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Dáil Debates & Questions
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January 19 2009 Dáil Debates Parliamentary Questions
DÁIL DEBATES Deputy Olwyn Enright (FG): asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will increase the fuel allowance to help alleviate fuel poverty and to support vulnerable families who will face enormous heating bills in the coming months; Deputy Mary Hanafin (Minister for Social and Family Affairs): The Department of Social and Family Affairs assists social welfare recipients with heating costs, through their basic payments, through the fuel allowance scheme and through the household benefits package of electricity and gas allowances. The household benefits package is payable throughout the year to almost 380,000 pensioners, people with disabilities, and carer households to assist them with their heating, light and cooking costs. This scheme cost approximately €200 million in 2009. In addition, the national fuel allowance scheme assists householders on long-term social welfare or health service executive payments with meeting the additional cost of their heating needs during the winter season. The allowance represents a contribution towards a person’s heating expenses. It is not intended to meet those costs in full and must be seen in the context of the overall level of income available to the family. In budget 2009, the duration of the payment was increased by an extra two weeks to 32 weeks, while the weekly value of the allowance was increased by €2 to €20 a week, or €23.90 in designated smokeless areas. This compares with just €14 and €17.90 respectively three years ago. These are in addition to other improvements made in recent years, including a significant increase in the income threshold for the allowance with effect from 2008. A single person aged under 80, with a household income of less than €330.30 a week can now qualify for the fuel allowance. The income limits for couples are €483.80 a week where the qualified adult is aged under 66 and €536.80 a week where both adults are aged over 66. As a result of these improvements, almost 318,000 people benefited from the fuel allowance in 2009 at an estimated cost of €217 million. In addition to the basic welfare payments, household benefits and fuel allowance payments highlighted above, the Department also provides funding to the community welfare service to assist people with special heating needs. Community welfare officers can pay a heating supplement to people in certain circumstances with specific heating needs due to infirmity or a particular medical condition. They can also make exceptional needs payments to people who do not have enough money to meet their heating costs. Since the onset of the adverse weather conditions, community welfare officers have provided assistance to people to purchase additional fuel, heaters and clothing. They have also given funding towards the payment of heating bills and for repairs arising from burst pipes. More than €170,000 has been paid out since 1 January 2010 in respect of such claims. Assistance will continue to be provided towards the payment of heating bills for those in need. Paying a special increase in response to the bad weather would not necessarily represent a good targeting of limited resources. Rather, it is considered desirable to continue to give community welfare officers the discretion and the funding to assist people who need extra financial support. PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS Deputy Liz McManus (L): asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the estimated fraud rate within each scheme and the target savings she is setting for each scheme in 2010. Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Deputy Mary Hanafin): In order to identify fraud and error levels in schemes the Department carries out detailed fraud and error surveys on individual schemes. These surveys provide evidence based indicators for the levels of fraud and error within those schemes at that particular time. As reported by the Comptroller and Auditor General the percentage of expenditure resulting from fraud identified in these surveys ranged from 0% for pensioners, to 0.1% for Illness Benefit, 0.8% for the Family Income Supplement, 1.8% for Child Benefit, 2.3% for the Disability Allowance and 6.4% for the One Parent Family Payment. A fraud and error survey is currently underway on Jobseeker’s Allowance and the results of that will be available by quarter 2, 2010. Although the level of fraud on most schemes is very low, within schemes, some categories of claimants can be a much higher risk than others and when these are identified the Department moves to address the issue. Because of the resources