21 April 2011

Parliamentary Questions

• If the qualification requirements for SNAs include junior certificate level Irish
• Funding for pupils with autism
• CEO salary at disability service
• CEO salary at disability service
• Introduction of legislation to enhance and enforce the rights of persons with autism
• When the resource hours put on hold will be reviewed

PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS

• If the qualification requirements for SNAs include junior certificate level Irish

Deputy Eoghan Murphy (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the qualification requirements for special needs assistants include junior certificate level Irish.

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn):  The current minimum educational requirements for appointment as a Special Needs Assistant (SNA) include the specific requirement that a person hold a Grade D in Irish, English and Mathematics in the Junior Certificate or equivalent examination. Under Circular 0021/2011, issued by my Department in March this year, the minimum required standard of education for appointment to the post of SNA has been amended. People appointed to SNA posts from 1 September 2011 will be required to have: a FETAC level 3 major qualification on the National Framework of Qualifications, or a minimum of three grade Ds in the Junior Certificate or the equivalent. The above are the minimum qualifications required for appointment as a SNA. The actual requirements for a post will vary depending on the specific needs of the children and the school to which the SNA is to be appointed. 

• Funding for pupils with autism

Deputy Eoghan Murphy (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Skills    his plans regarding funding for pupils with autism.

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn):  The Deputy will be aware of my Department’s commitment to ensuring that all children, including those with autism, can have access to an education appropriate to their needs in school settings. This facilitates access to individualised education programmes, fully qualified professional teachers, special needs assistants and the appropriate school curriculum with the option, in line with each child’s ability, of full/partial integration and interaction with other pupils. My Department’s policy is to provide for children with special educational needs, including autism, to be included in mainstream schools unless such a placement would not be in their best interests or the interests of the children with whom they are to be educated. Some children may be supported in a special class attached to a mainstream school. These students have the option, where appropriate, of full/partial integration and interaction with other pupils. Other children may have such complex needs that they are best placed in a special school. Students with special educational needs have access to a range of support services including additional teaching and/or care supports. In special schools and special classes, students are supported through lower pupil teacher ratios. Special needs assistants may also be recruited specifically where pupils with disabilities and significant care needs are enrolled. The Deputy will be aware that the establishment of a network of autism-specific special classes in schools across the country to cater for children with autism has been a key educational priority in recent years. In excess of 430 classes have now been approved around the country at primary and post primary level, including many in special schools. My Department has put in place a training programme for teachers in autism-specific interventions including Treatment and Education of Autistic Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH), Picture Exchange Communications System (PECS) and Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) through the Special Education Support Service. 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 special needs resources to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department’s criteria in allocating such support. The NCSE will continue to support schools, parents, children and teachers and special needs assistants will continue to be deployed to schools to meet children’s needs in line with my Department’s policy. SENOs with their local knowledge and expertise are a valuable resource to parents in sourcing an educational placement.The Deputy will also be aware that my Department provides grant aid under the Home Tuition Scheme to provide early education intervention for pre-school children with a confirmed diagnosis of autism or to parents of children with autism who are awaiting an educational placement.

• CEO salary at disability service

Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan (I): asked the Minister for Education and Skills    the extent of Government funding to a company (details supplied); if he has any concern or role in the salary being paid to the CEO; his views on recent information regarding the company relations with a private company and a conflict of interests;

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn):  Public funding is provided to the Rehab group both directly by my Department and through bodies under the aegis of my Department. My Department has funded the Rehab group, including its National Learning Network division, in relation to the education of young adults with disabilities, as well as for school transport escort grants. Total funding from 2008 to March 2011 amounted to €2.8 million in this regard. FÁS has funded the Rehab Group, including the National Learning Network, in relation to specialist training provision and funding relating to employment programmes. In the years 2008 to 2010 FÁS funding amounted to €149.8 million and was met from both Exchequer funding and funding from the National Training Fund. Additionally, under the Labour Market Activation Fund 2010, €4.9 million has been paid to date to TBG Learning, a company which is part of the Rehab group, to provide the JobFit training programme for the unemployed. In the time available it has not been possible to obtain comprehensive information regarding funding to the Rehab Group from all bodies under the aegis of my Department. Details regarding further such funding will be provided to the Deputy should it be identified.The Rehab Group is not a State body and my Department has no role in setting salary levels in the group. I am not in a position to comment on the relationship between Rehab and other companies. 

