Results 24,861-24,880 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Seanad: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The amendments in this group are technical, proofing amendments. They are just replacing verbs and inserting words.

Seanad: Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed) (27 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: Before I respond to Senator Ruane, I am advised that I should say there may be further technical or proofing amendments required to the Bill after our discussion on Committee Stage and I intend to introduce them on Report Stage. On amendment No. 47, I am advised that there are already statutory codes in place.It is clear that there are already statutory codes. Section 23 of the Education...

Topical Issue Debate: Schools Building Projects Status (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Lawless for raising this issue. Clearly, this is a very disappointing state of affairs. Nobody could have anticipated the Sammon Group going into liquidation but that is the situation in which we find ourselves. We have taken immediate steps to get this project back on track. Unfortunately, however, the implications of a change of contract are serious. I do not want to...

Topical Issue Debate: Schools Building Projects Status (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy must bear in mind that an examinership is a court process designed to help the company to recover. It is not a liquidation whereby everyone goes in and seizes sites. Under the examinership, work continued on the Maynooth site. It was the one site that the examiner sought to continue to progress as other efforts were made to deliver the project. Clearly, the best outcome would...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department received an application for additional accommodation from the school referred to within the last week. The application will be assessed and the school authority advised of the position once the assessment process has concluded.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: In the last two years, we have hired 5,000 additional new teachers.  It is the case that many teachers who would have carried out substitution work are now gaining permanent contracts. The Statistics Section of my Department's website contains extensive data relating to class sizes at primary level. The most recent published information relates to the 2016/2017 school year....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations Commission (28 Jun 2018)

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: DEIS Eligibility (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy is aware, following the publication of DEIS Plan 2017 in February of last year, DEIS was extended to a further 79 schools.  Schools included in the DEIS programme have access to a wide range of supports including additional capitation in the form of the DEIS grant, reduced class size for Band 1 schools, access to HSCL scheme, priority access to a range of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The public service agreements have allowed a programme of pay restoration for public servants to start. I, together with my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, negotiated a 15-22% pay increase for new teachers. The agreements to date have restored an estimated 75% of the difference in pay for more recently recruited teachers and deliver convergence of the pay scales...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: I can confirm to the Deputy that the school in question submitted an application for additional accommodation. The application will be considered and a decision will be conveyed to the school authority shortly.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 130 and 131 together. From September 2018, class sizes in primary schools will be at their lowest ever level following the government decision to reduce the pupil teacher ratio in Budget 2016 and Budget 2018. The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts is published annually on the Department website. The key factor for determining the level of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Management (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: Budget 2017 allowed for the commencement of restoration of middle management posts as part of an agreed distributed leadership model and meant lifting the rigidity of the longstanding moratorium on these posts at primary and post-primary levels. This recognises the key role school leadership has in promoting a school environment which is welcoming, inclusive and accountable. €2.75m...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: In the last two years we have hired 5,000 additional new teachers. It is the case that many teachers who would have been available to carry out substitution work are now gaining permanent and long term contracts. I am aware of reports that some schools are experiencing difficulties in finding substitute teachers.  In order to ease the situation, in the last school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capitation Grants (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: I recognise the need to improve capitation funding for schools having regard to the reductions that were necessary over recent years. Restoring capitation funding as resources permit is one of the actions included in the Action Plan for Education. Budget 2018 marked the second year of major reinvestment in the education sector, as we continue to implement the Action Plan for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The public service agreements have allowed a programme of pay restoration for public servants to start. I, together with my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, negotiated a 15-22% pay increase for new teachers. The agreements to date have restored an estimated 75% of the difference in pay for more recently recruited teachers and deliver convergence of the pay scales...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: I can confirm to the Deputy that the school in question submitted an application for additional accommodation. The application is being considered 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: School Accommodation Provision (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department has no record of receiving a recent application from the school in question. The latest interaction that my Department had with the school was in 2017 and this related to the school’s application to replace a number of prefabricated units. My Department advised the school that due to the Department’s need to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The major building project referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of architectural planning Stage 2b (Detailed Design), which includes the application for statutory approvals and the preparation of tender documents. All statutory approvals have been secured. The Design Team has confirmed that it is working on finalising the Stage 2b report which will be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: DEIS Applications (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The identification of schools for receipt of additional resources under the DEIS programme is informed by a scientific data based model which assesses levels of disadvantage in individual schools based on the pupil cohort of the school.   The key data sources used in the DEIS identification process are the DES Primary Online Database (POD) and Post-Primary Online (PPOD)...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (28 Jun 2018)

Richard Bruton: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for organising and planning provision for children with Special Educational Needs, including the establishment of special classes in mainstream primary and post primary schools. Special classes offer a supportive learning environment to students with ASD who are unable to access the curriculum in a mainstream class, even with...