CREED CRITICAL OF ACCESS FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS TO PRESCHOOL SERVICES

Cork North West TD, Michael Creed has called for the Minister for Children & Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald T.D. to take responsibility for children with special needs who are currently being excluded from mainstream pre-schools. Speaking during a Dáil debate on Childcare, Deputy Creed said “it is an indictment of us all that we could table a motion and an amendment and discuss universality while locking the door on these children. It is also an indictment of the HSE to claim that there is no obligation”. During his speech Deputy Creed continued

“I refer to a response I received from the HSE in reply to representations I made about access for a child with autism to the ECCE year. The relevant section of the letter stated that on querying supports for children with special needs attending mainstream preschools under the scheme, the HSE was advised that there is no obligation for a service under the ECCE grant to take a child with special needs if it cannot provide supports. The letter stated that the preschool should have a meeting with the parent and child before enrolment to identify whether or not it will be able to meet the needs of the individual child. I regret to say that I have tried to pursue this issue with the Department which says that it is not its responsibility”.

“I have tried to pursue it with the HSE to be told that it is not its responsibility and that it is the responsibility of the contract holder to provide the service. I have tried to pursue it with the Department of Education and Skills which tells me it deals with children with disabilities, universal access for children to primary school and providing special needs assistant supports but that this is not its baby, to pardon the pun. In response to a parliamentary question on this issue, the Minister for Health said that “while the Health Service Executive has no statutory obligation to provide supports for children with special needs wishing to avail of the free pre-school year, it works at local level”, blah, blah, blah, ad hocery”.

“If we are to achieve anything in this debate, I implore the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to take a hold of the issue. Thousands of children and parents throughout the country are locked out of the early childhood care and education, ECCE, year. If we want a universal system, it must take account of such children and their needs. Like the Department of Education and Skills, the Minister should hold a little in reserve. We may not necessarily have the additional resources necessary, but she should hold a little in reserve and pay a higher capitation level to the individual contract holders under the ECCE scheme who will take on these children. They deserve the early childhood year as much as any other child. It is an indictment of us all that we could table a motion and an amendment and discuss universality while locking the door on these children. It is also an indictment of the HSE to claim that there is no obligation”.

“I congratulate the Minister. This is my first opportunity to discuss these issues since she became Minister. She has achieved much in a short time. I also acknowledge what has been achieved by others, but this is a glaring deficit. There is no universality if we lock the door on children with disabilities. I implore the Minister to take this issue on board”.

CREED WELCOMES NEW EXTENSION FOR CLOGHDUV N.S.

Cork North West TD. Michael Creed has this morning (29/11/2013) welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn that Cloghduv National Schools is to receive funding for a new extension to the school. Commenting on the announcement Deputy Creed said;

“I am delighted that Cloghduv National School has been included in the 2014 School Building programme. Funding will be provided for the construction of a new extension to the school under the Government capital investment scheme in education”.

“I am aware of the hard work and dedication to this project on behalf of the staff, board of management and parents of Cloghduv National school, and am pleased that their efforts are now being rewarded”.

CREED WELCOMES FUNDING FOR THREE NEW CLASSROOMS FOR BALLINORA N.S.

Cork North West TD, Michael Creed, has welcomed the announcement that funding will be made available to Ballinora National School, for the construction of three new classrooms to replace existing pre-fabricated accommodation currently being used by the school.  Commenting on the announcement Deputy Creed said:

 

“I am delighted Ballinora have received the go ahead to construct three new classrooms to replace existing pre-fabs in the school.  I would like to pay tribute to the efforts of the principal his staff, the board of management and the parents association who have worked hard in putting together an application for funding under the pre-fab replacement scheme”.

 

“The Department’s School Building Unit will be writing to the 46 schools covered under the 2013 programme in the coming days offering grant aid for replacement of rented prefabs.  This initiative will replace 37 resource rooms and 119 mainstream classrooms with permanent accommodation which will cater for over 3,300 pupils”.

 

“A total of €15 million has been allocated for this initiative in 2013/2014.  It is anticipated that further rental savings of €2m per annum will be achieved as a result of this most recent prefab replacement scheme.  This is in addition to the estimated €5m per year savings which will be achieved as a result of the 2012 prefab replacement scheme”. 

 

 “The annual rental bill for prefabs was almost €30m each year when this Government took office.  Between the 2012 and 2013 prefab replacement schemes, this amount will be reduced by almost 25%.  The Programme for Government contains a commitment to reduce the reliance on rented prefabs in schools and this second initiative builds on the success of the previous scheme.  The new initiative will result in the creation of an estimated 300 direct and 60 indirect jobs in the coming years”.