involved, the Department’s goal is to carry out fraud and error surveys on each of the major schemes every two years. This frequency is considered reasonable having regard to the need to consider the impact of measures taken to address issues raised in previous surveys. The amount of money recorded as control savings by the Department at the end of 2009 was €484 million. This represented an increase of €8 million on 2008 figures. In 2009 over 750,000 claims were reviewed, 20% more than the target for the year. The total control savings target for 2010 is €533m. Additional savings are being sought on the One Parent Family and Illness Benefit payments, bringing the total targets for these schemes to approximately €100m and €110m respectively. A target of €110m has also been set for pensions, including additional savings on the noncontributory scheme. Over €82million is being targeted on Child Benefit, approximately €81m is being targeted on jobseeker’s payments and €16.5m is expected to be saved on carers payments. The remaining sums are €17m on the Family Income Supplement, €10m on the Supplementary Welfare Allowance and €6m in the PAYE and PRSI areas. The vast majority of people who seek a Social Welfare payment are doing so correctly and within their entitlement. However, I am determined to ensure that abuse of the social welfare system is prevented and is dealt with effectively when detected. To this end, the control programme of the Department is carefully monitored and the various measures are continuously refined to ensure that they remain effective. The 2010 targets take account of the extra antifraud powers provided in the Social Welfare Bill. Deputy David Stanton (FG): asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of applications received for domiciliary care allowance from April to December 2009, inclusive; the number refused; the number appealed to the social welfare appeals office; the number of same for which the decision was overturned on appeal; the number of domiciliary care allowance applications received by her Department each month from April to December 2009 inclusive; the number of these claims which were refused each month; the number of same for which appeals were submitted; the reason children were judged not to be eligible; Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Deputy Mary Hanafin): Domiciliary Care Allowance is payable in respect of children who have a disability so severe that it requires the child needing care and attention and/or supervision substantially in excess of another child of the same age. The care and attention received must be given by another person, effectively full-time so that the child can deal with the normal activities of daily life. The child must be likely to require this level of care and attention for at least 12 months. Eligibility for Domiciliary Care Allowance is not based primarily on the medical or psychological condition, but on the resulting lack of function of body or mind necessitating the degree of extra care and attention required. Each application is assessed on an individual basis taking account of the evidence submitted by the applicant. In the period 1st April 2009 to 31st December 2009 a total of 3,389 applications were received, of which 2,823 cases have to date been fully processed by the Department. Of these applications, 1,031 were awarded and 1,792 refused as they were deemed not to be eligible for Domiciliary Care Allowance. 566 applications are still to be decided. The tabular statement sets out the number of applications received and the number of applications processed each month from April to December 2009. During 2009, decisions made on 564 claims were reviewed at the applicants request as new or additional medical evidence was available, of these 117 claims were subsequently allowed. Where claims are deemed to be ineligible on medical grounds, it is because it is considered that the requirement of care and attention and/or supervision is not substantially in excess of another child of the same age who does not have a disability. Where a person is not satisfied with the decision of a Deciding Officer they may appeal the decision to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. There were 836 appeals of Domiciliary Care Allowance decisions received by the Social Welfare Appeals Office in 2009 which variously consisted of appeals in relation to the commencement date of the claim, satisfying the Habitual Resident Condition or meeting the medical criteria for the scheme. The Social Welfare Appeals Office made decisions on 11 cases in 2009 and overturned the decision in 6 cases. All claims that have had the original negative decision revised have been processed by the Department and payment has issued to the customers.
