Results 521-540 of 19,559 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: The staffing arrangements for primary schools for the 2020/21 school year, as set out in Circular 0018/2020 provides details on the staffing appeal process, which includes a criteria for schools with a significant EAL requirement to apply for additional resources. Since the 2017/18 school year the Special Education Teaching allocation provides a single unified allocation for special...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: DEIS Scheme (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: My Department is in the final stages of refinement of the DEIS identification model, based on school enrolment data and the latest data available from Census 2016 under the HP Deprivation Index. This work is at an advanced stage and the initial phase of the consultation process with education stakeholder representatives on the technical aspects of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: I can confirm that my Department is in receipt of an application for capital funding, for additional accommodation, from the school referred to by the Deputy.  Officials from the Department are communicating with the school authority in this regard and the application is currently under assessment.  As soon as the assessment process is complete a decision will...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: My Department are currently working with the Patron, the School and Design Teams involved in the school referred to by the Deputy, to identify the issues outstanding from the essential first phase fire remediation and external wall structural remediation works which are nearing completion. Once this list of issues has been reviewed by the design team, a meeting will be arranged with the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills. The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: The Deputy will be aware that a building project to provide a permanent building for the school in question is included on the Department's Capital Programme to be delivered as part of the National Development Plan (NDP). A site is being acquired for this purpose. In tandem with this, my Department has initiated work on the preparation of the project brief and is liaising with the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for determining the appropriate staffing levels in relation to the support of pupils with special educational needs in special schools, in accordance with the policies of my Department. Special school staffing alloctions are reviewed and updated each year by the NCSE and special schools are staffed on the basis of each...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: The criteria for the award of incremental credit to recognised teachers is outlined in my Department’s Circulars 10/2001, Primary, 29/2007 and 29/2010 Post-Primary. The criteria were agreed under the auspices of the Teachers Conciliation Council (TCC) which is comprised of representatives of teachers, school management, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: The current standard rate of Ancillary Grant is €171.00 per pupil. The estimated full year cost of increasing the rate of ancillary grant to €171.50 per pupil in primary schools is circa €0.3m. The Ancillary Services grant was increased by €24 from 2016 to 2020, in order to enable primary schools to implement the arbitration salary increase for grant funded...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Data (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: 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, using data from a range of sources, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise. With this information, my Department carries out nationwide demographic exercises to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: The Deputy will be aware that the project to which he refers has been devolved for delivery to the school authority under my Department's Summer Works Scheme. As such, it is a matter for the school authority to progress the project.  However, I can also inform the Deputy that officials in my Department are aware, from our regular engagement with the school in respect...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: On Wednesday 1 July 2020, I welcomed the publication of interim public health advice for the safe re-opening of schools in late August/September. This interim health advice sets out the key public health requirements that will be required for a safe full reopening of schools and the measures that will be required to achieve this.   Receipt of public health advice and the Return to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: On Wednesday 1 July 2020, I welcomed the publication of interim public health advice for the safe re-opening of schools in late August/ September. This interim health advice sets out the key public health requirements that will be required for a safe full reopening of schools and the measures that will be required to achieve this.   Receipt of public health advice will underpin...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Institutions (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: The latest set of audited accounts available for the IoT/technological sector is the 17/18 financial year. It should be noted by the Deputy that the audited accounts of each publically funded Higher Education Institution are available publically on the Oireachtas website. The accounts of two IOT's, IT Tralee and Waterford IT respectively indicated an accumulated deficit position. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: In re-opening our schools, my Department will be guided by the available public health advice and comprehensive engagement with stakeholders including the school management bodies and staff representatives as well as students and parents. I have published the interim public health advice received from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre and also made it available to schools across the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (14 Jul 2020)

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 decide how best to apply the grant funding to suit its particular needs. My Department recognises that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: Substitute staff are employed by the managerial authorities of schools as replacements for teachers and Special Need Assistants  absent on approved leave from their posts. The details outlined in the Table is based on 2019 expenditure and covers the cost of employing substitutes for teachers and special need assistants. The information relates to substitute staff...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: Budget 2020 is the third successive budget to provide for an increase in the number of principal release days.One additional release day will be allocated to each school with a teaching principal with effect from 1stSeptember 2020.  This will bring the number of release days to 19, 25 and 31, depending on the size of school.  This is an increase from 14, 18 and 22 days since...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (14 Jul 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills. The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children,...