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Dáil Debates & Questions
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September 16 2009 Dáil Debates Parliamentary Questions
DÁIL DEBATES Deputy Michael D. Higgins (L): On a number of occasions the Government has indicated that it was about to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. When is it proposed to ratify that convention? Is it proposed to ratify it within the lifetime of this Government, given that it is referred to as a commitment in the White Paper on development? Second, is it proposed to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Disabled in the lifetime of this Government? The Taoiseach: I will revert to the Deputy having spoken to the Ministers concerned as to what progress has been made in those areas. Deputy Michael D. Higgins: There is a very large file on this issue. Most of the letters end with the same sentence — that signature by Ireland is imminent. It is now nearly two years since the first commitment was made. In the current atmosphere it would be salutary if we could sign and ratify those UN conventions. If that was done, with supporting legislation, it would create some public trust. PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS Deputy Leo Varadkar (FG): asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position regarding the proposed new action plan for the national supported employment programme with particular reference to the requirements that participants be work ready; Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Discussions with relevant stakeholders are currently taking place between the Department ofEnterprise, Trade and Employment and FÁS with a view to reaching agreement on the FÁSaction plan. The action plan has been developed by FÁS for implementing recommendationscontained in a recent review of the Supported Employment Programme. Overarching stakeholderconsultations are being managed under the Department’s Consultative Forum on anemployment strategy for people with disabilities. It is hoped that agreement of the variousstakeholders can be achieved as soon as possible on a number of issues relating to the actionplan, including a definition relating to all eligibility criteria for entry to the service, with a viewto undertaking a national launch as soon as possible of a re-branded and more efficient supportedemployment service for people with disabilities. Deputy Finian McGrath (I): asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will transfer the 308 people with intellectual disabilities in psychiatric hospitals to specialised residential centres and community group home places as a matter of priority.Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): As the Deputy’s question relates to service matters I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply. Deputy Damien English (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children the amount of money spent on advertising and promotions in her Department and each agency under her aegis for each of the years 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and to date in 2009 in tabular readable form; Minister for Health and Children (Deputy Mary Harney): The information requested by the Deputy in relation to my Department is set out in the following table.
With regard to the Health Service Executive, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to reply directly to the Deputy in respect of related expenditure by the Executive.
Deputy David Stanton (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children, further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 313 and 314 of 31 January 2006, the number of court actions regarding the provision of resources, such as speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and psychological services relating to primary and post-primary school students with special needs, in which her Department has been involved each year from 2006 to date in 2009; the number of same which progressed to hearing stage; the number of cases that resulted in the provision by her of the resources sought by the plaintiffs; the costs which were incurred by her in responding to these courts actions; Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): Details relating to 142 special education needs cases involving my Department from 2000 to the end of 2005 were included in response to Parliamentary Question Nos. 313 and 314 of 31 January 2006. Since 2006, 14 further cases (11 Judicial Review cases and 3 Plenary cases) relating to special education needs were commenced against the Minister for Health and Children. These cases are broken down as follows: • 2006: 9 cases (8 Judicial Review, 1 Plenary) • 2007: 4 cases (3 Judicial Review, 1 Plenary) • 2008: 1 case (Plenary) • 2009: 0 In the period from 2006 to date, one special education needs case, which commenced in 2004, was the subject of a High Court adjudication (in 2007). In that case, the claims against my Department and the Department of Education and Science were dismissed. Such cases are, in the main, taken against the Department of Education and Science and allege a failure on behalf of the State to provide for an appropriate education as provided for in the Constitution. Education and health-related educational supports are provided by the education sector and by the Health Service Executive, respectively. My Department is involved due to its role in the formulation and development of policy in respect of the provision of healthcare and support services. Since 2006, my Department has also contributed towards the settlement of a total of 41 special education needs cases (22 Judicial Review, 19 Plenary) which were initiated prior to 2006. The cost to my Department, excluding the costs of the State defence which is borne by the Office of the Chief State Solicitor, in each of the years since 2006 was as follows:
In addition, a reimbursement of €597,461.36 was paid in 2006 to the Department of Education and Science in respect of special education needs cases in which they had (prior to 2006) paid the full costs on behalf of the State. It should be noted that these figures do not include the costs of staff involved in responding to these cases. Deputy Denis Naughten (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children, further to Parliamentary Question No. 174 of 9 June 2009, if she has received a copy of the final report of the Health Service Executive funded adult day services review; if she will publish the report; the recommendations in this report, the steps that are to be taken to implement these recommendations as they apply to her Department; Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): I have not received the final copy of the National Review of HSE Funded Adult Day Services. I understand that the National Review of HSE Funded Adult Day Services has now been completed and the report from the National Working Group — New Directions, Personal Support Services for Adults with Disabilities, is being considered internally by the relevant HSE functions. As I have not received a copy of the final report, it is not possible for me to comment, at this time, on the recommendations or their implementation. Deputy Olivia Mitchell (FG): asked the Minister for Transport the requirement for accessibility