Deputy Phil Hogan (FG): asked the Taoiseach if he will consider the inclusion of a question in the 2011 census in order to fill a void in the statistics that relates to the disability autism or autistic spectrum disorder; Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Pat Carey): The Government at its meeting on 11 December 2009 agreed to the topics to be included in the questionnaire for the 2011 census. As part of the preparatory work for the 2011 census the CSO conducted a public consultation by inviting members of the public and various interest groups to make submissions on the topics to be covered, and on the outputs to be produced. A notice to this effect was published in the national press in September 2008 seeking submissions, and all government departments were contacted for their input. A Census Advisory Group was set up in Autumn 2008 to consider the submissions received and advise on the questions to be tested in a pilot survey planned to be carried out in April 2009. The Census Advisory Group was representative of central and local government, the social partners, universities, research bodies and other users of census data along with the relevant CSO personnel. Over 90 submissions covering 31 topics were received in total, among them submissions on the subject of disability, and in particular on the subject of autism. A specific sub-group was convened to consider the disability questions on the census form. This sub-group was composed of representatives from the National Disability Authority, the Equality Authority, the Disability Federation of Ireland and the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies. The proposal to list specific disabilities within the disability question, namely to make specific reference to autistic spectrum disorder, or downs syndrome, in the category ‘A learning or intellectual disability’ was considered at the second meeting of the group. The group concluded that it would not be appropriate, nor would there be enough room on the census form, to list all individual disabilities. However, in order to go some way towards accommodating this request the existing (2006) category ‘A learning or intellectual disability’ was split into two categories ‘An intellectual disability’ and separately ‘A difficulty with learning, remembering or concentrating’ for testing in the pilot survey. The group felt that this approach narrowed the categories and thus helped address the issue of autism, while allowing the question to remain as inclusive as possible. The new wording of the disability questions which were tested in the Census Pilot Survey in April 2009 were as follows:
Deputy Jack Wall (L): asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if changes have been made in community employment schemes following Budget 2010; if so, if a person can remain on a CE scheme longer than three years; Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Dara Calleary): Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a fixed term basis. CE helps unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to a work routine and to assist them to enhance/develop both their technical and personal skills. Budget 2010 contained some changes to Community Employment Schemes however, the qualifying criteria and rules for participation remain unchanged. A number of savings were identified, mainly in the area of training allowances that are linked to Social Welfare payments and certain FÁS Allowances that are provided in addition to the core training allowances. The FÁS allowance for CE and JI participants will reduced from €24.40 and €48.80 per week to €20 and €40 per week respectively. In addition, new entrants to FÁS training programmes will only be paid an allowance if they had been entitled to Job Seekers Allowance or Job Seekers Benefit. The funding in respect of training and materials for those on CE programmes will be reduced from €1,500 to €750 per head per annum. These savings will allow for an increase of 500 CE places bringing the total number of places available to 23,300. A person can remain on a CE Scheme for longer than 3 years if they are aged 55 years or over. In addition persons in receipt of the following disability-linked Social Welfare payments may be eligible for an additional 1 year’s participation: Disability Allowance; Blind Pension; Invalidity Pension; Illness Benefit for 6 months or more. Deputy Billy Timmins asked the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding a matter (details supplied); Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): In 2008, €50m in additional funding was allocated to HSE as part of that years allocation under the Multi-Annual Investment Programme 2006-2009. This funding given in the Budget was to meet the costs associated with a range of elements in the Multi-Annual Investment Programme. The Health Service Executive proposed to allocate the funding as follows: Services for Persons with Intellectual Disability and those with Autism Residential/ Community Care 200 additional residential places. Day Care
Respite Care
Services for Persons with Physical or Sensory Disabilities Residential Care
PA/ Home Support hours
Disability Act This will create 140 additional multidisciplinary team posts to provide assessment and ongoing intervention services to children with a disability and in particular with reference to the implementation of the Disability Act, 2005. However during 2008, the HSE indicated that due to delayed start to some of these developments, it envisaged spending just €33m (out of the allocated €50m) in 2008. The remaining €17m was included in this Department’s budgetary consolidation savings measures announced in the Dail in July 2008. In 2009, the full €50m was available to HSE as the full year costs of implementing the measures announced in the 2008 budget for the provision of disability services. As the remainder of 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 Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of staff in her Department, broken down by division and section, annually since 2007 to date in 2010; Minister for Health and Children (Deputy Mary Harney): The information requested by the Deputy is set out below.
