Results 15,541-15,560 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (22 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: July Provision is available to all special schools and mainstream primary schools with special classes catering for children with autism that choose to extend their education services through the month of July. My Department also provides July Provision for pupils with a severe/profound general learning disability. Where school based provision is not feasible, home based provision may be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (22 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The school building project referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of architectural planning. All statutory approvals have been obtained and the Stage 2b submission has been approved by my Department. However, on 1 January 2016 there were 66 major projects under construction. Since the start of this year 14 more major projects have been progressed to construction and there are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (22 Jun 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: Special Educational Needs Staff (22 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) is responsible for processing applications from schools for special needs assistants (SNA) supports. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in making recommendations for support, which is set out in my Department's Circular...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (23 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy will appreciate that, in the absence of all of the relevant details that would be contained in an individual's application form and supporting documentation, it is not possible to say whether or not a particular student would qualify for a grant. However, for the Deputy's convenience I've outlined below the various options open to the student. 1. SUSI (Student Universal Support...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (23 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The primary way in which I am seeking to deliver greater diversity in educational choice is by delivering a total of 400 non-denominational and multi-denominational schools by 2030. This will provide greater choice and diversity. This is a trebling of the rate of delivery of these schools. The new School Admissions Bill will make the process of enrolling children in schools easier for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Graduate Medicine Programme Fees (23 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy may be aware students who qualify for entry to the Graduate Entry Medicine (GEM) programme are liable for the cost of their tuition fees as they already hold an undergraduate qualification. However, the costs for EU students are partly subsidised by the State through a grant provided by the Higher Education Authority. For the 2015/16 academic year the subsidy was €9,500...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Private Schools (23 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The information requested by the Deputy is being compiled and will be forwarded as soon as it is available.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Budget 2016 (23 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The costs arising from demographic increases in the school population must be met from within the Revised Estimates for my Department for 2016, which the House debated on 15th June. Specific provision was made as part of Budget 2016 to provide for certain costs in the school system arising from increased demographics. An additional allocation of some €58 million was included in the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Courses Provision (23 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy is aware, current demographic patterns will drive an increase in demand for higher education in the coming years. My Department publishes projections each year of enrolments at primary and second level and of demand for higher education for the following 15 - 18 year period. These projections are available on my Department's website. Current projections envisage the demand for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (23 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will be aware, the new Programme for Government outlines that this new Government will continue to support the creation of Technological Universities. There are currently four consortia engaged with the process to become designated as TUs. These are TU4Dublin (Dublin Institute of Technology, Institute of Technology Tallaght, Institute of Technology Blanchardstown),...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations Commission (23 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I am advised that the State Examinations Commission (SEC) is currently undertaking an operational review of the Scheme of Reasonable Accommodations in the Certificate examinations at the request of its Board. This ongoing operational review is focussing in the first instance on; - the nature and timing of decision making regarding applications for reasonable accommodations - the provision...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Educational Psychological Service Staff (23 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy will be aware that my Department's National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides educational psychology service to all primary and post primary schools through an assigned NEPS psychologist and in some cases for assessment services through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA) a panel of private practitioners maintained for this purpose. My...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (23 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy will be aware that on 14th June, 2016, I announced that 860 additional Special Needs Assistants will be available for allocation to schools over the period September to December 2016, a 7% increase, in order to meet the level of identified demand. This will bring the total number of Special Needs Assistants to 12,900, at a total gross annual cost of €425m. This increase...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further Education and Training Programmes Funding (23 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 128 and 129 together. The data requested on funding by county for the 18 to 24 year age cohort is not available. My Department provides funding, through SOLAS, for a range of Further Education and Training programmes which includes courses for this age cohort. In 2016, SOLAS will provide funding of €580 million delivering programmes to approximately...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Institutions Expenditure (23 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: My Department allocates the recurrent funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to the HEA designated higher education institutions. The HEA allocates the funding to institutions and it is then a matter for the individual institution as to how that funding is allocated internally. Details on the total recurrent funding allocated by the HEA to each of the higher...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Institutions Expenditure (23 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The overall level of core funding resources in the higher education sector (from the state, student contributions, tuition fees and other income sources) has remained reasonably stable since 2010. However, the significant increase in student numbers has resulted in a decrease in the level of funding resource per student. It is estimated that at current student numbers, it would cost in the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff Appeals Mechanism (23 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: The criteria used for the allocation of teachers to schools is published annually on the Department's website. 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 the previous 30 September. The staffing process includes an appeals mechanism for schools to submit an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Refurbishment (23 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 133 and 138 together. I wish to advise the Deputy that under the Summer Works Scheme (2016-2017), valid applications from schools in respect of Categories 3 to 10, that were not reached within the funding made available in 2016, will, subject to the overall availability of funding, qualify to be assessed under future rounds of the Scheme. If this arises,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (23 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I can confirm to the Deputy that a grant was approved in November 2015 under my Department's Additional Accommodation Scheme to enable the Board of Management of the school in question to provide a mainstream classroom and ancillary accommodation. The school recently submitted an application for additional funding for the project. This application is currently being considered and a...