Results 22,421-22,440 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board (16 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy is aware, the review of Caranua is confined to the issue of eligibility of persons who may access the fund. The initial phase, which involves a review of Caranua’s expenditure to date and an estimation of the projected expenditure taking into account applications on hands and anticipated further applications together with an estimation of any possible underspend of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (16 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department’s policy is that children with special educational needs including those with Autism, should be included in mainstream placements with additional supports provided, unless such a placement would not be in their best interests or in the interests of the children with whom they are to be educated, as is provided for under Section 2 of the Education of Persons with Special...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Properties (16 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: In circumstances where a property has ceased to be used as a school, and a request is received to release the State's interest secured under a charging lease, such requests are considered in the context of the specific circumstances which pertain to the individual property. I can confirm that my Department has received a request from the property owners to release my interest in the property...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Authority Funding (16 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: In 2014 a working group was established to examine the financial viability of a school of the multi-campus institute referred to by the Deputy. Following the recommendations of this Group my Department approved ring-fenced funding of €750k per annum for 4 years from 2017 to 2020 which equates to a total of €3 million. The decision is subject to a plan including rebranding,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Early Childhood Care and Education (16 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: The early childhood education and care sector is largely funded and regulated by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The Department of Education and Skills plays an important role in the development and implementation of the two national practice frameworks, Síolta (quality) and Aistear (curriculum).  My Department also supports and advises the Department of Children and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Communications (16 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Department of Education in Skills has email filtering in place which endeavours to quarantine incoming emails that are categorised as containing profanities.  The email filtering also endeavours to quarantine incoming email categorised as being of excessive size, containing viruses/malware/executables, originating from sites with a poor reputation or spam.   Specifically in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Strategies (16 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: Details in relation to advertising for information campaigns in 2017 in my Department will be collated in early 2018. I will arrange to have the information forwarded to the Deputy as soon as it has been compiled.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (17 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: As requested by the Deputy, the overall income generated from fees for Higher Education Institutes including Universities, Institutes of Technology and specialist colleges is listed in the following table (as reported in the accounts). Please note that 2015/16 and 2016/17 data is partially estimated, as final certified accounts are not currently available for all institutions. Year...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (17 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: The project for the school referred to by the Deputy, will comprise of a new two storey 8 classroom primary school at the existing site. A Design Team was appointed in June 2017 and the project commenced Stage 1 of the Architectural Planning Process.  Stage 1 is the Preliminary Design Stage where the Design Team in conjunction with the school authorities will analyse all the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Contractors (17 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: The contractor and design team on the project referred to by the Deputy met with the local residents last week to listen to their concerns. They assured the residents that the works on site are fully in accordance with the planning consent granted by South Dublin County Council in respect of the design, height and location of the building. Restrictions on both noise and working hours were...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Refurbishment (17 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy will be aware that my Department granted funding to the school in question for roof works under the Summer Works Scheme (2016-2017).  I understand that this project was completed in December 2017.  My Department has no record of receiving any further correspondence from the school.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Refurbishment (17 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: The appointment of the Design Team for the major building project for the school to which the Deputy refers is currently at an advanced stage.  Officials from my Department have been in regular contact directly with the Board of Management and have outlined the steps in the Design Team appointment process.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Refurbishment (17 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: The appointment of the Design Team for the major building project for the school to which the Deputy refers is currently at an advanced stage.  Officials from my Department have been in regular contact directly with the Board of Management and have outlined the steps in the Design Team appointment process.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Site Acquisitions (17 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: The building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is included in the Department’s 6 year construction programme. Officials in the Department continue to liaise with officials in Fingal County Council in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding in relation to the acquisition of a suitable location for the school.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capital Expenditure Programme Review (17 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: A 10 Year Public Capital Investment Plan is currently under development, led by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. This 10 Year Plan will ensure that capital resources support implementation of Ireland 2040, the new National Planning Framework, which is also being finalised, and which will set out a new approach to spatial planning in Ireland. My Department is in ongoing...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (17 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: Civil Servants are obliged to comply with the terms of the Civil Service Code of Standards and Behaviour. On entry to my Department as an employee they are presented with a copy of the Code and they are required to certify in writing that they have received a copy and read its content. At section 12 of the Code it addresses the matter of relations with colleagues in the workplace...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Refurbishment (17 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy is aware, a building project for the school to which he refers is included in my Department's 6 Year Construction Programme. The project brief is being finalised with a view to progressing the project into architectural planning.

Leaders' Questions (18 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue which is undoubtedly one of the major challenges that we face as a country. Having been through the crisis that we experienced, we know for a fact that it was the phoney boom in property and housing that brought that crisis upon us. It is not entirely surprising, therefore, that the most difficult sector to fix is the one that dragged us down,...

Leaders' Questions (18 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: I agree that it is crucial and think we need to have an honest debate. Last year 25,892 families were assisted into social homes under the housing assistance payment scheme or by way of social provision. That was a massive increase on the 19,000 families who had received such assistance the previous year. Solutions are being provided for families, although the Deputy might not agree....

Leaders' Questions (18 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: Last year there was an almost fourfold increase in the number of social homes constructed and delivered.