Results 4,141-4,160 of 19,576 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Management (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: The Education Act, 1998 sets out the key roles and functions that are discharged by patrons and boards of management in the running of schools. Section 14 of the Education Act, 1998 provides that the appointment of a board of management of a school, where practicable, is solely a matter for the relevant school patron. The board of management is the body of persons appointed by the patron...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: The Government has always been guided by public health advice in relation to what is safe in schools. The CMO has made it very clear in his advices to Government which are published on gov.ie, that schools are safe environments, with very little evidence of transmission within schools, and that the majority of infections of children and adolescents occurs outside the school setting. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Council of Ireland (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: The Teaching Council registers teachers under the Teaching Council Act 2001-2015 and in line with the Teaching Council (Registration) Regulations 2016. Registration is based on qualifications as set out in the Registration Regulations 2016. The Council informs me that registration under Route 3 Further Education requires a teacher education qualification (TEQ) suitable for the purposes of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Site Acquisitions (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: Officials in my Department continue to liaise with officials in Cork City Council in relation to the identification and acquisition of suitable sites for the schools in question. A number of site options have been identified. Negotiations with the landowners in respect of the preferred site options to accommodate the schools are ongoing. You will appreciate that negotiations in respect of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Traveller Education (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: In line with Programme for Government commitments, my Department is currently planning for an independent assessment of this pilot project, and work is underway in this regard. The research will evaluate the impact of the pilot in the four pilot locations and it is envisaged that this will inform future policy initiatives to support Traveller and Roma children and young people in their education.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Irish Language (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: My Department is working on an ongoing basis on the initial planning work required for the development of an Irish-medium policy. I look forward to progressing this important work and building on the positive outcomes achieved already in the implementation of the Policy on Gaeltacht Education in order to strengthen Irish-medium education. I look forward to working with the different...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Irish Language (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: The L1 and L2 draft specifications for Leaving Certificate (established) Irish published by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) for public consultation build on the significant developments that have taken place in Irish language curricular provision at primary and Junior Cycle levels in recent years. These include the introduction of a differentiated L1 and L2 Primary...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 966 and 969 together. During school closures, schools were not required to record attendance in the usual manner. Any records kept in relation to engagement during school closure periods are retained at school level and my Department does not collect this data. TESS adopted a child welfare approach during the periods of school closure and all TESS staff worked...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Attendance (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 970 and 971 together. The Education Welfare Act (s.21) requires school principals, to notify an Educational Welfare Officer, where a student is, in the opinion of the principal of the recognised school at which he or she is registered, not attending school regularly. Section 24 of the Act specifies that a Board of Management must inform an Educational Welfare...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: The Boards of Management of schools are responsible for the employment of ancillary staff. Funding to cater for these services is made available from my Department through the Ancillary Services and Capitation Grants. It is a matter for the Board of Management of the school to determine whether the individual concerned may continue to work until 70 years of age having regard to their...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: My Department has no plans to move the interim accommodation of the school to which the Deputy refers from its current location where it will remain pending delivery of its permanent school project. The permanent project referred to by the Deputy has reached the final contract award stage of the tender process. The assessment of tenders has concluded and following post-tender...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: On the 1st March 2021, I announced a package of measures to tackle educational disadvantage. This announcement provided for a one point improvement to the staffing schedule for all Urban Band 1 schools. This included a reduction in the staffing schedule from 22:1 to 21:1 for Urban Band 1 vertical schools and 20:1 to 19:1 for Urban Band 1 junior schools, which was in addition to previously...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: Among the COVID-19 supports provided for the 2020/21 school year was the extension of the Substitute Teacher Supply Panel. Currently, there are 115 Substitute Teacher Supply Panels nationwide, with almost 330 newly appointed Supply Panel teachers employed, providing substitute cover to almost 2,300 schools across the country. The proficiencies of the Substitute Teacher Supply Panels is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: Under the Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015 the Teaching Council is the body with statutory authority and responsibility for the regulation of the teaching profession in Ireland including the registration of teachers in the State. The figures they have provided for the number of registrations for Newly Qualified Teachers (Primary) since 2014 are as follows: 2014 = c. 1,700 2015 = 915 2016 =...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: There are a number of programmes available to schools that address crimes related to sexual violence. At primary level, the Stay Safe Programmeis a mandatory part of the Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) programme. The Stay Safe programme is a personal safety skills programme for use with primary school children from Junior Infants through to 6th class. The programme seeks to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Compensation Schemes (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: As you are aware, the ex gratia scheme was established on foot of the specific circumstances arising from and in response to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) relating to Louise O'Keeffe. The Department undertook to review of the scheme in response to a determination by the Independent Assessor, Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill that one of the criteria for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Vaccination Programme (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: The new vaccination roll out schedule, which was recommended to government by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee and endorsed by the NPHET, is that the remainder of the population after Group 9 will be completed on an age basis from those aged 64 years and younger, and that this decision will replace the previous groupings in the original plan. The evidence is clear that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: The building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is being delivered under my Department’s Design and Build Programme and planning permission has been secured. My Department is currently in the process of establishing a Framework of Design and Build Contractors to which Design and Build projects, including the project referred to by the Deputy, can be tendered. It is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 985, 991 and 1019 together. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September. The staffing schedule operates in a clear and transparent manner and treats all similar types of schools equally irrespective of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Irish Language (21 Apr 2021)

Norma Foley: As the deputy is aware, all children educated in Ireland including those who are home-schooled, are expected to have the opportunity to study Irish to an appropriate standard. An exemption from the study of Irish may be granted by school management in the exceptional circumstances outlined in section 2.2 of circular 0052/2019 (Primary) and 0053/2019 (Post Primary). The Department of...