Results 11,201-11,220 of 19,632 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The 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 (NDP) as part of Project Ireland 2040 framework. This major building project will be delivered under my Department's ADAPT Programme. ADAPT is an acronym for the "Accelerated Delivery of Architectural Planning and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: I can confirm that my Department is in receipt of an application for funding under the Additional Schools Accommodation (ASA) scheme from the school in question. The purpose of the ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom and Special Education Needs (SEN) accommodation is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met by the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disadvantaged Status (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: I recently announced that from next September the DEIS programme will be extended to an additional 310 schools. 37 schools will also benefit from additional supports following reclassification. Schools were identified for inclusion in the programme through the refined DEIS identification model which is an objective, statistics based model. Schools were not required to apply for inclusion in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €289m in 2021. The purpose of my Department's...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy is aware, on 29 March I announced an ambitious programme of work for a reimagined Senior Cycle of education where the student is at the centre of their Senior Cycle experience. The three tenets of Senior Cycle reform are to: - Empower students to meet the challenges of the 21st century - Enrich the student experience and build on what’s strong in our current system -...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: Access to Relationships and Sexuality Education, or RSE, is an important right for students. This is reflected in the Programme for Government, which states that this Government will develop inclusive and age appropriate curricula for RSE and Social, Personal and Health Education across primary and post-primary schools. Social, Personal and Health Education, or SPHE for short, is a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: I wish to assure the Deputy that the provision of modern, accessible school accommodation is a priority for my Department. This is in two respects: firstly in ensuring that there is sufficient provision for pupils with special education needs and secondly in designing school accommodation that meets the needs of all users - students and staff - and enhances the learning experience. In...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: Under Project Ireland 2040, the education sector will receive a total of approximately €4.4 billion capital investment over the period 2021-2025. This significant investment allows us to move forward with certainty on our ambitious plans and deliver high quality building projects, with a real focus on sustainability, for school communities across Ireland. The key drivers of capital...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €289m in 2021. The purpose of the Department's...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The project to which the Deputy refers has been devolved for delivery to Cork Education and Training Board (CETB). This project is currently at Stage 2a of the architectural planning process. The department expects the submission of the Stage 2a Report before the end of Q2 2022. Once the Stage report submission is approved by my Department, the next step for the Design Team will be to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Site Acquisitions (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The acquisition of the permanent site for the schools in question, (known locally as the “Glass Bottle” site) on the Goatstown Road, was completed by my Department in June 2019. The zoning on the site reserves 60% of the site for "open space” – that is, it cannot be built upon. The overall site is circa 10 acres. My Department made a submission to the Dun...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy may be aware, for school planning purposes, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a Geographical Information System and statistical modelling 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...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The new Digital Strategy for Schools to 2027 was published on the 17thApril and has at its core the aim of empowering schools to further embed digital technologies across their teaching, learning and assessment. It sets out how the development of digital skills are supported in schools and builds on the key achievements under the previous strategy. It aligns closely with the EU Digital...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Ukraine War (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: On the 3rdof May, Minister Madigan and I announced a summer education programme for pupils with complex special educational needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage for summer 2022. Building on the successful 2021 programme, all schools (primary and post-primary) will once again be encouraged to provide summer programmes including post-primary children with complex needs...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disadvantaged Status (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: My Department is committed to ensuring that all schools are treated equally and fairly in the manner in which they have been identified for inclusion in the DEIS programme. Schools who were not satisfied with the outcome following the application of the DEIS identification model to their school enrolment data will now have the opportunity to have that outcome reviewed. Circular...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 contains a provision which requires that school enrolment policies must include details of the school's arrangements for any students who do not wish to attend religious instruction. This is an important measure to help ensure transparency from the outset as to how a school will uphold the rights of parents in this regard. Section 30 of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Sector Pay (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The current public service agreement, Building Momentum, is in place until the end of this year. The value of public pay deals to the Government and the taxpayer is ensuring that pay costs are managed in a sustainable and orderly way and in a climate of industrial peace. The Government acknowledges that current price pressures present particular challenges and are a source of concern...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Sector Pay (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The current public service agreement, Building Momentum, is in place until the end of this year. The value of public pay deals to the Government and the taxpayer is ensuring that pay costs are managed in a sustainable and orderly way and in a climate of industrial peace. The Government acknowledges that current price pressures present particular challenges and are a source of concern...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: I am advised by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) that the role of the team in the National University of Galway (NUIG) is to support the analysis of the consultation data on the new draft specifications for Leaving Certificate Irish. I am informed that NUIG is analysing the responses to the on-line surveys and written submissions, whilst the NCCA is analysing the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disadvantaged Status (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools is the main policy initiative of my Department to address educational disadvantage at school level. In the 2021/22 academic year there are 884 schools in the DEIS Programme - 687 Primary and 197 Post Primary, serving over 180,000 pupils. This represents approximately 20% of the overall school population. On the 9th March, I announced the...