Written Answers Nos. 294-309
294. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment whether he agrees that energy policy is currently too widely dispersed across various Government departments; whether he agrees with the creation of a dedicated Minister of State for Energy position, which would centralise responsibility for managing our energy needs and ensure a strategic approach to energy security; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43185/24]
View answerI agree with the Deputy's assessment that energy policy is an extremely broad and cross-cutting policy area, with impacts across our economy and society. Its impacts range from housing delivery to enterprise competitiveness, from the cost of living for households, to national infrastructure planning.
While energy policy broadly sits under the remit of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, it interacts with enterprise and industrial policy in many ways. In order to address those interactions, and to ensure consistency and alignment across Government policy, I and officials in my Department work extremely closely with the Minister and Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications; and there are structures in place to ensure and facilitate that alignment. These include Cabinet Committees, Senior Officials Groups, the Energy Security Group, the Accelerating Renewable Energy Taskforce, the Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce and the National Energy Demand Strategy implementation group, to name just a few. The energy transition and decarbonisation of our enterprise base has only accentuated the interdependence between enterprise policy and energy policy, and as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment I am determined that we will continue to work productively together across Government to deliver a sustainable and cost competitive energy market and infrastructure.
As the Deputy will be aware, Ministers of State are appointed by the Government, on the nomination of the Taoiseach.
295. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Education the grants available to schools to build sensory rooms for children with autism and ADHD that does not have an autism unit. [42916/24]
View answerMy Department provides funding for the start up of sensory rooms by way of grant funding, this funding is to the value of €7,000. However, this is predicated on the existence of an NCSE sanctioned SEN classroom within the school in question. It is not currently possible to avail of the sensory room start up grant for a school that does not have an NCSE sanctioned classroom.
It should be noted that this process has been revised as part of a recently announced measures to support forward planning for Special Educational Provision, part of which includes a revised start up grant amount of €30,000 for all newly sanctioned SEN classrooms for the 2025/26 academic year. Schools seeking further information in this respect can consult the recent correspondence at the below link:
gov.ie - New measures to support the Forward Planning for Special Education Provision
296. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education if he is aware of the unilateral decision by the Central Remedial Clinic (CRS) to alter the long standing funding arrangements in place for the management of a school (details supplied); if he understands the grave implications that this change will have on the operation of the school, including the disability supports for the children involved; and if he will intervene with the CRS as a matter of urgency to have these matters resolved. [43098/24]
View answer297. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Education if she is aware of the unilateral decision by the Central Remedial Clinic to alter the long-standing funding arrangements in place under the Section 28 SLA for the management of a school (details supplied); if she understands the grave implications that this change will have on the operation of the school, including the disability supports for the children involved; and to intervene with the CRS as a matter of urgency to have these matters resolved. [43177/24]
View answer379. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education if she is aware of the unilateral decision by the Central Remedial Clinic to alter the long-standing funding arrangements in place for the management of a school (details supplied); if she understands the grave implications that this change will have on the operation of the school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43097/24]
View answer388. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Education if he is aware of the unilateral decision by the Central Remedial Clinic to alter the long-standing funding arrangements in place under for the management of a school (details supplied); if she understands the grave implications that this change will have on the operation of the school; and to intervene as a matter of urgency to have these matters resolved. [43176/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 296, 297, 379 and 388 together.
The Department along with the Government is committed to supporting the provision of appropriate education to children with disabilities. Budget 2025 provides for a record level of investment in special education with €2.9 billion of my Department’s overall budget allocated for special education. This is a 6% of €159 million increase on the 2024 provision.
School funding is provided by way of capitation which is intended to contribute to the day-to-day running costs of schools and is used to meet the cost of items such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance and general upkeep in schools. The current standard rate of capitation grant is €200 per pupil in primary schools. However, enhanced capitation rates are payable in respect of pupils attending special schools and special classes attached to mainstream schools. These enhanced rates are to assist with the extra costs associated with running classrooms with a small number of pupils receiving specialist provision. Enhanced rates of capitation for special educational needs are inclusive of the mainstream rate of €200, are based on the pupil’s additional needs, and vary from €512 to €986 per pupil, as per Circular 0056/2024. Scoil Mochua received a total of €67,519 in capitation funding for the 2023/2024 school year. A mainstream school with similar enrolments would receive €13,773.
