Results 10,441-10,460 of 13,291 for speaker:Joe McHugh

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: The provision of education for children with special needs, including those with Autism, is an ongoing priority for Government. Currently, almost 20% of the total Education Vote or €1.9bn is invested in supporting children with special needs. The majority of children with Autism attend mainstream class, where they may access additional supports if required.   But some students may...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: The building project to provide permanent accommodation for the school referred to by the Deputy is being delivered under my Department’s Design and Build Programme. This project is included in the procurement process that is currently underway for a bundle of projects to be delivered under this programme. The Project Information Notice (PIN) was published recently and the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: DEIS Applications (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: In the 2019/20 school year there are 891 schools in the DEIS Programme serving 185,000 pupils. This represents approx. 20% of the overall school population.  (691 primary (231 Urban Band 1; 104 Urban Band 2; 358 Rural) and 198 post primary. My Department will spend in the region of €125 million in 2019 on the DEIS programme.  As the Deputy is aware, my Department has...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Placement (19 Nov 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...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Climate Action Plan (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: The Department’s National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development in Ireland 2014 2020 is one of the key strategies underpinning the Action Plan for Education 2016-2019. Since the publication of the National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), the Government in recognising the need to share in the international responsibility to address the increasingly...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has carried out an audit of the curriculum and have identified areas where climate change and Education for Sustainable Development are integrated: www.ncca.ie/media/3573/esdreport_final_june2018.pdf. e.g. Geography aims: 7. To develop and promote active citizenship and to encourage informed participation, through lifelong learning, in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: I recognise the very important work done by these staff, and the other support staff in the running of our schools.  I have spoken to a number of staff about their employment conditions and understand the issues they have raised.  In Budget 2020 I increased the number of secretaries and caretakers in certain schools, allowing schools with enrolments of 500-625 to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: The building project to provide permanent accommodation for the school is being delivered under my Department’s Design and Build Programme. This project is included in the procurement process that is currently underway for a bundle of projects to be delivered under this programme. The Project Information Notice (PIN) was published recently and the contract notice is due to be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: Very significant levels of financial provision are made to ensure that all children with special educational needs, including children with Mild, Moderate and Severe/Profound General Learning Disabilities, can be provided with an education appropriate to their needs. My Department currently spends approximately €1.9 Billion or €1 in every five of its total current...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Schemes (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: On 27thMarch I announced the trialling of the School Inclusion Model, a new model of support for students with special educational and additional care needs, which is being piloted in 75 schools in the Kildare/Wicklow/South Dublin region in the current school year. The School Inclusion Model aims to build schools’ capacity and to provide the right supports at the right time...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: The school referred to by the Deputy was allocated a devolved grant for prefabricated accommodation in October 2018 under my Department Additional Accommodation Scheme which will enable the school authority deliver 5 x Mainstream Classrooms, En-suite Toilets, Shower Area & Staff Toilets, Multi-sensory room, 3 x Small Safe Places, Storage, Staff Room &...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: I can inform the Deputy that in 2017 my Department introduced a new model to support pupils with special educational needs. This means schools are now front-loaded with additional teachers to enable them to respond to pupil needs, rather than requiring an assessment to allow them to apply for such additional resource.  This reduces the administrative burden on schools as schools...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: DEIS Eligibility (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: As the Deputy is aware, my Department has introduced an objective, statistics based model, for assessing which schools merit inclusion in the DEIS programme. All schools at both Primary and Post Primary level are being assessed using this new methodology based on their enrolments from 2018/19 and the latest data available from Census 2016 under the HP Deprivation Index. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Supply (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: The benefits of increasing diversity in the teaching profession are recognised by my Department. The National Plan for Equity of Access to Higher Education published in 2015 has as its overall vision the goal of ensuring that the student body entering, participating in and completing higher education at all levels reflects the diversity and social mix of Ireland’s...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: I propose to take Questions Nos. 66 and 78 together. The current status of projects being delivered is listed on a county by county basis on my Department’s website at www.education.ie and updated on a monthly basis to reflect their progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction. Funding is available to school projects...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Site Acquisitions (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: As the Deputy is aware, the provision of new accommodation for the schools in question is included in my Department’s capital programme.  The project to provide this school accommodation requires the acquisition of a suitable site and this has proved to be extremely challenging to date, despite the best efforts of my Department and of officials in Donegal County Council. I can...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Institutions (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: As Minister for Education & Skills, I am committed to continuing the process of investing in our higher education system and to the development and implementation of a sustainable funding model for the sector.  The Government's commitment to investment in higher education is clearly demonstrated by the scale of investment in higher education over recent...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: In the case of all new schools, it is general practice to include a Special Education Needs Base (SEN Base) in the accommodation brief for new school buildings, unless local circumstances indicate that it will not be required. Typically, a two classroom SEN Base is provided in new primary schools and a two or four classroom SEN Base is provided in new post primary schools.  The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Management (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: Since my appointment as Minister for Education and Skills I have met with a number of Teaching Principals and I appreciate the pressures they face. Earlier in the year, I hosted a symposium on Small Schools which gave me an opportunity to restate the Government’s commitment to small schools and to open a dialogue with all the key stakeholders. The purpose of this work by the Department...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (19 Nov 2019)

Joe McHugh: Currently, almost 20% of the total Education Vote or €1.9bn is invested in supporting children with special needs.  Since 2011 investment in Special Education supports has increased by 50%, which is significantly above the 7% increase in total student numbers over the same period. As a result the numbers of special education teachers, special needs assistants and special class...