Results 10,901-10,920 of 13,291 for speaker:Joe McHugh

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: Forecasting the cost implications of demographics is complex with multiple factors impinging on cost projections. In particular, while the school enrolments in any given year can be forecast with relative certainty in the short term, forecasting the implications for teacher numbers required at individual school level to maintain existing ratios of teachers to students is more challenging as...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus baill an choiste. Tá mé iontach sásta leis an gcuireadh theacht os comhair an choiste, ionas go mbeidh díospóireacht againn ar an ábhar seo. Má tá aon cheisteanna ag aon duine ina dhiaidh seo, beidh mé sásta iad a fhreagairt. Gabhaim buíochas le baill an choiste go léir as ucht an...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: I acknowledge the help provided by this committee by proactively making proposals, etc. Today's engagement is important. As the committee examined the PISA results in recent weeks, it identified areas in which we are making gains. The DEIS scheme has been mentioned. It is great to see that the gap is being bridged at the lower levels. It is getting closer. The support we provide to more...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: We contribute a percentage depending on the number of hours provided for under the contract. I will get the Deputy more detail on this matter if she requires it. We want to ensure we continue to have this vital voice and expertise in our third level sector. This brings me on to our university ranking for research. One of the fundamental factors underpinning the ranking system is the...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: We have to get into that space and find smarter ways of doing things. It will be music to the ears of those in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform if we can make savings in that regard and have fewer buses on the roads. That said, we are here as servants of the people and not of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and must ensure that services are there. We are...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: We are having engagement on transport in general and have had conversations about safety and what we can do about speed limits at schools. I have heard what the Deputy has said about investing in pathways and cycle routes. It is a different type of scenario in many rural areas because of the distance that pupils have to travel, in some instances on narrower roads. We cannot just come up...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: There is a cost in the documentation. We are using a number of temporary buildings as well as prefabricated buildings. We have decanting and moving costs. We have to set up the proper infrastructure for schools. Some schools may be in a temporary building where the lease runs out and the school may then have to move. There are many challenges in this regard. Ultimately, we want to be...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: Ideally, we want to have the work done during the summer. However, issues sometimes arise in October or March. These are things that are out of control. If there is something specific relating to the school in question, I would be happy to get my officials to follow up on it. Reference was made to higher education and the Cassells report. I know the committee deliberated on the report...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: The issue has gone on for too long and I want to see progress on it and a solution. I hope when we put heads together something may come out of it.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: Technically, as Minister, it is not my role to be at the Workplace Relations Commission talks. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan will be able to attest to that. From my time in politics, I have learned that nothing gets sorted if people do not talk or engage. The only way we can make progress is if the mechanisms in place continue to be used. The 1978 scheme was changed in 2008. I find it...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: There is a lesson to be learned in terms of how we get the message across. The school secretaries do it through the channels open to them. They have had protests and there was a campaign in all the constituencies. I believe this issue has gone on for far too long. We need to get people talking around a table. Deputy Ó Laoghaire spoke about school transport, special needs and buses...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: Once we get that analysis and the data, this committee will be the first port of call. We can then see how we progress that. There will have to be a consultation with stakeholders. Without wishing to pre-empt this, it will take apart the original geographical grounds. I hope it will be a signpost for us as to where to go. The first port of call at the democratic level should be this...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: The Chairman asked about school salaries. I talked about supply panels, the pilot and school secretaries. I acknowledge her point about home school liaison. That link with communities has never been more important. Home school liaison officers get right into the house, sit down at the hearth and drink tea with the families. They get to know parents and build up a relationship which is...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: Could the Chairman expand a bit on what she is suggesting?

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: The place to tease out that suggestion is the primary forum with all the leadership and stakeholders.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: I appreciate the administrative pressure that teaching principals are under. It is not a simple world. As the Chairman says, they are involved in construction if, for example, there are summer works, emergency works or additional accommodation, and they have to work with the board of management. It is quite a complex job. I am constantly considering ways to give more in the budget for...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: We never thought about that but it is a good suggestion. There was feedback to say we could not do it on a Friday because there would be carnage on a Friday night. Sometimes we have to trust the younger generation. The young people who celebrated their results on the Friday night did not do what some people expected them to do. That will be the date. It is too late in October so we will...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: Absolutely.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: Yes, but it is important that we highlight some of the good work that has been done and the moneys spent on education. I am talking about students, the welfare of families and their children in respect of what they have experienced over the past number of years. The Chairman would be the very first person to come in here and criticise if students in both national and secondary schools were...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary) (12 Dec 2019)

Joe McHugh: Since 2014, more than 2,600 projects have been funded as part of the summer works scheme. My officials are very eager to work with school principals on temporary accommodation issues. I urge school principals to get in touch with the Department because we do not want anybody to be without a school place in September 2020. I agree with what the Deputy said on apprenticeships. We want...