Results 2,121-2,140 of 19,925 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The Pupil Teacher Ratio calculation includes both classroom teachers, and other teachers that support the overall education of pupils, that is, special education teachers, English as an Additional Language (EAL) support teachers, administrative principals, and Home School Community Liaison (HCSL) teachers, as well as any other full-time teaching staff.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Irish Language (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: My Department is taking a staged approach to developing a comprehensive policy for the Irish language from early years education to teacher education. As it relates to the Department of Education there are three strands to this work: the Policy on Gaeltacht Education; the policy on Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht; and the work commencing on a policy framework and action plan...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The school referred to was approved to enter the Department’s pipeline of school buildings for a project to provide 6 mainstream classrooms and 5 SET rooms plus 1 admin/office. The project has been devolved to the school authority for delivery and is currently approved to Stage 4 - Construction stage. I can confirm that all design team fees received in my Department up to Stage 2b...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Priorities (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: Integration and utilisation of each school’s existing capacity in the most flexible way possible is key to supporting IPA arrivals. Regional Education and Language Teams, or REALTs, were established as part of the Department of Education’s response to the humanitarian crisis arising from the war in Ukraine to assist Ukrainian families, among other things, in securing school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Child Abuse (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: I am deeply conscious of the enormous trauma suffered by those who have experienced child sexual abuse and I have been shocked at the appalling revelations of widespread allegations of sexual abuse in the Report of the Scoping Inquiry into Historical Sexual Abuse in Day and Boarding Schools Run by Religious Orders. The Scoping Inquiry submitted its report on 7 June 2024. Following...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Correspondence (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is one of many major school building projects, designed and constructed, delivering accessible infrastructure, in accordance with a granted Disability Access Certificate (DAC), which is a statutory approval. The project for the school included the provision of a single lift which is consistent with the design from the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Gender Recognition (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The Department is committed to creating an inclusive and positive environment for all students and staff, including LGBT students and staff. My Department has also participated in the national LGBTI+ Youth Strategy 2018-2021 and the national LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy 2019-2021. It is currently participating in work led by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: Budget 2017 allowed for the commencement of restoration of middle management posts as part of an agreed distributed leadership model and meant lifting the rigidity of the longstanding moratorium on these posts. The equivalent of approximately 1,300 middle management posts (Assistant Principal One (API) and Assistant Principal Two (APII)) were restored in our primary and special schools. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The Minister and the Department are committed to supporting all staff involved in special education, with the overall investment in special education now standing at a record level of almost €2.8 billion. Pay and workplace reform measures for all public servants, including teachers, have been governed by a framework of public service pay agreements for a number of years. The current...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disadvantaged Status (24 Sep 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 the universal supports available to all schools, the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) Programme is a key policy initiative of my department to address concentrated educational...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Freedom of Information (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: My Department reports annually to both the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform and the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) on Freedom of Information activity. The OIC publishes this data in its annual report and the annual reports up to 2023 are available on its website In 2022 my Department received 359 requests. 64 of these requests were refused. In 2023...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: I am pleased to advise the Deputy that the school in question has received approval in principle for a building project under my department’s Additional School Accommodation, or ASA, scheme. The project will provide for two mainstream classrooms and two special education teaching rooms. This project is currently at Stage 3, tender stage. In addition, further approval was...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: My Department and its support services continue to work to support all schools and teachers to deliver the full breadth and balance of the curriculum. Physical Education is a core part of the curriculum at primary level which seeks to satisfy the physical needs of the child through a consistent and comprehensive experience of movement and play that challenges the child to realise his or her...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Facilities (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department is in receipt of an application for capital funding, under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme, 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...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Child Abuse (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: The Department of Education takes child protection matters very seriously and considers the protection and welfare of children to be a fundamental responsibility of all involved in the care and education of children. The enactment of the Children First Act 2015 led to the issue of revised Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-primary Schools in 2017 (revised 2023), with an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (24 Sep 2024)

Norma Foley: In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, the 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...