The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairi Quinn, T.D. is seeking expressions of interest from suitably qualified and experienced persons for positions on Boards of State Bodies and Agencies under the aegis of his Department where vacancies will occur up to 31st December 2012.
Vacancies will occur on the Boards of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund, the National Council for Special Education and the Grangegorman Development Agency.
The Minister said: “This is an opportunity for suitably qualified and experienced members of the public to play an active role in the education sector by influencing and shaping the policy direction of the State Bodies and Agencies under the aegis of my Department.”
Expressions of interest will be sought from time to time to fill vacancies that will arise during 2012 on other Boards of State Bodies and Agencies under the aegis of the Department of Education and Skills.
The Department’s website, www.education.ie, and the Public Appointments Service’s website, www.publicjobs.ie, will advertise board vacancies as they arise.
Notes for the Editor:
The Residential Institutions Statutory Fund
The Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board is being established as a new statutory body to use the cash contributions of €110 million offered by the religious congregations to support the needs of some 15,000 survivors of residential institutional child abuse who received awards from the Residential Institutions Redress Board or equivalent court awards. The new body is being established under the provisions of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012 – see (http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/acts/2012/a3512.pdf).
The principal functions of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board are:
(a) to use the resources available to it in a manner that promotes the principles of equity, consistency and transparency to:
· make arrangements for the provision of an approved service to support the needs of individual former residents, and
· pay grants to former residents to enable them avail of an approved service;
(b) to determine the range of approved services within the following broad categories of service
· mental health, counselling or psychological support services;
· health and personal social services;
· education services;
· housing support services;
(c) to determine and publish the criteria by reference to which it will make decisions on applications for the provision of approved services and associated grants; and
(d) to promote understanding, among those involved in the provision of approved services or similar public services, of the effects of abuse on survivors of residential institutional child abuse.
The Board will make information available about its services; evaluate the effectiveness of its services in meeting survivors’ needs and will consult as appropriate. In performing its functions, the Board will have regard to the existence of publicly available services and the need to secure the most beneficial, effective and efficient use of the moneys available to it.
Section 11 of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012 specifies that the Board will consist of 9 members, one of whom will be the chairperson, who will be appointed by the Minister for Education and Skills.
Members are entitled to claim travel and subsistence allowances in accordance with Government guidelines
The National Council for Special Education
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) was established to improve the delivery to persons with special educational needs arising from disabilities with particular emphasis on children. The National Council for Special Education was first established as an independent statutory body by order of the Minister for Education and Skills in December 2003. With effect from 1 October 2005 it was formally established under the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 (EPSEN Act). That Act sets out both the general functions of the Council and its specific function in relation to the provision of the Act.
The functions of the Council include:
Consulting with schools, the Health Services Executive and such other persons as the Council considers appropriate to plan and co-ordinate the provision of education and support services to children with special educational needs;
Carrying out research and providing expert advice to the Minister for Education and Skills on the educational needs of children with disabilities and the provision of related services;
Making available to the parents of children with special education needs information in relation to the their entitlements and the entitlements of their children;
Assessing and Reviewing the resources required in relation to educational provision for children with special educational needs
providing for a range of services at local and national level in order that the educational needs of children with disabilities are identified and provided for:
The National Council for Special Education (Establishment) Order, 2003 provides that the Council shall compromise 13 members (at least 6 men and 6 women), including one Chairperson, all of whom are appointed by the Minister. Appointees to the Council are required to have a special interest in, or knowledge relating to, the education of children with special educational needs.
Section 21 (3) of the EPSEN Act, 2004, provides that the Minister is required to consult with national associations of parents, recognised school management organisations as well as recognised trade unions and staff associations representing teachers and principals of schools with a view, where the Minister considers it appropriate to do so, to appointing nominees of these bodies as members of the council. The legislation provides that up to four such nominees may be appointed to the Council in this manner.
Two members of the Council are required to be appointed from persons nominated by the National Disability Authority (NDA) with a further appointee being nominated by the Minister for Health and Children. In relation to any remaining vacancies, the Minister shall have regard to the desirability of having members of the Council who themselves have special educational needs, their parents and representatives.
Travelling and subsistence allowances will be paid in respect of journeys undertaken to attend meetings of the Board or to transact its business.
Grangegorman Development Agency
The Grangegorman Development Agency (GDA) is a statutory agency established in 2006 by the Irish Government to redevelop the former St. Brendan's Hospital grounds in Dublin city centre.
The Vision for the Grangegorman Project elaborates upon the statutory purpose of the Grangegorman Development Agency (GDA) and embraces the identified needs of the stakeholders to describe a vision for the future reality of Grangegorman and to establish key success measures for the project.
The Project Vision establishes the overall Project Aims and may be described as follows:
· To satisfy the requirements of the Grangegorman Development Agency Act 2005.
· To develop a world class integrated campus for Dublin Institute of Technology – a flagship in development within higher education in Ireland, incorporating leading edge design, educational innovation and technology.
· To redevelop St. Brendan’s Hospital and other local clinical services on a state-of-the-art integrated healthcare campus which enables a high class service model to be delivered by the Health Service Executive.
· To generate community benefit through enhanced physical environment, sport and recreational facilities, arts and cultural spaces, social and educational amenities, and economic opportunity.
· To achieve excellence in architecture, urban design and sustainability and protect the architectural heritage of the site.
· To develop a new city quarter which links with and adds value to its surrounding neighbourhoods and the city in general and articulates Dublin City Council’s vision for the City as expressed in the City Development Plan.
· To maintain a communication strategy throughout the delivery of the project that facilitates appropriate consultation.
Six of the members are appointed by the Minister, including persons with experience in business, industry or the professions.
Members are entitled to claim travel and subsistence allowances in accordance with Government guidelines.