Results 4,181-4,200 of 6,188 for speaker:Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 335. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools that have appealed their special education teaching allocation by county in 2021 and 2022, in tabular form. [12642/22]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Residential Institutions (8 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 347. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of applications that were received by survivors of industrial and reformatory schools for redress under Caranua; the number of these that were successful; the number that were unsuccessful; and the number of applicants who have not received a response to date. [12952/22]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Residential Institutions (8 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 348. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the amount of funding that remains out of the funding allocated to Caranua for redress for victims of industrial and reformatory schools. [12953/22]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Residential Institutions (8 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 349. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the work of the Inter-Departmental Committee to address the needs of survivors of industrial and reformatory schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12954/22]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disadvantaged Status (10 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 62. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will report on the roll-out of the expansion of Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS; and if she will meet with Opposition Deputies to provide an update on this expansion. [13480/22]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disadvantaged Status (10 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: The announcement regarding DEIS arrived yesterday. It is a very important programme that has cross-party support. It has huge potential to make major differences to many children's lives. I very much welcome the schools that were added to that, including several in my own constituency. Of course, like any process such as this, there will always be schools that missed out and are...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disadvantaged Status (10 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I understand that the Minister needs to put these things on the record, but I hope that in her next contribution, she might be able tell us more about the appeals process. As I have said, there will be schools that are disappointed. The other issue is that the appeals process needs to be a bit more dynamic, perhaps, than the existing process. We are dealing with five-year-old...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disadvantaged Status (10 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I hope the Minister can tell us more about that as the process goes on. The Minister also raised the issue of stakeholders. There needs to be a sea change in how the Minister and her Department show co-operation and partnership across the Dáil. We first contacted the Minister on 26 April 2021, which is almost a year ago now, because we wanted to work with her on the new DEIS model....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disadvantaged Status (10 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Not these ones.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disadvantaged Status (10 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I did not want to be just briefed. I wanted to play a part. I wanted to help.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disadvantaged Status (10 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: That is not good enough.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: 64. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps she is taking to ensure the equitable distribution of special needs assistants, SNAs, across the school system with particular regard to new and developing schools; and the status of the roll-out of the front-loaded allocation model. [13481/22]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Regardless of the announcement every year of additional SNAs in each budget, there just never seems to be enough. This is particularly concentrated in particular types of school. There is also the combination of the roll-out of the front-loading model and indeed the freeze on SNA allocation. What this means in particular is that fast-developing schools or new schools are finding it very...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: The Minister of State, too, has probably had these conversations with schools. Indeed, I recently saw her engage with the school in County Louth outside Leinster House. In schools that do not have enough SNAs, the SNAs are run from pillar to post, the children feel let down and their parents are frustrated that the children are not getting the supports they need. It harms the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (10 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Perhaps it is the NCSE that applies the criteria, but the buck stops with the Minister of State in terms of policy and the terms and conditions and pay of SNAs. They have a significant impact on whether we can get SNAs through the system, that is, whether we can recruit and keep them. She mentioned that in the case of new and developing schools, the allocation has been frozen, but that is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (10 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I echo what Deputy Calleary said. It is vitally important that there is good engagement, not just with Bus Éireann but with the private operators on whom we rely enormously. They are under big pressure in the same way as hauliers and others, and it is important that there is engagement and that they get the support and assistance they need. There were improvements to the school...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Staff (10 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I also wish to raise something related to our anticipation that a significant number of school children will join our system from Ukraine. Typically, English language support would be allocated in September. Schools will need that much sooner in these circumstances. Will the Minister examine this to see whether additional English language support can be provided? There are schools that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (10 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: There has been a lengthy debate on how the leaving certificate should be done. I do not want to rehash it, but it arose for a number of reasons, such as, the difficulty in covering the course and the anxieties and pressures students were experiencing because of two or more years of Covid and everything that went along with that. What plans are there for mental health supports for students...

Education (Voluntary Contributions) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (10 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." In the first instance, I extend an apology to the Minister from Deputy Carthy, my co-sponsor of the Bill. He is at Dublin Airport to provide a lift for a family coming back from Ukraine. That is a fairly legitimate excuse. He asked me to give his apologies. I asked him if he wanted me to make any particular points, for example, on...

Education (Voluntary Contributions) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (10 Mar 2022)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: I thank Deputy Ó Ríordáin and the Minister for their contributions and I appreciate the former's support for the Bill. The Minister's speech would have been fine save for the part where she stated that the Bill's primary objective was to provide greater clarity and transparency. Of course, it is not. That is just one relatively marginal part of the Bill. We want greater...