Results 1,121-1,140 of 19,559 for speaker:Norma Foley

Back to School, Further and Higher Education and Special Education: Statements (3 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: I last spoke in this House immediately before it went in to recess. At that time I had just published the Roadmap for the Full Return to School. That was only five weeks ago and much has happened since then. An incredible amount of work has been undertaken in the school sector. As a country dealing with the challenges of Covid-19, we are in a different place now than then, but just as the...

Back to School, Further and Higher Education and Special Education: Statements (3 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: I apologise. I thought I had 20 minutes.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Transport (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter today. Before I address the specific issue raised, I would like to provide the House an outline of the extent of the school transport service. School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann, as the Deputy has noted, on behalf of the Department. In the 2019-20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Transport (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: That is absolutely not correct. In the first instance, as I previously outlined, all those who were eligible and had paid on time were given their tickets. Where there was extra capacity, concessionary tickets were made available. We are now doing a review of bus routes to meet the new guidelines issued by NPHET just one week in advance of the return to school so as to reach the 50%...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: School Transport (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: I most certainly will look at the cases the Deputy raised.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: Education and Training Board Ireland (ETBI) is the representative body for the ETB sector and not a body under the aegis of my Department. I understand that the General Secretary post of ETBI was advertised by the Public Appointments Service in June 2020 and the candidate information booklet set out the skills and competencies required by applicants for the post. The booklet also advised...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: As indicated in a previous reply to a question on this matter, I understand that the Deputy is referring to applicants to the Primary Initial Teacher Education PME programme and also that the exam being referred to is undertaken by some applicants who do not have the relevant Leaving Certificate grade to meet the Minimum Entry Requirements in Irish for entry to those Primary PME programmes. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of architectural planning, Stage 2(b) - Detailed Design, which includes the applications for Planning Permission, Fire Cert and Disability Access Cert and the preparation of tender documents. All statutory approvals have been obtained. In the context of this major building project, public...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: The Roadmap for Full Return to School set outs the plan for the safe and sustainable reopening of our schools. It has been developed in line with public health advice issued by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), the Roadmap for Society and Business, and follows comprehensive and intensive engagement with education stakeholders including the school management bodies and staff...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: A meeting took place on 22ndJanuary 2019 in the Department’s offices in Tullamore which was attended by two officials from LMETB along with its design team as well as four officials from the Department. This was a further Stage 2B review meeting to discuss the issues set out in previous responses to the Deputy and followed on from previous meetings that had taken place to discuss these...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy will be aware, the project to which he refers has been devolved for delivery to the local Education and Training Board (LMETB). A number of design issues have arisen with this project. These have included issues relating to the need for additional security features for the proposed building that became apparent at tender stage and which required a change in brief with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: I can inform the Deputy that Louth and Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB) have a licence agreement in place to use the former County Council premises in Navan Co. Meath for Further Education & Training (FET) services. The agreement was approved by LMETB board on 21st June 2018. This was sanctioned by my Department based on a cost of €120,000 per annum and is funded...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: The system of Calculated Grades was created by my Department to allow as many as possible of the 61,000 students in the Leaving Certificate class of 2020 to progress to employment, further education and training, or higher education in a way that is fair and equitable to all students. The system is underpinned by key principles of objectivity, equity and fairness. For the Calculated...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: The Roadmap for Full Return to School set outs the plan for reopening of our schools and what the operation of our schools will look like and how it will be sustainable in a COVID-19 context. It has been developed in line with public health advice issued by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), the Roadmap for Society and Business, and follows comprehensive and intensive...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: As outlined in Circulars 15/05 and 12/05 Appendix 1. Special Needs Assistants are recruited specifically to assist schools in providing the necessary non–teaching services to pupils with assessed educational needs. All standard SNA vacancies and cover SNA vacancies of 24 weeks or more must be advertised. If the vacancy is less than 24 weeks then there is no requirement for the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: 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: Bus Éireann (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (8 Sep 2020)

Norma Foley: In line with statutory requirements my Department is developing a new three year strategic plan which will be informed by the range of education commitments in the Programme for Government, which include developing new strategies, striving for excellence across the sector, addressing costs and investing in high-quality education, supporting all learners and in particular, those at risk of...