Results 17,921-17,940 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (1 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: The information requested by the Deputy is being prepared by my Department and it will be forwarded directly to her.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards Funding (1 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: I can confirm to the Deputy that an application has been received from Galway and Roscommon ETB regarding funding for sub-office works.  My Department has had engagement with personnel in GRETB in relation to this matter. There are many competing demands for capital investment within the education sector and this application will be considered within that context. Such...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Commissions of Investigation (1 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: Cumulative expenditure for the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse amounted to €80.667M to December 2016. It is anticipated the total final cost of the Commission will be in the order of € 82M.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Legislative Process (1 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: I thank Senator Richmond for raising this issue. This is an important issue and it has been considerably debated. As the Senator will be aware, the Labour Party's Bill was introduced last year, involving a deadline of 12 months which is coming up in June of this year, where one particular proposal was outlined by the Labour Party. It was agreed by the Dáil that we would have parallel...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Legislative Process (1 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: Just to clarify, the Labour Party Bill has passed Second Stage but on the basis that its further passage will occur in June of this year, giving the time to the Oireachtas committee on education to evaluate the potential issues with it in the meantime. The committee is currently in the process of evaluating that Bill. Clearly it is appropriate that my Department and the stakeholders that...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Legislative Process (1 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: I will indeed and I will revert to the Senator on the matter.

Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: We had a very useful debate in the Seanad on the role of history and I think there was unanimity around the motion passed. The position is that we are developing much better curricula in history and it is part of the junior cycle reforms. At present, compulsory history only applies in voluntary secondary schools - 52% of schools - but 90% of pupils take it up. One of the problems is that...

Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Technological Universities Bill will be restored to Committee Stage. Obviously, issues were raised in the course of Committee Stage that was debated in the last Dáil. We are seeking to work out some of those issues relating to industrial relations and partnerships of colleges so that when we come to Committee Stage it will be easier to progress the Bill. Work is being done to make...

Topical Issue Debate: School Accommodation Provision (2 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Martin Heydon for raising this issue. What he has stated there goes considerably beyond his originally tabled issue which was on the improvement of the school facilities in the Curragh area. My reply, which deals with summer works programme approvals and applications, is available to him and is being circulated. However, he has raised a much wider issue. The Department...

Topical Issue Debate: School Accommodation Provision (2 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: I am very aware of the issue. The Deputy, the Ceann Comhairle and other Deputies in the area have raised the concerns of parents with me, such as their desire to have new choices. We have outlined that there is a planning process within the Department which examines 314 different planning areas and the demographic pressures within them. Each planning area encompasses a significant range of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (2 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: The National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030, published in January 2011, recommended the consolidation of the Institute of Technology sector and creation of a small number of multi-campus technological universities.  The Technological University for the South-East (TUSE) project was initiated in 2011 and consists of a consortium of two Institutes of Technology; Institute of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Equipment (2 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: The school to which the Deputy refers was granted 5 mainstream classrooms and 2 resource rooms under my Department's 2014 Additional Accommodation Scheme. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that a furniture and ICT grant appropriate to this level of accommodation has been paid to the school.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Psychological Assessments (2 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: I include for the Deputy's information a count of private psychologists who were involved in the SCPA panel in each of the last 10 years. Private Psychologists participating in SCPA panel – 2007/08 to date Year Private Psychologists participating in SCPA panel 2007/08 127 2008/09 104 2009/10 88 2010/11 82 2011/12 84 2012/13 100 2013/14 99 2014/15 107 2015/16 95...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Professional Development (2 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 118 and 120 together. The Teaching Council is the statutory body with responsibility for professional standards at all stages of the teaching career. It has established standards for post-qualification professional practice, as set out in Droichead, the new model of induction and probation for newly qualified primary and post-primary teachers. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Professional Development (2 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy will be aware that on 18 January last, I announced that a new model for allocating Special Education Teaching Resources to mainstream primary and post primary schools will be introduced from September 2017. I also announced that an additional 900 teaching posts will be provided to support the introduction of this new allocation model. This substantial additional provision will...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Brexit Issues (2 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: My Department held an Education Stakeholder Forum on Brexit on 14 November 2016 to outline plans for the Department’s ongoing engagement with the sector in its preparations for the Brexit negotiation phase. Following this plenary event my Department convened consultation fora for the schools sector, the further education and training sector and the higher education and research...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (2 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: The roll-out of the new Leaving Certificate subject of Politics and Society commenced in 41 schools from September 2016, following an open invitation to introduce this as an optional Leaving Certificate subject. Politics and Society aims to develop the student's ability to be a reflective and active citizen, in a way that is informed by the insights and skills of social and political...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (2 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: I held a meeting with key stakeholders in relation to the Foreign Languages Strategy in December. This has informed my thinking on this matter. I am at present finalising the Strategy document. It will be presented to Government before it is published. I expect that this process will be completed by the end of March.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: EU Funding (2 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: My Department does not have responsibility for INTERREG funding and therefore does not have the information requested. The Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) in Northern Ireland manages the programme. My officials have asked the SEUPB for the relevant information, which will be forwarded to the Deputy soon as it is received.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: EU Funding (2 Feb 2017)

Richard Bruton: No EU funds have been provided to my Department for the purposes of cross border education projects over the past five years. My Department, however, supports some 10 cross-border co-operation and exchange projects managed by parties external to the Department. Total expenditure by this Department in supporting North/South programmes in 2016 amounted to €581,616. The categories and...