Results 20,001-20,020 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Insurance Data (1 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: My Department is guided in its consideration of the need for insurance by the stipulations of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform's Public Financial Procedures guidance manual. Section C.8 (11 and 12) of the Public Financial Procedures offers guidance for all Government Department's in regard to their consideration of insurance risks and also offers general guidance that the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (1 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: As a consequence of the financial crisis, there was a need to enact a number of measures to reduce public expenditure so as to stabilise the country's public finances. A previous Government reduced the salaries and allowances payable to all new entrants to public service recruitment grades by 10% with effect from 1 January 2011. This decision also required that such new entrants would start...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Strategies (1 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Action Plan for Education includes actions to develop and publish a new Entrepreneurship Education policy statement and to develop new Entrepreneurship Education Guidelines for schools. Work is currently underway on the development of an Entrepreneurial Education Policy Statement.  It is the intention that the Policy Statement will cover the whole of the education and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Data (1 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: Under the Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015 the Teaching Council is the regulatory and standards body for the teaching profession. A core function of the Council is to maintain the register of teachers in the State. Under Section 30 of the Acts, teachers are required to be registered with the Council in order to receive a state funded salary. To remain on the register each teacher must...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (1 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: The core function of the redeployment arrangements is to facilitate the redeployment of all surplus permanent/CID holding teachers to schools that have vacancies. Thereafter, schools are required under the panel arrangements to fill permanent vacancies from supplementary panels comprised of eligible fixed-term (temporary/substitute) and part-time teachers. Circular 0074/2016 sets out the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: The criteria used for the allocation of teachers to primary schools is published annually on the website of the Department of Education and Skills. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September. The staffing schedule operates in a clear...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Student Grant Scheme for the academic year 2017/18, was published on the 31stof March 2017. The qualifying criteria for the special rate of maintenance grant is as follows: 1. The student must qualify for the standard rate of grant; 2. Total reckonable income, after income disregards and Child Dependant Increase(s) are excluded, must not exceed €23,000; and 3. As at 31st December...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Action Plan for Education 2017 provides that the new subject of Leaving Certificate Computer Science will be implemented in schools from September 2018. The new subject specification is currently being developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment through its subject development group for Computer Science. Phase 1 of the implementation process is scheduled...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Digital Strategy for Schools (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: There are no times specified by my Department for the study of information technology. The Action Plan for Education 2017 provides that the new subject of Leaving Certificate Computer Science will be implemented in schools from September 2018. The new subject specification is currently being developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment through its subject development group...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Digital Strategy for Schools (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: Findings from research in this area suggest that there is no one system of organisational grouping or student placement that works equally well for all students. It suggests that the success or otherwise of ability groupings depends less on the actual grouping itself than on the philosophy and purpose underpinning the grouping, and how the composition of the class groups and the quality...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Digital Strategy for Schools (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Digital Strategy for Schools 2015-2020 (Enhancing Teaching, Learning & Assessment), launched in October 2015, sets out a clear vision for the role of ICT in teaching, learning and assessment in primary and post primary schools. The Strategy states that all future curricula will include clear statements that focus on the development of digital learning skills and the use of ICT as...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 420 and 451 together. The Deputy will be aware that a building project for the school in question is included in my Department's 6 year Construction Programme (2019/21). My Department has identified a suitable site as a permanent location for the school and the acquisition process is underway. Discussions are ongoing in relation to the provision of access to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Correspondence (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has contacted the school in question regarding the outstanding information and the principal has undertaken to provide the information in due course.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that DES Circular 0013/2017 for primary schools and 0014/2017 for post primary schools were published on 7th March 2017. These Circulars set out the details of the new model for allocating special education teachers to schools. The revised allocation process replaces the generalised allocation process at primary and post primary school level for learning...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 423 to 427, inclusive, together. Section 21 of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012 provides for the appointment of one or more persons to act as appeals officers to consider appeals against decisions of Caranua. The Act provides that the appeals officer shall be independent in the performance of his or her functions. While my Department...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Redeployment (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: The core function of the redeployment arrangements is to facilitate the redeployment of all surplus permanent/CID holding teachers to schools that have vacancies. Thereafter, schools are required under the panel arrangements to fill permanent vacancies from supplementary panels comprised of eligible fixed-term (temporary/substitute) and part-time teachers. Circular 0074/2016 sets out the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy will be aware that a building project for the school in question is included in my Department's 6 Year Construction Programme. (2019/21) The school will be aware that preparatory work has been initited to advance this project including the technical assessment of the traffic survey. My Department will continue to liaise directly with the school authorities concerned in the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: 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: Schools Property (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: It is open to schools to apply for grant under Summer Works Schemes for improved car-parking facilities within the vested school site if schools consider the works to be a priority. It is also open to primary schools to use their minor works grant, in full or in part, for works of this nature.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (20 Jun 2017)

Richard Bruton: My Department has been working tirelessly to resolve this matter.  This is a very complex planning issue concerning site access.  Planning permission for the school to which the Deputy refers has been sought and rejected twice. My Department is working with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to advance proposals for appropriate access routes with a view to progressing a...