Deputy David Stanton (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of applications for an assessment of need that have been received each year respectively following the commencement of Part 2 of the Disability Act, 2005 for children under five years; the number of same which have been carried out to date; the number carried out each year; the number of service statements issued following assessments; 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 David Stanton (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of assessment and liaison officers appointed to carry out functions under Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005; the locations of same; Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): The Health Service Executive has appointed 32 Assessment Officers and 32 Liaison Officers to carry out functions under the Disability Act 2005. These officers were appointed in each local health office. Contact details for assessment Officers are available on the Health Service Executive website at: http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/Find—a—Service/Disability—Services/ Disability—Assessment/Assessment—Officers.html
Deputy David Stanton (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children the average amount of time from when an application is received it is taking to complete an assessment under Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005; if all assessments are commenced within three months; the average amount of time it takes to issue a service statement from when an application is received; if timescales vary in different Health Service Executive areas; 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 David Stanton (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children if a register of unmet need to identify demand for and availability of disability and health related services has been established as per obligations under the Disability Act 2005; the person who is compiling same; Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy John Moloney): Section 13 of the Disability Act 2005 places an obligation on the HSE to keep and maintain records for the purposes of: identifying persons to whom assessments or services are being provided; identifying those services and the persons providing the services; specifying the aggregate needs identified in assessment reports which have not been included in service statements; specifying the numbers of applications made under section 9 of the Act and the numbers of assessments completed; specifying the number of persons to whom services identified in assessment reports have not been provided; and planning the provision of assessments and services to persons with disabilities. A system has been established in the HSE for maintaining the records required under section 13 of the Act. Section 13 of the Act also obliges the HSE to submit a report in writing to the Minister in relation to the aggregate needs identified in assessment reports prepared including an indication of the periods of time ideally required for the provision of the services, the sequence of such provision and an estimate of the cost of such provision. The HSE is also obliged to publish this report annually. While the requirement in section 13(2) is to report on the aggregate needs identified in assessment reports, my Department is of the view that it would also be useful to report on needs which have not been met. The HSE has agreed to my request that this information is included in the annual reports. The first annual report under section 13, covering information on 72 assessments completed in 2007, was submitted to the Minister for Equality, Disability and Mental Health in February 2009. The report is available on the HSE website at: http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/Publications/services/Disability/Disability Actjundec2007.html. A number of issues, particularly in relation to how record keeping arrangements work for young children, have become apparent since the HSE began working on the 2008 Report. The Act has only been commenced for children under 5 and in the case of these young children, a particular challenge for clinicians assessing such young children is in determining, in advance of providing a service, what quantum of services may be appropriate and necessary for the child in order to fully meet the needs identified in the Assessment Report and then reflecting the shortfall in an identification of unmet need. A particular difficulty for HSE arises because the obligation is to report on aggregate need. In the case of any individual child, every clinician involved in the assessment process and service delivery could be asked to try and work out the ideal service provision for that child. This process is very time-consuming and not necessarily particularly scientific as individual children can and do react differently to intervention. If this process was extended to every child, clearly this would be overly bureaucratic and unnecessarily burdensome on the administration of the Act. My Department is of the view that an intensive process such as this in relation to each individual child would divert the attention of clinicians away from service intervention and in to administrative duties with no beneficial outcomes for children with disabilities. My Department and the HSE are currently in discussions in order to identify the most suitable information gathering arrangements to meet the needs of individual children defined in terms of desired outcomes, to meet the administrative obligations imposed by the Act and also to ensure that reliable service planning data may also be collected. Deputy David Stanton (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of children aged under five years from whom assessment of need applications have been received since 1 June 2007 to date in 2010; the number of same who were assessed as having an autism spectrum disorder; 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 David Stanton (FG): asked the Minister for Health and Children further to Parliamentary Question No. 355 of 22 April 2009, if the national review of autism services has been completed; when she will publish same; the findings of the review; 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 Denis Naughten (FG): asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his plans to provide financial support to all local sports partnerships under a national programme (details supplied); Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism (Deputy Martin Cullen): As I have previously informed the House, special funding of €2.5 million was allocated from the dormant accounts fund 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. 