In addition to these grants, €45 million in cost-of-living supports will issue in 2024, to support all recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme. This additional funding announced in Budget 2025 is designed to assist schools with increased day-to-day running costs such as heating and electricity. As part of the capitation package in Budget 2025 over €30 million was secured as a permanent increase in capitation funding to assist schools now and longer term with increased day-to-day running costs. This represents an increase of circa 12% on current standard rates and enhanced rates. This increase is on top of the circa 9.2% increase from last year’s budget. This will bring the standard rate of Capitation grant to the level of €224 per pupil in primary schools. Enhanced rates will also increase.
The Assistive Technology Scheme is provided by the department to supplement the overall approach to providing funding to schools for digital technology and equipment to support children with more complex learning needs who, in order to access the school curriculum, require essential specialist equipment. In total €41,150 has been provided to the school for assistive technology over the previous three-year period.
A school can also apply for specialised furniture or equipment for pupils with special educational needs who are enrolled in the school. This includes furniture for a particular child's postural and toileting needs which assists the students in managing their day to day needs and facilitates their access to the curriculum.
School staff such as teachers and special needs assistants are paid directly by the Department of Education, and ancillary staff are paid either directly by the Department or through a specific grant paid to school. The Department funds 11 teaching posts and 36.5 SNA posts in the school. For this school year 2024/2025 the school was allocated a new Administrative Deputy Principal and an additional 9 post-primary teaching hours per week. The school also have an additional 15 part-time specialist teaching hours.
Special rates for electricity and heating have been negotiated for schools. There is support available in relation to accessing a group insurance scheme for special schools by liaising with the relevant management body – the National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education (NABMSE).
Scoil Mochua will continue to receive enhanced levels of support from the Department in line with other special schools providing for the equivalent level of special educational needs. The Financial Support Services Unit (FSSU) can also offer support and advice to school boards of management in relation to school accounts and funding generally.
298. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education how many students must be in a secondary school in order for the school to qualify for a second secretary; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42384/24]
View answerI refer to your recent correspondence seeking information on the number of students required in a secondary school in order to qualify for a second secretary.
The position is that work is currently underway on developing and publishing an allocation model for school secretaries. This is a complex task and requires factoring in a number of elements - such as school status, class type, enrolment numbers, and existing secretary arrangements - to ensure that the final model is fair to all schools whilst also meeting their practical needs.
Up to the publication of the allocation model, requests for increases in the secretary allocation are being considered on a case-by-case basis. Schools seeking an increase should email secretaryreturns@education.gov.ie
All requests that have been received and dealt with in this interim period will be reviewed again when the allocation model is published.
299. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education to provide an estimate of the first- and full-year cost of increasing school capitation rates by 10, 20 and 30%, respectively. [42386/24]
View answerMy Department is committed to providing funding to recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day-to-day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance and general up-keep, and the Ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff. Schools have the flexibility to use capitation funding provided for general running costs and ancillary funding provided for caretaking and secretarial services as a common grant from which the Board of Management can allocate according to its own priorities, except for cases where a secretary is now paid from my Department’s payroll as per Circular 0036/2022.
The current standard rate of Capitation grant is €200 per pupil in primary schools and €345 per student in post-primary schools.
Primary schools with fewer than 60 pupils are paid the Capitation and the Ancillary grants on the basis of having 60 pupils. At post-primary level, schools with fewer than 200 students receive ancillary-related grants on the basis of having 200 students.
As part of the capitation package in Budget 2025 I am pleased to have secured over €30 million as a permanent increase in capitation funding to assist schools now and longer term with increased day-to-day running costs. This represents an increase of circa 12% on current standard rates and enhanced rates. This increase is on top of the circa 9.2% increase from last year’s budget. This will bring the standard rate of Capitation grant to the level of €224 per pupil in primary schools and €386 per student in post-primary schools from September 2025. Enhanced rates will also be paid in respect of pupils with special educational needs and Traveller pupils.
