Thursday, 16 Jun 2022

Written Answers Nos. 388-398

State Examinations

Ceisteanna (388)

Niall Collins

Ceist:

388. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Education her views on correspondence (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31526/22]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education

The 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.

School Staff

Ceisteanna (389)

Brendan Griffin

Ceist:

389. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education if a decision to remove a mainstream classroom teacher from a school (details supplied) will be reversed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31534/22]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education

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.

For the 2022/23 school year, the staffing schedule for primary schools has been improved by one point and schools will be provided with class teachers on the basis of 1 teacher for every 24 pupils which is a historical low ratio, with lower thresholds applying to DEIS Urban Band 1 schools.

The staffing process contains an appeals mechanism for schools to submit a staffing appeal under certain criteria to an independent Primary Staffing Appeals Board. Details of the appeal process are available in Circular 25/2022.

Defective Building Materials

Ceisteanna (390)

Emer Higgins

Ceist:

390. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Education the progress that has been made in relation to pyrite remediation at schools (details supplied). [31652/22]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education

I refer to the two schools referred to by the Deputy.

My Department has committed to a project to provide additional permanent accommodation at St. Patrick’s NS, Diswellstown, to bring it to 32 mainstream classrooms and provide 4 classrooms for pupils with special education needs. A Brief Formulation Report and Schedule of Accommodation is currently being drawn up by my Department, which will then be issued to the School Authorities.

The building project for the extension to the school will be delivered under my Departments ADAPT3 Programme, which uses the services of a professional external Project Manager to co-ordinate and drive the Design Team to achieve the best possible timeframe to progress this project through the stages of Architectural Planning.

ADAPT is an acronym for Accelerated Delivery of Architectural Planning and Tendering.

The tender competition for the appointment of the ADAPT3 Project Manager has just concluded.

The first step to be undertaken by the Project Manager will be the tender competitions for the appointment of Design Teams for a number of school building projects.

This will include the appointment of the Design Team to progress the extension project for St Patricks National School.

The Design Team will also be tasked with developing and progressing a remediation programme to deal with the pyrite issues in the existing school over the summer periods of the coming school years.

My Department will soon be in contact with the School Authorities in relation to the Schedule of Accommodation to be provided and the appointment of the Design Team.

Officials in my Department are still considering the best approach to the management of the pyrite issue at Castleknock ETNS and will be in direct contact with School officials in relation to this matter shortly.

School Accommodation

Ceisteanna (391)

Brendan Griffin

Ceist:

391. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education her position in relation to secondary schools that are refusing admission to Ukrainian refugee children who are seeking school places for the forthcoming 2022 to 2023 academic year; if there is a process in place to allow these children to have their voices heard and to appeal decisions of the school that is refusing them admission; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31720/22]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education

All schools must implement their enrolment policy in accordance with the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018. Parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available the pupil should be admitted. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available, a selection process will be necessary. This selection process and the enrolment policy on which it is based must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants.

The parent of the student or, in the case of a student who has reached the age of 18 years, the student may appeal a decision of this school to refuse admission. An appeal may be made under Section 29 (1)(c)(i) of the Education Act 1998 where the refusal to admit was due to the school being oversubscribed.

The Department has established Regional Education and Language Teams (REALT) to work with Ukrainian families and local schools to address any issues with school capacity. Current data available shows that overall there is significant capacity available at both primary and post-primary level. The Department know that some schools in certain areas are oversubscribed. The REALTs are helping to manage this; they will identify schools with capacity, assist with accessing transport, and provide feedback to the Department on progress and challenges. Where a parent is experiencing difficulty finding a school place for their child, they should make contact with their local REALT.

Schools Building Projects

Ceisteanna (392)

Jackie Cahill

Ceist:

392. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Education the status of the works at a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31723/22]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education

I would like to inform the Deputy that an application for funding under the emergency works scheme was recently assessed in regards to this school and a decision has been made. The emergency works team will contact the school shortly.

Schools Building Projects

Ceisteanna (393)

Jackie Cahill

Ceist:

393. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Education when her Department expects works to resume at a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31724/22]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education

A building project for the school referred to by the Deputy has been devolved to the school authority for delivery under the Department's additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme. This project will deliver a 2-classrom Special Educational Needs (SEN) Base for the school and is currently at the stage of on-site construction.

Officials from the Department met with the consultant appointed by the school on Tuesday 14 June in order to obtain clarity as to the particular issues on this project. Arising out of this meeting, the Department has requested a report on the situation from the consultant in order to proceed. This report is currently awaited.

School Accommodation

Ceisteanna (394)

Holly Cairns

Ceist:

394. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education if she will ensure that a young person (details supplied) is provided with a school place. [31729/22]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills (Deputy Josepha Madigan)

Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government.

This year, my Department will spend in excess of €2 Billion, or over 25% of the Department’s budget on providing a wide range of schemes and supports for children with special educational needs.

This includes additional teaching and care supports.

As a result, the number of special education teachers, special needs assistants and special class and school places are at unprecedented levels.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs nationwide.

Over the last two years, my Department and the NCSE have worked closely on a more streamlined and joined up planning process which has ensured a targeted approach to meet demand for special needs placements ahead of each new school-year.

I am satisfied that this more joined up approach is delivering. Through this intensive intervention, we have seen an additional 300 special classes, providing 1,800 new places, opened nationwide for the 2021/22 school-year.

I also acknowledge that notwithstanding the extent of this investment, there are some parts of the country where increases in population and other issues have led to concerns regarding a shortage of school places.

