Written Answers Nos. 153-170
153. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a school (details supplied) was not allocated a classification as a DEIS 1 urban school; if this school was incorrectly classified as a DEIS 2 school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40328/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraWe have, for the first time, put in place an objective statistics based model for which schools are in or out of the DEIS Plan, so that all stakeholders can have confidence that we are targeting extra resources at areas of greatest need.
This model uses data supplied by schools to my Department's Primary and Post Primary Online Databases and CSO Small Area of Population statistics from the National Census of Population as represented by the Pobal HP Deprivation Index. Variables used in the compilation of the HP Index include those related to demographic growth, dependency ratios, education levels, single parent rate, overcrowding, social class, occupation and unemployment rates. This data was applied uniformly to all schools in the country in a fair and objective way, to identify the relative level of concentrated disadvantage present in each school.
The identification process indicated that the school referred to by the Deputy had a relative level of disadvantage which did not merit its upgrading from its current Band 2 status to Band 1 status at this time.
In June, a communication issued to every school in the country explaining the Identification Methodology by way of a detailed 22-page document which is available on the Department’s website at https://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/DEIS-Delivering-Equality-of-Opportunity-in-Schools-/DEIS-Identification-Process.pdf
It is important to note that the fact that a school has not been included in the DEIS programme at Band 1 level on this occasion does not preclude its inclusion at a later date, should its level of disadvantage warrant the allocation of additional resources.
154. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the proposed completion date for a new school building (details supplied) County Westmeath; and the capacity of the new building. [40350/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe project for the school in question is to provide a new 6 classroom special school plus ancillary accommodation to accommodate 36 pupils. Architectural planning has commenced and site surveys are currently being progressed. Also a pre-planning meeting was held with Westmeath County Council on 31 July to discuss the development and inform the design process. When the design drawings are complete the planning application will be lodged. It is anticipated that the planning application will be lodged before the end of this year.
155. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the capitation sum allocated to primary schools is inadequate to meet all their expenses; if this sum can be increased in line with that provided to post-primary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40352/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI recognise the need to improve capitation funding for primary schools having regard to the reductions that were necessary over recent years.
It is difficult to make precise comparisons between the levels of grants paid and the actual costs of running schools at primary and post-primary levels. However it is self-evident that the maintenance and running costs for second level schools are much greater on a unit cost basis than those in primary schools.
In general, post-primary schools are larger than primary schools and have a lower pupil teacher ratio resulting in more classrooms and specialist rooms such as laboratories, workshops and kitchens. This leads to higher unit costs in second level schools for heat, light, power, maintenance and cleaning.
The Action Plan for Education outlines hundreds of actions to be implemented over the 3 year period 2016 to 2019 which include restoring capitation funding as resources permit.
The process is underway for restoring grant funding that is used by schools to fund the salaries of ancillary staff. The ancillary grant was increased by €6 in 2016 and €5 in 2017 in order to enable primary schools implement the arbitration salary increase for grant funded school secretaries and caretakers and to also implement the restoration of salary for cleaners arising from the unwinding of FEMPI legislation.
Capitation funding remains a priority for me to address during the lifetime of the Action Plan.
156. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of new school building provisions for an area (details supplied); his plans for the provision for a post-primary school for the area; the status of these plans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40500/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraTwo new 16 classroom primary schools for Citywest Educate Together National School and Citywest & Saggart Community National School (which opened in September 2012 in suitable interim accommodation at Fortunestown Lane, Citywest) are currently at advanced architectural planning stage. The site acquisition in respect of these schools is also at an advanced stage and on completion the school projects will proceed to tender.
My Department uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise. The GIS uses data from the Central Statistics Office, Ordnance Survey Ireland, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and my Department's own databases. With this information, my Department is currently carrying out nationwide demographic exercises at primary and post-primary level to determine where additional school accommodation is needed. It is anticipated that decisions based on these exercises will be announced later in 2017.
157. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Education and Skills the progress being made in the provision of a new school building for a school (details supplied). [40502/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, a building project for the school to which he refers is included in my Department's Six Year Plan.
In this regard, my officials are liaising with South Dublin County Council with a view to finalising the acquisition of the site.
Once the acquisition is finalised, it is my Department's intention to initiate the architectural planning process for the provision of a new school building.
158. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Education and Skills the progress which has been made in the divestment of a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40504/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra159. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the amalgamation of schools (details supplied); the communication he has had with the archdiocese for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40505/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 158 and 159 together.
I can confirm that my Department has received a proposal directly from the schools, referred to in the details supplied by the Deputy, relating to a proposed reorganisation of the schools. My Department has not received any correspondence from the Patron regarding the above proposals or in respect of a proposal regarding divestment.
My Department has indicated that we will seek to liaise further with the schools following completion of ongoing demographic exercises.
160. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the eligibility for the higher education grant in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40555/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs part of a comprehensive customer service and communications strategy provided by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), to ensure that all necessary avenues are open to applicants to receive the information they need, a dedicated email and phone line service is provided by SUSI for Oireachtas members. This was established to meet an identified need for applicants who choose to engage the assistance of their public representatives in making enquiries about their grant applications.
This service complements the established channels provided by SUSI which include online application tracking, a dedicated website, a telephone helpdesk, email and social media, including Facebook and Twitter.
Enquiries may be emailed direct to SUSI at oireachtas@susi.ie. Staff in SUSI are responding to email queries within a matter of days.
If an individual applicant considers that she/he has been unjustly refused a student grant or that the rate of grant awarded is not the correct one, she/he may appeal, in the first instance, to SUSI.
