Thursday, 7 May 2015

Written Answers Nos. 177-187

Public Sector Staff Increments

Ceisteanna (177)

Eoghan Murphy

Ceist:

177. Deputy Eoghan Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the cost to the Exchequer of the payment of increments to all public sector staff under his remit per year since 2008. [18333/15]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

Details of increments for the years 2008 - 2015 set out in the table. The numbers for 2015 cover the period up to 30th April 2015.

YEAR	NUMBER OF INCREMENTS	VALUE OF INCREMENTS
2008	761	679,396
2009	739	608,755
2010	694	585,911
2011	630	630,105
2012	533	486,841
2013	447	393,135
2014	305	293,746
2015	126	210,994

Schools Building Projects Applications

Ceisteanna (178)

Dara Calleary

Ceist:

178. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will expedite an application for emergency work at a school (details supplied) in County Mayo in view of the delay in dealing with the application to date; the necessity of the works for a specific student; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17906/15]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education and Skills

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that funding has been approved for universal access works at the school in question and the school authority has been notified.

Special Educational Needs Staff

Ceisteanna (179)

Michael Healy-Rae

Ceist:

179. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding a request for a special needs assistant in respect of a child (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17911/15]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education and Skills

I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating a quantum of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school. Where children have significant care needs whereby they may need additional support to be able to attend school, the NCSE may make an allocation of SNA support to the school to assist that child. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support. The criteria by which SNA support is allocated to pupils is set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014. The deployment of SNAs within schools is a matter for the individual Principal/Board of Management. SNAs should be deployed by the school 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. All schools have been asked to apply to the NCSE for SNA support for the 2015/16 school year by 18th March, 2015. The NCSE will consider all applications for SNA support which have been made by schools, including the school referred to by the Deputy. Schools will be advised of their revised SNA allocations for the 2015/16 school year, prior to the end of the current school year.

All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie. As the Deputy's question relates to the consideration of an the SNA allocation by the NCSE to an individual, I have referred this question to the NCSE for their consideration and direct reply to the Deputy.

Education Policy

Ceisteanna (180)

Jonathan O'Brien

Ceist:

180. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 219 of 24 June 2014, if she will provide in tabular form the number of derogations to the five-year secondment limit that have been decided by her Department; the posts in question; the reason for the derogation; the date the decision to derogate was made; and the details of any input that she or Oireachtas Members had in each case. [17912/15]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education and Skills

My Department, through the teacher support services and education centres, engages teachers on a full time basis annually for the provision of continuing professional development (CPD) through secondment from their schools. These secondments are subject to annual review. The arrangements provide flexibility and ensure that the in-service needs of teachers and other support priorities of the school system can be met within the resources available.

Having teachers with relevant and recent teaching experience and expertise is a key requirement for the role. It is a condition therefore that the maximum length of time that a teacher may be on secondment is five years, following which they return to their teaching roles within their schools. In this way, their expertise and knowledge is not lost to the system. These teacher secondment arrangements were disseminated extensively so the necessary planning could take place at all levels including education centres, support services, school boards of management and individual teacher. The support services have engaged in succession planning as a key strategy in ensuring continued support for teachers and school leaders in implementing national education policy priorities and CPD and which allows for continuity, quality planning and management.

An alleviation of the application of the five year limit, up to 10% of the posts where required, has been agreed to allow secondees to serve for a further limited period. My officials consulted with the support services to determine the exemptions to apply in 2015/16. It is Department policy to apply the alleviation to positions where seconded teachers take on leadership roles or have a specialism or expertise where retention is necessary for continuity, quality planning and management.

The implementation of this policy is a matter for the services concerned and the relevant section of my Department.

The detail of the number of derogated posts for each support service will be supplied to the Deputy directly.

Home Tuition Scheme

Ceisteanna (181)

Michael Ring

Ceist:

181. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to provide extra additional educational supports, such as home tuition, for a certain category of students (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17924/15]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education and Skills

My Department administers a Home Tuition Scheme which provides a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of reasons including chronic illness such as Cystic Fibrosis, are unable to attend school or absent for a significant proportion of the school year and where the degree of absence is such that without supplementary instruction the pupil is unlikely to be able to perform academically at the level appropriate to his/her level of ability.

Circular 0048/2014 which details the eligibility criteria for the scheme is available on my Department's website at www.education.ie.

Education Schemes

Ceisteanna (182)

Robert Troy

Ceist:

182. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education and Skills when the allocation of grant aid for book rental schemes will be released, as announced in 2014. [17928/15]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education and Skills

Budget 2014 provided funding of €5 million per annum for three years to support the establishment of book rental schemes in primary schools that did not operate such schemes. DEIS schools will receive €150 per child and non-DEIS schools will receive €100 per child in seed capital to establish book rental schemes.

The schools which qualified for funding under this scheme received 70% of their funding in 2014 and will receive the remaining 30% in May 2015. As previously announced primary schools that were operating book rental schemes prior to 2014 will also benefit from this funding. These schools will receive €18 per pupil in mainstream schools and €20 per pupil in DEIS schools over two year period or €7 or €8 per pupil in 2015 and €11 or €12 in 2016. This funding will also issue in May, Circular letter 0030/2015 advises schools of this funding and is available on my Departments website.

School Staff

Ceisteanna (183)

Pádraig MacLochlainn

Ceist:

183. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will assure parents of children at a school (details supplied) in County Donegal that they will not lose a teacher at this school; if she will support their case that the enrolment falls just two pupils short of the 115-pupil threshold required to retain the current team of five teachers. [17929/15]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education and Skills

The criteria used for the allocation of teachers to schools is published annually on the Department's website. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September. The staffing arrangements for the coming school year 2015/16 are set out in Circular 0005/2015 which is available on the website.

