Results 9,621-9,640 of 13,291 for speaker:Joe McHugh

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Schools Building Projects Status (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: I agree with the Deputy that the meeting on Friday is important. There should be a degree of honesty and cards put on the table because the community deserves nothing less than to find out whether it is happening. I will not say anything more about what may happen after the meeting. So many good groups and people are working on the project. I met them on site when the Deputy invited me to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: My Department’s school building programme to be delivered as part of the National Development Plan is focused on providing the additional school places needed to ensure that every child, including children with a special educational need have a school place. This includes establishing new schools and extending existing schools in areas where more school places are needed to meet the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (24 Sep 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: School Accommodation Provision (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: As the Deputy may be aware, my Department gave grant approval for the construction of a two-classroom SEN Base, at the school to which he refers, under the Additional Accommodation Scheme 2019. My Department has been actively engaging with the school to resolve issues with the submitted design and proposals put forward in that respect. In the meantime, the school applied for and obtained...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff Remuneration (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: Circular 0048/2016 refers to Direct entry (recruitment) grades in the Education Sector (Post 1 January 2011 Entrants) Recognition of Previous Public Service in another EU Member State. This is a matter for the employer.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Summer Works Scheme Applications (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: I can confirm to the Deputy that, the school referred to, has submitted an application for the Summer Works Scheme (SWS) 2020 onwards for cark parking facilities (Category 10). Commensurate with the level of funding available for SWS 2020 onwards, applications will be assessed on a top down basis in accordance with the prioritisation criteria outlined in the governing Circular Letter for the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff Appeals Mechanism (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The supplementary assignment arrangements for Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) were established on foot of proposals brought forward by the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) when the Haddington Road Agreement was being agreed. These supplementary assignment arrangements for SNAs continue to operate under the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018 - 2020, and both unions representing SNAs,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The Deputy may be aware that this project is being devolved for delivery to Cavan and Monaghan Education and Training Board (CMETB). To enable this, my Department has recently issued a Service Level Agreement (SLA) to the ETB for its signature. The execution of this SLA will allow CMETB to procure a design team to take the project through the various stages of architectural planning and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The Special Education Home Tuition Grant scheme provides funding towards a compensatory educational service for children with special educational needs seeking an educational placement for whom such a placement is not available. The scheme also provides for early intervention for children with Autism. The application forms and related Circular for this year’s scheme were published on...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Textbooks (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: It is a matter for the Board of Management of each individual school to decide on its own policy in relation to the use of textbooks and workbooks in the school. Individual schools should adopt a cost-conscious approach to the selection of books in their classes. In relation to textbook costs an agreement was reached with the Irish Educational Publisher’s Association which resulted in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Equipment (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: Decisions regarding the use and deployment of digital technology in schools is a matter for the Board of Management of each school. Where the introduction of digital devices is planned, consultation with members of the school community including parents is advised. Consultation between parents, students and schools is now underpinned through the recently published Education (Student and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: I wish to advise the Deputy that the school in question submitted an application for major capital funding to my Department to construct a new school building on a green field site. Given the need to meet demographic growth, the delivery of new schools, together with extension projects identified by my Department's school building programme to be delivered as part of the National...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Home Tuition Scheme Administration (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The purpose of the Home Tuition Grant Scheme is to provide a compensatory educational service for - (a) Early educational intervention for children with autism who meet the schemes eligibility criteria - (b) Students with special educational needs seeking an educational placement in a recognised school - (c) Students, enrolled in schools, with significant medical conditions which has...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The Special Education Home Tuition Grant scheme provides funding towards a compensatory educational service for children with special educational needs seeking an educational placement for whom such a placement is not available. The scheme also provides for early intervention for children with Autism. The application forms and related Circular for this year’s scheme were published on...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Funding (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The 2019 Allocation of recurrent exchequer funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) designated institutions and the directly funded higher education institutions is in the order of €1 billion. To increase this allocation by 1% would incur a full-year cost in the order of €10million.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Expenditure (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: SUSI does not collate data in the format request by the Deputy. Therefore, it is not possible to cost the increase in the non-adjacent distance criterion from 24km to 30km, 35km and 40km. However, the cost of reversing the change to the distance criteria from 24km to 45km for the student grant is estimated to be in the region of €26m. The above costing assumes that a change to the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Expenditure (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: It is not possible to definitively estimate the full year cost of restoring the SUSI grant scheme to pre-2011 levels. To put it in context, in 2010/11 there were 71,532 students who benefitted from grant support at a cost of €355m, whereas in 2018/19 there were 74,557 students in receipt of grant support at a cost of €363m. In the intervening years we have centralised the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Catchment Areas (24 Sep 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: Teaching Council of Ireland (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: Under the Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015 the Teaching Council is the body with statutory authority and responsibility for the regulation of the teaching profession in Ireland including the registration of teachers in the State. It is a function of the Council under the Teaching Council Acts (s7(2)) to act as the competent authority for the recognition of qualifications obtained by a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pyrite Issues (24 Sep 2019)

Joe McHugh: The Department is fully aware of the pyrite issue in this school and the health and safety issues to which it gives rise. These issues are being dealt with under my Department's Emergency Works Scheme. In that context, approval was given recently for works to take place under that scheme. At the same time, the school is progressing with its application for works under the Additional...