• CEO salary at disability service

Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan (I): asked the Minister for Health and Children    the extent of Government funding to a company (details supplied); if he has any concern or role in the salary being paid to the CEO; his views on recent information regarding the company relations with a private company and a conflict of interests;

Minister for Health and Children (Deputy James Reilly): Public funding for health and personal social services to the Rehab Group is provided by the Health Service Executive (HSE). A total of €39.9 million was provided to RehabCare in 2010. My Department has asked the HSE to provide details of any other company in the Rehab Group of companies that received funding from the HSE in 2010 and I will let the Deputy have this information as soon as possible. The Government is concerned to ensure that all State funding is allocated appropriately, efficiently and effectively. While I have no direct role in relation to the salary of the CEO in the Rehab Group or their procurement arrangements, it is vital that the State receives value for money for any services funded by the taxpayer. In that context, I will be asking Rehab for a report on the CEO’s remuneration package. The Comptroller and Auditor General raised concerns in the past regarding accountability in respect of funding provided to voluntary organisations in the disability sector. In response to those concerns, the HSE has worked closely with the disability sector in recent years to develop Service Level Arrangements which provide the required level of accountability for public funds. In addition, health funding provided to all disability organisations is being examined in depth by my Department in a Value for Money and Policy Review of the Disability Services. The Review is expected to be completed by the end of the year. 

• Introduction of legislation to enhance and enforce the rights of persons with autism

Deputy Eoghan Murphy (FG): asked the Minister for Justice and Equality    his plans regarding the introduction of legislation to enhance and enforce the rights of persons with autism.

Minister for Justice and Equality (Deputy Alan Shatter):  Ireland has comprehensive legal protection against discrimination on the ground of disability. Persons with disabilities, including persons with autism, are protected from discrimination and afforded reasonable accommodation in access to goods and services and in the field of employment, under the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2008 and the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2008, respectively. In enforcing their right to non-discrimination, people with disabilities and their carers may seek advice from the Equality Authority. If they feel they have been discriminated against contrary to law, they may make a complaint to the Equality Tribunal. I might also mention that it is the Government’s intention to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to ensure that all necessary requirements under the Convention are being met. 

• When the resource hours put on hold will be reviewed

Deputy Pat Deering (FG): asked the Minister for Education and Skills when the resource hours that he has put on hold will be reviewed and the hours granted to the various schools.

Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn):  I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating resource teaching hours to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department’s criteria in allocating such support.  In respect of the allocation of Resource Teaching hours, the Department of Education and Skills (DES) is required to ensure that the overall allocation of teaching posts does not exceed the targets set out in the Governments Employment Control Framework. The DES had planned for a certain amount of increased growth in teacher numbers across the school sector in 2011, in line with increased demographic growth. In respect of resource teaching hours for children with special educational needs, allowance was made for growth in 2011 over and above normal demographic increase levels. In 2010, the total number of Whole time Equivalent (WTE) posts provided for resource hours teaching (including under the General Allocation Model) was approximately 9,600 WTE posts. By comparison approximately 9,950 WTE posts are provided for 2011. My Department requested the NCSE to provide data on the numbers and rate of application for additional resource teaching hours to date this year so that this information can be considered in the context of the Departments Employment Control Framework obligations. The NCSE has also been asked to pause sanctioning additional resource teaching support hours to allow for collection and consideration of this data by the DES, in conjunction with the NCSE. It should be noted that this is a temporary suspension of the allocation process in order to allow for consideration and analysis of this issue prior to any decisions being made. The NCSE issued a Circular to schools advising them that the final date for schools to submit any outstanding, completed, applications for resource teaching supports is 13th May 2011. On receipt of all outstanding applications the DES and NCSE will be in a position to consider resource allocation for the coming school year, in the context of the Departments Employment Control Framework obligations. Schools will be notified of their allocations as soon as possible. In the interim, children who are eligible for resource/ learning support teaching can receive this tuition through the existing learning support provision in schools.

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