A staffing appeals process is available to schools under certain criteria. Details of the appeals criteria are set out in Circular 0005/2015. The next meeting of the Primary Staffing Appeals Board will take place later this month. The closing date for receipt of appeals for this meeting is Friday 8th May. The Primary Staffing Appeals Board operates independently of the Department and its decision is final.

School Staff

Ceisteanna (184)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl

Ceist:

184. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will address the concerns raised in correspondence (details supplied) regarding the school transport scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17949/15]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills

Bus Éireann operates the school transport scheme on behalf of the Department. This scheme has been in existence since 1967, and is based on accounting arrangements put in place in 1975. An investigation was launched by the Commission in 2007 after receiving a complaint that, among other activities, alleged unlawful State aid was being provided to Bus Éireann in respect of school transport services. The Commission's Decision found that the scheme was existing aid and for this reason was not unlawful at the time the complaint was made. The Commission Decision was not a ruling on the tendering arrangements in place between the Department of Education and Skills and Bus Éireann for the School Transport Scheme. However the Commission indicated that it would initiate dialogue with Ireland to agree on appropriate measures to ensure that the School Transport Scheme is compatible with the internal market in the future. The Department has commenced an informal dialogue with the Commission in this regard.

Home-School Liaison Scheme

Ceisteanna (185)

Patrick O'Donovan

Ceist:

185. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department has changed its criteria for home school liaison officers (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17952/15]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education and Skills

The Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) Scheme operates in Urban and Post Primary Schools included in DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), my Department's Action Plan for educational inclusion. Participating schools are allocated additional teaching posts through the assignment of HSCL Coordinators to individual schools or clusters of schools. Circular 0058/2013 "Assignment of HSCL Coordinators within DEIS schools" contains the most recent regulations and procedures participating schools must adhere to when making HSCL Coordinator assignments. The Circular replaces earlier Guidelines issued by my Department and was developed in consultation with relevant education partners to ensure, inter alia, an improved rotation for teachers between classroom teaching and HSCL Coordinator assignments.

School Enrolments

Ceisteanna (186)

Olivia Mitchell

Ceist:

186. Deputy Olivia Mitchell asked the Minister for Education and Skills if there is an impact on funding and the number of teachers allocated to a school by admitting a child that has not reached 12 years of age by 1 January of the enrolment year; and, if funding implications do exist, whether exceptions can be made. [17968/15]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education and Skills

My Department calculates the staffing and grant allocations for primary and post primary schools on the basis of the total number of 'recognised' pupils enrolled in the school on 30th September of the previous year. The Rules and Programmes for Secondary Schools define a "recognised pupil" as a pupil who is not less than 12 years of age on the 1st day of January of the school year; who as a rule has completed a full course of primary education; and who is following an approved course. A pupil who does not meet the definition of 'recognised pupil' is not normally counted for grant or teacher allocation purposes. However, consideration can be given to individual cases where, having regard to a student's circumstances, it may be educationally appropriate to do so.

Site Acquisitions

Ceisteanna (187)

Clare Daly

Ceist:

187. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 731 of 15 April 2015, if she will provide a list of the schools referred to her in reply. [17987/15]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education and Skills

As the Deputy may be aware, the Department of Education and Skills has worked in partnership with Fingal County Council under the Fingal School Model Agreement to acquire sites for educational provision in the Fingal area.

The Fingal Model Agreement was signed into effect in July 2006. It represented the first attempt at formalising the interactions between the Department and a local authority and was developed in advance of the Code of Practice for Planning Authorities on School Provision published jointly by the Minister for Education and Science and the Minister for the Environment in August 2008. A list of schools built on sites acquired under the Fingal Model Agreement is attached. Following on from the Code of Practice, in 2012 a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between my Department and the County and City Managers' Association on the acquisition of sites for school planning purposes was agreed and signed. This MoU formalises the local authorities' part in securing sites for educational use. In recent years, therefore, sites acquired in Fingal have been acquired under this MoU.

Schools Built on Sites Acquired under the Fingal Model Agreement

Site	School	Roll Number
Ongar Village, Fingal	Castaheany Educate Together NS	20186F
Ongar Village, Fingal	St Benedict's N.S.	20231H
Kelly's Bay, Skerries	Skerries Educate Together NS	20307O
Castlelands, Balbriggan	Gaelscoil Bhaile Brigín	20252P
Castlelands, Balbriggan	Bracken Educate Together	20282B
Castlelands, Balbriggan	Ardgillan Community College	76129H
Flemington, Balbriggan	Balbriggan Educate Together NS	20202A
Flemington, Balbriggan	Scoil Chormaic	20269J
Thornleigh, Swords	Thornleigh Educate Together NS	20302E
Oldtown, Swords	Gaelscoil Bhrian Bóroimhe	20095C
Oldtown, Swords	Swords Educate Together NS	20145O
Naul Rd., Balbriggan	St George's N.S.	15315J
Tyrrelstown	Tyrrelstown Educate Together NS	20201V
Tyrrelstown	Scoil Naomh Lucais	16675V
Holywell, Swords	Holywell Educate Together NS	20348F
Porterstown/Kellystown	Scoil Choilm Community NS	20241K
Porterstown/Kellystown	Luttrellstown Community College	76130P
Hansfield	Hansfield ETNS	20383H
Hansfield	Hansfield ET Post Primary	76128F
Lusk	Rush and Lusk ETNS	20176C
Lusk	Lusk Community College	76213T
Phibblestown	Coláiste Pobail Setanta	76098W
Phibblestown	Scoil Ghráinne CNS	20247W
Donabate	Donabate CC	76104O
Donabate	Donabate/Portrane ETNS	20161M

In addition, a development to provide primary and post primary accommodation on a site at Stephenstown, Balbriggan is planned.