The NCSE has well established structures in place for engaging with schools and parents and seeks to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all children who have been identified as needing special class placements.

It is open to any school to make an application to the NCSE for the establishment of a specialised provision and where sanctioned, a range of supports, including capital funding, is made available to the school.

The NCSE through their network of SENOs (Special Educational Needs Organisers) are currently engaged in a process of establishing new classes for the 2022/2023 school year and beyond. They are looking at local information in relation to projected demand for future special class places.

Parents seeking special class or school placements for their children are advised to contact NCSE locally so that their needs can be taken into account for planning purposes.

As your query refers to an individual placement case, I will arrange to have it referred to the NCSE for their attention and direct reply.

Departmental Policies

Ceisteanna (395, 396)

Holly Cairns

Ceist:

395. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education if her Department and public bodies and agencies that operate under her remit that operate in direct contact with members of the public have policies in place for members of the public to report instances of sexual harassment or assault that occur on the property of her Department or each public body and agency under her remit; if so, if these policies are publicly accessible on the relevant website; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31739/22]

Holly Cairns

Ceist:

396. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Education if her Department and public bodies and agencies that operate under her remit have policies in place for employees to report instances of sexual harassment or assault that occur involving other employees or members of the public or on the property of her Department or public body and agency that operate under her remit; if so, if these policies are publicly accessible on the relevant website; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31758/22]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Education

I propose to take Questions Nos. 395 and 396 together.

Allegations of sexual harassment or assault by a staff member of the Department against another staff member are dealt with in accordance with “Dignity at Work – an Anti-Bullying, Harassment and Sexual Harassment Policy for the Civil Service” which is publicly available at www.cseas.per.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/Dignity-At-Work-Policy-PDF.pdf. Upon receipt of a bullying or harassment complaint (verbal or written), the Human Resources (HR) Manager will first consider if the complaint may constitute a criminal offence. If the HR Manager considers that there is a possibility that a criminal offence has occurred, the complaint will be referred to the Garda Síochána as soon as possible.

If an incident of sexual harassment or assault involving a member of the public were to take place in the Department's offices, it would be referred to An Garda Síochána. In addition, accidents and dangerous occurrences are required to be reported to the Health and Safety Authority in line with the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Reporting of Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences) Regulations 2016 (S.I. No. 370 of 2016). State Authorities also have a statutory requirement to report any unplanned or uncontrolled occurrence or sequence of occurrences that caused or had the potential to cause injury, ill-health, disease, and/or damage/loss to property/service to the State Claims Agency. This includes incidents involving persons, property or the organisation as a whole.

The information in respect of State bodies is not held by my Department. Contact details for these bodies are set out below, should the Deputy wish to contact them directly with this query.

Contact E-Mail Addresses for State Bodies under the Remit of the Department of Education as at 29 March 2022

Name of Body	Dedicated Email address for the Members of the Oireachtas	Designated Official Responsible for assisting Oireachtas Members
An Chomhairle um Oideachais Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta	[e-mail]	[e-mail]
Educational Research Centre	[e-mail]	[e-mail]
National Centre for Guidance in Education	[e-mail]	[e-mail]
National Council for Curriculum and Assessment Note 1	[e-mail]	[e-mail]
State Examinations Commission	[e-mail]	[e-mail]
The Teaching Council	[e-mail]	[e-mail]
National Council for Special Education	[e-mail]	[e-mail] and [e-mail]
Residential Institutions Statutory Fund – Caranua	[e-mail]	[e-mail]

Note 1 - The spelling of the NCCA e-mail address to which Oireachtas queries may be addressed has been verified with the NCCA as being accurate.

Question No. 396 answered with Question No. 395.

Departmental Transport

Ceisteanna (397)

Richard O'Donoghue

Ceist:

397. Deputy Richard O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Social Protection the details of the car and driver expenses in her Department that were claimed by junior and senior Ministers in 2021, in tabular form. [31392/22]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Social Protection (Deputy Heather Humphreys)

My Department's Ministers and civilian drivers’ expenses in 2021 are outlined in the table below.

Department of Social Protection	2021 Expenses
Minister	€7,919.89
Civilian Drivers	€2,359.22

Education Schemes

Ceisteanna (398)

Louise O'Reilly

Ceist:

398. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Social Protection if any changes will be made to the qualification criteria for the back to education allowance for older workers who decided to return to education having lost or left their job due to the impact of the Covid-19 crisis. [31398/22]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Social Protection

The Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) provides income support for jobseekers and others in receipt of certain social welfare payments who pursue courses of education at second or third level. The provision for the scheme for 2022 is €105.4 million.

A person wishing to pursue a course of study under the BTEA scheme must satisfy the conditions of the scheme, including being in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment for a specified time, pursuing a full-time course of study leading to a recognised qualification in a recognised college and progressing in the level of education.

The qualifying period for the second-level option is three months while the qualifying period for third-level courses is nine months prior to the date of commencement of the course. Time spent on PUP is considered as part of the assessment of the qualifying time condition and those who transitioned from PUP to standard jobseekers are eligible for support under the Back to Education Allowance.

Jobseekers awarded Statutory Redundancy under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 - 2012 have access to the BTEA Scheme immediately on being made redundant or within one year of the award of Statutory Redundancy.

There are no further plans at this time to make any changes to the eligibility for this support.

The Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) Grant, payable by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, is the primary support for people pursuing third level education.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.