Results 1,741-1,760 of 19,559 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Facilities (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The project to which the Deputy refers has been devolved to the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) for delivery as part of a programme of school building projects. The brief for the project is to provide a new build replacement school for a long-term projected enrolment of 1,000 pupils including a 4 class SEN base. Investment and expenditure on sports facilities is an element of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: ETBs were established in July 2013 under the provisions of the Education and Training Boards Act, 2013. This legislation which provided for the dissolution of the 33 VECs and their replacement with 16 ETBs marked the most significant legislative and structural reform of the education and training sector in the history of the State. This legislation does not allow for the establishment of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy will be aware, the number of SNA posts allocated to a school in any individual school year is a matter for the Special Educational Needs Officer (SENO) and that function resides within the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). The number of standard SNA posts varies according to the requirements of each individual school population: these requirements will change from...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Textbooks (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: As Minister for Education, I believe it is crucially important that children and young people are actively supported to access education in its fullest forms. This Government recognises that the cost of preparing children for school each September can be a cause of financial difficulty and worry for many Irish families. This is linked to ensuring that every child with special educational...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Sector Pay (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The criteria for the award of incremental credit are set out in the Department of Education’s Circulars 10/2001 for Primary teachers, 29/2007 and 29/2010 for Post-Primary teachers. The criteria for the award of incremental credit to recognised teachers was agreed under the auspices of the Teachers Conciliation Council (TCC). To qualify for an award of incremental credit, a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The school to which the Deputy refers was approved to enter the department’s pipeline for a project under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme. The project will provide five mainstream classrooms, one SET room and a two classroom Special Education Needs (SEN) base. The project was devolved to the school authority for delivery. My department received a stage 1 report in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The school referred to by the Deputy was approved to enter my Department’s pipeline of school buildings in 2017 for a project under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme to provide 1 Mainstream Classroom, 1 Staff Room and 1 classroom SEN base. The project was devolved to the school authority for delivery. I can confirm that in 2017 the school submitted a further a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: My Department is committed to providing funding to recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day-to-day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance and general up-keep, and the Ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: My Department is committed to providing funding to recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day-to-day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance and general up-keep, and the Ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: In the 2023/24 academic year, the average primary class size in County Wicklow was 22.7 students, with 22.5 students being the national average class size. This figure is based on mainstream classes in mainstream schools and are collated from the relevant Class Size tables published on the DES website and can be found at the link below; In previous budgets, I have prioritised...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The Pupil Teacher Ratio calculation includes both classroom teachers, and other teachers that support the overall education of pupils, that is, special education teachers, English as an Additional Language (EAL) support teachers, administrative principals, and Home School Community Liaison (HCSL) teachers, as well as any other full-time teaching staff.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Irish Language (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: My Department is taking a staged approach to developing a comprehensive policy for the Irish language from early years education to teacher education. As it relates to the Department of Education there are three strands to this work: the Policy on Gaeltacht Education; the policy on Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht; and the work commencing on a policy framework and action plan...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The school referred to was approved to enter the Department’s pipeline of school buildings for a project to provide 6 mainstream classrooms and 5 SET rooms plus 1 admin/office. The project has been devolved to the school authority for delivery and is currently approved to Stage 4 - Construction stage. I can confirm that all design team fees received in my Department up to Stage 2b...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Priorities (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: Integration and utilisation of each school’s existing capacity in the most flexible way possible is key to supporting IPA arrivals. Regional Education and Language Teams, or REALTs, were established as part of the Department of Education’s response to the humanitarian crisis arising from the war in Ukraine to assist Ukrainian families, among other things, in securing school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Child Abuse (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: I am deeply conscious of the enormous trauma suffered by those who have experienced child sexual abuse and I have been shocked at the appalling revelations of widespread allegations of sexual abuse in the Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools Run by Religious Orders. The Scoping Inquiry submitted its report on 7 June 2024. Following...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to...