Results 25,721-25,740 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Communications (10 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that the schools in question furnished a proposal relating to a re-configuration arrangement directly to my Department. My Department has no record of receiving any communication from the Patron bodies relating to the proposal. My Department will contact the schools directly relating to the proposal.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (10 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: I can confirm to the Deputy that the school in question has submitted an application for capital funding to my Department. 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: Schools Building Projects (10 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will be 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, and included provision for a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school to be established in September 2020 to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (10 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: The school building project for the schools referred to by the Deputy is currently at Tender Stage. The Letter of Intent issued to the preferred bidder on the 21stSeptember 2018. The Letter of Acceptance to commence the contract will issue when the documentation sought in the Letter of Intent is provided by the successful tenderer.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Applications (10 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: The planning application for the school building project referred to by the Deputy is currently being finalised and is expected to be lodged in the coming weeks. Once planning permission has been secured, the project will proceed to tender.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capitation Grants (10 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Primary Schools Grant Calendar for 2018/19 is available on my Department's website at the following link. .

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (10 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: In Budget 2019, school leadership is again supported with an additional release day for teaching principals in primary schools and a further four additional release days for teaching principals in schools with special classes. These additional release days will be effective from 01 September 2019. This builds on measures in previous budgets, including €0.4 million made available in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (10 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: In Budget 2019, school leadership is again supported with an additional release day for teaching principals in primary schools and a further four additional release days for teaching principals in schools with special classes. These additional release days will be effective from 01 September 2019. This builds on measures in previous budgets, including €0.4 million made available in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (10 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: The assessment of means under my Department's student grant scheme is based on gross income from all sources, with certain social welfare and health service executive payments being exempt. In the assessment of means, a deduction can be made for holiday earnings made by the applicant from employment outside of term time but within the reference period. I increased the value of this income...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Data Protection (10 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: As a centralised national service, SUSI implements a process through which student grant applicants and other parties to their application can consent to the sharing of their personal data with each other and with third parties, including public representatives, for the purpose of responding to queries submitted on behalf of applicants and parties to applications. This process seeks to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (10 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: The Department has clarified the requirements set out in a circular 13/2018, which set out an approach to the arrangements that are made for religious instruction and worship in Education and Training Board (ETB) and Post Primary Community schools. ETB and Post Primary Community schools are multi-denominational schools that provide for their local communities regardless of their...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (11 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: I do not know what happened to the Deputy, but the update was provided to the Joint Committee on Education and Skills last week, as requested and as we indicated we would. There are 42 new schools scheduled to open up to 2022. We are acting to provide a better pre-planning process in order that we can anticipate needs and make plans, and to have a timely programme for construction. As the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (11 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: The position is that Mr. Justice O'Neill has been appointed to review cases where people have not been successful in applications for compensation under the European Court. He is continuing his work, and no report is available to my Department at this point. We have submitted all of the information requested by Mr. Justice O'Neill, and I understand he is working on it.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Schools Building Projects Status (11 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputies for raising the issue. I understand the concern. It has also been raised by Senator James Reilly. There is acute concern. The Deputies are right there was a visit by the Department to the school in February. That was followed up by a technical site visit in April. The agreement has been worked out on the exact scale of what is required, namely, an 18 primary...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Schools Building Projects Status (11 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: While I understand the Deputies' concerns, the project brief is an important phase in any construction project. There is no way to avoid appointing a design team. A design will have to be drawn up and planning permission must be obtained, which has its own process to go through. The Department will have to be satisfied the design achieves the objectives. We do not want to have any...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (11 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputies for raising this important matter. It is an area in which huge investment has been made in my own time and, to be fair, in that of my predecessors. Since 2011, as Deputy Burton will know, we have increased spending on the support of children with special needs by 43%. It has risen consistently, therefore, even in the most difficult times, to €1.8 billion. It is...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (11 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: I assure Deputy Jack Chambers that we are providing a policy response all of the time. As I outlined, since 2016 we have delivered 1,800 extra resource teachers, 4,000 extra SNAs, 500 additional ASD units, and 30 additional National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, staff. We strengthened the inclusion service of the NCSE itself to support parents, teachers and students. We have...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (11 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: The meeting to which the Deputy refers took place with the Patron on 8 October 2018.  The Patron informed my Department that the long-term## accommodation needs of the school are being reviewed and that it will revert to my Department when this process has been completed.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (11 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: A tender process for a main contractor to deliver the project to which the Deputy refers was recently carried out.  A Tender Report is currently being finalised.  Once this has been approved by my Department the project can proceed to construction.  My Department expects this to happen later this year.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (11 Oct 2018)

Richard Bruton: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for allocating a quantum of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school.  The NCSE allocates SNA support to schools in accordance with the criteria set out in Department Circular 0030/2014, which is...