Results 6,121-6,140 of 6,598 for speaker:Michael Moynihan

Committee on Disability Matters: Inclusive Education for People with Disabilities: Discussion (17 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: Yes, absolutely. In the most meaningful way, the outcomes for children with additional needs will be met in an holistic way within the school community.

Committee on Disability Matters: Inclusive Education for People with Disabilities: Discussion (17 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: We will share that information with the committee. We have no difficulty in doing that.

Committee on Disability Matters: Inclusive Education for People with Disabilities: Discussion (17 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: It is with the entire school community. The Deputy will understand more than most that putting therapists back into special schools is not just going to empower the work the therapists are going to do, but will empower the entire school community. The information we got about where the therapists were heretofore was that they felt they had a place to go to ask for advice. The entire school...

Committee on Disability Matters: Inclusive Education for People with Disabilities: Discussion (17 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: On international best practice, in my previous role as Chair of the disability committee and anecdotally, across Europe, Scotland in particular was one of the places that developed the best special education system, particularly because it was developed after the devolved government was formed in the late nineties. We went to see what was happening and we saw some great practice and...

Committee on Disability Matters: Inclusive Education for People with Disabilities: Discussion (17 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: On the assessment of needs, as I said earlier there is a huge volume of work being done at Government level because we do understand that this is one major issue in terms of children and additional needs, and that the assessment of need is done in a meaningful and timely fashion. We are working with all Government agencies at the moment to break down the silos in order that...

Committee on Disability Matters: Inclusive Education for People with Disabilities: Discussion (17 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: It is my understanding that if a person qualifies for special educational transport the concession does not apply. That is for mainstream. Perhaps the Deputy will share the information with us in relation to the children he spoke about and we will follow it up. I believe that with the education system there is a process-----

Committee on Disability Matters: Inclusive Education for People with Disabilities: Discussion (17 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: Send the information on to us and we will certainly follow it up.

Committee on Disability Matters: Inclusive Education for People with Disabilities: Discussion (17 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: It has been an ongoing issue since I arrived here many years ago. We had one student missing and everything else. There are appeals processes that can stack up but I accept that it is an ongoing issue.

Committee on Disability Matters: Inclusive Education for People with Disabilities: Discussion (17 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: There is. I would like to get the details of the issue in that school. If the Deputy is saying children will be without a place in September 2026, now is the time to notify us. If the Deputy can get the information to us, we will work on it for her.

Committee on Disability Matters: Inclusive Education for People with Disabilities: Discussion (17 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: If Deputy Keogh gets the details to us, we will work on it.

Committee on Disability Matters: Inclusive Education for People with Disabilities: Discussion (17 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: Some of the schools that have special classes and some that do not, particularly at post-primary level, engaged with the Middletown Centre this spring. When I went to the Middletown Centre, they nearly knew more about it than I knew myself because they had gained the information at school level. The information and the guidance that Middletown gave those schools is invaluable. Going back...

Committee on Disability Matters: Inclusive Education for People with Disabilities: Discussion (17 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: A report on the over 70s was done last year and was published in August 2024. It specifically mentioned the challenges that would arise in approving people over the age of 70. During the programme for Government discussions in January, it was mentioned specifically. The Department of Transport has taken the lead on this. A report on the policy and the criteria is being done. I understand...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. As the Special Education Teaching allocation model has been in place since 2017 based on a 2014 NCSE report, my Department believed a review of the model was prudent. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 745 and 746 together. This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs, including the allocation of special needs assistants (SNAs). The NCSE has advised my department that all schools have been informed of their SNA allocation for the 2025/26 school year. The NCSE published SNA allocations...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 748, 749 and 750 together. This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is the national agency with responsibility for the provision of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 751 and 918 together. At present, there are four special schools, and fourteen special classes attached to mainstream schools to support students with a specific learning disability such as severe dyslexia. These schools and classes are mainly located in our largest urban areas. I want to acknowledge the work they do, however, there is no plan to establish...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. Bus Éireann have advised that the family to whom the Deputy refers to, are not eligible for school transport as they are attending the sixth nearest school from where the family reside. However, the family have received concessionary tickets for the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: Bus Éireann has advised that the child referred to by the Deputy is not eligible under the terms of the scheme as they reside under the distance criteria. Bus Éireann further advise that there was excess demand for this service and the child referred was not successful in securing a ticket on a main stream service for the 2025/26 school year. Special transport arrangements on...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Sep 2025)

Michael Moynihan: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. To date, over 148,000 tickets have issued for the 2025/26 school year, which is an increase of 5% of tickets issued at the same time last year. Due to the scale of the scheme, the changes as recommended in the review will take time and careful planning...