Results 22,601-22,620 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Legal Cases (31 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 156 to 164, inclusive, together. Following the ECtHR judgement in the Louise O’Keefe case, the SCA made settlement offers in 7 of the 35 extant High Court cases and 6 were accepted while in the remaining case, the settlement offer was withdrawn as the Plaintiff died in August 2015. In these cases, the prior complaints were made to a school authority,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (31 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department received an application for the provision of additional accommodation at the school referred to in respect of both classroom and ancillary accommodation. When assessing the application it was noted that the existing school accommodation comprises of four mainstream classrooms, two Special Education Teaching (SET) rooms, a library/computer...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: DEIS Eligibility (31 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: Schools included in DEIS with effect from 1st September 2017 are those whose level of disadvantage has been identified as being at the same level as those schools serving the highest concentrations of disadvantage among their pupil cohort. The list of these schools is available on my Department's website at the following link www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/DEIS-Deliverin...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (31 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: The school to which the Deputy refers recently submitted an application to my Department for additional accommodation. The application will be assessed and a decision will be conveyed to the school authority as soon as the assessment process has been completed.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Data (31 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 168 and 169 together. Ensuring that children with special educational needs are supported and given the opportunity to reach their full potential is a key priority for this government. In 2018, almost 1.8 billion will be invested in Special Education, nearly one fifth of the overall Education budget, and up 43% since 2011. During the worst years of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Ministerial Advisers Data (31 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: Under the terms of the Guidelines on Ministerial Appointments as published by the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform I have appointed two Special Advisers, Patrick Cluskey and Sarah O'Neill at my Department. Mr. Cluskey's duties are to advise me on policy matters while Ms O'Neill is responsible for media and communications. Prior to his appointment as Special...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Youth Strategy (31 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department recognises that schools should be safe and supportive environments for all students. In order to support schools in developing a positive whole-school approach the Department has produced a range of guidance documents and has also supported the provision of guidance by civil society organisations.   “Being LGBT in School – A Resource for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (31 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will be aware the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016 was published in July 2016. The Bill which passed Committee Stage on 28 June 2017 is an important piece of legislation which strives to create a new more parent-friendly, equitable and consistent approach to how school admissions policy operates for the almost 4,000 primary and post-primary schools in this country. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Facilities (31 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that the school concerned is located in a former primary school building that was secured as part of Government policy on school divesting. The property is subject to a ten-year lease between the Edmund Rice Schools Trust (ERST) and the Minister for Education and Skills. As the Deputy is aware, the school has submitted an application to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Facilities (31 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that the school concerned is located in a former primary school building that was secured as part of Government policy on school divesting. The property is subject to a ten-year lease between the Edmund Rice Schools Trust (ERST) and the Minister for Education and Skills. As the Deputy is aware, the school has submitted an application to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Facilities (31 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: In January 2017 the school to which the Deputy refers applied for funding under my Department’s Emergency Works Scheme for window, toilet and heating works.  However, this application was unsuccessful as the Emergency Works Scheme is strictly to deal with sudden and unforeseen emergencies in schools.  The works sought were upgrade works and these are appropriate to the Summer...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Recruitment (31 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 176 and 179 together. Additional investment has allowed the successful recruitment of over 5,000 additional teachers in the past two years.  Since 2012-13, there are 8,900 more teachers in our schools. No other part of the public service has seen this sort of growth, which is testament to the Government’s commitment to education and its importance...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Career Breaks (31 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: The provisions of the Career Break and Job Sharing Schemes are set out in Chapters Eight and Nine of  "Terms and Conditions of Employment for Registered Teachers in Recognised Primary and Post Primary Schools, which is published on my Department’s website. In response to reported difficulties by schools with regard to recruiting substitute teachers, my Department issued...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Recruitment (31 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to address the current and potential teacher shortages in STEM subjects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. Over 5,000 additional teachers have been successfully recruited in the last two years. We are recruiting more new teachers than at any other point in the history of the state. The numbers of graduates from...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Supervision and Substitution Scheme (31 Jan 2018)

Richard Bruton: The teacher supply scheme, also referred to as the ‘teacher supply panel’, was discontinued at the start of the 2010/11 school year. The scheme operated on the basis of an additional full-time teacher being allocated to a school to cover certified sick leave absences in that school and a cluster of neighbouring schools. If the teacher was not required on a given day to cover...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: School Accommodation Provision (1 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: It is a valid question for the Deputy to raise. Ireland has experienced a significant bulge in pupil enrolments in schools. We have seen significant expansion in the rate of provision of new school places, which puts a high demand on the Department's capital budgets. Since 2011 there have been 340 major school projects and over 120,000 new and replacement places have been provided. My...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: School Accommodation Provision (1 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: I accept the Deputy's point that patterns of development are changing and that, as a result, the models used to predict growth in the numbers of children in accordance with new settlements have to factor this in. We liaise very closely with the local authorities which have on-the-ground information. We also track child benefit payments data and pick up data for preschool children as quickly...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: School Accommodation Provision (1 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: It is worth saying, for example, that last year we provided 19,000 additional places to respond to genuine demographic pressures. Most of them were in areas where we had identified a need. Of course, the Department has to have a planning process and we rely on the local authorities and other agencies to supply us with data. The data we use come from the CSO, Ordnance Survey Ireland, the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: School Accommodation Provision (1 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: I will check that particular point to make sure any information coming from agencies such as Tusla is factored into the forecasting model which uses the best available information to make accurate predictions. If the Deputy has a better suggestion or a new input that we should examine we will certainly examine it. This uses information that we can track from any sources that can help refine...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (1 Feb 2018)

Richard Bruton: Ensuring that children with special educational needs are supported and given the opportunity to reach their full potential is a key priority for this Government. Since 2011 we have provided 12,000 extra pupils with special needs assistant, SNA, support. The investment has been very substantial. There have been 3,545 additional SNAs since 2011, over 2,000 in the last two years. There have...