on CIÉ tour buses, private Irish tour buses and non-Irish licensed buses; Minister for Transport (Deputy Noel Dempsey): As set out in my Department’s Sectoral Plan under the Disability Act 2005, the Department of Transport’s Guidelines for the Consideration of Passenger Road Licence Applications under the Road Transport Act 1932 encourage all licence holders to use accessible vehicles. In addition, section 48 of the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 sets out how bus services are to be procured under the Act from Bus Eireann, Dublin Bus and private operators and the main provisions that are to be included in related contracts. These include a requirement to provide for accessibility standards for the services in question. Furthermore, under section 13 of the recently published Public Transport Regulation Bill 2009, the National Transport Authority authority will be empowered to impose accessibility conditions on the grant of bus route licences. However, while this regulatory regime will empower the Authority to impose accessibility standards, the coach manufacturing industry in Europe has only in the last two years begun to produce accessible coaches drawing on research commissioned by the European Commission in this area. There is no EU obligation which requires the use of accessible coaches and the number manufactured to date is still quite small relative to the total number of coaches in use. On the enactment of the Public Transport Regulation Bill, this matter will fall to be considered by the Authority, while ensuring that there is no barrier to the free movement of vehicles. Deputy Mary Upton (L): asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his plans for the future of the sports inclusion disability officer programme; Deputy Kathleen Lynch (L): asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his views on the fact that the sports inclusion disability officer programme has been a success in enabling those with a disability the opportunity to participate in sport; if he will confirm that continuing funding beyond 2009 will be made available to continue this project; if, in view of the success of this programme he will consider extending the scheme to all 33 local sports partnerships here; Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism (Deputy Martin Cullen): I propose to answer Questions Nos. 802 and 803 together. Special funding of €2.3 million was allocated from the dormant accounts fund, through my Department, for the appointment of 20 Sports Inclusion Development Officers (SIDOs) in Local Sports Partnerships (LSPs) in 2008. The SIDOs were appointed on two-year contracts to provide opportunities for persons with a disability to participate in sport and physical activity. The Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs has overall responsibility for dormant accounts spending. The funding through my Department is an element of a larger set of economic and social disadvantage funding measures including funding for persons with a disability. A network of 33 LSPs have been set up throughout the country by the Irish Sports Council (ISC) to coordinate and promote sport at local level especially amongst specific target groups such as older people, girls & women, people with disabilities, unemployed people, and those who live in identified disadvantaged communities. The special dormant accounts funding was in addition to the annual funding provided to the LSPs by the ISC for programmes and initiatives aimed at increasing participation in recreational sport. The ISC has allocated €6 million to the LSPs in 2009. The continuation of the SIDO scheme from 2010 will be dependent on negotiations on the 2010 Estimates. Deputy John O’Mahony asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of applications for the mobility aids housing grant, the housing adaptation grant for people with a disability and the scheme of housing aid for older people awaiting approval from Mayo County Council; if he will provide additional funding to Mayo County Council for housing aid grants; Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Deputy Michael Finneran): My Department’s involvement with the Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability relates primarily to the recoupment of a proportion of local authority expenditure on the payment of individual grants. These schemes, introduced on 1 November 2007, are funded by 80% recoupment available from my Department, together with a 20% contribution from the resources of the local authority. The older Disabled Persons and Essential Repairs grant schemes are funded by 67% recoupment, together with a 33% contribution from the resources of the local authority. The detailed administration of these schemes, including the assessment and approval of individual applications, is the responsibility of the relevant local authority. The annual allocations to local authorities under the schemes are calculated on foot of detailed discussion between my Department and the local authorities and on the basis of a number of criteria, including the level of applications on hand that have been assessed as eligible, applications yet to be assessed and projections for new applications to be received during the year. It is a matter for each local authority to decide on the specific level of funding to be directed towards each of the individual schemes, from within the combined allocation notified to them by my Department, and to manage the operation of the schemes in their areas from within their allocation. Details of Exchequer funding provided to Mayo County Council for these schemes for the years 2007 and 2008 and total allocations for 2009 from Exchequer and local authority sources are set out in the following table:
In order to facilitate the continued independent occupancy of their own homes by older people and people with a disability, and following a review of the old Disabled Persons, Essential Repairs Grant Schemes and Special Housing aid for the Elderly, which was administered by the HSE, a revised suite of Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes was implemented on 1 November 2007. The revised schemes target the available resources to those in most need, streamline operational and administrative procedures and ensure equity and consistency of operation across all local authority areas. The number of applications on hand in Mayo County Council at the end of December 2008, representing the most recent data notified to my Department , is set out in the following table: Mayo County Council Applications on hand at 31 Dec. 2008
