Results 1-20 of 3,455 for speaker:Hildegarde Naughton in 'Written Answers'

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 65, 66 and 67 together. I understand that this is an anxious time for parents who are seeking a school place for their child for September and I would like to assure the Deputy that this government is determined to alleviate the pressures faced by parents when seeking a special educational placement. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE)...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: My department secured funding of €2.7 billion for special education expenditure in Budget 2024 which will provide essential supports to children with special educational needs and allow for the opening of up to 400 new special classes in mainstream schools and 300 additional special school places. Each new special class requires additional funding for staffing and capitation....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: My department secured funding of €2.7 billion for special education expenditure in Budget 2024 which will provide essential supports to children with special educational needs and allow for the opening of up to 400 new special classes in mainstream schools and 300 additional special school places. An indicative estimate of the cost of repurposing an existing vacant building to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I would like to thank the Deputy for the question and wish to advise you of the following: The Special Education Appeals Board was established within the EPSEN (Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs) Act 2004. The EPSEN Act 2004 provides for the education of children aged under 18 years with special educational needs. The EPSEN Act 2004, is now in place for more than 20...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: The correspondence referred to by the Deputy raises a number of issues. In respect of supports for the school involved, I have asked my Department officials to share the contents of your email with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to ensure that this school is provided with any additional supports it may require. The NCSE Support Service manages, co-ordinates and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: Details of the 2024 Summer Programme were published on the 21st March 2024. The Department of Education also recently announced that funding of €40m has been secured again to ensure that a comprehensive summer programme will be available in 2024. This builds on the successful summer programmes of the last three years. The full funding of €40m is available and, as in previous...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has the statutory responsibility to work with schools to open additional special classes. It is also important to remember that the vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers through the provision of special education teachers and special needs assistants. In...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: Special needs assistants (SNA) allocations for the 2024/2025 school year are presently being developed by my department and schools will be advised of their allocation very shortly and in line with previous years’ timelines. For 2024, €2.7 billion is being spent on special education, an increase of €113 million. This is dedicated to providing supports for children...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (29 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 93 and 94 together. I understand that this is an anxious time for parents who are seeking a school place for their child for September and I would like to assure the Deputy that this government is determined to alleviate the pressures faced by parents when seeking a special educational placement. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) through...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: At the outset, I want to assure parents that this government is determined to help families when seeking a special educational placement and alleviate the pressures that can arise. I understand that this can be an anxious time for parents who are seeking enrolment for their children for September, and I want to assure them that work continues to provide the appropriate school place for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I understand that this is an anxious time for parents who are seeking a school place for their child for September and I would like to assure the Deputy that this government is determined to alleviate the pressures faced by parents when seeking a special educational placement. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has advised that the local special educational needs organiser...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I understand this is an anxious time for parents who are seeking a school place for September. I would like to assure parents that this government is determined and committed to alleviating the pressures faced by families seeking a special educational placement and we are working hard to make the process easier. Over 320 new special classes have been sanctioned by the National Council...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I understand that this is an anxious time for parents who are seeking enrolment for their child for September and I would like to assure the Deputy that this government is determined to alleviate the pressures faced by parents when seeking a special educational placement. My department works closely with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in relation to the forward...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I want to thank the Deputy for the question. The allocation model for 2024/25 distributes the total available number of Special Education Teaching posts in line with each school’s profile of need. The model makes an allocation on the basis of a number of inputs, including enrolment numbers. It also uses school-level data from standardised tests in order to reflect levels of overall...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I understand that this is an anxious time for parents who are seeking a school place for their child for September and I would like to assure the Deputy that this government is determined to alleviate the pressures faced by parents when seeking a special educational placement. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) through their special educational needs organisers (SENOs)...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (28 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: The programme called Covid Learning and Support Scheme (CLASS) was put in place to help schools mitigate the adverse impacts of Covid-19 on pupil/student learning loss and wellbeing arising from the periods of school closures in 2020 and 2021. As this was a specific response to Covid-19 there are no plans to run this scheme again. All primary, post primary and special schools received...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: Details of the 2024 Summer Programme were published on the 21st March 2024. Funding of €40m has been secured again to ensure that a comprehensive summer programme will be available in 2024. This builds on the successful summer programmes of the last three years. As in previous years, all of the €40m funding is utilised to meet the needs of our most vulnerable children. All...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I understand that this is an anxious time for parents who are seeking a school place for their child for September and I would like to assure the Deputy that this government is determined to alleviate the pressures faced by parents when seeking a special educational placement. My department and the NCSE work closely in relation to the forward planning of new special classes and additional...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I understand that this is an anxious time for parents who are seeking a school place for their child for September and I would like to assure the Deputy that this government is determined to alleviate the pressures faced by parents when seeking a special educational placement. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) through their special educational needs organisers (SENOs)...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 May 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I want to thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Special Education teaching allocation model for 2024/25 distributes the total available number of SET posts in line with each school’s profile of need. It seeks to distribute teaching resources in the fairest possible manner, taking into account quality, robust evidence in respect of individual schools. This ensures that...