Written Answers Nos. 125-133
125. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the key statistics on the home renovation incentive scheme including the number of persons availing of the scheme; the total spend; the amount of tax foregone; his plans to extend the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27735/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraData relating to the Home Renovation Incentive (HRI) is available from the statistics section of the Revenue website at http://www.revenue.ie/en/about/statistics/index.html. Specifically, the most recently available information on the cost of the scheme is in the Tax Expenditures section of the page at http://www.revenue.ie/en/about/statistics/hri-stats.html.
It should be noted that the value of the tax credits referred to therein is not reflective of the cost to the exchequer as not all credits have been claimed to date. Furthermore, it should be noted that tax credits claimed by an individual under HRI are generally split evenly over a two year period.
In my Budget speech last year, I announced the extension of the HRI for a further and final year, to the end of 2016. Any decision to provide for a further extension would be announced in the context of the Budget and Finance Bill.
126. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if he will consider increasing the income exemption limits for a single person or married person aged 65 years or over; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27736/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, the income tax system contains an exemption limit for individuals aged 65 or over. Where an individual's income exceeds the exemption limit, he or she is liable to tax based on the normal system of rate bands and tax credits, but he or she may still benefit from marginal relief. This is explained in further detail in leaflet IT8, available on the Revenue website via the following link:
http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it8.html.
The purpose of the exemption limit is to identify a certain income limit below which a taxpayer aged 65 or over is not required to pay income tax or to submit claims to Revenue for income tax reliefs. This exemption limit does not equate to the amount of income which would be sheltered by the tax credits available to the individual or couple as both the exemption limit and the tax credits available can vary depending on the personal circumstances of the individual. For example:
- There are separate single and married exemption limits, and increases are also available for individuals with dependent children including incapacitated adult children.
- While all taxpayers have a personal tax credit, a PAYE or an Earned Income credit is available only in respect of qualifying income and is limited for use against that type of income. Additional tax credits are also available, such as those for widows/widowers, for blind individuals, for those caring for incapacitated children or dependant relatives, and for health expenses incurred by the taxpayer.
In my view the current income exemption limits are the most appropriate use of limited resources, especially given the constraints on finances available for changes to the tax system in the forthcoming Budget. However, I would point out that in the Programme for Partnership Government there is a commitment to ask the Oireachtas to continue to phase out the Universal Social Charge (USC) as part of a wider medium-term income tax reform plan that keeps the tax base broad, reduces excessive tax rates for middle income earners, and limits the benefit for high earners. Reductions will be introduced on a fair basis with an emphasis on low and middle income earners, including those aged 65 years or over.
127. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the year one and full year cost of a 10% increase, for each group, in the group A, group B and group C capital acquisitions tax thresholds, respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27737/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by Revenue that the pre-Budget 2017 Ready Reckoner is available on the Revenue Statistics webpage at: http://www.revenue.ie/en/about/statistics/index.html. The estimates given on the Ready Reckoner for CAT changes are in respect of full year costs. The equivalent estimated first year costs being €15.3 million for Group A, €6.2 million for Group B and €1.2 million for Group C.
128. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance to provide data for each of the following independent options for changes to the USC, both the year one cost and the full year cost of changing the amount of income subject to the 1% rate to €15,000; reducing the 3% rate by 0.5%; reducing the 5.5% rate by 0.5%; and changing the amount of income subject to the 3% rate from the next €6,656 to the next €9,156. [27738/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the pre-Budget 2017 Ready Reckoner is available on the Revenue Statistics webpage at http://www.revenue.ie/en/about/statistics/index.html. In relation to the Deputy's questions, this Ready Reckoner shows a wide range of detailed information, including the estimated cost to the Exchequer of changes to the Universal Social Charge (USC) bands and rates. While the Ready Reckoner does not show all of the specific costings requested by the Deputy, other changes can be estimated on a pro-rata or straight-line basis from those displayed in the Reckoner.
129. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the early education supports available to children with autism; the reason children who are diagnosed with autism cannot avail of early education through the early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme in conjunction with one-to-one home schooling by a home tutor. [27560/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraChildren who are diagnosed with Autism may be enrolled in an early intervention class attached to a mainstream school from the age of three years. From the age of 4 children with Autism may be enrolled in a mainstream school either in a special class or in a mainstream class with supports including access to SNA support if appropriate and resource teaching hours.
Such placements facilitate access to individualised education programmes which may draw from a range of appropriate educational interventions, delivered by fully qualified professional teachers, with the support of Special Needs Assistants and the appropriate school curriculum.
There are approximately 14,000 students with ASD in the school system:63% are educated in mainstream classes; 23% are educated in special classes in mainstream primary and post-primary schools; and 14% are educated in special schools.
In respect of children with ASD who cannot be accommodated in mainstream education, they may be enrolled in special classes or special schools where more intensive and supportive interventions are provided.
The NCSE recently published a list of special classes for the 2016/17 school year. In total there will be 1,153 special classes available next year, which is an increase of over 100% in the number of special classes which were available in 2011, which was 548. 762 of these are for children with Autism.
The NCSE has advised that for the current school year there will be 127 early intervention classes, 525 primary ASD classes and 237 post-primary ASD classes, which represents an increase of approx. 16% on 2015/16 classes for children with autism.
In respect of children of preschool age, parents may choose to have their child attend a preschool setting funded by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs under the ECCE scheme. For further information on this, please contact Minister Zappone, T.D's office.
In relation to my Department’s Home Tuition scheme, the relevant strand of the scheme will provide Home Tuition funding for children in circumstances where the parents of the child are seeking to enrol the child in a State funded school placement. For children of preschool age this will be in an early intervention class setting. In the event that such a setting is not available, my Department will make funding available to fund Home Tuition provision for the child as a compensatory measure until such time as a placement is available.
Where such a school placement is sought but not available, it is also open to parents to enrol their child in an ECCE funded setting. Where this occurs the Home Tuition scheme may be used to top up the provision for the child. In such circumstances the child will typically attend the ECCE funded provision for 15 Hours a week and will receive funding for 5 hours per week Home Tuition.
Where evidence is provided that a placement in a school based early intervention setting is available, eligibility for home tuition will cease.
It should be noted that Home Tuition support is only available for children who are unable to access a state funded school placement. It is not provided as an optional alternative. Where a school placement has been identified for a child in consultation with the Special Needs Organiser, no home tuition provision is permissible under the relevant strand of the scheme.
130. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Education and Skills the timeframe and process to achieve a full restoration of ex-quota guidance counsellors in second level schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27611/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince September 2012 at post primary level guidance provision is now being organised by school management from within the staffing schedule allocation. Guidance is a whole school activity and schools have autonomy on how best to prioritise their available resources to meet the requirements in relation to guidance and the provision of an appropriate range of subjects to students.
The 2016 budget provided an improved staffing allocation from September 2016 to second level schools for the purpose of enhancing guidance provision. It brings the basis of allocation from 19:1 to 18.7:1 for the 2016/17 school year. This improvement of 0.3 in PTR allocation is a restoration of 50% of the teaching resources that were removed when the allocation of guidance posts was brought within quota.
The delivery of the 50% restoration through a change in the staffing schedule allows each school to determine how best to allocate the additional resources to meet the guidance needs of the school. The circular issued earlier this year by my Department outlining the allocation of teaching resources clearly stated that this additional resource is to complement existing resources in order to best meet the guidance needs of the school in line with the school's guidance plan.
Up until September 2012, an ex-quota allocation was provided for guidance in addition to the standard teacher allocation to post primary schools. This resource was allocated in accordance with pupil enrolment. 42% of second-level schools at the time were allocated at least 22 hours per week in respect of guidance (22 hours being the equivalent of one teaching post) while the remainder of the schools were allocated between 8 and 17 hours of guidance per week.
It is important to note that in previous changes to guidance counselling allocations in 2012, as a consequence of the Budget adjustment which had to be made at the time, all 195 DEIS schools were effectively sheltered from these changes as a result of the more favourable staffing schedule of 18.25:1. This was a 0.75 point improvement compared to the current PTR of 19:1 that applies in non-fee-paying second-level schools.
