Results 14,021-14,040 of 19,666 for speaker:Norma Foley

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: I am pleased to be before the committee as we begin a new Dáil term to discuss a number of important issues in the education sector. First, I join the Chairman in congratulating Deputies Ó Laoghaire and Pádraig O'Sullivan and Senator Flynn and their families. It is a wonderful family time. Best wishes to them all. I am joined by a number of departmental officials today,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: I thank the Chair. I repeat that in terms of the adjudication of close contact in the school environment, that adjudication is made by public health. It is a tremendous asset to our schools that we have school teams in place. They are supplemented by more than 120 departmental staff co-operating with public health. The adjudication on close contact is made by them, conscious of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: As I said in my opening remarks, I acknowledge the very impressive work the committee has been involved in, specifically on issues of bullying and anti-bullying. On the hot school meals, the Chair will appreciate it does not fall within the remit of the Department of Education. It is within the remit of a different Department. The Chair will also note there was increased funding this year...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: I acknowledge that there is excellent best practice in many schools in respect of this matter. It is important that we preface all of our remarks by saying that. Notwithstanding that and as stated earlier, I am committed to reviewing the action plan on bullying and the anti-bullying procedures for primary and post-primary schools. I am committed to doing that as a matter of priority. My...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: I want to acknowledge that impressive body of work. I will take on board many of the recommendations in the report. We will continue to engage with the committee and with the Chair on an ongoing basis.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: I will respond in the first instance the question of the Cork Life Centre. I appreciate the Deputy’s positive contribution and his acknowledgement that this has been a long process of consistent engagement, discussion, debate and sharing of thoughts and ideas between the officials of the Department, Cork Life Centre and the ETB. I acknowledge the generous spirit of openness and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: This was resourcing to put the additional staffing in place. No principal should have the burden of carrying out the contact tracing. Public health has made very clear that if a child is diagnosed that child is then out of school. The HSE is automatically informed of the diagnosis and the HSE will come forward.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: I want to be very clear that the advice we offer is the advice we get from public health. This is as a consequence of the ongoing engagement we have with public health. Throughout the summer we continued to engage with it and we continue to do so now. The advice from public health is that children should stay at home if they are unwell. It is a precautionary measure. There is the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: To be fair, I would have to say to the Deputy that the advice our principals and our parents and guardians are being asked to follow is the advice that has been provided by public health to the Department. This is the advice that is disseminated to the schools and organisations. There has been an enormous body of work in terms of getting this information out to parents in a variety of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy for relaying the very positive remarks he has received from principals in both sectors. I will make a quick remark on the view expressed on delays in contact tracing once a child has been positively diagnosed. I want to repeat to the Deputy what has been repeated by public health. It states once a child is diagnosed as Covid positive the HSE is automatically informed and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy has acknowledged, the hot meals programme is under the remit of the Department of Social Protection. Particularly in the past year, significant funding has been made available to schools for whatever minor works they deem necessary. In fact, there were two tranches of minor works funding paid to schools. For the first time, minor works grants were paid to second level schools....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: Since the reopening of our schools last year, and again this year, the emphasis has very much been on well-being. I ensured in the budget that 120 guidance posts and 17 additional National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, posts would be made available. I am pleased to be able to state a well-being platform is being provided whereby all the resources required for schools are on a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy. I appreciate his opening remarks. On CLASS, this is the third aspect of the support programme for children, as we have said previously. The important aspect of the CLASS initiative is that it is for the benefit of all students. There will be targeted teaching hours made available to schools. For example, a post-primary school of 800 pupils will be entitled to an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: It is important to acknowledge in the first instance that excellent work is already being done in our schools. For example, this week the roll-out of the incidental inspections is taking place. An integral part of those inspections will be an opportunity to review best practice in our schools currently. Coming from that, there will be a composite report of all of that best practice which...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: I thank Deputy Ó Cathasaigh. I appreciate the positive feedback. I have had the opportunity to visit a number of schools over the past number of weeks. I share the Deputy's view that there has been a very positive reaction to the return to school. That is across the board - from parents and guardians, school staff and, very importantly, the students themselves. In terms of class...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: I appreciate and acknowledge the huge body of work that this committee has been involved in on bullying. The report was published just last month and I am in the process of working my way through it. I am very positively disposed towards working with many of the recommendations. Specifically, it is important to make a first step. That is why it will be a very positive learning experience...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: In the first instance, I take exception to the remarks about complacency in our schools. There is nothing complacent about our return to school. As I have said, we have consistently engaged right throughout the summer and put funding in place of €57 million alone for this first term for the return to school. There is no sense of complacency and, in contrast, there is a sense that a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy. She raised a case involving high class numbers at primary school level but pupil-teacher ratios, as a consequence of work done in previous budgets, are at an historic low. I am not au faitwith the specific case raised by the Deputy but, in general, where there are exceptional positions in schools or whatever, there is an appeals process for teacher allocations. It is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: Reopening of Schools, Cork Life Centre, School Bullying and the Impact on Mental Health: Discussion. (21 Sep 2021)

Norma Foley: I know from experience that the day of leaving certificate results can bring great joy for some and great disappointment for others. The day the course points are published can also bring great joy and disappointment as well. I have already outlined that this past year and the previous year have been extraordinary and that extraordinary circumstances prevailed. The class of 2021 had an...