Results 7,201-7,220 of 19,598 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Places (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy may be aware, for school planning purposes, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a Geographical Information System to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sources, including Child Benefit data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity is used for this purpose. Additionally, Project...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the current school year over 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €289m in 2021. My Department commenced a review...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: The Deputy will be aware that a building project for the three schools in question is included on the Department's School Building Programme to be delivered as part of the National Development Plan (NDP). Significant PE facilities are being provided for the schools concerned as part of the Buncrana campus development. These include: - PE Hall, which includes Fitness Suite, Changing Suites,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Gaeltacht Policy (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: The Gaeltacht Education Policy Advisory Committee was established in March 2017 to support the phased implementation of the Policy on Gaeltacht Education 2017-2022. The committee, which is chaired by an official from my Department, comprises representatives from a wide range of stakeholder groups. Details of the membership along with discussion papers, agendas and minutes of all meetings can...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: ISSU was founded after the disbandment of the Union of Secondary Students of Ireland (USS) in 2008 and its primary objective is to contribute as a partner in education, to the advancement of second-level education of all second-level students. In 2013, my Department agreed to provide funding on a year-to-year basis to the ISSU to help meet its day-to-day running costs. An annual budget...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: School secretaries and caretakers are valued members of our school communities and my Department is fully aware of the vitally important role played by them in the running of our schools. The majority of primary and voluntary secondary schools receive assistance to provide for secretarial, caretaking and cleaning services under grant schemes. Where a school employs a staff member to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disadvantaged Status (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: DEIS – Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools is the main policy initiative of my Department to address educational disadvantage at school level. In the 2021/22 academic year there are 884 schools in the DEIS Programme - 687 Primary and 197 Post Primary, serving over 180,000 pupils. This represents approximately 20% of the overall school population. The total Department spend...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Site Acquisition (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: Officials in my Department continue to liaise with officials in Cork City Council in relation to the identification and acquisition of suitable sites for the school in question. A potential suitable site has been identified in conjunction with the Local Authority and discussions are ongoing with the relevant stakeholders in relation to exploring all options available to my Department to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy may be aware, the Supreme Court delivered its judgments on January 24th in the appeals taken in two cases regarding Calculated Grades in 2020 for home schooled students. It is important to highlight that the students concerned were provided with Calculated Grades in 2020 following the initial High Court rulings in their cases. The appeals brought initially to the Court of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Site Acquisition (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I wish to advise that a permanent site for the school referred to by the Deputy has been identified and that my Department is in advanced discussions with another public body to acquire a site. However, due to the confidential nature of these discussions, it is not possible to provide further information at this time. My Department will keep the patron informed of any key developments in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: The Patron of a school is the person or body of persons recognised as such by the Minister in accordance with section 8 of the Education Act, 1998. Section 14 of the Education Act 1998 places a duty on the patron of a recognised school, for the purposes of ensuring that such a school is managed in a spirit of partnership, to appoint, where practicable, a board of management (board). The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: Consultation by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) on new draft specifications for Leaving Certificate Irish has recently closed. The current development of draft specifications for Leaving Certificate Irish is part of the ongoing cycle of curriculum review and redevelopment. Draft L1 and L2 curriculum specifications have been developed by the NCCA. The L1...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Places (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I wish to advise the Deputy, that my Department is aware of increasing local pressures and demand for additional post-primary school places in a number of school planning areas, including the Mulhuddart/ Tyrrelstown Dublin 15 School Planning Area. However, it is important to note that where enrolment pressures arise, it may not be as a result of lack of accommodation but may be driven by...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Island Communities (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I wish to advise the Deputy that new schools are established, by my Department, on the basis of identified demographic demand in an area, and only after consideration of the capacity of existing schools to absorb the expected school place demand. In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 449 and 455 together. My Department has always been guided by public health advice in relation to appropriate COVID-19 infection prevention and control measures in place in schools. Current public health advice makes it a requirement for a face mask to be worn by teachers, staff in schools and students attending post-primary school. These measures protect...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the project to which he refers has been devolved to Galway & Roscommon Education and Training Board (GRETB) for delivery. I can confirm that a design team to deliver this project was appointed in March 2021, and GRETB, through this design team, is now preparing the Stage 1 report (preliminary design). As...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Amalgamation (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I wish to advise the Deputy that the decision making authority for any amalgamation is the Patron / Trustees of the schools concerned and this is subject to the approval of my Department. The patron of the schools in question has confirmed agreement to an amalgamation. A building project for the schools is being planned.  Additional land is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I am very aware of the disruption experienced by students who are due to take their Leaving Certificate examinations this year. The State Examinations Commission, with my Department, has been progressing planning for these examinations, in consultation with the Advisory Group on Planning for the State Examinations. The group includes representatives of students, parents, teachers and school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Programmes (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: The ADAPT programme is an innovative approach to project and programme delivery introduced by the Department in 2016. It uses a professional external Project Manager to coordinate and drive a programme of projects and to manage the respective design teams on each project. The ADAPT programme seeks to accelerate the delivery of the respective projects through the stages of architectural...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (1 Feb 2022)

Norma Foley: I wish to confirm to the Deputy, that an application for Major Capital Funding, has been received from the school in question. As the Deputy may be aware, the National Development Plan 2021-2030 which was published on 4th Oct 2021, provides capital funding of over €4.4bn for investment in school infrastructure during the period 2021 to 2025.    The key drivers of the...