Written Answers Nos. 246-253
246. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Education if her Department will liaise with the relevant authorities to introduce a school pupils' free travel scheme bus pass, similar to the free travel scheme for adults, recognising that children in rural areas can avail of free travel, but not those in urban areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3609/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.
The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02m.
There has been an overall increase in both applications and tickets issued for the 2023/2024 school year in comparison to the 2022/2023 school year.
The purpose of the scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. Children who are eligible for school transport and who complete the application process on time are accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation and where capacity exists.
Under the current terms of the scheme, children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school, and at post primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.
Any children who do not meet these criteria are deemed not eligible, or otherwise known as concessionary applicants, and are allocated a ticket based on the availability of a seat when all eligible children have been catered for.
Temporary Alleviation Measures (TAMS) at post-primary level are continued for the current school year. Under these measures, transport will be provided where there is a route in operation and where capacity exists for concessionary post-primary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school and are attending their second nearest school and who applied and paid on time.
Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis only and will be facilitated where spare seats are available after eligible children have been accommodated. Where the number of ineligible children exceeds the number of spare seats available Bus Éireann will allocate tickets for the spare seats using an agreed selection process.
The Government announced a wide range of once-off measures to assist with increased cost of living pressures which includes a significant reduction in charges for school transport for the 2023/2024 school year.
For the 2023/2024 school year, reduced charges of €50 per student at primary level and €75 per student at post-primary level apply, with a cap per family of €125. This means that ticketholders will save up to €50 at primary and €275 at post-primary, with an overall reduction in the family maximum contribution of €525 compared to the fees for 2021/2022 school year.
The Department has recently completed a review of the School Transport Scheme. The review was conducted with a view to examining the current scheme and how it currently operates, its broader effectiveness and sustainability and that it adequately supports the provision of services to students and their families. The review encompassed the School Transport Scheme for children with special educational needs and the primary and post primary schemes. The review examined each element of the schemes, including eligibility criteria, trends, costs, cost drivers, and overall effectiveness in meeting the objectives of the schemes. The Technical Working Group and the Steering Group have recently completed their work on the final report of the review. This final report includes recommendations on the future operation of the scheme. Subject to the Minister’s approval, it is expected that the review will be brought to Government and further to government approval, the review will be published.
247. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the status of an application by a club (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3428/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP) is the primary vehicle for Government support for the development of sports and recreation facilities and the purchase of non-personal sports equipment throughout the country. Over 13,000 projects have now benefited from sports capital funding since 1998 bringing the total allocations in that time to over €1.15 billion. The Programme for Government commits to continuing the SCEP and to prioritising investment in disadvantaged areas.
The latest round of the SCEP (2023) closed for applications on Friday 8 September, 2023. A preliminary examination of the submitted applications demonstrates that the Programme has again generated a very large number of applications, including one from the organisation to which the Deputy refers. The total number of 3,210 applications exceeds the record number submitted under the last (2020) round.
The "Scoring Assessment and Assessment Manual" for the 2023 round has been finalised and published. I have also published the full list of all applications received by county including the relevant sport type for each application received. The detailed assessment work has commenced and it is planned to assess the "equipment-only" applications first and announce these grants in the coming months. Work will then commence on assessing the capital applications with the allocations likely to be announced later in 2024.
248. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the current status of a project (details supplied); when this project will proceed to the next stage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3444/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department's role in relation to tourism lies primarily in the area of national tourism policy and implementation of that policy is a matter for the tourism agencies, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, as well as certain other bodies.
The matter raised is an operational matter for Fáilte Ireland. Accordingly, I have referred this question to them for direct response to the Deputy. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within ten working days.
249. Deputy Imelda Munster asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she can provide a confirmed evasion rate figure for the licence fee for 2023, and if not, if she can give an estimated date for the availability of same. [3526/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe TV Licence evasion rate, or the estimated percentage of licensable premises not possessing a TV licence, is calculated on the basis of comparing the total number of TV Licences issued, including both direct sales by An Post and ‘free’ licences provided by the Department of Social Protection under the Household Benefits Package, with the total number of licensable premises.
The number of licensable dwellings is based on regular CSO data, which is modified to take account of homes which are believed to be without a liable device using data from TAM Nielsen regarding household TV penetration. The formula employed to arrive at the number of non-licenced premises is agreed by my Department, An Post and RTÉ.
The total number of TV Licences issued in 2023 amounted to 1,346,068, comprising 824,278 from direct sales by An Post and 521,790 ‘free’ licences provided under the Household Benefits Package.
As the final licensable dwellings figure for 2023 is not yet available, it is not possible to confirm the overall evasion rate. However, it is likely be approximately 19%. At this time I am unable to provide an estimate as to when the final CSO figure for dwellings will be available.
250. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the budget allocation for Screen Ireland in 2022, 2023 and 2024, in tabular form. [3584/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Budget allocation for Screen Ireland in 2022, 2023 and 2024 is as follows:
|
YEAR |
Funding (€m) |
Current (€m) |
Capital (€m) |
|
2022 |
36.818 |
4.668 |
32.15 |
|
2023 |
37.946 |
4.888 |
33.058 |
|
2024 |
39.546 |
5.488 |
34.058 |
251. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the latest up to date figures regarding TV licence renewal and purchase of TV licences for 2024 versus 2023; the end of year figures for same for 2023 as a whole versus 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3602/24]
Amharc ar fhreagra252. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media for a county-by-county breakdown of the latest up-to-date figures regarding TV licence renewal and purchase of TV licences for 2024 versus 2023; the end-of-year figures for same for 2023 as a whole versus; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3603/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 251 and 252 together.
The most up to date figures of TV licences issued by An Post for the third week in January are as follows; 13,956 (12,069 renewals) with the equivalent figure for the same period in 2023 being 15,299 (12,895 renewals), a reduction of just under 9%.
The total number of TV licences issued as recorded by An Post in 2023 amounted to 824,278 (of which 732,532 were renewals) compared to 947,924 (831,973 renewals) in 2022. This represents a reduction of 123,646 TV licences, or 13%. In addition to the issued TV licences figure above, 521,790 'free' licenses were provided under the Household Benefits Package.
A county by county breakdown of the above figures is not available to my Department.
I have on numerous occasions stressed the importance and value of public service broadcasting to our society as a whole, and while there has been some signs of recovery in the purchase of TV licences since November, I would again urge anyone liable to purchase a TV licence to ensure they do so, to ensure that public service content, including that on commercial and local broadcasters, continues to be supported.
253. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media what supports will be available from her Department to community groups hoping to develop a community swimming pool; if a ringfenced funding stream will be included under the large-scale sporting infrastructure scheme; when she expects the next round of the LSSIF to open for new applications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3605/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Sports Policy, which was published in 2018, provided for the establishment of a Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). The aim of the LSSIF is to provide Exchequer support for larger sports facility projects where the Exchequer investment would be greater than the maximum amount available under the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP).
The first call for proposals under the LSSIF closed in 2019 with new swimming pool projects and the refurbishment of existing swimming pools eligible to apply for LSSIF grant funding subject to published guidelines and regulations. The first LSSIF allocations were announced in January 2020 and thus far €124 million has been awarded to 33 different proposals including 8 swimming pool projects.
Minister Martin and I recently confirmed that a new round of the LSSIF will open for applications in the first half of 2024, with the dates, terms and conditions to be published on the Department’s website in due course. I would encourage all eligible projects to consider applying for this competitive application process when it opens later this year.
