Results 8,301-8,320 of 20,002 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (8 Mar 2023)

Norma Foley: The project for school mentioned by the Deputy is in early architectural planning which involves site surveys, school design stages and the preparation of statutory applications. It is anticipated that the planning application for the permanent school referred to by the Deputy will be lodged in Q2 2023. My Department must then await a decision on planning from the local authority. A...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (8 Mar 2023)

Norma Foley: The total costs spent to date for the provision of temporary accommodation for the school to which the deputy refers is circa €11.7 million incl Vat. These costs include all temporary accommodation costs including the purchase of modular accommodation, site works, delivery, installation and school fit out costs for the school since it opened at its current site.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Mar 2023)

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 147,900 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services are being...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (7 Mar 2023)

Norma Foley: I am pleased to advise the Deputy that approval has issued for the refurbishment of 4 existing Modular Classroom units and for the provision of 2 additional Modular Classroom units at the school referred, to cater for increased enrolments. The project is being delivered under the Department’s Devolved SEN Reconfiguration and Modular Accommodation programme which provides the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (7 Mar 2023)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 356 and 357 together. I wish to advise the Deputy, that in order 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, including Child Benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Facilities (7 Mar 2023)

Norma Foley: I wish to confirm to the Deputy that investment and expenditure on PE Halls is an element of the overall School Building Programme. Almost 95% of the post primary schools that made 2020 Annual Schools Returns have indicated to the Department that they either have a PE Hall, access to a nearby PE Hall, or a project in train that will deliver a new PE Hall which can be used as a sports...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Facilities (7 Mar 2023)

Norma Foley: My Department has an ongoing policy of updating and improving its suite of School Design Guides (SDGs) for schools with a view to offering better guidance to school authorities and Design Teams. The update of design guidance documents is based on evidence based research, collaboration, codes of practice and international best practice. SDG-02-06, which is only one document of a suite of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (7 Mar 2023)

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 147,900 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services are being...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (7 Mar 2023)

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 147,900 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services are being...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (7 Mar 2023)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy will be aware, for school planning purposes, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a Geographical Information System to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sources, including Child Benefit data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity is used for this purpose. Additionally, Project...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Parental Leave (7 Mar 2023)

Norma Foley: The Parental Leave Scheme for teachers is regulated by the Parental Leave Act 1998, as amended. The terms and conditions of the Parental Leave Scheme for primary and post primary teachers are contained in my Department's Circular Letter 0054/2019 (Chapter 5). Parental Leave is a period of statutory unpaid leave available to a teacher for the specific purpose of caring for their child....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (7 Mar 2023)

Norma Foley: In relation to school admissions, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998 and the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018. My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in that area. Parents have...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (7 Mar 2023)

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 147,900 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services are being...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (7 Mar 2023)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy may be aware, 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, including Child Benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise and where...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (7 Mar 2023)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy will be aware, for school planning purposes, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a Geographical Information System to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sources, including Child Benefit data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity is used for this purpose. Additionally, Project...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (7 Mar 2023)

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 147,900 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services are being...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (7 Mar 2023)

Norma Foley: As Minister, I am committed to inclusive education for all. My Department is fully committed to creating safe and supportive environments in schools, that are welcoming and inclusive for every student. My Department’s Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice (2019) promotes the provision of a whole-school approach to supporting wellbeing, an approach that has been found...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (7 Mar 2023)

Norma Foley: The project referred to by the Deputy is at Architectural Planning Stage3 – Tender Action and Award. A tender process can take between 8-12 months to complete, subject to no issues arising. My Department has a large pipeline of projects for delivery under the school building programme, including the project referred to by the Deputy. The main elements of this pipeline currently...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (7 Mar 2023)

Norma Foley: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department recently received an application under the Additional Schools Accommodation (ASA) scheme from the school in question to reconfigure an existing classroom to facilitate the opening of a special class. Once the application has been assessed, the school authority will be contacted directly with a decision.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (7 Mar 2023)

Norma Foley: My Department has received correspondence requesting that the Irish-medium unit would be given approval to transition to a standalone gaelcholáiste. As the Deputy may be aware work on the development of a new policy for Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht is now well underway in the Department. The policy on Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht is part of the...