In addition to these grants, €45 million in cost of living supports will issue in 2024, to support all recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme. This additional funding announced in Budget 2025 is designed to assist schools with increased day-to-day running costs such as heating and electricity. Schools should also ensure that they are availing of the available OGP procurement frameworks and getting best value for money for all school expenditure.
The estimated first year and full year cost of increasing the Capitation grant rates as requested by the Deputy are contained in the table below.
|
Increase |
Sector |
Estimated first year cost |
Estimated full year cost |
|
10% |
Primary |
€4.2 million |
€12.4 million |
|
10% |
Post-primary |
€4.6 million |
€14.1 million |
|
20% |
Primary |
€8.4 million |
€24.7 million |
|
20% |
Post-primary |
€9.2 million |
€27.8 million |
|
30% |
Primary |
€12.6 million |
€37.1 million |
|
30% |
Post-primary |
€13.8 million |
€41.9 million |
300. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education to confirm the number of classes in Ireland with more than 30 students enrolled, and where there is no partial or full-team teacher allocated to the school in question. [42387/24]
View answerThe key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September.
In previous budgets, I have prioritised reducing the pupil teacher ratios in primary schools which has brought the teacher allocation ratio to an average of 1 classroom teacher for every 23 pupils in all primary schools, the lowest level ever seen at primary level. A three point reduction in the retention schedule, which I introduced in 2021, assists schools that would otherwise be at risk of losing teaching posts. I also improved teacher allocations for DEIS Urban Band 1 schools which now stand at an average of 17:1, 21:1 and 19:1 for junior, senior and vertical schools respectively.
The configuration of classes and the deployment of classroom teachers are done at local school level. The Department's guidance to schools is that the number of pupils in any class is kept as low as possible taking all relevant contextual factors into account (e.g. classroom accommodation, fluctuating enrolment etc.).
The Statistics Section of my Department's website contains extensive data in relation to our schools including information on class sizes. The latest statistics available are for the 2023/24 school year. The 2023/24 educational statistical report shows that the average pupil teacher ratio at primary level last year was 12.8:1, while the average class size was 22.5. These ratios, brought about by recent budget improvements, are the lowest averages across the last 20 years. Information on the current school year will be published next Summer when the school year has completed.
301. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education to confirm the number of post-primary schools currently operating without a home school liaison co-ordinator; and the estimated first- and full-year cost of expanding the programme to 10 additional post-primary schools. [42388/24]
View answerMy Department provides a wide range of supports to all schools, DEIS and non-DEIS, to support the inclusion of all students and address barriers to students achieving their potential.
Supplementing the universal supports available to all schools, the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) Programme is the key policy initiative of my Department to address concentrated educational disadvantage at school level in a targeted and equitable way across the primary and post-primary sector.
In March 2022, I announced the single largest expansion of the DEIS programme. This benefited 361 schools. 1 in 4 students and 30% of schools are now included in the DEIS programme.
The expansion added an additional €32 million to my Department’s expenditure on the DEIS programme from 2023, bringing the overall allocation for the programme to over €180 million.
There are some 672 post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme. Currently, 228 DEIS post-primary schools are included in the HSCL scheme, of which 177 schools have full posts and 51 schools are sharing a post.
In addition, a pilot project to support Traveller and Roma pupils, under the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy, is in operation in 4 locations with 1 HSCL Coordinator assigned in each location. A further 10 HSCL Coordinators are employed under Dormant Accounts funding to support attendance, participation and retention among Traveller and Roma students, across 14 non-DEIS post-primary schools.
The 2024 average salary cost for a post-primary teachers is :
• Excluding Employer PRSI €64,070
• Including Employer PRSI €70,140
The estimated first-year cost of expanding the HSCL scheme to 10 additional post-primary schools is €234,000 with full year costs estimated to be €700,000.
302. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education the cost of employing one additional administrative officer. [42389/24]
View answerI understand from discussion with the deputy’s office that this parliamentary question refers to the costing of an additional Grade VII administrative staff member.
