Results 2,541-2,560 of 7,283 for speaker:Josepha Madigan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: My Department previously funded 13 centres through an ABA pilot scheme funded for the period 1999-2011.  All of these centres applied for and were granted recognition as special schools for children with Autism and form part of the network of special schools. As part of the transitional agreement my Department provides grant funding to these schools to engage behaviour practitioners. My...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: My Department previously funded 13 centres through an ABA pilot scheme funded for the period 1999-2011.  All of these centres applied for and were granted recognition as special schools for children with Autism and form part of the network of special schools. As part of the transitional agreement my Department provides grant funding to these schools to engage behaviour practitioners. My...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government.  This year, over 20% of the total Education budget or €2bn will be invested in supporting children with special educational needs.As a result, the numbers of special education teachers, SNAs and special class and school places...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government.  This year, over 20% of the total Education budget or €2bn will be invested in supporting children with special educational needs.As a result, the numbers of special education teachers, SNAs and special class and school places...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 603, 604 and 605 together. I wish to advise the Deputy that Special Education Teachers support the mainstream class teacher by providing additional teaching support for pupils with special educational needs, or additional learning needs, in schools. DES Circular 007/2019 for primary schools and 008/2019 for post primary schools set out the details of the model...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff (28 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The arrangements for the allocation of SNAs for mainstream classes for the 2021/22 school year are currently under review. An announcement on the matter will be made as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: A significantly expanded Summer Programme was provided in 2020 for children with complex needs as a discrete response to Covid-19. The programme included a number of strands and options from which parents could choose, involving either in-school, or home-based supports by teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) to help to prevent regression among children with SEN. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 613 and 614 together. The manner in which special education teachers/special education teaching hours are allocated to mainstream schools is set out in my Departments Circulars 0013/2019 and 0014/2019. The number of special education teachers (SETs) which have been allocated to schools has risen very significantly in recent years. The total number of SETs...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I wish to advise the Deputy that the information sought is available on the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) website at www.ncse.ie.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: DEIS Scheme (26 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I thank the Senator for raising this issue. DEIS is the main policy initiative of my Department to tackle educational disadvantage at any level. The DEIS plan sets out the vision for interventions in the critical area of educational disadvantage policy and is based on the findings of an extensive review of the programme, which involved consultation with all relevant stakeholders. The...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: DEIS Scheme (26 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I thank the Senator. I understand her concerns in the context of supports. It is important to stress that there is a range of resources available from the Department to support schools in dealing with their needs. Those are schools outside of DEIS and they can still avail of supports including special education resource teachers, special needs assistants, SNAs, and supports from the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Staff (26 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I thank Senator Dooley for asking this question pertaining to Clooney National School. 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 indeed the pupil enrolment on the previous 30 September. The previous budgets of 2016 and 2018 improved the staffing schedule by one point on both...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Staff (26 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: One of the difficulties is that all schools have to be treated the same, otherwise there would be inequity in the system and it would disadvantage all other schools of a similar size which have lost teachers in recent years. It is an important feature of the staffing schedule that all schools are treated equally and fairly. The primary staffing appeals board operates independently of the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Housing Issues (26 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: The planning and delivery of social and affordable housing at a local level is led by the relevant local authority. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has made record funding available to support the delivery of social and affordable housing by local authorities. Thanks to budget 2021, total funding provision of €3.3 billion was secured by the Minister for...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Housing Issues (26 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I know the Senator has concerns about the master plan for St. Waleran's. As I said, it will be completed in two months. It has taken quite a significant amount of time, but it is good news that it will be completed in two months' time. Ramsfort Park will take until the middle of 2022 because of Covid. Funding of €4.8 million for a 20-unit social housing project at St. Joseph's has...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (22 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 77 and 78 together. It is my belief that children with special educational needs should receive their education in placements which are appropriate to their needs alongside their peers wherever possible unless such an approach would be inconsistent with the best interests of the individual child or other children in the school.   This approach is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (22 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 81 and 83 together. Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government.  This year, over 20% of the total Education budget or €2bn will be invested in supporting children with special educational needs.As a result, the numbers of special education...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (22 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 89, 90 and 92 together. Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government.  This year, over 20% of the total Education budget or €2bn will be invested in supporting children with special educational needs.As a result, the numbers of special...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (21 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 913 and 1095 together. It is my belief that children with special educational needs should receive their education in placements which are appropriate to their needs alongside their peers wherever possible unless such an approach would be inconsistent with the best interests of the individual child or other children in the school. This approach is consistent...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (21 Apr 2021)

Josepha Madigan: I wish to advise the Deputy that the Education for Persons with Special Needs Act 2004 sets out that one of the functions of the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is to advise the Minister for Education and Skills, in relation to any matter relating to the education of children and others with disabilities. In June 2014, an NCSE Working Group Report on the allocation of Special...