Results 3,741-3,760 of 13,291 for speaker:Joe McHugh

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is included in my Department’s Construction Programme which is being delivered under the National Development Plan. This project is one of the school building projects on my Department’s ADAPT 2 (Accelerated Delivery of Architectural Planning & Tendering) Programme. My Department has completed the process...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for allocating a quantum of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school. The NCSE allocates SNA support to schools in accordance with the criteria set out in Department Circular 0030/2014, which is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: As the Deputy will be aware, the Government announced plans in April 2018 for the establishment of 42 new schools over the next four years (2019 to 2022) including a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school to be established in September 2020 to serve the Tallaght & Newcastle_Rathcoole (Citywest/Saggart) school planning areas as a regional solution. This announcement follows nationwide,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The school building project referred to by the Deputy is being delivered under the Department’s Design and Build programme. Planning permission has been secured and tender documentation is being prepared. It is anticipated that the project will proceed to tender in Quarter 1 of 2020, with a view to being on site in Quarter 2 of 2020.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Home Tuition Scheme Administration (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The policy of this Department is that all children with Special Educational Needs, including those with Autism, can have access to an education appropriate to their needs, preferably in school settings through the primary and post primary school network. Such placements facilitate access to individualised education programmes which may draw from a range of appropriate educational...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Services Staff (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: I recognise the very important work done by these staff, and the other support staff in the running of our schools. I have spoken to a number of school secretaries about their employment conditions and understand the issues they have raised. Earlier this year I relaxed the moratorium for those C&C and ETB schools with enrolments of 700 and more which allow them to employ additional...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a Geographical Information System, using data from a range of sources, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise. With this information, my Department carries out nationwide demographic exercises to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Home Tuition Scheme Provision (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: An application under the home tuition grant scheme for the child referred to by the Deputy was received by my Department on the 5th September 2019 and a decision letter issued to the parent/guardian on the 13th September 2019. While the Home Tuition application form outlines that it may take the Department up to 15 working days to process home tuition applications, the Department is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Child Poverty (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: My Department provides a book grant to all recognised primary and post primary schools within the Free Education Scheme in order to provide assistance for books including Book Rental Schemes. Under this scheme, the Department provided funding of €16.9 million in 2019 to all of these schools. School book rental schemes have an important role to play in reducing the cost of school books...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a Geographical Information System, using data from a range of sources, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise. With this information, my Department carries out nationwide demographic exercises to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: I am pleased to advise the Deputy that my Department has recently approved funding for the provision of permanent additional accommodation at the school in question. In assessing the application my Department considered that existing accommodation could be utilised, as an interim measure, pending delivery of the permanent accommodation.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Healthcare Policy (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The Strategy Committee for the National Strategy for Women and Girls has recently established a sub-committee on period poverty. My Department is participating on the sub-committee, which is chaired by the Department of Health. The sub-committee will examine available evidence to establish the prevalence of period poverty in Ireland, the populations at risk of experiencing such poverty and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for allocating a quantum of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school. The NCSE allocates SNA support to schools in accordance with the criteria set out in Department Circular 0030/2014, which is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Expenditure (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following table: Item Cost incurred to date (€) 42 new schools announced in April 2018* €2,934,100 *costs relate to 17 of the 42 schools announced in April 2018, which opened in Sept 2019 Before any project goes to tender a pre-tender cost estimate is established. However pre-tender cost estimates are not published...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Expenditure (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following table: Year 2016 2017 2018 2019 (to date) Amount spent on Design Team Fees such as Architects, Engineers etc. for school building projects (€)* 18,185,413 22,456,989 21,836,136 13,322,114 While the delivery of major capital projects on the school building programme uses external design teams (Architects, Engineers...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Question Heading for question(s) 204 (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: A response will issue directly to the deputy in relation to this question.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Question Heading for question(s) 205 (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The information requested is currently being compiled by my Department and will be forwarded to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Question Heading for question(s) 206 (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The Deputy will be aware that the Department commenced a programme of structural assessments in over 40 schools built by the company in late October last year. At that time, a part of 1 school building was closed, immediate precautionary measures were put in place in 22 schools, with the remaining 17 schools not requiring immediate precautionary measures pending further detailed...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Question Heading for question(s) 207 (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The Public Works Contract requires projects to be tendered on a fixed price basis for a period of up to 31 months. It would be rare for a school building project to have a construction period in excess of 31 months; therefore, construction inflation does not generally impact on projects under construction. Tendering contractors must carry the risk for construction inflation during the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Question Heading for question(s) 208 (17 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: Under Project Ireland 2040, my Department continues to make progress to increase the infrastructural capacity in the schools sector nationally, in order to meet demographic and other demands. The current status of projects being delievered is listed on a county by county basis on my Department’s website at www.education.ie and updated on a monthly basis to reflect their progress...