Results 15,161-15,180 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (25 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 148 and 150 together. Teacher allocations to all schools are approved annually by my Department in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment. The staffing schedule in the current year at primary level operates on the basis of 1 classroom teacher for an average of every 28 pupils. Lower thresholds apply in the case of the 646...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (25 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: Teacher allocations to all post primary schools are approved annually by my Department in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment. The criteria for the allocation of posts are communicated to school managements annually and are available on the Department website. In accordance with the published staffing arrangements each school management authority is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Programme for Government Initiatives (25 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will be aware the Programme for a Partnership Government provides that the role and power of an Ombudsman for Education, to whom a parent could complain and appeal on foot of a decision by a board of management, will be examined by the relevant Oireachtas Committee to ensure its consistency with the need to ensure better local decision making and accountability to parents. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training Provision (25 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: The Special Education Support Service (SESS) co-ordinates, develops and delivers a range of professional development initiatives and support structures for school personnel working with students with special educational needs in a variety of educational settings. These settings include mainstream primary and post-primary schools, special schools and special classes. The continuing...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Expenditure (25 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: My officials contacted the Deputy's office and I understand that the 39 projects referred to are those mentioned on page 195 of the Ministers Brief prepared by my Department and now available on my Departments website. The relevant section states ...."From the 5 year Construction Programme 2012-2016, the Department continues to progress 19 major projects in architectural planning, 31...

Adjournment Debate: Schools Building Projects (26 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputies for raising this matter, which they mentioned to me yesterday evening. I assure them that I know Maynooth very well and I am very committed to ensuring this project is delivered. I know the parents are very anxious about the situation and are keen that their children will receive their education in the best facilities possible. This project was tendered by Kildare and...

Adjournment Debate: Industrial Relations (26 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Byrne for raising these issues and I assure him I would be more than happy to meet him on these or on any other issues he wishes to discuss. The purpose of the wider framework of public service agreements is to balance the rightful ambition of public servants to see improvements in their pay and conditions after a long number of years of pressure with the needs of the public...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Redeployment (26 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: The core function of the redeployment arrangements is to facilitate the redeployment of all surplus permanent teachers to other schools that have vacancies. Thereafter, schools are required under the panel arrangements to fill permanent vacancies from supplementary panels comprised of eligible fixed-term (temporary/substitute) and part-time teachers. The arrangements for panel access for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (26 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that new schools are established to meet demographic demand. In general, the Department's policy is to integrate children with special educational needs into the mainstream school system wherever possible. Many of our schools have special education units included within them. However, special schools are also necessary to meet the educational needs of pupils whose...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (26 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: The Government has committed to establishing a Public Service Pay Commission to examine pay levels across the Public Service, including entry pay levels. The terms of reference and timescale for the Commission's work are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The Government recognises the importance of being able to attract quality new entrants to the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Refurbishment (26 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: The project to which the Deputy refers was authorised to proceed to tender in late November 2015. Following recent clarification on matters raised the Design Team is currently finalising tender documents and it is anticipated that the project will proceed to tender in the coming weeks.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Site Acquisitions (26 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy is aware, a building project for the school in question is included in the 6 Year Construction Programme announced last November and is scheduled to proceed to tender and construction in the period 2019-21. My Department is liaising with the school in the context of initiating the architectural planning process for the project, which includes consideration of site related matters.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (26 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: My Department's policies focus on ensuring that all children can have access to an education appropriate to their needs, preferably in school settings through the primary and post primary school network. A range of placement options for pupils with special educational needs is provided, in order to ensure that all pupils can receive a school placement. Many pupils with special educational...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (26 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the school to which he refers have recently been informed that it has been allocated funding under my Department's Additional Accommodation Scheme to provide two mainstream classrooms.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Applications (26 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: For student grants purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances either as students dependent on parents or a legal guardian, or as independent mature students. A student may be assessed as an independent mature student if he or she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st of January of the year of first entry to an approved course or of re-entry following a break in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff Appeals Mechanism (26 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts for the 2016/2017 school year is set out in Circular 0007/2016. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on 30 September 2015. The staffing arrangements at primary level also include an appeals mechanism...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation Provision (26 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: I can confirm that the school referred to by the Deputy has submitted an application for additional accommodation. The application is currently being assessed and a decision will be conveyed to the school authority as soon as this process has been finalised.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme (26 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: Private colleges operating on a for-profit basis, as is the case with Griffith College, are not listed as approved institutions for student grant purposes. However, tax relief on tuition fees may be available for students attending courses in private colleges. Details in relation to this relief are available from the Revenue Commissioners. I also understand that financial institutions offer...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (26 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: The major building project for the school in question is currently at an advanced stage of Architectural Planning, Stage 2B Detailed Design Stage. A brief change request from the Board of Management to use an adjoining site to fully decant the school during construction was approved by the Department on 15th September 2015. The school and its design team were authorised to secure...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Industrial Relations (26 May 2016)

Richard Bruton: The purpose of the wider framework of public service agreements is to balance the rightful ambition of public servants to see improvements in their pay and conditions with the needs of the public to see improvements in the services they use after a lost decade of investment. These agreements, and in particular the most recent Lansdowne Road Agreement, bring important benefits for public...