I can advise the Deputy that an application for assistive technology support for the child referred to in this question has been received in my Department. Further information has been requested from the school regarding the proposed purpose and usage of this equipment and the application will be considered further once this information is received.
189. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department and/or the State Examinations Commission require that those persons who supervise the State examinations to be qualified teachers, either serving or retired; if there is no such requirement, if he will consider allowing those from a non-teaching background, whom he, or a relevant body, would deem suitable to supervise State examinations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55348/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations. In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.
190. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the job share programme for special needs assistants has not been addressed by his Department since 23 October, when they promised a final draft for SIPTU; if the National Council for Speech Education and his Department guidelines have been modified towards the issues regarding the 32 hour week of an SNA being a full time post, with some SNAs who will be paid for their half post of 16 hours, based on their old contracts after 2005, and have not been modified since, but the new entrants who will jobshare will only be in receipt of 14 hours, ten minutes' pay since the new contract will state only the school day, but not the same time as stated in the postholder's SNA contract; and when this matter will be resolved. [55366/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraOfficials in my Department provided the Unions representing SNAs (IMPACT and SIPTU) with a revised proposal for a job-sharing scheme for Special Needs Assistants on 23 October 2013. Subsequent to this, my officals met with officals from IMPACT and SIPTU on 11 November 2013 in relation to this matter. The unions indicated a difficulty with one aspect of this proposed scheme and this specific issue has now been referred to the Labour Court.
191. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 220, 247 and 248 of 8 October 2013 the reasons his Department cannot drill down into FACILITY in order to retrieve the information; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55371/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe day to day management of how teaching resources are used in schools is done at local school level. The type of information sought by the Deputy is therefore held at local school level rather than centrally within my Department.
192. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which agency staff have been used in his Department in each of the past five years to date for the purpose of answering and transferring calls on their switchdesk; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55432/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraTwo agency staff were contracted to carry out switchboard duties in my Department from January 2009 to 31 March 2012. From April 2012 to date one agency staff member is on contract to perform switchboard duties.
193. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Education and Skills when a school (details supplied) in County Kerry last received an overall school accommodation examination; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55446/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe latest review of the accommodation requirements for the school in question took place in December 2013. The school have since however submitted a letter appealing the Department's decision and have provided additional information that was not submitted as part of the original application and appeal. In light of the further information submitted, a further review is underway. My Department will be in contact with the school authorities in the matter shortly.
194. Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will consider providing a grant-aided purchasing framework for post-primary schools to replace the computers used to teach technology subjects as they are no longer capable of running the new software demanded by the curriculum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55452/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is aware of the issues in relation to T4 subject equipment. The availability of funding to meet particular school needs is considered in the light of overall priorities and is subject to the level of resources available to my Department. I will keep the question of the provision of funding for this purpose under review.
196. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding an application in respect of a school (details supplied) in County Donegal for the funding of the replacement of windows and the roof at the school from the summer works scheme. [55470/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that commensurate with the level of funding available for the Summer Works Scheme, applications are currently being assessed on a top down basis in accordance with the prioritisation criteria outlined in the governing Circular Letter for the Scheme. This Circular Letter (59/2013) is available on my Department's website www.education.ie. It is my intention to publish a list of successful applicants in early 2014.
197. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will address the situation where there is currently no child psychologist at Scoil Cormac in Cashel; if his attention has been drawn to the difficulties the lack of access to a child psychologist is presenting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55471/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that all primary and post primary schools have access to educational psychological assessments either directly through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA), full details of which are on the Department's website. Where a NEPS psychologist is not assigned to a school, authorities therein may access psychological assessments through SCPA. Under this scheme schools can have an assessment carried out by a member of the panel of private psychologists approved by NEPS, and NEPS will pay the psychologist the fees for this assessment directly. I have made enquiries in relation to the school in question and understand that psychological service has been to date provided to the school through the HSE NEPS does not have a psychologist assigned to the school and the facility of SCPA is available through NEPS to Scoil Cormac. If school authorities have specific queries with regard to this matter I would suggest that they should contact the relevant NEPS Regional Director (in this instance the NEPS Mid-Munster Office 021- 4536358).
