Results 3,161-3,180 of 7,283 for speaker:Josepha Madigan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff (28 Jul 2020)

Josepha Madigan: The NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews. My Department does not have a role in making individual school determinations. Schools have been notified of the arrangements for the allocation of SNA support in respect of students in mainstream classes for 2020/21. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (28 Jul 2020)

Josepha Madigan: Special schools funded by my Department are classified as primary national schools and are intended, in accordance with the provisions of Rule 64(1) of the Rules for National Schools, to cater for children and young persons with special educational needs from the age of 4 years until the end of the school year in which they reach their 18th year. Special schools may however seek approval...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Autism Support Services (28 Jul 2020)

Josepha Madigan: Ensuring that every child has a suitable school placement is a key objective of my Department.  Significant resources are allocated each year to ensure that appropriate supports are available for children with special educational needs. Since 2011, the number of special classes in mainstream schools has increased almost threefold, from 548 to 1,618 for the 2019/2020 school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 Jul 2020)

Josepha Madigan: The NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews. My Department does not have a role in making individual school determinations. Accordingly, the question has been referred to the NCSE for direct reply. Schools have been notified of the arrangements for the allocation of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 Jul 2020)

Josepha Madigan: Budget 2020 provided for 1,064 additional SNA posts, for allocation in 2020, which will bring the total number of SNA posts in schools to over 17,000 in 2020. The NCSE has responsibility for planning and coordinating school supports for children with special educational needs including the allocation of SNAs and reviews. The NCSE has published details of SNA allocations...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (28 Jul 2020)

Josepha Madigan: Special schools funded by my Department are classified as national schools and are intended, in accordance with the provisions of Rule 64(1) of the Rules for National Schools, to cater for children and young persons with special educational needs from the age of 4 years until the end of the school year in which they reach their 18th year. Special schools may, however, seek...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 Jul 2020)

Josepha Madigan: Special Schools funded by my Department are established as special primary schools and cater for children and young persons with complex special educational needs from the age of 4 years until the end of the school year in which they reach their 18th year. Provision in our 124 special schools has increased from 6,848 placements in 2011 to 7,872 this year. The National Council for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 Jul 2020)

Josepha Madigan: Summer Provision is aimed at helping children with complex needs prepare for a return to education, particularly after the health restrictions that have been in place over recent months. As work continues on planning for the re-opening of schools, it is important that we take measures to help the prevention of regression among these children in terms of their...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 Jul 2020)

Josepha Madigan: My Department has now published The Roadmap to the Full Reopening of Schools. This roadmap sets outs how schools will reopen for all students, including students with special educational needs and those who are blind and visually impaired, from the end of August. It envisages what the operation of our schools will look like upon reopening and contains a range of guidance on the measures to be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Covid-19 Pandemic (28 Jul 2020)

Josepha Madigan: The interim public health advice received by my Department sets out the key public health requirements that will be required for a safe full reopening of schools in late August/ September and the measures that will be required to achieve this.    This public health advice will underpin ongoing engagements with education partners and stakeholders in terms of planning and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 Jul 2020)

Josepha Madigan: Summer Provision 2020 – Reconnecting with Education – is a joint arrangement between the health and education sectors for Summer Provision for Children with Complex Needs and those at greatest risk of educational disadvantage as a response to Covid-19. These summer programmes will provide children with an opportunity to continue or re-engage with learning, at school or at...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 Jul 2020)

Josepha Madigan: The list of special classes for the years referred to by the Deputy, including special classes for children with autism, is available on the NCSE website at https://ncse.ie/.  Ensuring that every child has a suitable school placement is a key objective of my Department.  Significant resources are allocated each year to ensure that appropriate supports are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (28 Jul 2020)

Josepha Madigan: Given the very significant State investment in special education and in the increased provision of Autism (ASD) special classes, it is important to ensure that practice in those classes is quality assured.  ASD classes are inspected at both primary and post-primary levels as part of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) evaluation model.  Findings from SEN evaluations are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff (28 Jul 2020)

Josepha Madigan: The Comprehensive Review of the Special Needs Assistant Scheme was published by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) in 2018. The Review made a number of recommendations regarding SNAs. While SNAs are very much valued in the provision of care support, the Review recommended that a more broadly based set of supports was required including therapeutic supports.    ...

Estimates for Public Services 2020 (16 Jul 2020)

Josepha Madigan: I cannot deal with the transport issue, but I can tell the Deputy about the July provision. If there has been an issue with a constituent in Galway, I ask her to give me the details in order that I can look into it. This year, 243 schools and a total of 24,000 children across the country, an increase of 9,000, have availed of the July provision. Many of these children have complex needs,...

Presentation of Revised Estimates: Motion (24 Jun 2020)

Josepha Madigan: I move: That, notwithstanding Standing Order 215(1) or (2) of the Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann relative to Public Business, the following Revised Estimates for the Public Services for the year ending 31st December, 2020, be presented to the Dáil and circulated to members on 24th June, 2020, being a date later than that prescribed for the presentation of Estimates: Vote 32...

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Josepha Madigan: I appreciate the Deputy's passion for the subject but it does not come not under my remit. It comes under that of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. I will relay the Deputy's concerns to the Minister. I do not know whether he was here earlier, but another Deputy referred to the areas mentioned. From my perspective, the 86 National Parks and Wildlife Service parks and reserves...

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Josepha Madigan: The biodiversity officer is up to the local authority. I was asked earlier about heritage officers and I know that 31 local authorities have a heritage officer but there are about two or three local authorities that do not have a biodiversity officer. My full understanding is that it is a matter for the local authorities themselves to resource for a biodiversity officer. Recruitment is...

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Josepha Madigan: -----I will just finish the sentence - such as hedge cutting and clearance for safety purposes along public roads.

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Josepha Madigan: The Deputy is answering her own question. Roadside hedge cutting is always allowed for road safety purposes, so the question is a bit of a paradox.