Results 8,141-8,160 of 9,471 for speaker:Hildegarde Naughton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (25 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: The Purpose of the Home Tuition Grant Scheme is to provide a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of reasons, are unable to attend school. The scheme also provides a compensatory educational service for children with special educational needs seeking an educational placement for whom such a placement is not available. Specifically, the Deputy is referring to the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (25 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government. It is also a key priority for my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). The NCSE have confirmed that the school applied for an exceptional review of its special needs assistant (SNA) allocation in October. This review was processed and the school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (25 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority for my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (25 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 202 and 203 together. Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority for my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (25 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority for my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (25 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: The Project referred to by the Deputy was approved to enter the department’s pipeline of school buildings to provide a four Classroom Special Educational Needs (SEN) base, a General purpose room and Ancillary under the department‘s Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme. I can confirm that this project recently received my departments approval to go to planning and the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (26 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: Under the Assistive Technology Scheme, as set out in my Department’s Circular 0010/2013, funding is provided to schools towards the cost of computers and specialist equipment, which are required for educational purposes. All equipment provided under this scheme supports children with more complex disabilities who, in order to access the school curriculum, require essential...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (26 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I understand that this is an anxious time for parents who are seeking a school place for their child for September and I would like to assure the Deputy that this government is determined to alleviate the pressures faced by parents when seeking a special educational placement. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has advised my department that they continue to support the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (26 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: The Assessment of Need (AON) is a statutory process under the Disability Act (2005) whereby the Health Service Executive (HSE) reports on the health and education needs of a child/young person. The provision of Guidelines for the assessment of needs process is a matter for the HSE. With regards to the education aspect, if within the AON process the HSE Assessment Officer forms the opinion...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (26 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I would like to thank the deputy for the question. As the deputy is aware the allocation of Special Education Teaching and Special Needs Assistant resources are allocated as a school resource and not to individual pupils. When special education resources are allocated to schools based on their profile of need, it does not dictate what child receives support. The deployment of resources...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (26 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I would like to thank the deputy for the question. I want to take this opportunity to outline that as part of the review of Special Education Teaching allocation process, my department has introduced a number of initiatives to address the specific matter raised. The moving of the allocation process to an annual basis for 2024/25 school year removes the time lag where school profiles...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (26 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I would like to thank the Deputy for her question. Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) make a valuable contribution to our school communities through the provision of adult support to enable students with significant care needs attend school. The SNA Workforce Development Unit (SNAWDU) within the Special Education division in my department has commenced work on the first Special Needs...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (26 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I would like to thank the Deputy for the question and wish to advise you of the following: The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004 provides for the education of children aged under 18 years with special educational needs. The EPSEN Act 2004, is now in place for more than 20 years and there have been many significant changes and developments to policy...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (26 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: Under the Assistive Technology Scheme, as set out in my Department’s Circular 0010/2013, funding is provided to schools towards the cost of computers and specialist equipment, which are required for educational purposes. All equipment provided under this scheme supports children with more complex disabilities who, in order to access the school curriculum, require essential specialist...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (26 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: On 16 January 2024, The National Council for Special Education published its policy advice paper on special schools and classes entitled “An Inclusive education for an Inclusive society”. This follows a request in October 2018, by the then Minister for Education and Skills, to advise on the educational provision for students in special schools and classes and to make...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (26 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: In Budget 2023, the government provided an additional €13 million for the expansion of services within the NCSE. This will mean an increase of up to 161 additional staff in the organisation, a workforce increase of 50%. As a result of the additional funding allocated to the NCSE, it is intended to increase the number of SENOs to 120, from the previously sanctioned 73, an increase of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: An Inclusive Education for an Inclusive Society: Department of Education (25 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I thank the Deputy. He mentioned the EPSEN Act. There was a huge amount of feedback on the review I mentioned with 28,000 submissions. We hope to finalise that before the end of the year. We are currently bringing all of the consultation material together so that will be finalised by the end of the year. The Deputy also mentioned the Joint Committee on Autism report. I attended the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters: An Inclusive Education for an Inclusive Society: Department of Education (25 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: In the pilot, 75 schools engaged in the school inclusion model under which the therapist went into the school and worked with the teacher. It involves collaborating with the teacher and indirectly working with the pupils as well. This is all about evidence-based policy and the evidence was that the teacher felt more equipped. It is not the primary role of the teacher to be a therapist -...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disability Services (27 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: I understand that this is an anxious time for parents who are seeking a school place for their child for September and I would like to assure the Deputy that this government is determined to alleviate the pressures faced by parents when seeking a special educational placement. My department and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) work closely in relation to the forward...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (27 Jun 2024)

Hildegarde Naughton: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this government. It is also a key priority for my department and for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional...