Results 4,201-4,220 of 7,283 for speaker:Josepha Madigan

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Facilities (8 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Foley, this provides me with the opportunity to outline the current position on the problems experienced by Sancta Maria College in Rathfarnham, which the Deputy alluded to earlier this week. A major building project has been under way at the Sancta Maria College since 2015, which is delivering major refurbishment...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Facilities (8 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: I will do so. The Department will continue to work with Sancta Maria College on all the other matters as well. I note the Deputy's comments on blended learning, and with Covid-19, the Department and the Minister are acutely aware of such matters. We must support schools where they find themselves in a position where the pupils cannot attend or buildings must close for whatever reason. It...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 181 to 185, inclusive, together. Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government. Currently, almost 20% of the total Education Vote or €1.9bn is invested in supporting children with special needs. Notwithstanding the extent of this investment, there are some...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 188 and 189 together. Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government. Currently, almost 20% of the total Education Vote or €1.9bn is invested in supporting children with special needs. Notwithstanding the extent of this investment, there are some parts of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: Ensuring that every child has a suitable school placement is a key objective of my Department. Significant resources are allocated each year to ensure that appropriate supports are available for children with special educational needs. Children with special educational needs are supported through placement in mainstream classes, special classes and special schools. At school, they...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: I wish to advise the Deputy that DES Circulars 0013/2017 and 007/2019 for primary schools, and 0014/2017 and 008/2019 for post primary schools, set out details of the model for allocating special education teachers to schools. The Special Education Teaching allocation provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on each...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Autism Support Services (13 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government. Currently, almost 20% of the total Education Vote or €2.0bn is invested in supporting children with special needs. The numbers of special classes, special education teachers and special needs assistants are at unprecedented levels. Since...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government. Currently, almost 20% of the total Education Vote or €1.9bn is invested in supporting children with special needs. The numbers of special classes, special education teachers and special needs assistants are at unprecedented levels. Since...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Autism Support Services (13 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 253 to 259, inclusive, together. Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government. My Department invests €1.9 Billion or almost 20% of its total educational budget annually on making additional provision for children with special educational needs. This represents...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (14 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: I thank the Deputy for his question. Children with special needs should receive their education in placements that are appropriate to their needs alongside their peers wherever possible unless such an approach would be inconsistent with the best interests of an individual child or other children in the school. This is provided for in section 2 of the Education for Persons with Special...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (14 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: If parents have concerns about particular schools, they should contact the NCSE. If schools have difficulties, they can contact the NCSE or the Department. As I said, the guidance is very detailed and clear. I have said clearly today that pupils in special classes should continue to interact or integrate with mainstream classes. Obviously that number will have to be minimised. What is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (14 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: I assure the Deputy I am acutely aware of the sensitivities about special education. This is why when we are in a position to front-load the new special needs assistants model in September 2021 - we could not do it this year because of Covid - we will, in tandem, be rolling out the school inclusion model. As the Deputy knows, through investment in the budget, I am in a position to recruit...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (14 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: We understand the HSE's position, particularly with Covid and the accelerating pandemic, that it had no option at the time. I am not defending it but I understand why it had to take therapists and use them to tackle Covid through contact tracing. What we did is ask the NCSE to recruit therapists directly. This is what we will do. Recruitment is now under way. It will be very necessary...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (14 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: I hope I adequately answered the question with regard to the HSE issue. The Minister of State with responsibility for disability will deal with access to services in the HSE. My particular remit is with regard to the school environment and making sure we have adequate therapists recruited for the school inclusion model. It is a complementary service to the HSE. It is not in lieu of it or...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs (14 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: Clearly, many of the issues Deputy Naughten is raising are under the remit of the Minister for Health and probably the Minister of State with responsibility for disability as well. I accept what Deputy Naughten is saying. We cannot have delays that are in any way going to adversely affect a child obtaining speech and language services. That is a separate matter to the school setting, as I...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (14 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: The Deputy has raised two questions today, neither of which were in regard to the questions he tabled. Speech and language therapy provided by the HSE is slightly outside of my remit but nevertheless within the school inclusion model we have put in place a pilot project in 150 schools and we now have received investment to roll that out in 200 schools. We will be using speech and language...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (14 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: I can give a commitment that I will bring the Deputy's concerns to the attention of the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities and the Minister for Health. I want to be clear in regard to the school inclusion model and the therapists within a school environment. They are not in lieu of a service that should be provided by the HSE. They are a complementary service which...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (14 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: It is actually about the increasing numbers of special needs pupils at primary level as well as about Covid-19. I will mention briefly that, obviously, substantial supports were given regarding Covid-19. With regard to Dublin, the letters of second notice of section 37A under the Education Act 1998 are going out today to 26 different schools to ensure they provide special class places...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (14 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: It is important to stress that the allocation of SNAs for this year was frozen. It will remain unchanged until September 2021 and then the front-loading allocation system will kick in. No SNA was taken away from any school. The Deputy is right that there is an exceptional review process. That is available for schools if they need to challenge the fact they need additionality in terms of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Autism Support Services (14 Oct 2020)

Josepha Madigan: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government. Next year, over 20% of the total Education budget or €2bn will be invested in supporting children with special needs. This investment will support the provision of over 1,200 additional special class places. Notwithstanding the extent of this...