Results 13,701-13,720 of 19,666 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (3 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2022/23 school year, over 149,000 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services are being...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Reports (3 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: I am committed to ensuring a quality, inclusive school systemwhere schools are a welcoming place for all children, including Traveller children. In my recent Statement of Strategy 2023–2025, I restate my vision for an education system where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential. The central goals of the strategy...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (3 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 330, 331 and 332 together. The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2022/2023 school year, over 149,000 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Defective Building Materials (3 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 334, 335 and 338 together. Where pyrite is suspected in a school the school can submit an Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) application for funding to have testing carried out in the first instance and where required an application can then be made to remediate the matter. Problems with Pyrite has been identified in six schools that were built since 1994, one of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (3 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 336 and 337 together. Under the terms of the contract, the Contractor has a period of 12 months after the date of substantial completion to rectify any snags or defects that are identified (i.e. Defects Liability Period). If at the end of the 12 month period all snags or defects have not been rectified, then the Contract offers other remedies to have matters...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (3 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2022/2023 school year, over 149,000 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services were provided...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Policies (3 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: My Department and its officials do not presently use ChatGPT or any other form of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate official text or to manage any Departmental functions. No such software is installed on my official's devices. My Department will continue to monitor developments in relation to AI, in particular with regard to potential applications that may be identified by other...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (3 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2022/2023 school year, over 149,000 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services were provided...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (4 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: The Digital Strategy for Schools to 2027 was published last year and is underpinned by an investment of €200m to support its implementation, committed to under Ireland’s National Development Plan (NDP). The first tranche of €50m issued to all recognised primary and post-primary schools in late 2021. The previous Digital Strategy for Schools 2015 to 2020 saw overall...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training (4 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: The Professional Master of Education (PME) is a two-year, full-time Level 9 postgraduate professional teacher education programme designed to qualify graduates as primary & post-primary teachers. Changes to the duration and content of initial teacher education programmes were made in response to recommendations in the National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (4 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2022/2023 school year, over 149,000 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services were provided...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (4 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: The scheduling of the school holiday periods during the academic years is agreed between the managerial authorities of schools, the teacher unions and the Department for the purposes of standardising breaks at Christmas, Easter and mid-term. This is important to ensure certainty for the school community about the dates of school holidays. The Department’s circular 072/2022...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Proposed Legislation (4 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: The following general schemes were referred by the Department of Education to an Oireachtas Committee for pre-legislative scrutiny (PLS) during the period in question:The Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Bill was published on 22 September 2023 and was referred to the relevant Committee for PLS on 25 September 2023. The General Scheme of an Education (Parent and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (4 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department received an application from the school in question for capital funding, under my Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (4 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2022/2023 school year, over 149,000 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services were provided...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (4 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2022/2023 school year, over 149,000 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services were provided...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training (4 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 118 and 119 together. The Professional Master of Education (PME) is a two-year, full-time Level 9 postgraduate professional teacher education programme designed to qualify graduates as primary & post-primary teachers. Changes to the duration and content of initial teacher education programmes were made in response to recommendations in the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (4 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2022/2023 school year, over 149,000 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services were...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (4 Oct 2023)

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

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training (4 Oct 2023)

Norma Foley: The Professional Master of Education (PME) is a two-year, full-time Level 9 postgraduate professional teacher education programme designed to qualify graduates as primary & post-primary teachers.Changes to the duration and content of initial teacher education programmes were made in response to recommendations in the National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among children...