Results 13,941-13,960 of 15,969 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Programme for Government: Statements (Resumed) (12 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: I am really pleased to have an opportunity to speak on the programme for Government that I was pleased to negotiate with colleagues over the last number of weeks and months and one that sets out our priorities as a Government over the next five years. It is built on delivering a strong economy and a fair society and central to that is our education system. We have set out very clearly in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: Having been appointed Minister for Education and Youth in January 2025, I am now the cabinet minister with responsibility for government policy regarding the Professional Master of Education (PME) programmes.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Department of Education was successful in 2024 with an application for inclusion in the REPowerEU to develop and complete a Schools Energy Retrofit Pathfinder programme. This EU programme has very strict programme delivery funding timelines which must be met to enable funding drawdown. All selected school projects must proceed to construction phase in summer 2025 and thus has a range of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department currently does not have an Additional School Accommodation application (ASA) on hand from the school in question. Officials in my Department contacted the school in October 2024 and it was confirmed that the school authority is liaising with the County Council regarding the acquisition of land adjacent to the school. As both the school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The purpose of the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) is to provide funding specifically for unforeseen emergencies. It does so by ensuring the availability of funding for urgent works to those schools that are in need of resources as a result of an emergency situation. An emergency is deemed to be a situation which poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or the environment, which is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Equipment (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The furniture and equipment (F and E) area within my Department deals with the provision of furniture and equipment across a number of different streams including the replacement of specialist F and E, to which the issue the deputy has raised refers. As part of the planning for the provision of F and E generally, there has to be a balance between the volume of demand, and the ability of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can confirm to the Deputy, that my department has received an application, under the Additional Schools Accommodation Scheme (ASA), from the school authority 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: School Accommodation (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy may be aware, the purpose of the Summer Works Scheme (SWS) is to enable individual school authorities to undertake small-scale building works on a devolved basis and, ideally, can be carried out during the summer months or at other times that avoid disrupting the operation of the school. The SWS operates on a multi-annual basis for a number of categories and was last opened for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The school to which the Deputy refers was approved to enter the department’s pipeline of projects under the Additional School Accommodation Scheme. The project will provide 7 General Classrooms, 5 SET rooms, 2 Art rooms/2 Project stores, 1 Music room, 1 Multimedia room, 1 Textiles room and 2 classroom Special Education Needs (SEN) base. In addition, approval has been granted for two...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: I can confirm to the Deputy that officials in my Department engage with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on a regular basis on all aspects relating the planning process and importance of the provision of school places in new and expanding sustainable communities. There has been a significant level of engagement between the two departments during the formation of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Teaching Council registers teachers under the Teaching Council Act 2001-2015 and in line with the . As set out in the Schedule of the Regulations, the Council registers teachers under five routes of registration: Route 1 - Primary, Route 2 - Post-primary, Route 3 - Further Education, Route 4 - Other and Route 5 - Student Teacher. The registration requirements for each route are set out in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Welfare Service (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) is under the remit of my Department. TESS operates under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, a piece of legislation that emphasises the promotion of school attendance, participation and retention. TESS has three strands namely the statutory Educational Welfare Service (EWS) and the two school support services the Home School Community Liaison (HSCL)...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: Schools have a role to play in supporting their students to develop the key skills and knowledge to enable them to make informed choices in different aspects of their lives. This is mainly done through the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) programme, which is a mandatory part of the Primary and Junior Cycle curriculum. The SPHE specification provides vital opportunities for the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Grant Payments (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: My department recognises the importance of the Minor Works Grant to primary and special schools. Under Project Ireland 2040, a commitment was given that the Minor Works Grant would be paid in either December or January of the school year to all primary and special schools. In recent years my department’s approach has been to pay the Minor Works Grant to primary and special schools in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: As the Deputy may be aware, the purpose of the Summer Works Scheme (SWS) is to enable individual school authorities to undertake small-scale building works on a devolved basis and, ideally, can be carried out during the summer months or at other times that avoid disrupting the operation of the school. The SWS operates on a multi-annual basis for a number of categories and was last opened for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Ministerial Responsibilities (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The brief that I received on my appointment as Minister for Education and Youth is currently being reviewed for publication and will be made available on my Department's website in the near future.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 272 and 273 together. I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department is in receipt of an application for the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme, from the school in question. The purpose of the ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom and accommodation for students with special educational needs is available to cater for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Sector Pensions (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: ETBs are responsible for the administration of pension schemes in relation to their employees and they maintain the relevant employment and pension records of their employees. The relevant ETB has confirmed that the person concerned worked for them on various occasions between 2001 and 2007 with their service being, in the main, part time substitution service. Following a request from the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Home Schooling (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Irish constitution acknowledges the role of a parent as the primary educator of the child and has enshrined in law that a parent may home educate their child or may choose to send their child to a non-recognised school. The State cannot oblige parents to send their children to a recognised school but it must satisfy itself that all children receive a minimum education. Since 1 January...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (11 Feb 2025)

Helen McEntee: The project referred to by the Deputy has been devolved to the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) for delivery as part of a programme of school building projects. The brief for the project is to provide a new build replacement school for a long-term projected enrolment of 1,000 pupils including a 4 class SEN base. The project is currently in the final stages of Stage 2b of the...