Results 10,541-10,560 of 19,632 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: The permanent building project referred to by the Deputy is being delivered under the Department's Design and Build programme. This delivery programme uses a professional external Project Manager to progress the project through the relevant stages of architectural planning, tender and construction. The Grant of Planning decision was received in April 2022. It is intended that the project...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: My Department provides a wide range of supports to all schools, DEIS and non-DEIS, to support the inclusion of all students and address barriers to students achieving their potential. Supplementing these universal supports, the DEIS programme provides a targeted and equitable way to address concentrated educational disadvantage that promotes equity and has benefits for students. In March...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: As part of the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030, my Department has committed to creating opportunities for expanding Irish-medium education outside the Gaeltacht in the context of the announcements since April 2018 on the establishment of 47 new schools from 2019, which affords particular consideration to the establishment of Gaelscoileanna, Gaelcholáistí, and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: I am aware that some schools are currently experiencing challenges in recruiting teachers and I am conscious of the impact this potentially has on our schools. Newly qualified teachers (NQTs) represent an additional source of supply for substitute and full-time posts in 2022/23 with over 3,600 primary and post-primary NQTs registered with the Teaching Council this year. The Department of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Costs (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: Under the provisions of the Education Act, 1998 the Board of Management is responsible for the day to day running of a school. Apart from those recognised fee-charging second level schools, recognised primary and post primary schools are precluded from charging school fees. Section 64 of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018, which was commenced in October 2018, explicitly...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: On 1 January 2021, responsibility for education welfare functions, including the administration of the home school community liaison scheme and the school completion programme, SCP, transferred from the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to my Department. The SCP forms part of the Tusla education support service, TESS. While the arrangements between Tusla and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy will be aware, senior academics have raised questions regarding the use of GDP as the most appropriate measure of the size of the Irish economy. My department published a paper on this matter in October of this year to assist users of these statistics to understand this issue (see : gov.ie - OECD Briefing Notes (www.gov.ie)). The paper outlines how the very large increase of 34%...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: I can advise the deputy that ‘Languages Connect – Irelands Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education’ aims to increase and diversify the range of foreign languages taught and learned across the education system: Post Primary Languages Ireland (PPLI) is fully funded by my Department (circa €5m in 2022) and is charged with implementation of a wide range of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: It is not appropriate that resources or materials produced or funded by the drinks industry, for education and awareness on alcohol, are in use in our schools. My Department is giving active consideration to how best to ensure that this position is reflected across our schools, including liaison with colleagues in the Department of Health and the HSE, and this process remains ongoing.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 108, 136 and 142 together. The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of my 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. The cost of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy is aware, I announced an ambitious programme of work for a reimagined Senior Cycle of education where the student is at the centre of their Senior Cycle experience. Introducing significant change at Senior Cycle needs to be thought through carefully and it is essential to ensure that the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), State Examinations Commission...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: I am aware that some schools are currently experiencing challenges recruiting teachers. Newly qualified teachers (NQTs) represent an additional source of supply for substitute and full-time posts in 2022/23 with over 3,600 primary and post-primary NQTs registered with the Teaching Council this year. My Department runs a comprehensive programme of work to support the supply of teachers. HEIs...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Educational Psychological Service (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy is aware, my Department’s National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides educational psychological support to all primary and post-primary schools. This involves direct support in the event of a critical incident, access to national and regional support and development work to build school capacity to support students, access to a NEPS psychologist for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: I am aware of the statement to which the Deputy refer which details challenges some primary schools are facing in recruiting teachers. The Department of Education runs a comprehensive programme of work to support the supply of teachers at primary level. It is important to note that recent policy decisions to support primary schools have seen significant additional posts allocated,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: Over the last two years, the Department and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) have worked closely on a more streamlined and joined up planning process which has ensured a targeted approach to meet demand for special education placements ahead of each new school year. This intensive intervention has seen the establishment of a new special school in Cork, Rochestown...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: The public consultation process to inform the development of the new policy on Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht was launched on 27 October 2022. The first phase of the consultation, which involves an online questionnaire and written submissions, will be open until 16 January 2023. The questionnaire is available on gov.ie/POLG and is open to all who wish to make submissions....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: DEIS – Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools is the main policy initiative of the Department of Education to address educational disadvantage at school level. The DEIS Plan, published in 2017, sets out the vision for future interventions in the critical area of educational disadvantage policy and builds on what has already been achieved by schools who have benefitted from the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department has received an application, under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme, from the school authority in question. The purpose of the ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom and Special Education Needs (SEN) accommodation is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met by the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of my 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. The cost of the scheme in 2021 was €289m. In July 2022, Government...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (24 Nov 2022)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy will be aware, for school planning purposes, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a Geographical Information System to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sources, including Child Benefit data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity is used for this purpose. Additionally, Project...