Results 2,301-2,320 of 19,559 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: I can assure the Deputy that the provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post primary level, including those with special educational needs, is an absolute priority for my Department. Since 2020, my department has invested in the region of €4.9 billion in our schools, involving the completion of over 900 school building projects....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: Access to Relationships and Sexuality Education, or RSE, and Social, Personal and Health Education, or SPHE, is an important right for students. For this reason, RSE and SPHE curriculums are a core part of the student experience at both primary and post-primary level. Furthermore, recognising that it is essential that students have access to relevant and up-to-date information, the Department...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: The role of schools within communities is crucial and I wish to acknowledge the huge contribution being made daily by all school leaders in the operation of our schools. My Department provides time that teaching principals may take as release time in order to help them fulfil their principal duties. Under these arrangements the Department pays for a substitute teacher so that a teaching...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: The number of students enrolled in our education system is something I and my Department keep under constant review. The requested data in tabular form will be sent to the deputy directly. Primary school enrolments in Ireland peaked in 2018, reaching 567,772 students. However, there has been a steady decline each subsequent year, with enrolments dropping to 558,143 by the 2022/23...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: Setanta Special School is part of a large-scale capital campus project together with Ballyowen Meadows Special School, to be co-located on campus at the existing site in Stillorgan. The project brief was to provide 2 ten classroom special schools with General Purpose hall and all associated ancillary accommodation on the same site. The project is included in my Department’s...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: Planning for school provision takes full account of local dynamics, including faster growth in urban areas linked to residential development. In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, the Department of Education divides the country into 314 school planning areas. The Department uses a Geographic Information System, which facilitates the analysis...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: I wish to assure the Deputy that the provision of appropriate accommodation for pupils with special education needs is an absolute priority for my Department. In order to make accommodation provision to meet the needs of students with special education needs, my Department has close engagement with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) which has responsibility for coordinating and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 161,600 children are being transported on a daily basis to schools throughout the country. This figure comprises over 135,000 pupils travelling on mainstream services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Standards (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy will be aware, almost 30 years have elapsed since the National Convention on Education chaired by the late Prof. John Coolahan. The 1990’s saw a significant period of strategic thinking, planning and implementation that culminated in several pieces of primary legislation that set the stage for the significant reforms that all levels of the system have experienced since....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: The project referred to by the Deputy is a campus based project for the provision of a new 16 classroom primary school and a new 400 pupil post primary school both of which also include special education classrooms. The project is devolved for delivered by Galway Roscommon Education and Training Board which has appointed a design team to develop the design, procure and manage the construction...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: I can advise the Deputy that the review of the accommodation needs of the school in question and of the other schools in the school planning area is on-going. By way of background, my department received an application under the Additional Schools' Accommodation (ASA) Scheme in 2021 from the school in question. The application was for funding for the provision of three special education...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: The provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs is an absolute priority for the Department. At a national level, Ireland has been experiencing growth in overall post primary enrolments and this is projected to continue in many parts of the country for the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: Prior to 2022, principal release days were allocated on the basis of the number of mainstream teachers in the school. As part of Budget 2022 measures, I ensured that all schools with a teaching principal have a minimum of 37 Principal Release Days. i.e. one administrative day per week. This was a very significant increase for many schools, with some schools receiving 16 additional days...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 97, 116 and 240 together. Ensuring that every child's experience in school is positive and that they have qualified, engaged teachers available to support them in their learning is a priority area of action for the Government. Budget 2024 reflects this Government’s commitment to ongoing investment in the education system through various measures...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: I can assure the Deputy that the provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs is an absolute priority for the Department. The Department has been aware of pressures for post primary school places for the 2024/25 school year in Greystones and Kilcoole, and the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Insurance Coverage (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: My Department is committed to providing funding to recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day to day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance and general up-keep, and the Ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: Following the commencement of the National Vetting Bureau [Children and Vulnerable Persons] Act of 2012 by the then Minister for Justice and Equality on the 29 April 2016 (other than section 20) the Department issued Circular 31/2016 to all school Authorities and Education Training Boards advising of the statutory obligations placed on school authorities to obtain a vetting disclosure from...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Irish Language (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: Work is ongoing in my Department at present to develop a new policy for Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht. This new policy will build on the significant achievements of the Policy on Gaeltacht Education. In order to inform the development of the policy, a comprehensive public consultation process was conducted to seek the views of stakeholders including young people,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Bullying in Educational Institutions (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: I launched Cineáltas: Action Plan on Bullying on 1st December 2022. Cineáltas is my Department’s whole-education approach to preventing and addressing bullying in schools. Cineáltas is dedicated to the prevention and addressing of bullying, cyber bullying, racist bullying, gender identity bullying and sexual harassment, among other areas, in schools. It is centred...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Citizens' Assembly (11 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: The Citizens’ Assembly on the Future of Education is of high importance to me and the Department of Education as is including the voice of children in the process. The Programme for Government commits to establishing a Citizens’ Assembly on the Future of Education ensuring that the voices of young people and those being educated are central. The establishment of the...