Results 23,381-23,400 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: It is the ETB that will develop the individual proposals for sanction but SOLAS has an oversight role. It is the individual ETBs that will draw up the capital projects and will work with the Department in terms of the cost-benefit analysis and assessments of the proposals.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The position on higher education funding is that last year we provided an additional €36.5 million and another €64 million this year, which brought it up to €100 million. Part of this is being funded through the national training fund. There has been a significant increase in the higher and further education budget over the past two years. There is, of course, the...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The position is that capital will always be scarce when coming out of a recession, as we are. We are expanding our capital provision steadily, however. At the low point, capital provision for schools was under €350 million. It is now up to €540 million. That is a substantial increase, of over 50%, since 2012. For the period 2019 to 2021, a further €70 million is...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy asked the question and I believe I am entitled to answer it.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Three hundred and forty schools have completed the programme and 120,000 places are being provided. We are providing places at double the rate that obtained when the Deputy's party was previously in government. We have expanded. Of course there are demands. There is a growing number of children, particularly at second level, but also at primary level. This is a period of very high demand...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Each year, I am getting more money. Money is always tight and we are still working under budgetary restrictions, which everyone knows about. There are restrictions on our capital budgets, just as there have been on our current budgets. Each year I get additional provision, which recognises a need. It has also been recognised that in the years ahead, which the Deputy is not interested in,...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Yes. We secured a commitment to provide additional money in each of those years. As many as 85 projects will go through this year, and 340 projects have been completed which provides an additional 125,000 places. That proves we are executing a programme but of course we could do more. We would bring forward investment in physical education, prefabs and so on if more money was available....

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: There is no doubt that planning and site issues create delays. We have developed a very close working relationship with local authorities so that a protocol is in place. They developing areas, identify sites where schools are needed and inform us because we are a notifiable party. When they consider planning applications they notify us of their intentions or of the planning applications...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: No. I am saying that the selection criteria would require that a school was able to show that it could manage the programme. Therefore, it would have to have a PE instructor or whatever.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: A school must be able to access some facilities.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Whether a school had the facilities or someone else had the facilities, that was not the issue. A school would have to show it could execute the programme. There was not a distinction made in that way. Clearly, this is the first phase of the pilot scheme. Therefore, we want to iron out potential challenges, if any. We want to test continual professional development, CPD, and upskilling....

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Until we are in a position to commit to funding a PE programme, the scheme will not be rolled out this year or next year. We will conduct an audit in advance of the programme being rolled out. The scheme is not on the immediate radar. Priority lies elsewhere at the moment. The scheme is being built into the ten-year programme. As I said to Deputy Thomas Byrne, we will consider prefabs...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Revised) (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: We are not doing an audit at the moment. Clearly, we have committed to developing a PE programme and that will be based on meeting deficits.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Business of Select Committee (28 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: Before we conclude, Chairman, Michael Keogh is the assistant secretary in the Department who has worked on the Department's Estimates for many years. He is retiring shortly and I wish to take this opportunity to thank him for his immense service in keeping every penny well spent in the interests of our children.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Building Projects (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputy for his question. I know we had a discussion on the issue last night. Ireland has experienced a significant bulge in pupil enrolments going through our schools. This has seen a significant expansion in the rate of provision of new school places and this puts a high demand on the Department's capital budgets. Since 2011, some 340 major school projects and over 120,000...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Building Projects (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: We are going through a unique period of population expansion at school level. In the past seven or eight years, there have been almost 60,000 extra pupils at primary level and almost 50,000 extra pupils at second level so it is an unprecedented level of demand. The Department undertakes these demographic studies on a regular basis. This has been done before and it is deemed timely with the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Building Projects (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I wish to reassure the Deputy that there has been a substantial expansion in the capital budget. It has increased by €192 million since 2012 and that expansion continues. The Deputy is right to say that over the next three years a further €200 million - at €70 million per year - will be added to the schools capital programme. We continue to have very strong ambitions....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which is of particular concern to parents throughout the country. As advised in my response on 1 February, special class provision across the country is expanding very rapidly and I am satisfied that, based on the advice of the NCSE, we are matching the needs as they emerge. I have asked the NCSE to look at emerging needs in counties Carlow and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: I will certainly get a response for the Deputy. Over 60% of children with ASD go into mainstream classes, approximately 20% go into ADS units and a further 20% go to special schools. The decision on whether a child's needs would be best met in a mainstream class or a special class is made on a case-by-case basis. The indication when additional ASD units are needed is when the NCSE...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (29 Mar 2018)

Richard Bruton: The reply states that the Department has approved a grant to St. Lachtain's in Freshford to construct a two-classroom ASD unit and to upgrade an existing classroom to facilitate the operation of a third ASD class. As of today, we seem to have two ASD classes in St. Lachtain's. It anticipates that five places will be available in the 2018-2019 enrolments. Obviously, there are places in...