Results 9,101-9,120 of 13,291 for speaker:Joe McHugh

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Contractors (3 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: Permanent accommodation for the school referred to by the Deputy is being delivered under the Department’s Design & Build Programme.  This delivery programme uses a professional Project Manager to progress the project through the relevant stages of architectural planning and construction. The brief for this project is to provide a 16 classroom primary school with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (3 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: As the Deputy may be aware, agreement in principle has been reached with the vendor for the acquisition of a site at Clonard, Co. Wexford. This site is proposed to facilitate the permanent accommodation needs of the school to which he refers. Work is progressing and is ongoing in respect of technical matters on the acquisition In the meantime, I can inform the Deputy that the school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Institutions (3 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: My Department is currently considering a submission in relation to the provision of a Home Economics Programme in the Higher Education Institution (HEI) referred to by the Deputy. I wish to advise the Deputy that any decision made by my Department on this issue will need to take into account a number of factors including Teacher Supply and the availability of Capital Funding. Once the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Universal Support Ireland Expenditure (3 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: In the published Revised Estimates Volume (REV) for 2019, the allocation for student support and related expenditure is €404,450,000. This figure will cover costs associated with SUSI grants and related activities plus expenditure on other access related activities to support various disadvantaged initiatives such as the Student Assistance Fund (SAF), the Fund for Students with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (3 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: Under the terms of the student grant scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students who meet the prescribed conditions of funding including those which relate to nationality, residency, approved course, previous academic attainment and means. The eligibility criteria for student grants including the income thresholds reviewed annually in my Department and approved by the Department of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (3 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: It is the policy of my Department that all children with Special Educational Needs can have access to an education appropriate to their needs, preferably in school settings through the primary and post primary school network. The National council for Special Education (NCSE) is an independent statutory body whose functions include planning and co-ordinating the provision of education...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (3 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: My aim for Budget 2020 is to progressively deliver on the commitments set out in the Programme for Government, the Confidence and Supply Arrangement and my Department's Statement of Strategy and Action Plan, and to meet demographic and demand pressures.  Over the past number of years, the Government has invested significant additional resources in education and training, which has...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (4 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30th September. The school referred to by the Deputy is due to have one teaching post suppressed due to a fall in enrolments in September 2018. The staffing process includes an appeals mechanism for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (4 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: The main support available to students is the statutory based SUSI grant scheme. The scheme supported circa 78,000 students in 2018/19. Under the terms of the student grant scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students who meet the prescribed conditions of funding including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means. Funding is available to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Establishment (4 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a Geographical Information System, using data from a range of sources, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise. With this information, my Department carries out nationwide demographic exercises to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Amalgamation (4 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: I propose to take Questions Nos. 123 and 125 together. I wish to advise the Deputy that the initiative for any amalgamation may come from a variety of sources, such as parents, staff, Board of Management and patron(s). Any such proposal to amalgamate schools must involve consultation with all of the relevant stakeholders and follow decisions taken at local level. In that regard, any...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: DEIS Status (4 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: The Planning and Building Unit of my Department received correspondence on Tuesday 2nd July 2019from the school authorities in question relating to a proposed amalgamation. I wish to advise the Deputy that, at the time of reply, my Department has no record of receiving correspondence from the Patron relating to this matter. Any correspondence received and issues raised regarding DEIS...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Offices (4 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: Staff of my Department currently occupy 45 offices nationwide, which include three campuses in Dublin, Athlone and Tullamore. Of these offices, eighteen have bicycle spaces available to staff and three offices provide lockers.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Ministerial Transport (4 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: This is not a matter for the Department.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (4 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for allocating a quantum of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school. The NCSE allocates SNA support to schools in accordance with the criteria set out in Department Circular 0030/2014, which is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme (4 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: The main support available to students is the statutory based SUSI grant scheme. The scheme supported circa 78,000 students in 2018/19. Under the terms of the student grant scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students who meet the prescribed conditions of funding including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means. Funding is available to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Data (4 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: I propose to take Questions Nos. 130 and 131 together. At present, the Department of Education and Skills is investing heavily in supporting our children with special educational needs, with €1.8bn being spent annually, about €1 in every 5 of the education budget. Investment in this area includes an allocation of over €300 million towards providing additional resources...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions Data (4 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: My Department has confirmed that any eligible Northern Irish/UK students who enrol for eligible courses for the current 2019/20 academic year in a third level college recognised for the purposes of free fees and student grant purposes will be eligible to avail of the Department’s Free Fee and Student Grant Schemes. This includes the student contribution fee for Irish and EU citizens...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (4 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: Boards of Management of ETB schools and community colleges are committees of the ETB. Section 44 of the Education and Training Board Act 2013 provides for the establishment of such committees. This section provides that such a committee shall consist of not more than 12 members and that the chief executive or staff of the ETB, other than a staff member who is a member of the Education and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (4 Jul 2019)

Joe McHugh: As the Deputy is aware, building projects for the schools in question are included in my Department’s School Building Programme to be delivered under the National Development Plan (NDP). In the context of progressing a development, my Department recently met with patron and school representatives and further engagement from the representatives is expected over the coming weeks.