CREED WELCOMES FUNDING FOR NEW CLASSROOMS IN KILMURRAY & CUIL AODHA NATIONAL SCHOOLS

Fine Gael TD for Cork North West, Michael Creed  has today welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Education, Ruairí Quinn, that two schools in Cork North West will receive grant aids to replace their existing prefab classrooms with permanent structures.

 

“I am delighted that Cuil Aodha & Kilmurray National Schools will finally be able to build permanent, state-of-the-art classrooms, after so many years of wasting a huge amount of money renting prefab classrooms, which could have been put towards other vital education services.

 

“For many years during the height of the boom, Fine Gael consistently called for this serious waste of money which was spent on renting prefabs to be addressed. Despite the massive amount of spending that went on during the boom, the previous Government did nothing to address this. Instead they continued renting prefabs; in 2007 alone, 715 new rental contracts were signed.

 

“I am delighted that this Government is now addressing this problem and 200 permanent structures across the country will be built this year, which covers over a third of all schools who currently rent prefabs. A total of €35 million has been allocated and it is estimated the 6,000 pupils will benefit.

 

“Since this Government was formed, the Minister for Education has been focused on reforming our education system, despite constrained resources. Today’s announcement is an example of identifying where money is being wasted. Building sustainable classrooms will save approximately €5 million per year and create an estimated 700 direct and 140 indirect jobs.

 

“This announcement is not part of the five-year building programme which will be announced in the coming weeks. Today’s initiative forms part of the Government’s €430 million education infrastructure plan for 2012. The investment in the School Building Programme this year, including the replacement of prefabs, will create an estimated 3,250 direct and 650 indirect jobs.”

Watch the Dáil Debate on Small Rural Schools 12th January 2012.

Watch the Dáil Debate on Small Rural Schools 12th January 2012.

CREED CALLS ON MINISTER QUINN TO EXPLORE ALL OPTIONS TO PRESERVE SMALL SCHOOLS

DÁIL SPEECH RAISED UNDER TOPICAL ISSUES 12/01/2012

“I believe that at a time like this there are opportunities to restructure the educational model. It is important not to miss that opportunity. The weakness in the Minister’s approach is that it is too much stick and not enough carrot in respect of the requirement to change. The savings that could be made in the education area could be delivered in other areas and I will suggest some that are worth considering”.

“We could have administrative principals over clusters of small schools, who would decide themselves over a period of time on the optimum model for delivery of education in that cluster area. This opportunity has been missed and now backs are up and this is an emotive issue. For example, in my area there will be a meeting next Monday night which will be emotive and which will mobilise the community. It is regrettable also, in the context of the value for money review which is examining the small two-teacher schools, that we did not wait for the outcome of that review to have an informed debate, perhaps initiated by the Department’s inspectors, with boards of management, parents and teachers to discover the optimum delivery of education services in these communities, most but not all of which are rural communities. There is an issue also with regard to how this relates to Church of Ireland small schools. I suggest there could be savings made through such a clustering arrangement, particularly in terms of shared services, back office facilities and secretarial administration”.

“We also need to look critically at the curriculum and to sweat it down in early years to make savings. Currently, we teach English, Irish, Maths, history, geography, drama, science, social, political and health education, art, music and religion in primary schools. We should look at sweating this down in the early years to make savings. This would complement the Minister’s objective of improving literacy and numeracy”.

“Two minutes is a very short time to make an appropriate case, but I suggest there are opportunities to remodel delivery of education in rural areas to an extent that parents would go along with and that would be to the benefit of children. However, this must come from the bottom up”.

CHILD BENEFIT SHOULD BE LINKED TO SCHOOL ATTENDANCE WITHIN THIS STATE – CREED.

RUMOURED €10 REDUCTION ALARMING CALLING UNIVERSALITY INTO QUESTION

Cork North West, Fine Gael TD, has expressed his concern at rumours circulating of a €10 reduction in child benefit and has called for an end to universal payment and the linking of child benefit payment to school attendance in a move which would ensure that benefit payments are not leaving the state while simultaneously alleviating the problem of truancy in schools. Commenting on the proposal which he recently put to the Minster for Social Protection, Deputy Creed said:

 

“I have asked the Minister her views on linking Child benefit payment to school attendance within the State and to consider implementing such a condition.  The Minister has responded by stating that there are no plans to introduce a condition in Ireland related to school attendance beyond that which currently exists for those aged 16 and 17.  Commenting on the possible impact my proposal would have on truancy levels the Minister deferred to the Minister for Education and the Minister for Children.  I am disappointed with her response”.