The pay scales for administration staff within the ETB sector are set out in Circular 0075/2024 'Revision of Salaries and Allowances of Certain Grades other than Teachers and SNAs employed by ETBs under The Public Service Agreement 2024 – 2026'. Circular 0075/2024 has been effective from 01 October 2024 and has been published on www.gov.ie.
The pay scale applicable to a Grade VII administrative officer since 01 October 2024 is as follows:
€58,251, €59,677, €61,340, €63,010, €64,681, €66,178, €67,700, €69,179, €70,654, €73,186* €75,728**
*Where applicable, an LSI 1 may follow after three years of satisfactory service
**In certain scales an LSI 2 may apply following a further three years of satisfactory service (i.e. six years in total) before moving from the first long service increment to the next long service increment.
The total cost of employing an additional Grade VII would be the applicable salary from the scale above plus employer PRSI which currently has a rate of 11.15% since 01 October 2024.
303. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education the first- and full- year cost of increasing the number of educational psychology students to include ten more students. [42391/24]
View answerCurrently University College Dublin (UCD) and Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Limerick offer programmes for those who wish to qualify as an Educational Psychologist. Matters relating to the number of students on the programme and the associated costs are a matter for the colleges and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research Innovation and Science.
In relation to workforce planning for the recruitment of educational psychologists, my Department has been actively exploring opportunities to increase the numbers of suitably qualified staff to strengthen the response to the educational psychological needs of children and young people in recognised primary and post-primary schools across the country. Since January 2023, NEPS has supported bursaries for Trainee Educational Psychologists who are enrolled in the University College Dublin Professional Doctorate in Educational Psychology and Mary Immaculate College Limerick’s Professional Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology. Those in receipt of a bursary commit to joining NEPS upon graduation. There are over 74 Trainee Educational Psychologists in receipt of a bursary who are expected to join NEPS upon graduation including 14 who joined in September 2024.
The Deputy may be interested to know that the current funding supports available under the scheme to each student while training to become an educational psychologist come to a maximum sum of €40,000 for each of the three academic years of study. Additionally, the Public Appointments Service commenced a recruitment campaign for Educational Psychologists at the end of 2023 and successful candidates from that panel are currently taking up positions in NEPS. It is expected that a further recruitment competition will be commenced by the Public Appointments Service early in 2025 and planning for this competition is already underway within the Department.
304. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education the first- and full-year cost of expanding the active school flag programme to include ten more primary and post-primary schools, respectively. [42392/24]
View answerActive School Flag (ASF) is an initiative of the Department of Education and administered through Mayo Education Centre. It is jointly funded by the Departments of Education and Health (through Healthy Ireland). The aim of the programme is to get ‘more schools, more active, more often’.
The Active School Programme comprises of three different parts:
• Active School Participation Initiatives, such as the #RelaysTakeOver, #ActiveSchoolWeek, #RunAroundEurope etc. These are open to all schools.
• Active School Flag (ASF) primary.
• Active School Flag Post Primary (ASFPP).
The Active School Flag for primary is awarded to schools that can fulfil criteria across 4 areas:
• Physical Education
• Physical Activity
• Partnerships
• Active School Week
Its objectives reflect the physical activity principles embedded in the Healthy Ireland Strategic Action Plan and the National Physical Activity Plan. Once awarded, Active School Flag remains valid for a period of three years. At the end of the academic year 23/24, 609 schools at primary held a current Active School Flag, with 204 flags awarded during the most recent school year.
In 2018, six post-primary schools commenced working with the ASF Team, Department and the University of Limerick to co-design a new whole-school programme, supported by funding from Healthy Ireland. The programme encourages school leaders, teachers, and students to work together to collect data on physical activity levels in the school and to develop a school-specific action plan that focuses on inclusive whole-school physical activity events. The programme at post-primary has been developed with a number of different stages: Try it out; Certificate; and Flag. 46 pilot post primary schools have to date been involved in the process and the pilot was closed to new schools for the current academic year, pending full launch.
