Results 6,221-6,240 of 13,291 for speaker:Joe McHugh

Structural Assessments of Schools: Statements (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: -----will highlight it as well.

Structural Assessments of Schools: Statements (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: The Deputy has covered a broad range of issues. I want to clear up the issue about the clerk of works. The clerk of works is involved on a permanent basis on each major build, be it a major extension or a major new school building, and that has been in place since 2017. That has acted with respect to, and added further, oversight. When examining this review, we have to take account of...

Structural Assessments of Schools: Statements (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: Yes. KSN was the project manager on up to 12 schools. To be clear on what a project manager does, the project manager does not certify any issues of compliance on the project. It went through a process to get the job with regard to the 55 school assessments, the 30 Western Building Systems, WBS, schools and the 25 other schools - a random audit. It got that, having gone through the...

Structural Assessments of Schools: Statements (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: As far as I am I am aware, it went through a proper tendering process.

Structural Assessments of Schools: Statements (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: Let me be clear about it. That company acted and advocated on behalf of the Department. In terms of the certificate of completion, it was not the Department officials who signed off on the certificate of completion but the company acting on behalf of the Department. The project manager was KSN and it was working on the understanding that at each stage of the compliance process all the work...

Structural Assessments of Schools: Statements (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: From listening to some of the parents of the students in Tyrrelstown and from speaking to the principal, fears were expressed about the fact that KSN had been involved in a number of schools on a project management basis, but let us be clear, in terms of certification of compliance at each stage, KSN was the Department's representative in signing off the certificate of completion that the...

Structural Assessments of Schools: Statements (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: Just to be very clear, we are not just looking at structural issues. We have been looking at the assessment of fire safety. We are taking that very seriously. That assessment was completed in August of this year. Works now need to be done. We have asked Western Building Systems, WBS, to look at four particular schools to see whether it will come forward and do the required work. The...

Structural Assessments of Schools: Statements (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: No, I have no concerns.

Structural Assessments of Schools: Statements (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: Let us be very clear about the process. The process was set out very clearly in the immediate aftermath of Grenfell, which I believe happened in June 2017. These assessments in the fourth quarter of 2017 included 30 schools built by WBS because they were showing weaknesses in other assessments, along with another 25 schools. That assessment was completed in August of this year. A team and...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: Ba mhaith liom an cheist sin a fhreagairt don Teachta fosta. It is very important to point out that while the fire assessments were being carried out from quarter 4 in 2017 through to the end of August this year, concerns and potential concerns were being highlighted about fire safety issues, including fire walls, fire stops, door jams, etc. However, it was not until the physical invasive...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: I will take the first question from Deputy Brassil. Deputies will find that when people come to me with suggestions and common-sense and practical solutions to issues, I am all ears. I thank the Deputy for raising that issue. It is one that came up in my own county when we were looking at closest distances and the nearest school rule. Roads that were virtually impassable for buses were...

Apprenticeships: Motion [Private Members] (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: The Ministers of State, Deputies Mitchell O'Connor and Halligan, have been doing the heavy lifting on this issue since this Government was appointed in 2016. We thought about doing the usual tonight: voting against a motion because Government votes against an Opposition motion, until we realised there are certain elements of it where we are singing from the same hymn sheet. We are all...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: My Department's policy is to provide for the inclusive education of children with special educational needs in mainstream school settings, unless such a placement would not be in the best interests of the child concerned, or the children with whom they will be educated. The greater proportion of children with special educational needs (SEN) attend mainstream class, where they may access...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: As the Deputy is aware, a major capital project to provide permanent accommodation for the school in question is being addressed through my Department's Capital Programme. It is envisaged that this accommodation will be provided through a campus arrangement with a local Institute of Further Education on its current site. This project will also include the redevelopment...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Fiscal Data (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: The audited accounts for 2015/16 for Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT)  has a significant accumulated deficit (€4.4m deficit after FRS 102 adjustments).  The draft accounts for 2016/17 and projections for 2018/19 continue to show an operating deficit which will further impact on the accumulated deficit position of the institute.  In order to address these...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Institutes of Technology (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: The number of student enrolments at Waterford Institute of Technology from 2014 to 2018 is set out in the following table. Enrolment statistics are available on the HEA website for all HEA funded institutions. Enrolments 2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 Waterford IT 8,201 7,980 7,792 7,550 7,779 Full-time 6,969 6,826 6,453 6,313 6,501 Postgraduate...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: It is a matter for the relevant Institutes of Technology in a consortium to lead on the progression of their plans to seek designation as a technological university under the Technological Universities Act 2018. In relation to the Technological University of South East Ireland (TUSEI) consortium comprising Waterford Institute of Technology and the Institute of Technology Carlow, the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities Data (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: A report by Mr. Michael Kelly of Governance Ireland Ltd. on an engagement and consultation process on a technological university for the south east was commissioned by the Department of Education and Skills and published on 27 July 2015.  The total cost incurred in the preparation of this report was €32,782.65 (including VAT), which was met by the Department of Education and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: My Department provides for a range of placement options and supports for schools, which have enrolled students with special educational needs, including those with Autism, in order to ensure that wherever a child is enrolled, s/he will have access to an appropriate education.  Such placements facilitate access to individualised education programmes which may draw from a range of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (7 Nov 2018)

Joe McHugh: The Department of Education and Skills initiated fire safety assessments across 30 WBS built schools and a representative sample of 25 other schools last year.  Following on from this, checks in the wall cavities for fire barriers at Tyrrelstown ETNS (in late August) raised questions relating to the adequacy of wall ties.  At that point, it was decided that a separate structural...