Details regarding the current status of individual applications and the number of applications received by Mayo County Council on an annual basis under each of the various grant measures are not available in my Department. I will review the funding position in the light of any underspend by local authorities of their allocations for the grant schemes or other allocations under the wider social housing investment programme. Deputy Michael D’Arcy (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of primary schools per county allocated funding under the devolved classroom grant in 2007, 2008 and 2009; the number of primary schools which received the devolved grant, in the expectation their numbers were to increase but did not, and the newly constructed classroom is not being used; the schools per county which have a newly built classroom but which do not have sufficient numbers for an extra teacher; the cost to his Department for the past three years for the construction of classrooms which were built but are not occupied due to lack of numbers. Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe): When a school applies for a capital grant for a major building project, such as a new school or a significant extension, its accommodation needs are assessed by my Department by reference to the school’s long term projected enrolment and staffing. Additional school accommodation may also be sanctioned to allow for the replacement of old prefabricated units, to free up ancillary accommodation such as GP rooms etc that are being used on a temporary basis to accommodate additional teachers and pupils, to provide for pupils with special needs and to ensure that schools have adequate accommodation to implement the primary school curriculum. In 2008, in the areas identified by my Department as most urgently in need of accommodation for additional Junior Infant streams, the “Rapid Delivery” programme constructed new 8 or 16 classroom schools in time to allow the increased numbers to be accommodated in permanent accommodation from the outset. These new schools were planned and built both to provide immediate capacity and to provide for future needs. As expected, these schools are filling up incrementally and will continue to do so over the next few years until the school is full. My Department is currently reviewing all these areas to assess if and when these new schools require to be extended to ensure capacity continues to meet demand into the future. Details of the number of primary schools by county approved for devolved funding for the provision of additional classroom/resource rooms are given in the following tabular statement. The detail regarding the PAS refers to the approvals given in 2007. There were no new calls for PAS applications in 2008 or 2009. Statistics recently released by the Central Statistics Office show that the number of births recorded in the State in 2008 was in excess of 75,000, the highest annual number of births since 1896. As the birth rate rises and remains high, the need to provide additional primary school accommodation will continue.My Department does not ask schools to provide information on the use of each individual classroom on an annual basis. Indeed, schools will in many cases only be deciding now how classrooms will be used as developing area posts and other resources such as English language support teachers and any additional teaching resources for children with special educational needs are finalised. I am sure that all available space in schools is put to good use by school management and teachers.
Deputy Paul Gogarty (GP): asked the Minister for Education and Science the estimated cost of implementing the remainder of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 in full; Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe): As required under the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) provided a report making recommendations regarding the implementation of the Act which suggested additional investment over a period of years of up to €235m per annum across the education and health sectors. Having considered the NCSE report, and consulted with the education partners, the Department of Health and Children and the HSE, my Department identified a range of options for the implementation of EPSEN. It is not possible to give exact figures regarding cost as the specific amount of money required to support implementation would depend on the options chosen and the timeframe for the implementation of these options. However, my Department’s opinion is that the level of investment required would be greater than that envisaged in the NCSE report. In the light of the current financial circumstances, it is therefore not possible to proceed with full implementation in 2010 as originally envisaged. However, the Government will keep the matter under review and is committed to the full implementation of EPSEN at the earliest possible date. I want to reiterate that children with special educational needs will continue to receive an education appropriate to their needs. The NCSE will continue to support schools, parents and children, and teachers and special needs assistants will continue to be deployed to schools in line with my Department’s policies. Deputy Alan Shatter (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Science the reduction in the number of teachers as at September 2009 as compared to September 2008 in respect of each school in the Dáil constituency of Dublin South; the number of pupils in respect of each school at these dates; the number of special needs assistants in each school at these dates; the number of children in each school regarded as having special needs at these dates; and the current actual teacher/pupil ratio in respect of each school. Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe): The Statistics section of my Department’s website now contains data at individual primary school level, including the schools in South Dublin, for the following school years, 2006€2007, 2007€2008 and 2008€2009. The data includes the number of teachers and pupils in each school. However it does not contain information on the number of Special Needs Assistants or pupils with special needs in each school. If the Deputy has an enquiry about a particular school my officials will be happy to provide the information directly to him. The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for allocating resource teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to primary and post primary schools to support children with special needs. The NCSE operates within my Department’s criteria in allocating such support. There has been no change in the qualifying criteria governing the allocation of resource and SNA support. The Primary Census for the 2009/2010 school year will be carried out in the Autumn and the final outcome will be made available when this process is completed. Pupil Teacher Ratio in respect of all primary schools is currently only available at national level and is not disaggregated by county or any other variable.
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Responsibility for advertising and promotional campaigns transferred to the Health Service Executive in early 2006. This includes media campaigns in relation to alcohol, smoking, illegal drugs, obesity etc. Resulting from this transfer of responsibility, the Department’s costs for advertising etc. reduced substantially in 2006. The expenditure in 2007 relates exclusively to a public information campaign on the Nursing Homes Support Scheme — “A Fair Deal”. Expenditure in 2008 and 2009 relates to a number of public consultation and information campaigns. With regard to agencies under the aegis of my Department, information is only available in respect of the period from January 2009 to date. Information prior to this date is not routinely collected by my Department.
Inclusion
Ireland, Unit C2, The Steelworks, Foley Street, Dublin 1, Ireland.
Tel: 01 8559891 Fax: 01 8559904 Email: info@inclusionireland.ie |