8 October 2013 Written Answers. The following are questions tabled by Members for written response and the ministerial replies as received on the day from the Departments [unrevised]. Questions Nos. 1 to 6, inclusive, answered orally. Question No. 7 resubmitted. Question No. 8 answered orally. Questions Nos. 9 to 15, inclusive, resubmitted. Questions Nos. 16 to 20, inclusive, answered orally. Questions Nos. 21 to 56, inclusive, resubmitted. Questions Nos. 57 to 69, inclusive, answered orally. 08/10/2013WRB00975Student Contribution 08/10/2013WRB0130070. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will give a commitment to a timeline to reverse the increases he is making in the student registration fee, as proposed by the Union of Students in Ireland in its pre-budget submission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42234/13] 08/10/2013WRB01400Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn): As the Deputy will be aware the Student Contribution stands at €2,500 for the current academic year and is payable by students who qualify under my Department’s free fees schemes. I have already signalled my intention to increase the Student Contribution by €250 each year hereafter until the 2015/16 academic year when the Contribution will stand at €3,000. The full Contribution is paid by the Exchequer in respect of students who qualify under my Department’s Student Grant Scheme (some 40%). The Higher Education Authority (HEA) is undertaking a study on the sustain- ability of the current funding system for higher education and I will be advised as this work progresses. The report will help inform decision-making as to the future funding of the sector. 08/10/2013WRB01450Special Educational Needs Expenditure 08/10/2013WRB0150071. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to ring- fence current funding for special needs assistants in budget 2014; and if he will make a state- ment on the matter. [42210/13] 08/10/2013WRB01600Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn): The policy of this Govern- ment is to ensure that every child who is assessed as needing SNA support will receive access 107 Questions - Written Answers to such support. The level of resources being devoted to supporting children with Special Educational Needs has been maintained at €1.3 billion. These resources have been protected despite the ongoing severe financial position. The ongoing commitment of my Government to protect frontline supports for children with special educational needs is an acknowledgment of the important role played by SNAs in ensuring that children with special needs can progress and develop and be included, where appropriate, in mainstream school settings. This level of spending has been protected despite the ongoing severe financial position. There has been no reduction in the number of SNA posts in the 2013/14 school year. As budget considerations are ongoing, I am not in a position at this point to anticipate any future budgetary or expenditure provisions. 08/10/2013WRB01650Student Grant Scheme Reform 08/10/2013WRB0170072. Deputy Billy Timmins asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to review means assessments for higher education grants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42149/13] 08/10/2013WRB0180078. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will give an as- surance to self-employed and farming families that he has no plans to include working assets in calculation of a family’s means for qualifying for a third level student maintenance grant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42230/13] 08/10/2013WRB01900Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn): I propose to take Questions Nos. 72 and 78 together. The Deputies will be aware that, following agreement in principle by the Government to broaden the current means testing arrangements for student grants by way of inclusion of the value of capital assets, I set up a dedicated implementation group to bring forward detailed pro- posals. I have received a draft report from the implementation group. This is currently under consideration and I will be consulting further with my cabinet colleagues. 08/10/2013WRB01950School Closures 08/10/2013WRB0200073. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which he expects to be in a position to maintain the fabric of smaller rural and urban schools under the patronage of all churches, with particular reference to the need to ensure that such communities are not in any way marginalised arising either from demographics, location and-or socioeconomic status, and having due regard to traditional commitments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42152/13] 08/10/2013WRB0210086. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans re- garding small rural schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42246/13] 08/10/2013WRB02200Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn): I propose to take Questions Nos. 73 and 86 together. The Government is very cognisant of the important role of primary schools in the fabric of local communities. Our overall primary school enrolment has been growing rapidly in recent years and this is going to continue. In managing the resource consequences of this, it is impor- tant that decisions on school provision and organisation are based on a rigorous evaluation of requirements and needs, not just at a local level but also at both regional and national levels. 108 8 October 2013 A Value for Money review of Small Primary Schools has been recently presented to me. The report’s contents will be carefully considered with my Government colleagues prior to its pub- lication. 08/10/2013WRB02250Pupil-Teacher Ratio 08/10/2013WRB0230074. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to change pupil-teacher ratios. [42195/13] 08/10/2013WRB0240080. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will maintain the pupil-teacher ratio in schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42248/13] 08/10/2013WRB0250081. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Education and Skills if cuts in budget 2014 will mean even larger class sizes for pupils; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42211/13] 08/10/2013WRB0260084. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills if an impact as- sessment has been carried out in relation to class sizes in the north Kildare and east Meath areas of high population growth; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the proposed increase in the pupil-teacher ratio would have severe effects on these areas at a rate beyond other areas of the country; his Department’s modelling for future teacher deployment in areas where the birth rate is currently high; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42018/13] 08/10/2013WRB02700Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn): I propose to take Questions Nos. 74, 80, 81 and 84 together. The budget for education, including the number of teaching posts that we can afford to fund in schools is a matter that I will have to consider with my colleagues in Cabinet in the context of the forthcoming budget. The decisions in relation to such matters will be announced at budget time. A particular challenge in the education sector is on ensuring we have school places and teachers for the thousands of additional pupils entering our schools each year. The Government will endeavour to protect frontline education services as best as possible. However, the con- text for any discussion about PTR and class sizes is the requirement to bring our overall public expenditure into line with what we can afford as a country. The challenge will be to ensure that the resources that can be provided are used to maximum effect to achieve the best possible outcome for pupils. 08/10/2013WRB02750Schools Guidance Counsellors 08/10/2013WRB0280075. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide fig- ures on the reductions secondary schools have made in guidance counselling hours as a result of his removal of the ex quota allocation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42238/13] 08/10/2013WRB02900Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn): I have already acknowledged to the House that bringing guidance within quota is challenging for schools. However, the al- ternative was to adjust the PTR staffing allocations. Guidance is a whole school activity and schools have autonomy on how best to prioritise their available resources to meet the require- ments in relation to guidance and the provision of an appropriate range of subjects to students. This operates at local school level. The representative organisations for School Principals and school management developed a framework that assists schools on how best to manage the provision of guidance from within 109 Questions - Written Answers their staffing allocation. This approach puts a greater emphasis on group-work and class-based activity at senior cycle and maximises the amount of time available for those pupils that need one to one support. The budget decision sheltered the impact for all DEIS post-primary schools by improving their standard staffing allocations – a fact which is often overlooked in this debate. 08/10/2013WRB02950Student Grant Scheme Appeals 08/10/2013WRB0300076. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the case of a person (details supplied) whose application for a grant has been turned down despite the fact the family’s net income would place them well below the thresh- old, leaving the individual in question unable to attend their post-leaving certificate course in Cavan Institute of Technology because of the costs involved.