Results 9,601-9,620 of 19,632 for speaker:Norma Foley

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy. He is right with regard to the concessionaries. That is the rub of it. The needs of those who have met the eligibility criteria have been satisfied and they are in receipt of the waiving of fees. There has been a one third increase in concessionaries this year. The Deputy and others can raise individual cases. I am very conscious of the individual circumstances of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: It is in and around that, yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: Yes, where there is capacity. People have mentioned specific instances. I have met individuals who previously received concessionary tickets and might have done so for a number of years. As they received the tickets each year, they were always mindful that the circumstances could change, for example if a new family moved into the area or a new housing development took place.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: This means it is concessionary. I am mindful of their particular challenge. This is a cost-of-living measure that was introduced. Where there is scope to address their needs in my discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, we will do that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: That figure included special needs. The figures I have given - I mentioned that 124,000 pupils are availing of the service now, compared with 103,000 this time last year - refer to the mainstream. I referred to those figures because there has always been a free transport system for those availing of special education needs transport.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: In terms of capacity, I am mindful that there are challenges in some instances for Bus Éireann in terms of the provision of buses and bus drivers, etc. As I said previously - I know I am repeating myself now - these challenges are not unique to the transport sector. There are issues in hospitality and in businesses across many different levels of society. We are meeting those...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: In the first instance, significant progress has been made in the provision of school places and school transport for children and young people with additional needs. Some 25% of the budget is expended on special education. That is right and proper. We are coming from a base where more and more work is required. I appreciate that and absolutely understand the importance of it....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: It is a guaranteed payment even to the provider. The money will come. I do not know the specifics of the actual cases.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: I will take it from there.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: If the Deputy asks a question, I would appreciate the opportunity to answer it. There was mostly certainly engagement and ongoing engagement with Bus Éireann. We looked at a variety of different opportunities of what could be done. Of course, Bus Éireann were informed officially once the decision was made by Cabinet-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy for her remarks. Bus Éireann has fulfilled its obligations and is working to fill outstanding obligations. The company's obligation was to cater for those who applied on time and who fulfilled the criteria. It would not have been appropriate to change the criteria midstream in the midst of an entire review of the school transport system. It would have thrown up...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: Well, the Chairman raised it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills: School Transport Issues: Engagement with Minister for Education (21 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: It is a guaranteed payment. It is an absolute guarantee.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (27 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the last school year over 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €289m in 2021. In July 2022, Government announced...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (27 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 213 and 279 together. The equivalent of approximately 1,300 middle management posts (Assistant Principal I and Assistant Principal II) have been restored at primary level since the lifting of the moratorium on these posts in 2017. The Department has committed to annually revising the allocation of Posts of Responsibility to take into account...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capitation Grants (27 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: My Department provides funding to recognised Primary and Post-Primary schools in the free education scheme by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day to day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance, general up-keep etc. and the Ancillary/School Services Support Fund (SSSF) to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Educational Psychological Service (27 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) of the Department provides a comprehensive, school-based psychological service to all primary and post primary schools through the application of psychological theory and practice to support the well-being, academic, social and emotional development of all learners. NEPS provides its service to schools through casework and through support...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (27 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the last school year over 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €289m in 2021. In July 2022, Government...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (27 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the last school year over 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €289m in 2021. In July 2022, Government announced...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (27 Sep 2022)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the last school year over 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €289m in 2021. In July 2022, Government...