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 and 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. Of the €2.5 million allocated from the dormant accounts fund for the SIDO scheme, €800,000 was provided through my Department’s Vote in 2008 and over €1.3 million in 2009. The final provision of €395,000 from the dormant accounts allocation is included in the 2010 Vote of my Department. The continued funding of the SIDO scheme is being considered by the ISC in the context of the distribution of its budget for 2010. Deputy Mary Upton (L): asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the estimate by her Department of the level of fraud in each of the areas of payment in percentage and in actual amounts for each year from 2001 to 2009; if she disagrees with figures presented in a recent television programme (details supplied), will she provide the information to refute the assertion in the programme; Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Deputy Mary Hanafin): In order to identify fraud and error levels in schemes the Department carries out detailed fraud and error surveys on individual schemes. These surveys provide evidence based indicators for levels of fraud and error within those schemes at that particular time. The recent Primetime programme suggested a potential fraud level of 10% in the total welfare expenditure but did not produce any evidence to support this particular figure. As reported by the Comptroller and Auditor General, the percentage of expenditure resulting from fraud identified in the detailed fraud and error surveys ranged from 0% for pensioners, to 0.1% for Illness Benefit, 0.8% for the Family Income Supplement, 1.8% for Child Benefit, 2.3% for the Disability Allowance and 6.4% for the One Parent Family Payment. An examination of welfare fraud was undertaken last year by the Oireachtas Committee on Social and Family Affairs. The report which was agreed by the Committee, in October 2009, acknowledged that there is not sufficient data to determine an overall fraud rate. However the report stated that “An estimated approximate fraud level across all schemes was put at less than one per cent”. This estimate is based on fraud and error surveys undertaken to date. In view of the number of income maintenance schemes administered by the Department, it would not be practical to carry out rolling fraud and error surveys on all major schemes on an on-going basis and therefore an estimate of the level of fraud in each of the areas of payment for each year from 2001 to 2009 is not available. Although the level of fraud on most schemes is very low as evidenced by surveys carried out by the Department over the past number of years, within schemes however, some categories of claimants can be a much higher risk than others and when these are identified the Department moves to address this. In addition fraud detection measures have increased and improved significantly over the last number of years and will be left under ongoing review to ensure that fraud is tackled as effectively and efficiently as possible. Deputy Leo Varadkar (FG): asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of persons in receipt of incapacity and lone parent benefits for each year since 2000 to date in 2010; the percentage of the working population this represents; Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Deputy Mary Hanafin): The information requested by the deputy is contained in the tabular statement.
Deputy Bernard J. Durkan (FG): asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of applications for various social welfare payments that have been disallowed on the grounds of failure to meet habitual residency conditions in each of the past five years to date in 2010; the number of such cases overturned on appeal; Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Deputy Mary Hanafin): 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); • Domiciliary Care Allowance; • Child Benefit, The number of applications that have been disallowed welfare payments, based on the failure to satisfy the habitual residence condition, from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2009 is 30,962. An annual breakdown of the figures is set out in the table. Figures for January 2010 are not available.
Information on the number of these cases that were overturned on appeal is not readily available. Statistics on the number of Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) claims that do not satisfy the habitual residence condition are not maintained by the various HSE areas. However, it is estimated that approximately 1.5% of all SWA claims are disallowed for HRC reasons. It is open to any customer who is not satisfied with the decision on their claim to appeal that decision.
Deputy Joe McHugh (FG): asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his views on reinstating the disabled person’s grant for those who have limited access in their own homes; Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Deputy Michael Finneran): 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 and Essential Repairs Grant Schemes and the Special Housing Aid for the Elderly scheme, which was administered by the HSE, a revised suite of Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability 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. Under the terms of the Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability, grants of up to €30,000, which may cover up to 95% of the cost, are available to assist in the carrying out of works which are reasonably necessary for the purposes of rendering a house more suitable for the accommodation needs of a person with a disability who is a member of the household. Under the Mobility Aids Grant Scheme, grants of up to €6,000 are available and may cover up to 100% of the cost of a basic suite of works to address mobility problems, primarily, but not exclusively, associated with ageing. Deputy Emmet Stagg (L): asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has sought information from each local authority in relation to their waiting list for housing adaptation grants for the elderly and mobility grants. Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Deputy Michael Finneran): The annual allocations to local authorities under the suite of Grants for Older People and People with a Disability are calculated on foot of detailed discussion between my Department and the local authorities and on the basis of the projected level of demand for grants, taking account of 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 allocations from local authority and Exchequer sources, notified to them by my Department, and to manage the operation of the schemes in their areas from within their allocation. My Department has requested local authorities to submit details of their funding requirements under the grant schemes for 2010 by 22 January, with a view to determining the allocations as soon as possible afterwards.
