Written answers

Tuesday, 27 March 2018

Department of Education and Skills

Education Centre Network

Photo of Thomas PringleThomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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245. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the name of each director and chairperson of the Donegal Education Centre in each of the years 2009 to 2017 and to date in 2018, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13595/18]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The information sought by the deputy in relation to Donegal Education Centre is in tabular form as requested.

YearChairpersonDirector
2009Francis CunninghamSally Bonner
2010Bernadette BrennanSally Bonner
2011Bernadette BrennanSally Bonner
2012Bernadette BrennanSally Bonner
2013Bernadette BrennanSally Bonner
2014Jacqui DillonSally Bonner
2015Jacqui DillonSally Bonner/Jacqui Dillon
2016Rosaleen GrantJacqui Dillon
2017Rosaleen GrantJacqui Dillon
2018Rosaleen GrantJacqui Dillon

Photo of Thomas PringleThomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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246. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of companies that applied for the competition following the recent tendering process to appoint auditors to the education centre network; the name of the successful tenderer; the agreed price for the awarding contract; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13596/18]

Photo of Thomas PringleThomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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247. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason external auditors have been appointed to audit all 21 education centres despite the fact that each centre will be carrying out internal audits by independent auditors; the reason each centre is being audited twice; the audit which will be considered the official audit for the annual report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13597/18]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 246 and 247 together.

Education Centres are independent statutory bodies under Section 37 of the Education Act (1998) and are managed by voluntary management committees elected annually and comprised mainly of teachers.

My Department is the main funder of Education Centres through direct budget allocations for administrative staff pay and operating costs. The Education Centres also receive significant funding from the support services which are funded entirely by my Department for the purpose of designing and delivering continuing professional development courses and other professional support for teachers throughout the country.

Under my Department’s accountability arrangements, Centres are required to have their accounts audited and the audit report must be submitted along with the annual report. A number of matters have been identified in recent times concerning the adequacy of the audit and governance general.

Following a competition conducted through the Office of Government Procurement (OGP), 9 framework members who had previously qualified to form part of the OGP Framework for the provision of auditing services were contacted and Crowleys DFK Auditors was awarded the contract to undertake an external audit of the 2017 financial accounts of all Education Centres. This will provide assurances that all Centres are audited to a consistent standard in accordance with recognised auditing practice.

The Deputy may wish to note that Centres were given a derogation by the Department in respect of their obligation under the existing governance arrangements to conduct their own external audit of their 2017 financial accounts. Where Centres choose to engage their own auditors, they may submit this audit to the Department as part of their annual report.

As the OGP framework under which the contract was awarded to Crowleys is still live, it would not be appropriate to release commercially sensitive information which may disadvantage either the contractor or the awarding authority in future mini competitions.

Photo of Thomas PringleThomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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248. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to ensure that all 21 education centres publish their annual reports from 2016 onwards on their websites; the reason this has not been the practice to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13598/18]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Education Centres are independent statutory bodies under Section 37 of the Education Act (1998) and are managed by voluntary management committees elected annually and comprised mainly of teachers. The network of Education Centres consists of 21 full time and 9 part time Centres.  Their principal activity is to facilitate the local delivery of national programmes of teacher professional development on behalf of my Department. They also organise a varied local programme of activities for teachers, school management and parents in response to demand.

My Department is the main funder of Education Centres through direct budget allocations for administrative staff pay and operating costs. The Education Centres also receive significant funding from the support services which are funded entirely by my Department for the purpose of designing and delivering continuing professional development courses and other professional support for teachers throughout the country.

Centres are required to prepare and submit an annual report to my Department. Currently, Education Centres are not required to publish their annual reports on their website. However, some Centres do publish their annual reports on their websites and I am of the view that this is good practice as they are in receipt of exchequer funding. Officials of my Department will consider this further as part of the governance modernisation programme that my Department is undertaking in respect of Education Centres.

Photo of Thomas PringleThomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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249. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the report commissioned by his Department regarding governance and accountability of education centres will be published; the key recommendations contained in the report; the fee paid to a company (details supplied) to carry out the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13599/18]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Education Centres are independent statutory bodies under Section 37 of the Education Act (1998) and are managed by voluntary management committees elected annually and comprised mainly of teachers.

My Department is the main funder of Education Centres through direct budget allocations for administrative staff pay and operating costs. The Education Centres also receive significant funding from the support services which are funded entirely by my Department for the purpose of designing and delivering continuing professional development courses and other professional support for teachers throughout the country.

In general, the Department is undertaking significant efforts to further develop and implement consistent and robust governance arrangements across the education sector. This work is guided by a management board committee on sectoral governance chaired by the Secretary General and supported by a sectoral governance unit which undertakes work which supports the enhancement and standardisation of governance and accountability oversight across the Department, including implementation of the Code of Practice for Governance of State Bodies.

With regard to Education Centres, the Department has embarked upon a programme of governance modernisation to complement and update the previous requirements that Education Centres are required to observe, and in line with a desire to continually improve the governance and accountability structure in the sector. This programme will be informed by the Mazars Review of the Department’s Governance, Funding and Accountability arrangements for Education Support Centres. The Department plans to circulate the final report to all Education Centres in the coming weeks and it would be remiss of me to pre-empt the recommendations in that report. In addition, there have been developments in governance requirements for state funded bodies as outlined in the Code of Practice for State Bodies which need to be reflected in the sector

As the OGP framework under which the contract was awarded to Mazars is still live, it would not be appropriate to release commercially sensitive information which may disadvantage either the contractors or the awarding authority in future mini competitions.

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