Written Answers Nos. 138-144
138. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of a facility (details supplied) in County Cork; why it is not the subject of whole-school evaluation; if she will work with it to secure its financial future given the excellent and necessary service it delivers to families and young adults in difficult circumstances; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2568/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, the Cork Life Centre is an out-of-school educational facility in Sundays Well, Cork which supports young people who are not engaging with mainstream education. My Department's contribution to the funding of the Centre commenced in 2000 under the Children at Risk Fund (CAR) and has continued to date to the current level of €47,500 in non-pay funding and 968 teaching hours at a cost of €81,840. This represents an overall annual total of €129,340. With the hours allocated, tutors are employed by the Cork Education and Training Board (ETB) to work in the Centre and deliver tuition in subjects across the post-primary school curriculum.
I am aware that the Life Centre is currently experiencing financial difficulties due to a combination of a decision by its main funder, the Christian Brothers, to withdraw direct funding to the Centre, and a decision by the Centre to expand its enrolment.
In this regard it is important to note that my Department has not reduced its funding or support to the Centre in recent years. Rather it has maintained its contribution to the cost of education provision to its current level of just over €129,000 per annum.
I am advised that the pupil cohort currently attending the Life Centre includes referrals by TUSLA's Educational Welfare and Child and Family Services; the HSE's Child and Adult Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and other health professionals.
As the Deputy may be aware, TUSLA, the Child and Family Agency (EWS) is the statutory body with responsibility for the administration of educational welfare functions contained in the Education Welfare Act, 2000. These include assisting parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child, and ensuring school attendance, participation and retention for all pupils. Other functions of TUSLA include responsibility for the provision of supports for children in the care of its Child and Family Services.
The Department of Children and Youth Affairs have confirmed to me that TUSLA refers young people to the Life Centre because of their complexity of needs which are not only educational, but also social and emotional, and because of the multidisciplinary and holistic approach of the Centre. I understand that young people attending the Centre have access to a multidisciplinary team providing counselling and therapy as well as access to an outreach drugs and alcohol worker.
Officials of my Department are currently engaging with the Cork Life Centre, Cork ETB and the Educational Welfare Service of TUSLA to facilitate appropriate future educational supports for the cohort of pupils currently supported by the Life Centre. I have also asked them to seek the involvement of other Tusla services to consider the question of other supports provided by the Centre.
A key consideration for me in this matter is my Department's policy of inclusion, where the objective is for children to be educated within the mainstream system to the greatest extent possible. In this regard, it is important to note that the level of additional supports provided to schools to meet a range of additional educational pupil needs, has increased significantly since my Department's first began funding the Life Centre in 2000. I must also take account of my Department's funding of national programmes catering for early school leavers in the Cork area.
It is very important that the supports provided by my Department to schools are fully availed of by students who need them, both to ensure value for the investment being made, and in recognition of the importance of early intervention in meeting individual need.
I am committed to working with my colleague the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to ensure that the particular needs of this student cohort can be met.
139. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of funding for a school (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2585/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can confirm that applications for capital funding for additional accommodation has been received from the school referred to by the Deputy. The school authority has been requested to submit revised proposals and costings for the minimum works necessary to enable the pupil, in question, enrol. As soon as this information is received and considered, the school authority will be informed of the outcome.
140. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Education and Skills to introduce a scheme to enable permanent primary school teachers, currently participating in a temporary teacher exchange scheme for five consecutive years, to continue to exchange their posts on an ongoing basis, subject to the agreement and written approval of the Boards of Management of their respective schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2606/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe teacher exchange scheme is designed to facilitate primary teachers to temporarily exchange their posts for education purposes. Under the present scheme the minimum period for which an exchange may occur is one year and the maximum is five years. The Teacher Conciliation Council is part of the scheme of Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme for Teachers and was set up to deal with claims and proposals relating to the Terms and Conditions of employment of teachers. The Council is composed of representatives of teachers, school management, the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and is chaired by an official of the Workplace Relations Commission. As the existing Teacher Exchange Scheme is currently on the agenda of the Teachers' Conciliation Council I propose to await the outcome of those discussions before commenting further.
141. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of an application for a school grant by a school (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2607/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can confirm that the school referred to by the Deputy has submitted an application to my Department for capital funding for additional school accommodation. My Department wrote to the Patron Body in relation to the application and a response is awaited. The matter will be given further consideration when this information is received.
142. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 541 of 15 December 2015 if she will allocate resource hours or special needs assistance to a person (details supplied) in County Louth who does not fall within the specified categories; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2637/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise you that it is not the role of my Department to allocate resource teaching hours or SNA support to schools to support children with special educational needs. As the Deputy is aware, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is an independent statutory agency with responsibility for determining the appropriate staffing levels in relation to the support of pupils with special educational needs in all mainstream and special schools. This includes the allocation of Resource Teaching Hours and SNA support, the criteria by which is set in Sp Ed Circular 02/05 for primary schools and circular 0030/14 for post primary schools respectively.
The NCSE operates within the Department's criteria in allocating such support.
The NCSE has confirmed that an application from the school for resource teaching support only, for the child concerned was received and considered by the local SENO but did not meet the criteria for such an allocation. The NCSE has also advised that the school concerned has not lodged an appeal of its allocation.
Details of the NCSE Appeals Process are available on their website at www.ncse.ie. All schools have the 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.
143. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of schools amalgamating and the special needs assistants in these schools, if they have a right to continue employment in the new amalgamated school or the options and positions in these situations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2644/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating 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 those children.
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. These criteria apply to newly amalgamated schools, as they would in schools prior to amalgamation.
It is important to note that each school's allocation of SNA support can change from year to year and may be increased or decreased as students who qualify for SNA support enrol or leave a school. New students with care needs may, or may not, enrol to replace students who have left, for example, or SNA allocations may be decreased where a child's care needs have diminished over time. The number of SNAs which will be allocated to schools, including amalgamated schools, will be determined by the NCSE following consideration of new applications and assessment of the schools capacity to meet the combined care needs of qualifying pupils.
Supplementary Assignment arrangements for Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) are in place. The purpose of these arrangements is to facilitate eligible SNAs who are being made redundant by one employer in filling SNA vacancies that may become available in another school/ETB. The detailed supplementary assignment arrangements are set out in Departmental Circular 0044/2014 which issued on 12 May 2014 and which is available on the Department's website at the following address: http://www.education.ie/en/Circulars-and-Forms/Active-Circulars/cl0044_2014.pdf
With effect from 1 May 2013 once an SNA with a minimum of one year's service (Service in a substitute capacity i.e. covering for maternity leave, sick leave, career breaks, job-sharing etc. does not count) is notified by his/her employer that s/he is to be made redundant then s/he shall be deemed to be a member of a supplementary assignment panel for SNAs.
With the exception of SNAs who have been re-employed on permanent contracts or have chosen to opt out of the panel in accordance with the terms of Paragraph 6 of the circular, all SNAs who have been made redundant since 1 May 2013 are members of the SNA Supplementary Assignment Panel.
It should be noted that this does not prevent any person, including SNAs who are working in temporary or cover positions, or SNAs with less than one year's service, from applying for SNA vacancies but employers are obliged to give precedence to applicants who are members of the SNA Supplementary Assignment Panel.
When an employer has a vacancy to fill, they must undertake the recruitment process in accordance with the provisions outlined in paragraphs 12-18 of Circular 44/2014.
Finally, my Department has set up a dedicated e-mail address to deal with all queries in relation to the SNA Supplementary Assignment Panel and any queries in respect of the operation of the Panel can be directed to this dedicated e-mail address: snasupplementpanel@education.gov.ie
144. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of a new building for a school (details supplied) in County Donegal; when the tendering process in relation to the design team procurement will be initiated; the timeline for when it is expected to be finished; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2652/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, the project for the school referred to, is included in the 6 Year Construction Programme that I announced on 17 November last. The timeline for when work is expected to proceed is outlined in the announcement. Each project is listed in the year when the commencement of construction works is anticipated. In the case of the school referred to, it is listed to proceed to tender and construction in the period 2019-21. The Department will be in communication with all those schools on the programme, including the school referred to, in relation to the next steps to be taken, at the appropriate time, as the projects progress through the various stages of the architectural planning process.
