Results 5,521-5,540 of 7,283 for speaker:Josepha Madigan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government.  This year, my Department will spend in excess of €2 Billion, or over 25% of the Department’s budget on providing additional teaching and care supports for children with special educational needs.  The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) play a huge role in helping to ensure the inclusion of pupils with significant care needs in education and in school life.  This was acknowledged in the Comprehensive Review of the Special Needs Assistant Scheme (SNAs) published by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in 2018.  The Review made a number of recommendations regarding...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) play a huge role in helping to ensure the inclusion of pupils with significant care needs in education and in school life.  This was acknowledged in the Comprehensive Review of the Special Needs Assistant Scheme (SNAs) published by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in 2018.  The Review made a number of recommendations regarding...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government.  This year, my Department will spend in excess of €2 Billion, or over 25% of the Department’s budget on providing additional teaching and care supports for children with special educational needs.  The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Council for Special Education (1 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 481 and 482 together. The National Council for Special Education was set up to improve the delivery of education services to persons with special educational needs arising from disabilities with particular emphasis on children.  It was formally established under the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 (EPSEN Act).  The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Council for Special Education (1 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: I am aware of the recent Court of Appeal Judgement referred to by the Deputy.  The implications of the Judgement are currently being considered.  In this regard, my Department is engaging with other the Departments of Health and Children, the NCSE and the HSE and I expect t receive a proposal on the matter shortly.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (1 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: The NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews. The Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme is designed to provide schools with additional adult support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs.  Such...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (2 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: The NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews. The Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme is designed to provide schools with additional adult support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs.  Such...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (2 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: The Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme is designed to provide schools with additional adult support staff who can assist children with special educational needs who also have additional and significant care needs.  Such support is provided in order to facilitate the attendance of those pupils at school and also to minimise disruption to class or teaching time for the pupils concerned,...

Committee Report on Key Issues Affecting the Traveller Community: Statements (3 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: As the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, is regrettably unable to attend this session, I am pleased to deliver the closing statement on his behalf. I say to Senator Flynn that the usher who told her she deserves to be here is absolutely correct. Of course she deserves to be here and it is her voice that is effecting change as a...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (3 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I know it is something that is close to her heart and on which she has been advocating for a significant period. It is quite poignant to hear the names of the women who died in February and March over the past 27 years. It is good that their names have been put on the Dáil record, which is some sort of acknowledgement. As the Deputy...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (3 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: Again, I commend the Deputy on her work in this area. I have seen her output on social media, including Instagram, and how effective it can be. She is right about the effect on people, even if we are just reading about it. Even the fact that so many women have lost their lives takes an emotional toll. The Deputy's work is good because it keeps their memory alive and gives credence to the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Offshore Islands (3 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: I thank the Deputy. I am taking this topic on behalf of the Minister for Community and Rural Development, Deputy Humphreys. The sustainability of the communities on our offshore islands is a core objective of the Government, as set out in its rural development policy. The policy acknowledges the importance for island communities of access to reliable, safe and affordable connectivity...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Offshore Islands (3 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: I thank the Deputy. I can hear the frustration in his comments. Nonetheless, I thank him for raising the matter this evening. I will relay his comments to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys. I reiterate that, unlike the NTA, the Department does not subsidise all services on all routes and therefore any fare reduction scheme could-----

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Offshore Islands (3 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: May I finish?

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Offshore Islands (3 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: Could I just finish? Unlike the NTA, the Department does not subsidise all services on all routes, and therefore any fare reduction scheme could not be applied evenly and could put private operators at a disadvantage. The Deputy will appreciate that I am taking this topical issue on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Offshore Islands (3 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: I am not in the Department myself. This is the information that I have but I hope the Deputy will be reassured by my stated commitment to speak to the Minister about this. I hear what he is saying about equality for islanders and note his comments on the reduction and the PSO contract. I will pass them on to her. I understand that what the Deputy is suggesting would create fare...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Horticulture Sector (3 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: I thank Deputy Carthy for raising this important matter, which I am happy to take on behalf of the Minister, Deputy McConalogue. As the Deputy is aware, extraction of peat for the Irish professional horticultural industry in recent years has been challenging from both a legal and regulatory perspective. A series of High Court judgments, beginning in the early 2010s, which dealt with peat...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Horticulture Sector (3 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: As the Deputy acknowledged, this issue is not within my remit but, nevertheless, I was happy to take it for the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, who is indisposed. I hear the Deputy's frustration regarding the lack of information. Perhaps I should say the alleged lack of information because obviously I am not up to speed with the minutiae of this issue. I do know, however, the key importance...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: National Maternity Hospital (3 Mar 2022)

Josepha Madigan: I am sorry to disappoint the Deputy that I am not the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. He too was not disposed today to take this Topical Issue matter but I am happy to take it on his behalf. I know the Deputy, like many other Members, has a strong interest in the ownership and governance arrangements of the new national maternity hospital and I welcome the opportunity to address the...