Results 17,661-17,680 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Priority Questions: School Curriculum (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: First, I reassure the Deputy that we are not falling behind, in the sense that at third level we are at the top in Europe in terms of the take-up of STEM. Our performance in the recent PISA results in both mathematics and science is very strong but there is room for improvement. The Deputy is correct to recognise that this is an area where action is needed. Recently Brian MacCraith...

Priority Questions: Schools Mental Health Strategies (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: I will ask my officials to look at the possibility of doing what Deputy Boyd Barrett suggests. By way of context, it is down to individual schools to decide what material they put into their journals. There is not a central direction in respect of the material in journals that schools put together. It is up to the schools to develop them. What we do is provide guidelines for schools, both...

Priority Questions: Schools Mental Health Strategies (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: I will ask my officials to examine how this can be best approached. What we are trying to do is make sure that the school environment is one in which young people feel safe, supported, confident, resilient and have the ability to look for help for themselves and the confidence not to feel there is any stigma attached to looking for help and having the resources available either from directly...

Priority Questions: Schools Mental Health Strategies (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: My Department is represented on the task force chaired by the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, which specifically targets youth mental health. We are very keen that we come forward with initiatives through the education system that can support what is a very serious challenge for us. I look forward to developing the issue. I have undertaken an audit of our activity in this area with a...

Priority Questions: Third Level Funding (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: The report of the expert group on the future funding for higher education sets out a number of funding options for the sector with income contingent loans being just one of those options. Other options include a predominantly State-funded system or a State-funded system supplemented with continuing student fees. As the Deputy is aware, the report is currently with the Oireachtas...

Priority Questions: Third Level Funding (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: It is not true that we are duplicating because any envisaged future outlined by Peter Cassells and his committee would envisage an increased contribution from the Exchequer and an increased contribution from employers. We are advancing that with an April deadline so that we are in a position come next year's budget to indicate a future path for the funding of higher education. In this...

Priority Questions: Third Level Funding (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: I do not think this is envisaged as some sort of commercialisation. At the moment, people pay fees so there are student contributions and students or their parents must find them while they are studying. The report suggests that we look at an alternative where people do not pay anything while they are studying but there is a recovery when their income goes over a certain figure and that...

Other Questions: Schools Building Projects (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: I am pleased to advise the Deputy that my Department's capital programme continues to address the challenge posed by a rapidly increasing school population. To meet this demographic challenge, my Department's six-year construction programme for 2016-21 details 310 school projects that are being progressed through the architectural planning process towards tender and construction. The...

Other Questions: Schools Building Projects (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: I will give an overview of the additional places. In 2012 just over 3,000 additional places were provided. In 2013 it moved up to 8,000 and for last year it was over 15,000. Therefore, we are steadily increasing the number of schools we are building and places we are providing - that is through new builds. The same is true when it comes to replacing other schools. I agree we could...

Other Questions: Schools Building Projects (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: I am open to considering any possibilities in the PPP area, Junker funding or elsewhere. As the Deputy knows, the European Investment Bank opened a Dublin office for the first time and there are opportunities to look at funding in education as an area where that could be delivered. The Deputy is right in saying that costs have risen. When we started to tender in the depths of the...

Other Questions: School Staff (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: Following a review of the staffing allocation for small primary schools, budget 2017 announced two adjustments relating to one-teacher schools. Where the school is the sole primary school on an island, it will be able to appoint a second teacher. Single-teacher schools more generally with an enrolment of 15 or more pupils can apply to the staffing appeals board for a second post where the...

Other Questions: School Staff (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: In response to Deputy Wallace's points, the change to which I referred gives the staffing appeals board discretion so that it is not just rigidly adhering to some view. The change will allow the board to assess the situation. From what Deputy Wallace has said, it sounds as if the school will have a good chance of meeting the criteria by September 2017. Those criteria are ones that are...

Other Questions: School Staff (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: What I read out is the new provision that will be interpreted based on the enrolment numbers schools submit and whether they span the six classes. The conditions are set out as to what is there. If the school meets the criteria it has the chance to go to the appeals board and get the additional resource. I cannot anticipate the application of these rules, but the rules are clear and the...

Other Questions: Schools Building Projects Status (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: The project raised by the Deputy was authorised to proceed to tender in October 2016. This project is the second phase of accommodation for the school in question and will cater for an additional 650 pupils. Phase 2 of the project will also provide a special needs unit, a sports hall with a fitness suite and changing facilities and ancillary accommodation, including a school library. Once...

Other Questions: Schools Building Projects Status (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: It is my understanding the design team was appointed by the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board. To be fair, I have seen delays occur in many school projects and the question of looking for a fault or ascribing fault is not always the route to go. There may have been some unanticipated problems that cropped up such as planning issues. It is not my business to try to...

Other Questions: Schools Building Projects Status (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: I will ask the departmental officials to examine whether there are lessons to be learned from this experience. I just do not know that. Obviously, in the first instance a design team is accountable to the school, in this case the ETB. I do not know whether it was an oversight, a mistake or what it was, but I will ask officials to have a look at what was the source of delay and whether...

Other Questions: Departmental Budgets (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: The budgetary increase of €465 million which I secured for my Department in budget 2017 will support implementation of my Department’s goals, set out in the action plan for education. The increased allocation will mean more classroom and resource teachers, more special needs assistants, continued restoration of guidance posts, increases in new entrant teacher pay resulting from...

Other Questions: Departmental Budgets (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: Each year a fresh assessment will be made of the needs of children coming into a school under various headings such school allocations, the PTR, special needs and so on. My Department does its best to anticipate what those school needs are but, as I said in my reply, in September the enrolment figures can put pressure on. However, there is a built-in protection as the allocations for the...

Other Questions: Departmental Budgets (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: Within the system there is a right to appeal. Allocations are generally made on the basis of last September's enrolments, which gives a fairly food projection. An appeal may be made, however, such as by a school that is developmental and there may be children with special needs that were not anticipated and that will cause pressures for additional resources. The Department seeks to...

Other Questions: Schools Mental Health Strategies (18 Jan 2017)

Richard Bruton: The well-being in post-primary schools guidelines for mental health promotion and suicide prevention 2013, and the well-being in primary schools guidelines for mental health promotion 2015, acknowledge that schools have a role to play in supporting their students to develop the key skills and knowledge to enable them to make informed choices when faced with a range of difficult issues,...