December 09 2008

Parliamentary Questions

• Assisted Living Hours Allocated to Date
• Budget for the Centre of Excellence in Universal Design
• Habitual Residence Condition
• Carer’s Strategy
• Amount spent on EPSEN
• Pupil Time spent Travelling to Primary School

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION

• Assisted Living Hours Allocated to Date

Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of assisted living hours and the number of new hours allocated by the Health Service Executive in 2007 and to date in 2008 respectively in each HSE area; the expenditure on assisted living hours each year respectively;

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): In the 2008 Budget, €50m was provided to the Health Service Executive (HSE) to fund a range of additional services under the Multi Annual Investment Programme for people with a disability, including 200,000 additional personal assistant/home support hours. The Health Service Executive will provide a total of 3.2 million hours of personal assistant/home support this year to people with a disability. The HSE’s National Service Plan for 2009 proposes to provide 3.2 million hours of personal assistant/home support to people with a disability. As the Deputy’s questions relate to service matters I have arranged for the questions to be referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.

• Budget for the Centre of Excellence in Universal Design

Deputy David Stanton (FG): asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the budget allocation and expenditure for the Centre of Excellence in Universal Design each year since its establishment;

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Deputy Dermot Ahern): The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, established under the Disability Act 2005 on 1 January 2007, operates under the budget allocated to the NDA. In its first year of operation (2007), as detailed in the Annual Report of the Authority, the Centre incurred set-up costs of €93,829. A further €36,766 was necessary to revise the 2002 publication ‘Building for Everyone’. Staffing costs for the Centre amounted to €214,696 in 2007.

• Habitual Residence Condition

Deputy Brendan Howlin (L): asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if, in context of disability allowance, non-contributory State pension and rent supplement under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, an elderly Irish citizen with a special needs daughter would be subject to the habitual residence condition on returning to reside near family members here;

Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Mary Hanafin TD): The requirement to be habitually resident in Ireland was introduced as a qualifying condition for certain social assistance schemes and child benefit with effect from 1 May 2004. All applicants — regardless of nationality — for the following payments are required to be habitually resident in the State:

• Jobseeker’s Allowance;
• State Pension (Non-Contributory for persons aged over 66);
• Blind Pension;
• Widow’s, Widower’s and Orphan’s Non-Contributory Pensions;
• One-parent Family Payment;
• Carer’s Allowance;
• Disability Allowance;
• Supplementary Welfare Allowance (including Rent Supplement); and
• Child Benefit;

The condition does not apply to:

• insurance benefits (which are payable to persons who satisfy the contribution and other conditions) or
• once-off exceptional or urgent needs payments payable under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance Scheme.

Under Social Welfare legislation, decisions in relation to all aspects of claims are made by statutorily appointed Deciding Officers. Each case received for a determination on the Habitual Residence Condition is dealt with in its own right and a decision is based on application of the legislation and guidelines to the particular individual circumstances of each case. Decisions in relation to Supplementary Welfare Allowance (including Rent Supplement) are made by Community Welfare Officers in the Health Service Executive (HSE). Any applicant who disagrees with the decision on a case has the right to request a review of that decision and/or appeal to the independent Social Welfare Appeals Office. The question of what is a person’s “habitual residence” has been decided in accordance with European Court of Justice case law, which sets out the grounds for assessing individual claims. The restriction is not based on citizenship, nationality, or immigration status. The criteria have been incorporated in social welfare legislation (Section 30 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007) to guide a deciding officer in determination of the habitual residence condition and include an assessment of the claimant’s main centre of interest and future intentions as it appears from all the circumstances. The criteria have been drawn from judgments of the European Court of Justice. Irish nationals returning to live here on a permanent basis should experience no difficulty in meeting the requirements of the Habitual Residence Condition. The Habitual Residence Condition is being operated in a careful manner to ensure that Ireland’s social welfare system is protected, while at the same time ensuring that people whose cases are appropriate to the system have access to it when they need it.

• Carer’s Strategy

Deputy Michael McGrath (FF): asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the position regarding the national carer’s strategy.

Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Deputy Mary Hanafin): The development of a National Carers’ Strategy is a key Government commitment in both the national partnership agreement Towards 2016 and the Programme for Government. A working group, chaired by the Department of An Taoiseach, is working on developing the strategy. My Department provides the secretariat to the working group which also includes representatives of the Departments of Finance, Health and Children and Enterprise, Trade and Employment as well as FÁS and the Health Service Executive. Developing the strategy involves consultation with other government departments and bodies not represented on the working group. The Department has met with a wide range of organisations including the Equality Authority, Combat Poverty Agency, Citizen’s Information Board, the National Council on Ageing and Older People, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the National Disability Authority to discuss this issue. A request for submissions from the public was published in regional newspapers in early March. The closing date for submissions was Friday 18 April 2008. There was a good response from individuals and organisations and the submissions received are being examined. Towards 2016 commits the Department to hosting an annual consultation meeting of carer representative groups and relevant departments and agencies. Such a meeting was held on 23 January 2008. Representatives of 12 groups and 9 government departments and bodies attended. The theme was the National Carers’ Strategy and groups were given an opportunity to comment on the draft terms of reference and to raise other issues considered relevant in the context of the strategy. I was very pleased to launch the report, Listening to Carers, Report on a Nationwide Carer Consultation, produced by the Carers Association in partnership with Caring for Carers Ireland and Care Alliance on 30 June this year. The issues raised in this report are currently being considered as part of the development of the strategy. The commitment to the development of a National Carers Strategy also includes a commitment to appropriate consultation with the social partners. An update in relation to the strategy was provided to the social partners plenary session in February. The first of two consultation meetings with the social partners was held on 8 May 2008. Key issues raised were recognition for carers and their work, access to suitable health services, income support, training, gender issues and balancing employment and care. The interdepartmental group is currently working on bringing the carers strategy to completion.

• Amount spent on EPSEN

Deputy David Stanton (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Science the amount allocated and expended each year respectively for the implementation of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 since its enactment in 2004 with a breakdown of expenditure each year; the amount allocated for the implementation in 2009;

Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe): The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act, 2004 provides a statutory framework for the education of children with special educational needs. As the Deputy will be aware, a significant number of sections of the EPSEN Act have been commenced, principally those establishing the National Council for Special Education and those promoting an inclusive approach to the education of children with special educational needs. However, in the present financial circumstances the full implementation of the EPSEN Act has been deferred to a date later than originally intended. The Government will keep the matter under review and remains committed to the full implementation of EPSEN at the earliest possible date. Education provision is not solely constrained within the provisions of the EPSEN Act. Services are provided on a non-statutory basis, and with regard also to other relevant legislation such as the Education Act, 1998, the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, the Equal Status Act, 2000-2004 and the Disability Act, 2005 under the overall umbrella of the Constitution. Therefore, although a number of provisions of the EPSEN Act remain to be formally commenced, appropriate education services are provided as a central element in the Government’s commitment to supporting children with special educational needs. This support is provided across a wide spectrum of initiatives within the education sector. At school level, in addition to the teachers provided in the classroom, significant additional supports are also provided to enable schools to cater for the needs of students with special educational needs. Such supports include resource teaching support, special needs assistant support, special transport arrangements, enhanced capitation and funding for the purchase of specialised equipment. Expenditure on these services occurs across a range of subheads in the department; there is no separate provision dedicated to the implementation of the EPSEN Act. Even when EPSEN is fully implemented it would not be practical to identify expenditure specifically triggered by the Act. For example, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) will provide a range of services some of which may be provided as a result of the implementation of EPSEN with others being delivered on a nonstatutory basis. When the overall annual spend in 2008 to support persons with special educational needs is considered, my Department will spend an estimated €900m in total by the end of this year. The equivalent spends for 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 are €468m, €605m, €706m and €838m respectively. I am also pleased to confirm that in excess of €1 billion will be available next year to support children and adults with special educational needs. I am particularly pleased that, in order to strengthen and enhance services, and continue the preparation for the full implementation of the EPSEN Act at a later date, the Government has provided €20m in 2009 — €10m for education services and €10m for health services. In my Department this additional funding will provide for an expansion of the NEPS service so that all schools in the country will be covered by the service as well as enhancing the capacity of the NCSE to co-ordinate the provision of services to children with special educational needs. In addition teachers and special needs assistants will continue to be deployed to schools to meet children’s needs and there will be further investment in teacher training in this area. An integrated approach is being adopted by the education and health sectors to target these additional resources to the areas of greatest need. Progress in both sectors will be kept under review by the Office for Disability & Mental Health and the Cross-Sectoral Team during 2009. With the levels of investment outlined, it is clear that significant progress has been made in educational provision for people with special educational needs in recent years. This progress has been achieved through the additional investments made by successive Ministers for Education. Advances in the level of dedicated provision to support children with special educational needs include:

• Schools are now allocated extra resource teachers and special needs assistants to enable them meet the special educational needs of students. In the region of 19,000 staff in our schools work solely with children with special needs.
• Special Needs Assistant posts have increased from under 300 in 1997 to almost 10,000 in 2008.
• Primary schools are staffed up-front with additional teachers to cater for the most prevalent special educational needs — removing the need for assessments and delays in recruitment.
• The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) was established under the EPSEN Act to co-ordinate the delivery of services for children with special needs. The NCSE is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers, for allocating resource teachers and special needs assistants to schools to support children with special needs. This has completely transformed the application process for extra supports for the better.
• The level of training available to teachers has improved significantly. The establishment of the Special Education Support Service to provide expert support, professional development and training opportunities in special education for school staff has been very significant. In 2007, the service was in contact with over 15,000 teachers. The range of postgraduate professional training programmes available to professionals in the special needs area has also significantly expanded.
• The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) aims to facilitate, for all students, the development of their potential and maximise the benefits of their educational and other experiences, having particular regard to those with special educational needs. NEPS supports schools and students in the development and delivery of appropriate interventions for children with special educational needs.
• Assistive technology, specialist equipment and building adaptations continue to be provided as necessary. Special school transport arrangements are made currently costing €50m per year.
• There has been a particular focus in recent years on improving services for children with autism. In the past year alone, about 100 extra special classes for autistic children have been set up, bringing the total number sanctioned to over 340 classes, and
• Early educational intervention is now provided for children with autism from 212 years of age. There are now 35 early intervention classes for children with autism attached to mainstream schools that are funded by my Department. Funding is also provided through the home tuition programme for children with autism aged from 2 and a half years to 5 who are unable to access an early intervention class.

• Pupil Time spent Travelling to Primary School

Deputy Olwyn Enright (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Science the guidelines laid down by her Department regarding the length of time primary school children are allowed to spend travelling on school transport;

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science (Deputy Seán Haughey): Bus Éireann operates the school transport service on behalf of my Department. Over 134,000 children are carried each day on school transport to primary and post-primary schools. It is a major logistical operation which involves the planning of bus routes in such a way as to ensure that, as far as possible, eligible pupils have a reasonable level of service while at the same time, ensuring that school transport vehicles are fully utilised in an efficient and cost effective manner. In general, at primary school level, school transport services are organised to ensure the maximum travel and waiting time does not exceed 1.5 hours. In regard to children with special educational needs, Bus Éireann endeavours to provide the best possible transport service for these children. The size of vehicle required is determined by the number of special needs pupils requiring the service and the suitability of the vehicle to meet the requirements of the pupil. The Deputy will appreciate that it is not always possible to facilitate a child, by virtue of his or her special needs, on a regular school transport service. Furthermore, many children with special needs travel long distances from home to the nearest: recognised mainstream school, special class/special school or a unit that is or can be resourced, to meet the child’s special educational needs under my Department’s criteria. Individual school transport, such as a taxi service, may be deemed to be the most suitable and appropriate mode of transport. In these circumstances, the travelling time for children with special needs can vary depending on the nature of the service being provided.

BACK TO MAIN DÁIL DEBATES & QUESTIONS PAGE