Results 14,521-14,540 of 19,666 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Renewable Energy Generation (29 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: I was delighted to launch, together with the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, Ossian Smyth, the first phase of the SchoolsPhotovoltaic Programme on 23rd November. It will allow up to 4,000 schools nationwide to get solar PV panels to reduce their energy bills and their carbon emissions. This ties in with the strong ethos of environmental...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: EU Directives (29 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: I wish to advise the Deputy of a NIL response for the Department of Education.

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: School Transport (29 Nov 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 Enterprise, Trade and Employment: School Transport (29 Nov 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 Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Official Engagements (29 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: I was pleased to meet with the Secretary of State for Education, the Right Honorable Gillian Keegan MP, on 16 November 2023 at the Department for Education offices in London. At the meeting we discussed areas of mutual interest: the use of smart phones by young people; the emerging impact of generative artificial intelligence on teaching, learning and assessment; and her proposals for...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: School Textbooks (29 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: As Minister for Education, I believe it is crucially important that children and young people are actively supported to access education in its fullest forms. This Government recognises that the cost of preparing children for school each September can be a cause of financial difficulty and worry for many Irish families. As part of Budget 2023, I announced a major investment of over €50...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Schools Building Projects (29 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: My Department is currently in the process of finalising the brief for the school referred to by the Deputy. The implications of the school's immediate and short-term accommodation needs are being considered in terms of the optimum arrangements on site for the location of accommodation. Officials will continue to work to progress this project on to the next stage. In the interim period,...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Special Educational Needs (29 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: In relation to EAL support, the Special Education Teaching allocation provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on each school’s educational profile and also encompasses the Language Support (EAL) allocation that schools were allocated in previous years. All schools are advised in the first instance to review whether the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Traveller Education (29 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: My Department provides a number of policies and programmes that are supportive of homework clubs for students at risk of educational disadvantage, including Traveller children. The Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) Programme is a key policy initiative of the Department to address concentrated educational disadvantage at school level in a targeted and equitable way....

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: State Examinations (29 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the state examinations. In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: School Transport (29 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. As part of the management of the scheme, Bus Éireann manages the procurement tender process and contract management arrangements to include services provided by contractors under the School Transport Scheme. There are currently in the region of 7,000 vehicles...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: School Transport (29 Nov 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 Enterprise, Trade and Employment: School Staff (29 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: Earlier this year the Department received a report from a Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) working group. The report proposed the creation of a national relocation scheme whereby teachers would identify the locations that they would like to relocate to through a portal and then effectively “swap” with teachers in that location. The proposal included findings from a...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Oideachas trí Ghaeilge (29 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: Tá obair faoi lán seoil i mo Roinnse faoi láthair chun polasaí nua a fhorbairt don oideachas lán-Ghaeilge lasmuigh den Ghaeltacht. Tógfaidh an polasaí nua seo ar an méid atá bainte amach ag an bPolasaí don Oideachas Gaeltachta agus beidh sé mar chéim thábhachtach eile i dtreo ghealltanais Chlár an Rialtais a...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: School Funding (29 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: My Department has different models of funding to meet the needs of the different types of post-primary school. In the ETB sector, financial allocations are made to ETBs as part of a block grant. ETBs are given a high level of autonomy in the management and appropriation of this grant and each is allowed to distribute its allocations in line with its own priorities and needs. This differs...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (30 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: Kolbe Special School is part of a large-scale capital project, located in Portlaoise. I want to reassure the Deputy that this project is a key priority for the Department. The project brief is to provide a new eight classroom special school and appropriate ancillary accommodation. The School Authorities also recently received approval for the installation of modular accommodation on the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Domestic Violence (30 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: Domestic Violence Leave is a statutory leave regulated by the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023. With effect from the 27th of November 2023, all employers are required to provide up to five days paid domestic violence leave over a period of 12 months. Ireland is one of the first countries in the European Union to introduce this right and with the government of Ireland,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (30 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: The school to which the Deputy refers is a two-classroom school that is in the Department’s pipeline for a modular accommodation project. The current enrolment at the school is 40 pupils which is a decrease of two pupils from last year. The project is being managed on a devolved basis by the school authority. The brief for the project is to replace the existing accommodation with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (30 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: The designation of school sites to serve existing, expanding and new communities is the function of local authorities, in consultation with my Department, through the statutory development plan process. My Department’s Statutory Plans Co-ordinating Unit actively engages with the statutory planning process to ensure that sufficient land is zoned to provide appropriate sites for new...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (30 Nov 2023)

Norma Foley: Ensuring that every child's experience in school is positive and that they have qualified, engaged teachers available to support them in their learning is a priority area of action for the Government. Budget 2024 contains a range of measures that demonstrate my commitment to continued investment in our education system. In addition to numerous actions I have taken in recent years to address...