Results 15,641-15,660 of 20,909 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a Geographical Information System, using data from a range of sources, including CSO Census data, Child Benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise and where additional...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: For school planning purposes, the Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a Geographical Information System to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sources, including Child Benefit data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity is used for this purpose. Additionally, Project Ireland 2040 population...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The range of subjects to be offered in the Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate programmes in individual schools will vary in accordance with the teaching resources in the school and the needs and interests of the students and is a matter for school management authorities. At Junior Cycle, students generally study eight to ten subjects with English, Irish and Mathematics and History being...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The permanent school building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is part of a shared educational campus development which will deliver two new 1,000 pupil post-primary schools and a new 8 classroom primary school and accommodation, including 14 classrooms, for children with special educational needs. The project will be delivered under my Department's ADAPT Programme which...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The site identification and assessment exercise for Educate Together Secondary School, Wicklow Town is ongoing and a potential property has been identified. An architectural consultant has been appointed to commence an assessment of this potential property. I wish to assure you that the provision of a permanent location for this school is a priority for the Department. Given the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Circulars (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: In November 2020, circular 0074/2020 issued to all schools advising school principals of the requirement to put in place appropriate contingency measures, to include a Communication and Learning Platform, to ensure that there would be continuity of teaching and learning in the event of a full or partial school closure. While those circumstances are no longer envisaged, such platforms remain...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Data (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: I wish to confirm to the Deputy that my Department is in receipt of an application from the school in question under the Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme. The purpose of my Department’s ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education needs is available to cater for pupils enrolled...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Equality Issues (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: A proposal issued to staff representatives last year to establish a new grade of adult educator, with a standardised pay scale aligned with the Youthreach Resource person scale. This grade will apply to tutors employed in ETBs to deliver FET programmes, who are currently employed under a variety of terms and conditions. The provision of a pay scale will allow for incremental progression and a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The assessment of skills in spoken Irish forms an integral component of the overall Irish language learning experience at Junior Cycle and occurs in a number of ways. Students' oral language skills are formally assessed through Classroom-Based Assessments (CBAs), the second of which is entirely based on students’ oral language competence. The CBA is linked to ongoing classroom...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The project for the school referred to by the Deputy currently has planning permission and will, along with a number of other projects with planning permission, be brought to the level of employer-led design with a Design Team assigned to do so under the supervision of my Department’s Project Manager. This building project will provide a new 16 classroom primary school and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: In May 2023, I announced that adjustments will be made to the assessment arrangements for students due to sit State examinations in 2024. These are the same as the assessment adjustments that applied for students sitting the 2023 examinations, and the August 2021 adjustments, but updated as relevant. These arrangements were communicated to schools on 18 September, and can be found at the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: I propose to take Questions Nos. 230 and 229 together. The school campus building project referred to by the Deputy is assigned to my Department’s Design and Build programme which uses a professional external Project Manager to progress the project through the relevant stages of architectural planning, tender and construction. This campus project will deliver a new 1,000 pupil...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (7 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department has very recently received an application for capital funding, under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme, from the school in question. The purpose of the Additional Schools Accommodation (ASA) scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream and special education classroom accommodation is available to cater for pupils enrolled each...

Death of Charlie Bird: Expressions of Sympathy (20 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party, I would also like to join in the words of sympathy to the family of Charlie Bird, to his wife, Claire, to his daughters. He was an enormous presence in all of our lives, particularly growing up, as he was a permanent figure on RTÉ. He was a journalist who could turn up anywhere around the world, both domestically and internationally. He was a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (20 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has no current record of receiving an application for additional accommodation from the school in question. The purpose of my Department’s Additional School Accommodation (or ASA) scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education needs is available to cater for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (20 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The purpose of my Department’s Additional School Accommodation (or ASA) scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education needs is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation At primary level, this situation generally arises to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (20 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: My Department provides a wide range of supports to all schools, DEIS and non-DEIS, to support the inclusion of all students and address barriers to students achieving their potential. Supplementing these universal supports, the DEIS programme provides a targeted and equitable way to address concentrated educational disadvantage that promotes equity and has benefits for students. My...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (20 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: I can confirm that the school in question has applied under the Additional Schools' Accommodation (ASA) scheme for replacement of a prefab. Following an initial assessment a potential need for additional accommodation was identified. As part of its overall programme planning for 2024 school accommodation needs, the Department is now examining enrolment data from the current school year...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (20 Mar 2024)

Norma Foley: The permanent building project referred to by the Deputy, will deliver a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school and accommodation, including 4 classrooms, for children with special educational needs. The project is being delivered under my Department’s Design and Build programme and is currently at tender stage. The Invitation to Tender for the project issued in April 2023, as part of...