Results 19,541-19,560 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The means test arrangements of the Student Grant Scheme are applied nationally on the same basis to both employed and self-employed applicants. Gross income before the deduction of income tax or the universal social charge, is assessed with certain specified social welfare and health service executive payments excluded. The assessment of income from the same starting point is deemed to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Retention Rates (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: In line with the overall mission of higher education in Ireland there has been a steady increase in student enrolments over recent years. The most recent report by the HEA on retention and progression, entitled 'A Study of Progression in Higher Education focuses on the progression of students from their first year of study in 2013/14 to their second year of study in 2014/15. This is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that DES Circular 0013/2017 for primary schools and 0014/2017 for post primary schools were published on 7th March 2017. These Circulars set out the details of the new model for allocating special education teachers to schools. The revised allocation model replaces the generalised allocation process at primary and post primary school level for learning support...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: I propose to answer Parliamentary Questions Nos. 173, 186 and 203 together. As a consequence of the financial crisis, there was a need to enact a number of measures to reduce public expenditure so as to stabilise the country's public finances. A previous Government reduced the salaries and allowances payable to all new entrants to public service recruitment grades by 10% with effect from...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Early Childhood Care and Education (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: All pre-school services, participating in the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme introduced in 2010, are required to implement the early childhood quality and curriculum frameworks: Síolta and Aistear. The commitment to implement these frameworks is a condition of the contract agreed between pre-school service providers and the Department of Children and Youth affairs...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: This Government is committed to ensuring that all children with Special Educational Needs, including those with autism, can have access to an education appropriate to their needs, preferably in school settings through the primary and post primary school network. Such placements facilitate access to individualised education programmes which may draw from a range of appropriate educational...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capitation Grants (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: My ambition is to make the Irish education and training service the best in Europe within a decade. To deliver on my ambition to be the best we have to improve information and complaint procedures for parents and students, particularly in relation to costs. I want to give parents a strong voice in ensuring costs are always kept to a minimum. Schools have to do everything possible to keep...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Psychological Assessments (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: I would inform the Deputy that officials in my Department are currently compiling the data requested in her question and I will arrange to have it forwarded to her without further delay.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Funding (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: There are currently 3 streams of funding for the Higher Education Institutions (HEI) to support the delivery of access –a block grant through the Recurrent Grant Allocation Model (RGAM), the Fund for Students with Disabilities (FSD) and the Student Assistance Fund (SAF). The RGAM grant goes to the higher education institutions and the FSD and SAF directly support students....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Labour Court Recommendations (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy is aware, on the 27th March 2017 the Labour Court issued its recommendation regarding the effective date for the implementation of the Job Evaluation Exercise carried out in the Tyndall National Institute. The Court recommended that the effective date for the re-grading of staff in accordance with the job evaluation exercise be the 12th September 2016 and my officials are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Data (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The Higher Education System Performance Framework, and the individual compacts that are agreed by each Higher Education Institution with the HEA, provide the strategic framework for evaluating the effectiveness of the higher education system in meeting its key objectives. One of these seven key objectives relates to Equity of Access. The last System Performance report...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: DEIS Data (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: It is important to note that an initial assessment of all schools has been used to extend DEIS supports to those schools with the highest concentrations of disadvantage as detailed in the list of schools published on 13th February. This represents a first step in the application of the new DEIS identification process and we are moving to support pupils in those...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: DEIS Administration (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: As I have detailed previously, the approach taken for the assessment of schools under the new DEIS identification process uses CSO Small Area data, as represented in the Haase Pratschke Index of Deprivation (HP Index), combined with DES Primary and Post Primary data supplied by schools. The key data sources are the DES Primary Online Database (POD) and Post-Primary Online (PPOD) Databases,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: DEIS is my Department's main policy initiative to tackle educational disadvantage. The DEIS Plan for 2017 sets out our vision for future intervention in the critical area of social inclusion in education policy. The rationale for allocating resources and supports based on a schools’ level of concentrated disadvantage is based on the existence of a “multiplier effect”...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that DES Circular 0013/2017 for primary schools and 0014/2017 for post primary schools were published on 7th March 2017. These Circulars set out the details of the new model for allocating special education teachers to schools. The revised allocation model replaces the generalised allocation process at primary and post primary school level for learning...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff Appeals Mechanism (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts is published annually on the Department 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 schedule operates in a clear and transparent manner and treats all...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: This Government is committed to ensuring that all children with Special Educational Needs, including those with autism, can have access to an education appropriate to their needs, preferably in school settings through the primary and post primary school network. Such placements facilitate access to individualised education programmes which may draw from a range of appropriate educational...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy may be aware I ran a public consultation process from 24thJanuary to 20thMarch 2017 on the role of denominational religion in the school admission process and possible approaches for making changes. A number of submissions were received from Protestant and other minority faith schools. In this regard, as I have said throughout, I am mindful of the need to avoid...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Property (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: Officials from my Department are currently considering a request received in respect of the property referred to by the Deputy and will be in contact with the relevant property owners as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (9 May 2017)

Richard Bruton: The building project for the new post-primary school to serve the Carpenterstown/Castleknock school planning areas is included in my Department’s current 6 year construction programme.  Officials in my Department are liaising with officials in Fingal County Council in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding in relation to the identification and acquisition of a suitable...