Funding from the Department of Education provides core funding to support the payment of salaries, training and travel and subsistence in respect of Active School programme staff, running costs such as web development and admin overheads, the cost of supporting webinars for existing and new schools and the costs of screening and accreditation for new schools. For the development of the new post-primary model, the costs have been supported in the main by the Department of Health and included webinar and mentoring support for those schools involved in the post-primary, as well as research to guide development of the model and additional staffing support. The Department of Health funding also supports the provision of other resources to schools, such as playground vests and outdoor speakers, as well as the development of initiatives such as the highly-successful Active School Week and the recent #RelaysTakeOver.
In 2023, the Department of Education allocated €211,000 to the programme, while Healthy Ireland allocated €360,000. I was delighted that Budget 2024 saw a significant increase in Department of Education programme, to €425,500, alongside continued Department of Health funding. This funding has enabled, among other things, the addition of a full-time seconded teacher post at primary and post-primary, which will help to expand capacity and further drive growth. It has also enabled a review to guide further scaling up of the programme, which is currently underway.
The Deputy will have seen from the Budget 2025 announcement that a further increase for the Department of Education has been mandated, to increase the number of flags awarded and progress from pilot phase to a full roll-out of the post-primary programme. This will bring the total allocation from the Department of Education to support the programme in 2025 to €620,000. The Department of Health funding for next year is not fully confirmed.
Given that it is open to all primary schools to decide to participate, the number of new schools in the programme in any given year is influenced by a combination of factors, both from the schools’ perspective and also the capacity for engagement by the ASF team nationally, the success of different initiatives etc. With the integrated nature of the different aspects of the programme, as outlined above, it is not possible to give a fully itemised ‘cost-per-school’ at either primary or post-primary. It can be confirmed, however, that the budget allocation for 2024/2025 is sufficient to enable considerably more than 10 schools to join the programme at both primary and post-primary, in the year ahead.
305. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education the average cost of providing a soft-play area to a primary and post-primary school, respectively. [42393/24]
View answerThe Deputy will appreciate that the costs in question will vary significantly depending on the specific circumstances.
I have requested my Department to provide information in respect of typical capital costs directly to the Deputy.
306. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education the average cost of providing a sensory garden area to a primary and post-primary school, respectively. [42394/24]
View answerDepartment of Education standard Schedule of Area allocates 100m2 to the External Sensory Garden which is a secure external resource for the school.
The specific design requirements of the sensory garden depend on the type, size, and cohort of pupils attending the school.
Average Cost Range for Sensory Garden based on a New Build green field site, relatively level, free from significant obstructions is €40k - €60k (Incl VAT).
The above average cost will deviate outside the range provided depending on the site specifics and level of preparatory works required to provide the sensory area i.e. a sloping site may require abnormally cost items such as retaining structures to provide the external space which would not be accounted for within the cost range provided.
307. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education the average cost of providing a hard-surface play area to a primary and post-primary school, respectively. [42395/24]
View answerThe Deputy will appreciate that the costs in question will vary significantly depending on the specific circumstances.
I have requested my Department to provide information in respect of typical capital costs directly to the Deputy.
308. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education the average capital cost of providing one additional special class at a primary and post-primary school, respectively. [42396/24]
View answerThe Deputy will appreciate that the costs in question will vary significantly depending on the specific circumstances.
I have requested my Department to provide information in respect of typical capital costs directly to the Deputy.
309. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education the number of additional teaching posts which will be in schools from September 2025, relative to the 2019/2020 school year. [42397/24]
View answerCurrently there are over 43,000 teaching posts allocated across the primary school system. This represents an increase of over 5,250 teachers when compared with the 2019/20 school year.
Budget 2025 provides for an unprecedented €11.8 billion investment in education and schools, including the provision of an additional 768 Special Education teachers.
The future allocation of teaching posts will need to take several factors into account, including demographic changes. My Department’s latest reports "Statistical Bulletin 2023/24", "Education Indicators for Ireland 2023" and "Regional Projections of full-time enrolments Primary and Second Level 2021-2036" are available on the statistics section of the Department's website.
