Results 301-320 of 15,047 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (3 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: 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 172,500 children, are transported daily in approximately 7,900 vehicles across 10,300 routes daily to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. These daily trips cover over 100 million kilometres. This figure includes...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (3 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: 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 172,500 children, are transported daily in approximately 7,900 vehicles across 10,300 routes daily to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. These daily trips cover over 100 million kilometres. This figure includes...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Equipment (3 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: The furniture and equipment (F&E) area within my Department deals with the provision of furniture and equipment across a number of different streams including the replacement of specialist F&E, to which the issue the deputy has raised refers. As part of the planning for the provision of F&E generally, there has to be a balance between the volume of demand, and the ability of my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (3 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: 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 172,500 children, are transported daily in approximately 7,900 vehicles across 10,300 routes to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. These daily trips cover over 100 million kilometres. This figure includes over...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Textbooks (3 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 224, 225 and 226 together. The Programme for Government acknowledges that education should be inclusive of all students, recognising that particular students may need particular supports. It commits to continue work to tackle all forms of disadvantage in education and promote inclusivity and to provide free schoolbooks to all children in the free education...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (3 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: 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 process contains an appeals mechanism for schools to submit a staffing appeal under certain criteria to an independent Primary Staffing Appeals Board. The school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disadvantaged Status (3 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: Tackling educational disadvantage and supporting students to fulfil their full potential in life is a key priority for me as Minister for Education, and for the Government. The DEIS programme is a key policy of Government to tackle concentrated educational disadvantage at school level. It provides a targeted range of supports and is additional to the universal supports provided to all...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staff (2 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs. The NCSE...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (2 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: The school to which the Deputy refers submitted an application for funding under the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) for special need facilities/ universal access works. The application in question is currently being reviewed by the technical area within the EWS. Once a technical recommendation has been received back from the technical team, the EWS team will engage further with the school as...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (2 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Admissions (2 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: This government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective. The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs. As...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (2 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: The Department of Education is committed to supporting the emotional wellbeing of our children. I am delighted to update you on the Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot. The Counselling in Primary Schools Pilot has two strands and works to support children’s wellbeing and mental health in schools. Strand 1 sees direct counselling supports being provided to primary schools for the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (2 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: Under the Programme for Government there is a commitment to aim to reduce the general pupil teacher ratio at primary level to 19:1 over the term of the government and introduce targeted measures in schools with very large classes. The current teacher allocation ratio stands at an average of 1 classroom teacher for every 23 pupils in primary schools, the lowest level ever seen at primary...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (2 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: My Department is progressing urgent building projects that involve the repurposing of existing space in schools for SEN purposes. These projects will ensure that existing school capacity is optimised and that teaching spaces are adaptable and flexible to facilitate a student-centred approach to learning. Potential repurposing options will be school and site specific, presenting different...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Properties (2 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: I propose to take Questions Nos. 120 and 121 together. I wish to inform the Deputy that the property in question, which is located at 157 Rathmines Road Lower, Rathmines, Dublin 6, is in the ownership of my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Citizens' Assembly (2 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: The establishment of Citizens’ Assemblies are the subject of a Government decision and resolutions of the Dáil and Seanad at the appropriate time. There is however a commitment in the Programme for Government 2025 - Securing Ireland's Future to hold a convention bringing together all stakeholders in education. I am liaising with officials from my department in relation to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Mental Health Services (2 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: The area of wellbeing and the promotion of positive mental health is a priority for the Department of Education. The Department of Education’s approach to supporting wellbeing and mental health is set out in its Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice. The approach in the Wellbeing Policy is founded on research and best international practice in relation to how schools...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (2 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: I would like to thank the Deputy for the question. The primary responsibility for the education of all children, including those with special education need in our education system is the class or subject teacher. The Special Education Teacher allocations provide additional teaching support for students with special educational needs enrolled in mainstream classes in primary and post...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Meetings (2 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: There has been one meeting of the Ministers and Management Board since I took office in February of this year. This meeting was held in the MB Room, Tyrone House, Marlborough Street on 4th March 2025. Below is a list of all attendees:Helen McEntee, TD, Minister for Education;Michael Moynihan, TD, Minister of State for Special Education;Bernie McNally, Secretary General;Patrick Cluskey,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Welfare Service (2 Apr 2025)

Helen McEntee: Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) is under the remit of my Department. TESS operates under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, a piece of legislation that emphasises the promotion of school attendance, participation and retention. TESS has three strands namely the statutory Educational Welfare Service (EWS) and the two school support services the Home School Community Liaison (HSCL)...