Results 17,621-17,640 of 21,588 for speaker:Denis Naughten

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Psychological Assessments (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: To correct the record, if a child is in need of assistive technology in order to access the curriculum fully, this would not be granted without being strongly recommended in a report. Therefore, that report is essential in that scenario. I accept the principle of what the Minister is telling me here but the practical reality on the ground is very different. I know of schools where there...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: 69. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps she is taking to specifically support the leaving certificate class of 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23966/21]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: Students who sit their exams in June of next year will have missed out on a considerable amount of class time due to the lockdown restrictions. They will be the first leaving certificate class to sit a State examination without ever having completed one before. These two factors, along with the potential threat of further restrictions, in addition to the mental health challenges every pupil...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: I thank the Minister. The point I want to make is that this cohort of fifth year students, who will sit the exams next year, is unique in that they have never sat a State exam before. They have not had the experience or the pressure involved in a State exam before because they did not sit their junior certificate examinations. These students need additional supports over the coming year....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: State Examinations (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: I acknowledge what the Minister is saying but it is important that we also acknowledge that next year's leaving certificate class, this year's fifth year class, finds itself in unique circumstances. Additional supports need to be provided. In general, we need to put additional supports and new approaches in place to deal with and prevent the growing mental health issues that we have among...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: 71. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to address large classes in primary schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23964/21]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: During the past school year, nearly one in five of our primary school pupils were in classes of 30 or more. The failure to tackle these super-sized classes means that many children are being subjected to a significant educational disadvantage, which has negative long-term consequences for their progression through the education system.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: I thank the Minister for her reply. I acknowledge that the pupil-teacher ratio is decreasing and that is positive but this ratio wallpapers over what I believe is an unacceptable situation whereby there are more than 5,000 primary school children in classes of 35 or more. Any teacher in such a situation is not teaching but is undertaking crowd control. That is all that is involved. There...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: There is something fundamentally wrong with the system if there are 5,000 children in classes of 35 or more. This has a direct impact on the amount of their time teachers can give pupils. It impacts on individual students and has a disproportionate impact on weaker students who have learning difficulties and on brighter students who need encouragement to move a bit further on. As a result,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: 75. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans for the school transport service in September 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23965/21]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: School transport applications for the 2021-22 school year are currently being processed by Bus Éireann, but no one knows whether there will be 50% or 100% capacity on second level buses. This issue caused major problems last September and could cause chaos this September for 13,000 post-primary concessionary pupils across the system. We need clarity.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: I accept that it is difficult to be definitive at the moment because we must consider the public health advice, but the Minister's officials are engaging with Bus Éireann and I presume that that involves some scenario planning. Could we be looking at a 50% reduction in capacity? What impact would that have on the 13,000 students who avail of concessionary school transport? Their...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: I thank the Minister. Reading between the lines, what she is saying to me in plain English is that, while she hopes it will not happen, it may be that the advice is that school transport should continue to operate at 50%. If that is the case, there will be 13,000 students left on the sides of our roads from the beginning of September because the capacity is not there while services are...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Air Corps (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: 54. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence his plans to expand the role of the Air Corps air ambulance service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1470/21]

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Army Barracks (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: 59. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the future plans for Custume Barracks in Athlone; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1471/21]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: 135. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps she plans to take to cater for the increasing numbers of special needs pupils at primary level; if she has assessed the impact of the curtailment of supports for such children as a result of Covid-19; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23963/21]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: 146. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the protocol for the management of Covid-19 outbreaks during the written leaving certificate examination; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23967/21]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Departmental Schemes (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: 206. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the discussion his Department had at senior official level on the introduction of a scrappage scheme for fossil fuel cars to facilitate the uptake of electric vehicles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25370/21]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Renewable Energy Generation (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: 221. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason the long-term lease of farmland for renewable energy projects is not eligible for the tax-free exemption for the long-term leasing of farmland; his plans to review this anomaly in view of the policy to increase the amount of renewable electricity on the grid in 2030 by 133%-250%; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25355/21]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Environmental Schemes (13 May 2021)

Denis Naughten: 222. To ask the Minister for Finance if consideration is being given to the introduction of a scrappage scheme for fossil fuel cars to facilitate the uptake of electric vehicles; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25371/21]