Results 25,001-25,020 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: A key priority for this government is ensuring that children with special educational needs are supported and given the opportunity to reach their full potential. In 2018, some €1.78 billion will be invested in Special Education. This represents an increase of almost 42% since 2011 and amounts to almost one fifth of the Department’s overall Budget. The National...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: I recently announced that a demonstration project to provide in-school and pre-school therapy services will be introduced for the 2018/19 school year. The project will be managed and coordinated by the National Council for Special Education. The model has been developed by the Departments of Education, Children and Youth Affairs, Health, and the Health Service Executive, and is part of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: This project is being delivered under my Department’s “Rapid” Design & Build programme.  The brief for the project is to provide a new 24 classroom primary school with a 3 classroom Special Needs Unit on a green field site at Carr’s Hill, Douglas, to the south west side of Carrigaline Road, Maryborough, Co. Cork.  An application for planning...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy may be aware, I announced plans for the establishment of 42 new schools over the next four years (2019 to 2022). This announcement follows nationwide demographic exercises carried out by my Department into the future need for primary and post-primary schools across the country and the 4-year horizon will enable increased lead-in times for planning and delivery of the necessary...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: The public service agreements have allowed a programme of pay restoration for public servants to start. I negotiated, together with my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, 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...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Site Acquisitions (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy is aware, the school to which he refers is included in my Department’s 6 year construction programme. Officials in my Department continue to liaise with officials in Fingal County Council in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding in relation to the identification and acquisition of a suitable location for the school in question and have...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that a building project for a new school has been approved for Trumera National School.  A letter of approval issued to the school authority on 11th June 2018 in this regard. The delivery of the project has been devolved to the school authority who will now arrange for the progression of the project through the design stages and on...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy is aware, plans were recently announced for the establishment of 42 new schools over the next four years (2019-2022). This announcement follows nationwide demographic exercises carried out by the Department into the future need for primary and post-primary schools across the county and the 4-year horizon will enable increased lead-in times for planning and delivery of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Mental Health Strategies (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: The issue to which the Deputy refers arise from a recently published report commissioned by St Patrick’s Mental Health services.  The report includes an analysis of the findings from a survey of primary-school principals and interviews with twelve principals and nine counsellors, and makes certain recommendations. While the report has not been formally submitted to my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: Budget 2018 marks the second year of major reinvestment in the education sector, as we continue to implement the Action Plan for Education, which has the central aim to make the Irish education and training service the best in Europe within a decade. Improvements to the staffing schedule at primary level in Budget 2016 and Budget 2018 brings the teacher allocation ratio to the most...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Establishment (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will be aware, I recently announced plans for the establishment of 42 new schools over the next four years (2019 to 2022), including an 8-classroom primary school to be established in Swords North (Mooretown) in 2019 and an 8-classroom primary school to be established in Swords South in 2019. For school planning purposes, Mooretown is located in the Swords school planning area....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy will note that the performance of students in Ireland in mathematics is relatively high by international standards. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study found that only six out of 39 countries obtained significantly higher mean scores than Ireland in mathematics. The STEM Policy Statement and Implementation Plan, which I launched in November 2017, aims to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy may be aware, following on from the report of the Advisory Group to the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector, my Department undertook surveys of parental preferences in 43 areas of stable population in 2012 and 2013 to establish the level of parental demand for a wider choice in the patronage of primary schools within these areas.  Analysis of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Establishment (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy is aware, I recently announced the opening of 42 new schools over the next 4 years.  This announcement followed nationwide demographic exercises carried out by my Department into the current and future need for primary and post-primary school places across the country. The new post primary school to serve Ballincollig was part of that announcement. In line...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will be aware, I announced plans for the establishment of 42 new schools over the next four years (2019 to 2022). This announcement follows nationwide demographic exercises carried out by my Department into the future need for primary and post-primary schools across the country and the 4-year horizon will enable increased lead-in times for planning and delivery of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Refurbishment (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department has no record of receiving a recent application, for works referred to, from the school in question. The latest interaction that my Department had with the school was in July 2017 and this related to the approval of an application from the school for an Emergency Works Grant in respect of essential works to the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: Provision for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in primary schools is currently evaluated through two main models of inspection:  Curriculum Evaluations of Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) and Whole School Evaluations (WSE) where SPHE is one of the subjects of focus in the WSE. At post-primary level, provision for  RSE is evaluated during Subject Inspections of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: My Department's policy is to provide for the inclusive education of children with special educational needs, including Autism, in mainstream school settings, unless such a placement would not be in the best interests of the child concerned, or the children with whom they will be educated. The National Council for Special Education is responsible, through its network of Special Needs...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: I am pleased to confirm for the Deputy that planning for a new building for the school to which he refers is progressing. The school's design team has been authorised to conduct the pre-qualification process in order to draw up shortlists of contractors for the project.   In the meantime, work is ongoing on concluding the conveyancing for the site and I can...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Establishment (4 Jul 2018)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 92, 93 and 118 together. As the Deputies will be aware, in November 2016, I announced the patronage of a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school to be established in 2018 to serve the Dublin South City Centre area. This new school, which will be a co-educational, multi-denominational school under the patronage of Educate Together, will serve the Dublin _8...