Results 2,821-2,840 of 19,925 for speaker:Norma Foley

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Management (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: The Education Act, 1998 sets out the legal framework for schools and their patrons. The act provides that the board of management is the body charged with the direct governance of a school on behalf of the patron. The act also sets out a requirement on schools to ensure that education provided by a school meets education policy as determined by the Minister. The agreed procedures for the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: My Department views teacher education as a continuum from initial teacher education to induction and ongoing professional learning. The Department promotes the quality of teaching and learning through the provision of quality initial teacher education programmes, professional learning experiences (PLE) and other support for school leaders and teachers. This is achieved through the teacher...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: The professional development needs of our teachers are met through the provision of an induction programme for newly-qualified teachers, dedicated support for school leaders, national professional learning programmes for curricular and policy reform and a range of ongoing support for teachers in pedagogical areas. Much of this is facilitated by Oide, an integrated teacher professional...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Staff (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: The Central Policy Unit has a staff compliment of 17. The Unit supports the work of individual policy units across a number of cross-cutting areas and ensures a whole-of-government approach, representing the Department on multiple Inter-Departmental working groups and committees. The Unit also has a role in coordinating the strategic approach to research activity across the department and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Council of Ireland (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: Under the Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015 the Teaching Council is the body with the statutory authority and responsibility for the regulation of the teaching profession in Ireland including the registration of teachers in the State. The Teaching Council is the professional standards body for the teaching profession, which promotes and regulates professional standards in teaching. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: Grant funding of €7,000 is made available by my Department to support the start-up of a sensory room within an existing school. In order to qualify for the grant, the school must demonstrate that it has a National Council for Special Education (NCSE) approved Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) class and that there is a suitable area to house the sensory room within the school. The school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: The Department of Education, along with other Departments across the public service, implemented the outcome of the public service-wide review of allowances and premium payments (September 2012) by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. This meant that many allowances were no longer payable to “new entrants” including Teachers. Among the allowances that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: The number of students admitted to primary concurrent and consecutive programmes in State-funded HEIs is determined by the Minister for Education, having regard to teacher supply and demand issues, and available resources. The work of the Department on matters related to teacher supply and demand continues. A Technical Report ‘Developing a Teacher Demand and Supply Model for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: I can assure the Deputy that the provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs is an absolute priority for the Department. The Department is aware of pressures for school places for the 2024/25 school year in Greystones. Following consultation with Patrons in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy is aware the decision-making authority for any change of status is the Patron/Trustees of the schools, and this is subject to the approval of my Department. Any proposed change involves extensive consultation at local level and must be well planned and managed in a manner that accommodates the interests of students, parents, teachers, local communities and contributes to an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: The school referred to by the Deputy was approved to enter the Department’s pipeline of school buildings for a project to provide a single classroom SEN base. The project was devolved for delivery to the school authority. My Department has received a tender report from the school which is subjected to the required due diligence as specified in the Public Infrastructure Guidelines in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: At primary level, teachers are allocated to schools at an average of 1 classroom teacher for every 23 pupils, the lowest level ever seen at primary level. DEIS Urban Band 1 schools receive an average allocation of 17:1, 21:1 and 19:1 for junior, senior and vertical schools respectively. Each one point improvement in the staffing schedule at primary level for DEIS and non-DEIS schools...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Costs (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy will be aware, my Department was voted over €10.9bn gross expenditure in the annual REV for 2024. This represents a substantial investment in our education system and in our children and young people. There are many different aspects to a child progressing through our school system and costs associated with these. These include school books, school uniforms, school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Costs (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: My Department is committed to providing funding to recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day to day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance and general up-keep, and the Ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Costs (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Costs (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: As the Deputy will be aware, my Department’s voted estimate for capital and current expenditure for 2024 stands at over €10.9 billion. This represents an increase of over €2.8 billion or 35% since 2019. This is the third largest budget across Government, and the largest ever investment in our schools. This indicates the strong commitment to investment in education by...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Costs (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: My Department is committed to providing funding to recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day to day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance and general up-keep, and the Ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Costs (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: I recognise the key role school leadership has in promoting a school environment which is welcoming, inclusive and accountable 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...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: The NEPS service provides access for all schools to: Psychological support in the event of a Critical Incident, A Casework Service for individual children where there is a need for intensive consultation and assessment via a NEPS psychologist or through the Scheme for the Commissioning of Psychological Assessments (SCPA), A school staff Support and Development Service, to build school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Meetings (4 Jul 2024)

Norma Foley: The school referred to by the Deputy was approved to enter the Department’s pipeline of school buildings for a project to provide a new four class primary school with one class special education needs base. It also involves the renovation and extension of an existing former school building. This would provide a general-purpose room, a library and resource area, a principal’s...