 

“I believe the Government has to look across Departments for solutions to a range of problems be they financial or social.  There is an opportunity to ensure that school attendance is maximised by penalising truancy with a reduction or suspension to child benefit for serial offenders.  Government must be flexible and open minded when presented with suggestions and not be blinkered and short-sighted in terms of Departmental or legislative constraints.  I understand the legal dilemma whereby the EU’s social security systems are required to be co-ordinated and the payment of benefits must apply to all EU citizens equally regardless of which state they work in, therefore ensuring Irish citizens working in other EU member states benefit equally from the host countries system an vice versa.  I am proposing a little financial engineering which will see the current regime remain up to school going age and then the child benefit payment switches to a school attendance payment”.

 

Commenting on reports that child benefit is to be cut by €10 in next months budget. Deputy Creed said;

 

“I acknowledge that no final budgetary decision have been taken as of yet and we are dealing with pure speculation, however I am alarmed that there is a possibility of child benefit being cut by as much as €10.  This situation highlights the inequality of the current universal system which is unsustainable and unfair.  I note this morning groups such as Barnardos and others, who support the universal nature of the payment, expressing their concerns. Scarce resources need to be targeted at areas where they are most needed and a blind adherence to the principle of retaining child benefit as a universal payment is of another era”.

 

“The case has been made, that the implementation of a means test is too expensive to administer.  However in the absence of such a mechanism it is important that if the €10 cut is to proceed then the Government should compensate those on Social welfare by an equivalent increase in child dependent allowance or in the family income supplement”.

CREED WELCOMES SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT ON NEW SCHOOL FOR GAELSCOIL UÍ RIORDÁIN BALLINCOLLIG.

 

Cork North West, Fine Gael TD Michael Creed has welcomed confirmation from the Department of Education, that progress is being made in tendering for a contractor to commence construction of the new Gaelscoil Uí Riordáin and that work should commence in early 2012. Commenting on the matter Deputy Creed said:

 

“Confirmation that construction on the new school building for Gaelscoil Uí Ríordáin will commence in early 2012, will come as welcome relief to staff, parents and pupils of the school who along with the board of management and members of the Community in Ballincollig have worked for nearly three decades to see this project come to fruition”.

 

“Gaelscoil Úi Ríordáin is a model school which has grown exponentially over the years. Given the level of growth in the pupil numbers attending the Gaelscoil the current building became insufficient to cater for the schools needs which led to the use of temporary prefabricated classroom accomadation. The situation has grown unsustainable and the news that Gaelscoil Uí Ríordáin is finally to find a new home is long overdue”.

 

“I am pleased that Fine Gael in Government are in a position to push this much delayed project over the line. Bringing this project to construction phase has taken a concerted effort from the Board of Management and public representatives of all parties such as my colleague Derry Canty in Cork County Council and former Minister Batt O’Keeffe”.

 

“I will be working with the Minister for Education in the coming weeks to ensure that construction on the new Gaelscoil commences as soon as possible so as to ensure that the new facility will be available for staff and students at the earliest possible date”.

 

CREED URGES STUDENTS TO APPLY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE FOR STUDENT GRANT SCHEME

The Department of Education and Skills has announced details of the further and higher education Student Grant Scheme for the 2011/12 academic year. Commenting on the announcement Deputy Creed said;

“Up until now, there were four grant schemes. In the first major step to overhaul the student grant system, the four schemes have been replaced by a single unified scheme this year. This will make it far easier for students to apply for a grant.

Almost 38,000 students, well over half of the expected number of applications, will be able to apply online for their grant this year. The grants online facility has been rolled out to an extra 24 grant awarding bodies giving a total of 35 in all now using the system. The system is available through studentfinance.ie.”

This facility will be available to all students next year when a single grant awarding authority will become operational. The CDVEC was recently announced as that authority after a competitive process.

“With the Leaving Certificate finished, the Department is urging students who may qualify to apply as quickly as possible for a grant and to ensure that forms are correctly completed. This will prevent log jams in the system or delays to decisions. Previously, those who wait until very late in the process, frequently only after a CAO offer, faced delayed decisions”.

 “In addition, up to 60% of applications in some areas have to be returned because they are not fully completed, they are inaccurately completed or don’t have the necessary supporting documentation. Again, this contributes significantly to delays”.