Where an individual applicant has had an appeal turned down in writing by SUSI and remains of the view that the scheme has not been interpreted correctly in his/her case, an appeal may be submitted by the applicant via www.studentgrantappeals.ie outlining the position to the independent Student Grants Appeals Board within the required timeframe.
161. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to undertake a comprehensive fire safety audit of all high-risk buildings, including temporary structures and especially schools, that are under the remit of his Department. [40602/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has recently published an Invitation to Tender on the Governments e-tenders website for fire safety consultants to carry out fire safety audits of a representative sample of 25 to 30 schools constructed over the last 20 years to confirm their compliance with Fire Safety Certificates.
This exercise is being undertaken as a proactive, extra precaution by my Department on foot of recent concerns regarding fire safety in a small number of recently completed schools. Separate actions are being undertaken to address the issues with those buildings.
The selection of a school to be included in this audit in no way means that my Department has concerns about that particular school. The audit exercise is intended to give my Department a clear picture of whether there are any issues arising in respect of compliance with fire safety certificates in school building projects completed in the past 20 years or currently under construction.
162. Deputy Pat The Cope Gallagher asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of an appeal by a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40610/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has received correspondence from the school in question in relation to its application for capital funding.
This correspondence is currently being considered and a response will issue to the school as soon as this process has been finalised.
163. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Education and Skills if school transport will be provided for a person (details supplied) with special needs in order that the person can access secondary school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40656/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
During the 2016/17 school year almost 116,000 children, including some 12,000 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually.
In general, under the terms of the Department's School Transport Scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs, children are eligible for transport where they have special educational needs arising from a diagnosed disability in accordance with the designation of high and low incidence disability set out in Department of Education and Skill's (DES) Circular 02/05 and are attending the nearest recognised: mainstream school, special class/special school or a unit, that is or can be resourced, to meet their special educational needs.
Eligibility is determined following consultation with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) through its network of Special Education Needs Organisers (SENO).
Applications for transport provision, under the terms of this scheme, should only be completed in circumstances where children are not in a position to avail of standard school transport services.
The child referred to is not eligible for special school transport as it is reported that she does not have special educational needs as set out in the Department's Circular 02/05.
The terms of the School Transport Scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs are applied equitably on a national basis.
164. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the long-delayed three-school campus for Buncrana, County Donegal; if he will meet with a delegation from Donegal Education and Training Board in addition to local teachers and parents to hear their concerns regarding the long delay in progressing this project and the implications for the existing three schools and the schoolchildren; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40667/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy may be aware the project to which she refers is included on my Department’s capital programme.
A preferred site option has been identified and officials from the relevant Local Authority, on behalf of my Department, have engaged in discussions with the landowner in question with a view to its acquisition. Once the site has been acquired, assuming no issues arise, my Department will be in a position to progress the project concerned into the architectural planning process.
I have received a request to meet with representatives of the school authorities and a reply will issue shortly to the school authorities in respect of this request. I can assure the Deputy that all parties are working to bring this acquisition process to a completion as early as possible.
165. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will examine the case of a person (details supplied) and have a bus ticket issued in this case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40670/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
During the 2016/17 school year almost 116,000 children, including some 12,000 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually.
In general, children with special educational needs are eligible for school transport if they are attending the nearest recognised mainstream or special school that is or can be resourced, to meet their special educational needs under Department of Education and Skills' criteria.
The application for special school transport was submitted in early September and the child in question is eligible for school transport.
Bus Éireann is currently examining the suitability of existing services and in the meantime the Special Transport Grant towards the cost of private transport arrangements may be claimed by the family.
166. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the payment of bench fees to third level education institutions; if a person who wishes to pay their own bench fee may do so in conjunction with their regular fees payable at the non-European Union student rate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40672/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe position is that higher education institutions are autonomous bodies and, therefore, are responsible for the determination of the level of fees payable by students who are not eligible for free fees under my Department’s Free Fees Scheme, as well as the method of payment of those fees.
The criteria governing the level of tuition fees to be charged in cases where students are enrolling as non-EU students is also a matter for the relevant institution to determine in line with its own criteria.
Accordingly, my Department has no function in relation to such matters and the matter should be addressed at institutional level.
167. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Education and Skills if in the context of a review of the DEIS programme eligibility, he will ensure that a school (details supplied) has its status changed to urban band 1 from its current status of rural; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40690/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraWe have, for the first time, put in place an objective statistics based model for which schools are assessed for inclusion in DEIS, so that all stakeholders can have confidence that we are targeting extra resources at areas of greatest need.
This model uses data supplied by schools to my Department's Primary and Post Primary Online Databases and CSO Small Area of Population statistics from the National Census of Population as represented by the Pobal HP Deprivation Index. Variables used in the compilation of the HP Index include those related to demographic growth, dependency ratios, education levels, single parent rate, overcrowding, social class, occupation and unemployment rates. This data is applied uniformly to all schools in the country in a fair and objective way, to identify the relative level of concentrated disadvantage present in each school. An information note detailing the methodology adopted, including the designation of primary schools as urban or rural, is available on my Department’s website at http://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/DEIS-Delivering-Equality-of-Opportunity-in-Schools-/DEIS-Identification-Process.pdf.
168. Deputy Imelda Munster asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of second level students nationally during the academic year 2016-17. [40696/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe number of second level students nationally during the academic year 2016/2017 was 352,404.
169. Deputy Imelda Munster asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of second level students in County Louth during the academic year 2016-17. [40699/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe number of second level students in County Louth during the academic year 2016/2017 was 11,573.
170. Deputy Imelda Munster asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students in a school (details supplied) during the academic year 2016-17. [40702/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe number of students in St. Joseph's CBS, Drogheda during the academic year 2016/2017 was 727.