Deputy David Stanton (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Science the role, duty and responsibilities of the National Council for Special Education in assisting the Health Service Executive in relation to providing education services for children under five years who have been assessed under Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005; the number of children referred to the NCSE for services; the number that are receiving special education services; Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe): The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) was established to co-ordinate the delivery of services for children with special educational 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. The NCSE coordinates with the health services, schools and other relevant bodies regarding the provision of education and related support services to children with disabilities/special needs. Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005 provides for the independent assessment of health needs of persons arising from a disability and also, where appropriate, the education services to be provided. The Act sets out the role of the NCSE in this regard. In June 2007, Part 2 of the Act was commenced for children less than 5 years of age. Since then, the NCSE has processed 1,462 requests for assistance for such children following receipt of applications submitted by Health Service Executive Assessment Officers nationally.
Deputy Richard Bruton (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Science the savings outlined in the Report of the Special Group on Public Numbers and Expenditure Programmes which were accepted in budget 2010 for his Department in tabular form; the savings which will be achieved in 2010; Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe): Thedetermination of the expenditure allocation for my Department for 2010, as set out in Budget 2010, included consideration of the recommendations made in the report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes. The gross expenditure allocation for my Department for 2010, which at €8.888 billion represents a reduction of some 5% over the provisional outturn for 2009, took account, inter alia, of a number of recommendations made by the Special Group. These recommendations, together with estimated savings yields for 2010, are set out in the table. The recommendations made by the Special Group in relation to the merger and rationalization of bodies and agencies under the aegis of Government Departments will shortly be further considered by Government.
Deputy Paul Gogarty (GP): asked the Minister for Education and Science if the review of special needs assistants placements nationally is based solely on whether there is a need in individual schools; the way in which the review is proceeding and the expected reductions in numbers overall; Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe): The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), through its network of Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is at present carrying out a review of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) allocations in all schools with a view to ensuring that the criteria governing the allocation of such posts, as outlined in my Department’s Circular 07/02, are properly met. This is an exercise in identifying surplus posts which are in the system and which do not meet the current criteria — posts that have been retained when a pupil’s care needs have diminished or when the pupil has left. SENOs are communicating the outcome of the review directly to schools as the review progresses. The allocation for any school and any adjustments to that allocation depends on a number of factors such as the number of pupils with care/medical needs leaving, the number of new pupils, the changing needs of the pupils and any surplus identified. Furthermore schools can make applications at any time with the result that the individual situation of any school can change and allocations are not static for a school year in the same way as are for example classroom teaching posts. The NCSE is independent in the making and issuing of its decisions. Given all the factors involved it is not possible at this stage to predict an outcome of the review. Deputy Brian Hayes (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the establishment of a new children’s mental health coalition; if he will act on their recommendation to develop guidelines for schools on mental health; if his attention has been drawn to the establishment of a new children’s mental health coalition; if he will act on their recommendation to extend the existing social personal and health education support service to provide training for teachers on responding to students’ mental health issues; Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe): I am aware of the recommendations of the Children’s Mental Health Coalition. The Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) programme is a mandatory part of the curriculum in primary schools and in junior cycle since 2003 and is designed to promote positive mental health. It is already supported by comprehensive teacher guidelines and curriculum support services which provide training and advice for schools and a resource directory. Its aim is to foster personal development, health and well being of children, to help them create and maintain supportive relationships, and develop the skills and attitudes for responsible citizenship. From the beginning of primary schooling children