“The grantsonline system will play an important role in reducing application completion errors because the system is intelligent to the information being input”.

“The Department confirmed that income limits to qualify for maintenance grants and payment of the student contribution remain unchanged for the new academic year.  However, students should be aware of a change introduced to the scheme under the last government’s Budget 2011 which reduces the qualifying distance criterion for the non-adjacent rate of grant from 24kms to 45km”.

Details of the scheme together with the application form and guidance notes are available in the grants section of the http://www.studentfinance.ie.website.

The Department of Education and Skills has announced details of the further and higher education Student Grant Scheme for the 2011/12 academic year. Commenting on the announcement Deputy Creed said;

“Up until now, there were four grant schemes. In the first major step to overhaul the student grant system, the four schemes have been replaced by a single unified scheme this year. This will make it far easier for students to apply for a grant.

Almost 38,000 students, well over half of the expected number of applications, will be able to apply online for their grant this year. The grants online facility has been rolled out to an extra 24 grant awarding bodies giving a total of 35 in all now using the system. The system is available through studentfinance.ie.”

This facility will be available to all students next year when a single grant awarding authority will become operational. The CDVEC was recently announced as that authority after a competitive process.

“With the Leaving Certificate finished, the Department is urging students who may qualify to apply as quickly as possible for a grant and to ensure that forms are correctly completed. This will prevent log jams in the system or delays to decisions. Previously, those who wait until very late in the process, frequently only after a CAO offer, faced delayed decisions”.

 

“In addition, up to 60% of applications in some areas have to be returned because they are not fully completed, they are inaccurately completed or don’t have the necessary supporting documentation. Again, this contributes significantly to delays”.

“The grantsonline system will play an important role in reducing application completion errors because the system is intelligent to the information being input”.

“The Department confirmed that income limits to qualify for maintenance grants and payment of the student contribution remain unchanged for the new academic year.

However, students should be aware of a change introduced to the scheme under the last government’s Budget 2011 which reduces the qualifying distance criterion for the non-adjacent rate of grant from 24kms to 45km”.

Details of the scheme together with the application form and guidance notes are available in the grants section of the http://www.studentfinance.ie.website.

IRISH WILL NOT BE REMOVED AS A COMPULSORY LEAVING CERTIFICATE SUBJECT UNTIL IT WILL BE A NATURAL CHOICE FOR ALL STUDENTS

Fine Gael Candidate for Cork North West has made an assurance that Irish will not be removed as compulsory language for the leaving certificate for a generation or two.  Commenting on recent misrepresentations of Fine Gael policy on the matter, Deputy Creed said;

 “The most frustrating issue I have encountered during the course of this election campaign is the misrepresentation of Fine Gael policy on the Irish language.  Representing a Constituency with a large Gaeltacht area, this matter is hugely important and must be clarified”.

 “Fine Gael is strongly committed to the development of the Irish language and the Gaeltacht regions. We recognise the value and cultural importance of our Irish tradition and heritage and we are determined to ensure the language and the Gaeltacht regions survive and prosper”.

 “We are committed to overhauling the way in which Irish is taught at primary and second levels of education, to ensure teachers are equipped with the right tools to instil a love of the language for all students, and that the curriculum is designed to inspire students to continue speaking the language after leaving school”.

  “We believe that reinventing the way we teach Irish will encourage more students to study the language and engage with it beyond the school system. We believe compulsion has not fostered growth or commitment to the language. We will overhaul the curriculum at second level and we will critically examine the effect of current training methods of teachers to teach. Irish as an optional subject for Leaving Certificate will only apply following consultations on both matters”.

 “We will allocate 50% of marks to oral Irish exams.  A study on a double curriculum to Leaving Cert will be investigated, one on the current system and a second in communicating Irish. The questions of extra points for third level entry will be investigated.  Fine Gael will double the proportion of Irish students sitting the Higher Level Leaving Certificate exam by 2018”.

 “We will investigate the development of a national proficiency scale for the Irish language. This ten point scale would allow every citizen to have their competence assessed and use modern teaching methods and modern technology to gradually improve their proficiency at a pace that suits themselves”.

 “We have a Constitutional obligation to preserve and promote the language.  There has been a politically motivated cynical attempt to misrepresent our position.  There are groups and individuals who are masquerading as protectors of the language who simply wish to undermine Fine Gael at every turn.  Instead of campaigning against the failed Government policies towards the language of the last eighty years, they instead wish to challenge those who seek to put forward a progressive policy to ensure the language has a future.  The very least they could do is read our policy and show some honesty”.