Results 11,221-11,240 of 19,632 for speaker:Norma Foley

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

Norma Foley: The policy of my Department is to support the use of school premises and facilities for community, recreational and education-related purposes. This includes the use of school facilities after school hours and during schools hours where the use will not impact on current or future education provision in the school. In 2017 Guidance on the use of School Buildings outside of School Hours,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Health and Safety (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: Under the provisions of the Education Act, 1998 the Board of Management is the body charged with the direct governance of a school. The Department is aware that positive action has been taken by many schools on the issue of heavy school bags. Actions consist of a range of measures, including the provision of lockers and in the case of second level school the arrangement of the timetable...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Crime Prevention (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: My Department is working along with other Government Departments and agencies to support full implementation of the Government’s national drug strategy - Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery 2017-2025 and is leading on a number of actions to build the skills, knowledge and resilience and well-being in all of our young people so they are equipped to deal with the challenges they face,...

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

Norma Foley: My Department makes supports available for children where English is an additional language. These supports are available generally in schools who have large numbers of children for whom English/Irish is not their first language but it has been of particular importance in recent weeks to support the large numbers of children enrolled in our schools coming from Ukraine. English Additional...

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. As the Deputy is aware, the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations. In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.

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

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. 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. Under the terms of the School...

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

Norma Foley: The school to which the Deputy refers was approved funding under the Additional Accommodation Scheme 2020 to build a three-classroom SEN Base and enabling works to create ASD class. A Stage 1 submission was received recently in my Department; this submission is currently under review and my Department will revert to the school upon completion.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The SEC provides a scheme of Reasonable Accommodations at the Certificate Examinations (RACE Scheme) to support candidates with a complex variety of special educational needs including learning difficulties as well as permanent or temporary physical, visual, hearing, medical, sensory, emotional, behavioural or other conditions. In common with similar schemes which operate in other...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Schemes (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: 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. I set out a clear vision for Senior Cycle, building upon the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment’s (NCCA’s) Advisory Report. The NCCA’s review of senior cycle involved an...

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. This investment will build...

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

Norma Foley: School secretaries and caretakers are valued members of our school communities and my Department is fully aware of the vitally important role played by them in the running of our schools. On the 24th February, following a series of engagements at the WRC, a package to settle a claim on terms and conditions for grant-funded school secretaries was proposed, which Fórsa agreed to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Equality Issues (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: Ensuring that all students and staff, including LGBTQI+ students and staff, feel supported, welcomed and secure within their schools is a key priority for the Department of Education. The Department of Education supports a number of programmes that support LGBTQI+ students and staff. For example, since 2013, the Department has provided funding to BeLonG To, for StandUp! Awareness which is...

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

Norma Foley: 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 additional school...

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

Norma Foley: The Department is aware of the report referred to by the Deputy. The recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill teaching posts is a matter for the individual school authority. In accordance with Department Circular 31/2011, schools are required to ensure that individuals appointed to teach are registered teachers with qualifications appropriate to the sector and suitable to the post for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (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. In my announcement I set out a clear vision for Senior Cycle, building upon the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment’s (NCCA’s) Advisory Report. The NCCA’s review of...

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. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment was requested to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Bullying of Children (12 May 2022)

Norma Foley: The Action Plan on Bullying, which was published in January 2013, sets out my Department's approach to tackling bullying and promoting an anti-bullying culture in schools. The Action Plan contains 12 actions that focus on the provision of support for schools, teacher training, research and awareness raising and aims to ensure that all forms of bullying are addressed. A number of these...