learn, in an age-appropriate way, how to identify, explore and express feelings and emotions, how to communicate with others, to resolve conflict and to respect difference, the importance of caring for one’s body, treating oneself and others with dignity and respect, and how to identify people, places and situations that may threaten personal safety. The SPHE modules at junior cycle deal specifically with belonging and integrating, handling conflict constructively, bullying, dealing with peer pressure, coping with stress, emotional health and well being, influences on decision-making, and relationships and sexuality education. In third year, an awareness of the range of agencies who can help students in difficulty is promoted, as well as the skills of knowing when and how to seek help. SPHE is designed for implementation in the context of a caring whole-school approach which is supported by the pastoral care structures in schools. All post-primary schools also provide a guidance and counselling service for their students and they receive ex-quota hours from the Department for this provision. The service includes the provision of individual guidance and counselling for students either at critical stages in their education or at times of personal crisis. Schools also use Mental Health Matters, a resource pack on mental health for 14 to 18 year olds developed by Mental Health Ireland on an optional basis as a module in the Transition Year Programme, an element of the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme, a component of the SPHE programme or an element of other subjects such as Religion or Home Economics. The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) operating within my Department provides a range of services both direct and indirect which support the personal, social and educational development of all children in primary and post-primary schools. The implementation of the SPHE curriculum has been supported by national programmes of professional development for teachers at primary and post primary level provided by the curriculum support services. These services continue to be maintained in the current school year, but my Department is not in a position to expand them at the present time. Deputy Denis Naughten (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of staff in his Department, broken down by division and section, annually since 2007 to date in 2010; Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe): The number of staff in the Department of Education and Science at end December in each year since 2007 is outlined as follows: 2007: 1342 (1252.95 WTE); 2008: 1428 (1330.64 WTE); 2009: 1359 (1270.30 WTE). The breakdown of staff by divisional structure at end December 2009 is tabulated below. The current breakdown of staff in the Department is not directly comparable to previous years due to changes in the Divisional structure of the Department. Staffing in Department of Education & Science End December 2007
Deputy David Stanton (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Science when the expert group on the education of children with emotional and behavioural disorders was established by the National Council for Special Education; the membership of this group; Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe): I am aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has set up a Group to look at educational provision for children with emotional/behavioural disorders. I have arranged for the details supplied to be forwarded to the NCSE for their attention and direct reply in relation to the specific information sought by the Deputy. Deputy David Stanton (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Science if a structured appeals process whereby parents, if unhappy, can appeal the decision of a local special education needs organiser to a senior SENO has been established by the National Council for Special Education in view of the absence of an appeals system to date; Minister for Education and Science (Deputy Batt O’Keeffe): The Deputy will be aware that the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act, 2004 provides for the establishment of the Special Education Appeals Board (SEAB), to hear and determine appeals under the Act. Board members are currently working to ensure that appropriate structures and processes will be in place once the relevant sections of the Act, which would allow appeals to be undertaken, are commenced. Pending full implementation of the Act, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), and following discussions with Management Bodies, is preparing to introduce a structured appeals process whereby schools and parents, where appropriate, may seek to appeal the decision of a Special Educational Needs Organiser (SENO) in relation to the allocation of resources. This scheme is currently being piloted in a number of schools. In the meantime, the NCSE will undertake to review a decision taken by a SENO on foot of a request from a school or parents/guardians, when accompanied by relevant additional information such as professional reports which may not have been to hand at the time of the decision. All schools have the names and contact details of their local SENO. Parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child’s special educational needs, using the contact details available on www.ncse.ie.
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Inclusion
Ireland, Unit C2, The Steelworks, Foley Street, Dublin 1, Ireland.
Tel: 01 8559891 Fax: 01 8559904 Email: info@inclusionireland.ie |