That was a very important protection for the cohort of our schools in DEIS most in need of support. DEIS schools have also benefited from the 0.3 improvement to the staffing schedule which now gives them an enhanced allocation on the basis of 17.95:1 in respect of the current school year.
131. Deputy Colm Brophy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the measures to be rolled out to ensure the implementation of Children First guidance in schools as provided for in the action plan for education; and if it is intended that all school staff will receive training in Children First. [27632/16]
Amharc ar fhreagra132. Deputy Colm Brophy asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans regarding the provision of additional support to the professional development support for teachers, PDST, to support the implementation of Children First in schools as provided for in the action plan for education. [27633/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 131 and 132 together.
In autumn 2011, my Department issued "Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools" based on the "Children First – National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2011”. These procedures apply to all primary and post-primary schools. The purpose of the procedures is to give direction and guidance to school authorities in the implementation of Children First when dealing with allegations/suspicions of child abuse and neglect.
The Deputy will be aware that the Children First Act 2015 will, when fully commenced by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, put elements of the Children First- National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2011) on a statutory footing. The Act provides for a number of key child protection measures such as a requirement on organisations providing services to children to keep children safe and to produce a Child Safeguarding Statement, a requirement on defined categories of persons (mandated persons which includes all registered teachers) to report child protection concerns over a defined threshold to the Child and Family Agency and a requirement on mandated persons to assist the Agency in the assessment of a child protection risk, if requested to do so by the Agency.
Work is currently underway in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in relation to publishing an updated Children First to reflect the Act’s requirements. The commencement of the 2015 Act and the publication of a new Children First will necessitate changes to the existing procedures for schools. In preparation for the forthcoming changes, my Department has recently commenced a review of the existing procedures for schools in consultation with the relevant education partners.
The Professional Development Service for Teachers through its Health and Wellbeing Team will develop a continuing professional development framework to support the implementation of Children First in schools. When the framework is developed the additional supports required to support schools will be considered.
133. Deputy Colm Brophy asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans regarding the introduction of compulsory Children First training in teacher training colleges and for newly qualified teachers as part of their induction training. [27634/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Teaching Council is the professional standards body for teaching. The role of the Council is to promote and regulate the teaching profession, including establishing and promoting professional standards and supporting teachers’ learning.
The Teaching Council’s criteria for initial teacher education (ITE) programmes set out, for professional accreditation purposes, learning outcomes that graduates of the programmes are expected to meet, including that they will “practise within the statutory framework pertaining to education, including child protection guidelines” and “demonstrate knowledge and understanding of children’s rights, including their right to a voice in various matters that relate to their lives”. The Council has also adopted School Placement Guidelines as an addendum to its ITE criteria. The Guidelines set out, inter alia, the Council’s expectations of student teachers on placement, including that they will be familiar with the school’s child protection policy, and other relevant policies.
ITE programmes are accredited by the Council and are the subject of regular review by independent panels established by the Council so as to ensure that standards continue to be met.
With regard to induction, the Council adopted Droichead as the enhanced induction framework for newly qualified teachers in March of this year. Droichead is, primarily, a school-based model of induction, whereby a new teacher’s learning is supported by experienced colleagues. This allows for national policies, such as Children First, to be mediated within the particular context of the school.
In addition, the National Induction Programme for Teachers (NIPT), a support service for teachers, provides a Child Protection workshop for both primary and post primary newly qualified teachers (NQTs). This workshop is available in Education Centres to all NQTs completing probation/induction and is also available on the NIPT website (www.teacherinduction.ie).
The Deputy may also wish to note that the Teaching Council this year adopted Cosán, the national framework for teachers’ learning, following the induction phase. Through this framework, the Council has sought to capture the breadth of teachers’ lifelong learning by reference to six high-level learning areas. Two of those, inclusion, and well-being, are particularly pertinent in the context of the Children First Guidelines.
