Results 2,561-2,580 of 19,576 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (19 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: The specific information requested by the Deputy regarding the number of parks and playing pitches held by the City of Dublin Education and Training Board which could be used as public parks is not readily available within my Department. In the case of all Education and Training Board (“ETB”) schools and colleges, the Board of Management has responsibility for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capitation Grants (19 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: It is difficult to make precise comparisons between the levels of grants paid and the actual costs of running schools at primary and post-primary levels.  However it is self-evident that the maintenance and running costs for second level schools are much greater on a unit cost basis than those in primary schools. In general, post-primary schools are larger than primary schools...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (19 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: The tender process for the school building project referred to by the Deputy is running as part of a wider process involving the tender of 8 major building projects. The first phase of the tender process to create a short-list of contractors is complete.  The second phase of the tender process is ongoing and is due to be completed in the coming months.  The project is expected to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff (19 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: I am keenly aware of the huge role played by SNAs and I am extremely appreciative of this work. My Department recently issued a letter to schools reminding them of the provisions relating to the 72 hours working requirement of SNAs. These hours have been in place since 2005 and form part of an SNA’s contract of employment which was agreed with unions. This letter did not change the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Correspondence (19 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: I am glad to inform the Deputy that the requested letter has been issued by the Payroll Division of my Department. The case was particularly complex, involved checking of records in detail and accordingly took some time to resolve.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (19 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (19 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: The Health Protection Surveillance Centre and the HSE have published guidance in relation to the return to school for at risk groups.  This guidance provides that children with immediate family members, including parents, in both the ‘high risk’ and ‘very high risk’ categories can return to school and that this is important for the child’s overall...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (19 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: The Health Protection Surveillance Centre and the HSE have published guidance for managing potential cases of COVID-19 in educational settings, which includes the testing strategy within an educational facility ‘Schools Pathway for COVID-19, the Public Health approach’ This guidance provides that the HSE Department of Public Health will liaise directly with schools regarding...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Extra Curricular Activities (19 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: Keeping schools safely open for children and staff is a key priority at all levels of the Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19. Schools have the flexibility to decide how physical education, sport and physical activity will be provided whilst following the control measures they have put in place in line with public health requirements.  Competitive...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Cross-Border Co-operation (19 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: I met with the Northern Ireland Minister for Education, Peter Weir on two occasions.  The first meeting took place on 31st July 2020 on the margins of the North-South Ministerial Council Plenary meeting in Dublin Castle, where we exchanged some initial views and shared policies in respect of planning for school re-openings for the 2020/ 2021 school year. More recently, on 6th November...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Cross-Border Co-operation (19 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: In addition to regular exchanges between officials in both Departments, I have met with Minister Weir on two occasions since my appointment as Minister for Education.  These meetings took place in July and November of this year as part of the North-South Ministerial Council.  We shared views and learnings about the impact of Covid-19 on our respective education systems. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Cross-Border Co-operation (19 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: In addition to regular exchanges between officials in both Departments, I have met with Minister Weir on two occasions since my appointment as Minister for Education.  These meetings took place in July and November of this year as part of the North-South Ministerial Council.  We shared views and learnings about the impact of Covid-19 on our respective education systems. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (19 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: The project at the school referred to by the Deputy which commenced on site in mid October does not included the provision of a special class unit. It is intended that the demand for special class provision in the area will be met within the new post primary school in the same town that was established in September 2020.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (19 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy may be aware, in order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, the Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a Geographical Information System, using data from a range of sources, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise.  Kildare is one such school planning area. Where...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs (24 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: I thank both Deputies for raising these issues as it gives me an opportunity to outline the current position regarding provision for children with special educational needs and the supports in place for schools with special classes. Enabling children with special educational needs, including autism, to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for Government. Next year,...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs (24 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: I thank both Deputies again for raising these issues and giving me the opportunity to reassure the House that my Department is committed to ensuring all children can access an education suitable to their needs. I am conscious of the points Deputy Ó Laoghaire raised. We have gone a step forward in the recent budget, in particular in relation to the measures we put in place as a...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Schools Building Projects (24 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the position regarding school developments in east Cork. In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a geographical information system, GIS. The GIS uses data from a range of sources,...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Schools Building Projects (24 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: As I previously outlined, there has been considerable development in the Cork East area. In respect of the primary schools in the area the building project for Scoil Chlíodhna, Carrigtwohill, a co-educational community national school, which will provide permanent accommodation for the school is currently at stage 2B of the architectural planning process. The building project, when...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (24 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: My Department provides each Educational Training Board (ETB) with an administration and maintenance staffing allocation and pay budget to support its individual ETB schools, colleges, head office and other centres of education. It is the responsibility of each ETB to recruit staff and manage staffing levels from within this allocation and budget, which extends to decisions around whether...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (24 Nov 2020)

Norma Foley: The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is included in my Department’s Construction Programme which is being delivered under the National Development Plan. The project is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning - Stage 2(b) Detailed Design, which includes the application for statutory approvals and the preparation of tender documents. All...