Results 2,121-2,140 of 19,559 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. In the 2019/20 year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The decision to adopt a model of Calculated Grades by my Department was a direct result of COVID-19, which prevented the state from running the conventional Leaving Certificate Examinations. In the absence of these examinations, every effort has been made to make the system as fair as possible for as many students as possible. The process of national standardisation, which forms a key...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: My Department is arranging to update the national statistics for the 2020 Leaving Certificate (Calculated Grades) results issued on the 7 September with the revisions to these grades which resulted from the coding error which led to revised grades being issued to some students on the 3 October and with the outcomes of the appeals process.  When the revised data set is published, a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (22 Oct 2020)

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: State Examinations (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The State Examinations Commission (SEC) has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations.  The SEC is continuing with plans to hold the postponed 2020 Leaving Certificate examinations in November 2020. The examinations will be run by the SEC across the school network and will adhere to all public health requirements. No decision has been...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The building project referred to by the Deputy is being delivered under my Department’s Design and Build Programme.   I am pleased to advise the Deputy that planning permission has been secured for the project and the Departments Project Management team are currently working on the preparation of the tender documents for the tender and appointment of a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is being delivered under my Department’s Design and Build Programme. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that an initial grant of planning permission has been received. Funding for the schools capital programme under Project Ireland 2040 remains in place, and the school referred to remains part of the schools...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts is published annually on the Department website. 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 and transparent manner and treats all similar...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department is in receipt of an application, from the school in question, for major capital works comprising of a new school building.   Under the National Development Plan (NDP), increased funding has been provided for the school sector capital investment programme.  This funding allows for a continued focus on the provision of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The State Examinations Commission (SEC) has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations.  The SEC is continuing with plans to hold the postponed 2020 Leaving Certificate examinations in November 2020. The examinations will be run by the SEC across the school network and will adhere to all public health requirements. No decision has been...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Site Acquisitions (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The building project for Gaelscoil an Chaisleain is included in my Department's capital programme. Officials in my Department continue to liaise with officials in Cork City Council in relation to the identification and acquisition of a suitable site for the school. A potential site option has been identified and discussions are ongoing with the landowner with a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 105 and 106 together. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre and the HSE have published guidance for managing potential cases of COVID-19 in educational settings, which includes the testing strategy within schools. All schools were provided with the HSE document titled: “Schools Pathway for Covid-19, the Public Health approach”, setting...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Site Acquisitions (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy is aware, the building project for the school in question is included in my Department's capital programme. The acquisition of the permanent site for Malahide Portmarnock ETNS is at an advanced stage of conveyancing. Once all contractual matters have been finalised the site will be assessed for Architectural Planning. While a site acquisition process is underway, given the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: DEIS Scheme (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 108 and 109 together. Under Budget 2021 I have announced a general reduction in the mainstream staffing schedule to 25:1. While there has been a reduction in mainstream class size in recent years, there has not been a corresponding reduction for those Urban Band 1 DEIS schools who are already allocated a preferential staffing schedule of 20:1 for schools...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 110 and 111 together. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre and the HSE have published guidance for managing potential cases of COVID-19 in educational settings, which includes the testing strategy within an educational facility ‘Schools Pathway for COVID-19, the Public Health approach’ . It is important to note that the response to confirmed...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: The staffing schedule for primary schools for the 2020/21 school year is currently at its lowest ever level with 1 teacher to 26 pupils.  Under the Programme for Government there is a commitment to seek to make further progress in reducing the pupil teacher ratios in primary schools.  I was delighted to announce a further 1 point reduction in Budget 2021.  The staffing schedule...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (22 Oct 2020)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy will be aware, on 27 July last the Government published the Roadmap for the Full Return to School, along with details of a significant financial package to support the implementation of the measures in the roadmap, following approval by the Government. The package of supports is expected to cost in excess of €375 million in the 2020/2021 school year. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (3 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: In relation to the school referred to by the Deputy, I can confirm that my Department is in receipt of an application for capital funding under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme. The School Authority has received the proposed project brief, which includes mainstream teaching accommodation, but does not include a new General Purpose Hall, as this does not fall under the remit...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (3 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: The Covid-19 Response Plan for the safe and sustainable reopening of primary and post-primary schools was published 27th July 2020. In addition Circulars 45/2020 and 0046/2020 outline the Covid-19 operational supports that are being made available to assist with re-opening of recognised schools. These supports are made available to all recognised primary and post-primary schools in the...