Results 12,101-12,120 of 13,291 for speaker:Joe McHugh

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (16 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: Under the current legislation relevant to the three redress bodies referred to in the Deputy's question, the bulk of the records created by the bodies are legally required to be disposed of on their dissolution. The three bodies have now substantially completed the performance of their functions and have reached a point where they could be dissolved. Critical...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (16 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: I can inform the Deputy that the project to which he refers has been devolved to the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) for delivery as part of a programme of school building projects. The NDFA is currently undertaking the second phase of the process of appointment of multi-disciplinary technical advisors (design teams) for these projects. This process will involve...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (16 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: My Department has published details of a summer programme for children with special educational needs enrolled in special schools, special classes and mainstream classes.  The programme incorporates some aspects of the July Provision of previous years.  Summer Provision 2020 – Reconnecting with Education, is a significantly expanded programme for children with complex...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (16 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: On Friday my Department published the report to Government “Planning for reopening schools in line with the Roadmap for reopening society and business” .  The report sets out the clear ambition to develop a sustainable plan to fully reopen schools at the start of the next school year in late August/September in line with normal timeframes.   The report also sets out in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (16 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: I wish to advise the Deputy that decisions in relation to schools re-opening and operating will be underpinned by the ongoing Public Health advice. Engagement is underway with stakeholders in the education sector to develop contingency plans for the re-opening and operation of schools. On 12th June, 2020, my Department published a plan for reopening schools in line with the Roadmap for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (16 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: On Friday my Department published the report to Government “Planning for reopening schools in line with the Roadmap for reopening society and business” Detailed engagement with education partners and stakeholders is underway in relation to the development of public health guidance in a school setting. My Department will also establish a drawdown framework for schools to enable...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (16 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: My Department has published details of a summer programme for children with special educational needs enrolled in special schools, special classes and mainstream classes.  The programme incorporates some aspects of the July Provision of previous years.  Summer Provision 2020 – Reconnecting with Education, is a significantly expanded programme for children with complex...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training (16 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: My Department made a decision in 2017, based on advice received from the Teaching Council, to set higher Minimum Entry Requirement Standards (MERS) to primary teaching for Leaving Certificate Mathematics, English and Irish with effect from September 2019. The new MERS were approved following detailed consultation and are designed to maintain the integrity of Initial Teacher Education...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (16 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: Under Section 24 of the Education Act, 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act, 2012) the board of management is the employer of teachers and other staff of the school. In the case of schools under the auspices of an Education and Training Board (ETB), the relevant ETB is the employer.   Education Shared Business Services – ETB Payroll (ESBS ETB Payroll) which is a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (16 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: Planning permission for the school building project referred to by the Deputy was granted by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council on the 13th June 2019 subject to 18 no. conditions.  Two of these conditions relating to the provision of a public greenway were subsequently the subject of a first party appeal by my Department to An Bord Pleanála.  The decision of An Bord...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (16 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: I can inform the Deputy that the project to which he refers, for which funding has been provided under my Department's Additional Accommodation Scheme, has been devolved to the School Authority of the first named school in question for delivery. I can also inform the Deputy that the project is in the final stages of the tender process in that respect.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (16 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: I wish to advise the Deputy that it is intended that the school in question will relocate to an existing building currently occupied on an interim basis by another school while awaiting the construction of a building project for that school. In this regard, the building project for that school is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning Stage 2(b) Detailed...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Expenditure (16 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: The Department's social media is managed by the staff in its Communications Unit. No additional cost is incurred by the Department for social media monitoring.

Reopening of Schools and Summer Provision 2020: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Chathaoirleach agus leis na Teachtaí uilig as an seans labhairt leo arís inniu ar chúrsaí oideachais agus na dúshláin atá ann ina leith. I take this opportunity to provide an update on the planned summer provision and the preparatory work towards reopening our schools. When I was last in the House I advised that I would...

Reopening of Schools and Summer Provision 2020: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: I thank the Deputy for his contribution. One of the obvious gaps was in relation to special needs, so there was regression. That is anecdotal and measured through contact and interaction between our inspectorate and schools in terms of where the gaps were. One clear message right across the sector, whether tertiary, post-primary or primary, is that computers cannot replace teachers....

Reopening of Schools and Summer Provision 2020: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: That is a very good question and I thank the Deputy for raising it. One thing that we did not have on our side, and I will probably be accused of not getting guidelines in quickly enough, was that schools were allowed to open as recently as last Friday week. We have been working on this for two weeks. We are working continually on the school transport issue with a focus on August and...

Reopening of Schools and Summer Provision 2020: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: I thank the Deputy for his questions. I am sorry that I will not get to the other pertinent questions from the other Deputies but I will try to answer these three as quickly as possible. In a normal year, 650 schools are eligible for July provision, including up to 126 special schools, as well as schools with special educational needs, SEN, based tuition. It was always 650 schools. Last...

Reopening of Schools and Summer Provision 2020: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: My ambition is clear as I want to facilitate as many children with special needs as possible in summer provision. Traditionally, 70% of students go for home-based tuition and I cited 24,000 as the maximum number that could apply. Currently, we have nearly 10,000 and another 2,300 have been signed up to the Health Service Executive programme. I am still confident that more could sign up as...

Reopening of Schools and Summer Provision 2020: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: Approximately 200 schools have registered for this and I thank every one of those schools for the work done. It is correct that they need the proper information and the guidelines must be right with respect to student and teacher safety. Last year, a grant was awarded directly to people with Down's syndrome for primary and post-primary education. This year, we have included primary...

Reopening of Schools and Summer Provision 2020: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Joe McHugh: I will deal with the last point first in respect of SNAs. I wish to publicly thank the SNAs for their ongoing work over the past months since 12 March. Somebody who spoke earlier was correct in saying that the school buildings may have closed but, like that of the teachers, the work continued. One of the additional features of the summer provision this year compared with July provision is...